To new beginnings


Hello,

I’ve been playing TF2 pretty much daily since 2014. I started getting involved in competitive around 2016, since then I have competed in five ETF2L seasons, one UGC season, and one LAN. I successfully reached my goal that I set out when I first started playing Competitive and reached Mid (lol).

Where people might know me, however, would be behind the scenes in administration. I have been an ETF2L League Admin since January 2017 and worked on a range of events like Beginnings 5 and the Blapature Co. Charity Bash with Essentials. More notably, I was the Tournament Admin for Insomnia63 and a Project Lead for Insomnia65. It is always a pleasure to work on and if I had the time I would absolutely work on more. Getting to put on a show for everyone and them enjoying it is a memory I will take with me forever, despite the stress of organising such an event.

However, I will be quitting the game (for the most part) to pursue postgraduate study in Computer Games Design/Research. Going forward I simply will not have the hours in the day to commit to the scene anymore and I need to broaden my scope of what I play if i’m going to be successful in my career. It also comes at a nice time for me personally, since I have not been enjoying the day-to-day for TF2 for a while now. I love LAN, but when I pick up the game and i’m not Jumping or playing with friends, I rarely come away smiling like I used to. It’s not as if I hate the game, but if i'm not enjoying it, why stay? I have created a public release of my final year dissertation which I am working on a version that will be hopefully academically published. With the release of that dissertation in conjunction with i65, I felt like I could leave the community with a bit of a bang, you know. The mother of all nerd essays and a good (hopefully) LAN event. So when i65 concludes, I will ensure that the event is wrapped up nicely and that there are no loose ends and then quietly make my exit. I will probably come back to LAN to observe or produce or something, but nothing to the extent that I have done for the last few years.

I do not regret my time with this game, these past 5 years have shaped who I am and helped me obtain the confidence to be the best that I can be going forward. The scene has always been there, an escape from the harsh realities of life, even at my absolute lowest. I could go play a couple of mixes or whatever for a few hours, and for that moment all the negativity that plagued my mind would go away for at least a short time.

To cut an already long letter short, thank you. This game means so much to me and has been a centerpiece in my life for half a decade. I only ask that you give new players the same treatment that I got when I started. I attempted to revive the EU Newbie Mixes for the sole intent of getting more people involved and interested so they can experience what I did. Players coming into the scene now may be your future League Admins, Producers, even Pros, so give them the opportunity to do so. And to those that want to get involved, all it takes is passion and commitment, because that is your stepping stone to reaching your goal.

Stay happy guys.
-DrHappiness

Reply · Report Post