ech0 🇸🇬 · @hongwei898
14th Mar 2022 from TwitLonger
Moving forward.
PS: No TLDR; there's a lot to explain and unpack here.
Hello everyone, ech0 here. If you have not caught the latest announcement regarding The Last Dance, it's probably here somewhere on our socials. Do go check them out.
I am making this statement to address a couple of things regarding this change.
Firstly, this move is probably controversial to some people. Many will probably ask why return to an organization that dropped the team first place?
Clarifying some matters here:
1) Essentially, if anyone is unclear here, the team was initially known as Team Insen in the early 2021s, and I was not part of them in any way in the initial stages. In fact, I was a part of Renatus, acting as the CGO for the organization when the team was competing in League of Legends: Wild Rift and Valorant.
It was my personal decision, and I've drafted a proposal to the CEO to pick them up while competing in Operation League (essentially Challenger League in NA/EU terms or OCL in OCE). Unfortunately, in late 2021, the organization had to drop everyone due to organizational changes, including the teams they held and the staff (aka me).
Contrary to what some believe, Renatus was not dropped due to underperformance from the team(s).
2) Since the organization was due to reopen in March of this year, the timing clicked. The other offers that the team has received were frankly quite underwhelming. It was a hard decision between Renatus and the 'other' organization. I won't wish to elaborate on it because it was honestly a pretty hectic and icky situation for myself and the players. I've learnt a lot from that, and the team and I will be dusting that from our shoulders.
3) The team currently has no support staff because of how rushed the signing was. We will bring in support staff(s) by the next transfer window, given how strategic this game is, but the transfer window has closed for now, and the organization and the team will be unable to do much about it.
4) In terms of what and who runs Renatus:
Renatus is an organization based in Singapore, run by our CEO Eric and myself. He's from mainland China, and unfortunately, his knowledge of English is quite limited, so I would say that Renatus is essentially The Last Dance with him at the helm of the organization. As such, I will still be involved with most matters, be it social or administrative matters. He will still make statements personally, but I will do the translations.
Because of how unestablished and new the organization is, it will be challenging to portray the team positively to the public, however, my main personal priority is to make sure the players are getting what they should deserve, and I like to be as transparent as possible in the future in Renatus.
While contracts are already signed, and previous stints with Renatus have proved that they are trustworthy, I will be personally making sure that the players are not compromised in any way to the best of my ability. Necessary actions will also be taken to Ubisoft and the legal team(s) if contracts are broken in any way.
Since Renatus is essentially a two-person staff team at the moment, there is no doubt that things will start rough. (in terms of content creation, media presence) There will be ALOT of room for improvement, but I will be making sure that the foundations are set in place (financials etc.) before considering other aspects. This is an unfortunate reality that I will have to deal with, and I apologize in advance to all our fans for this matter.
With all the upgraded teams in APAC South and the vast branding(s) behind them like Invictus, Knights, Elevate, and Chiefs, I know that Renatus is simply a peanut compared to these massive organizations. That being said, I thank everyone for supporting the team throughout these two years. It has been a heck of a ride, and I hope you can continue supporting us for the 2022 season. It's going to be tough, no doubt, but the team will try their best and make games competitive and entertaining in APAC South for everyone to enjoy.
-ech0