the deal with sponsorships.

is that sponsors want something of value back, which isnt always what the team envisioned it to be. it usually takes alot of time, out of gaming, to fulfill this, and being a professional gamer, you just wouldnt want to spend time doing things which arent gaming.

getting a manager to handle demands from a sponsor means that you owe the manager something in return, for his time spent in nurturing the team's image, and to cover his life's expenses.

most teams have a utopic view of sponsorships. they expect their demands to be met, and met upfront. rarely do they see the value in progressive sponsorships which build slowly, depending on how well you are doing competitively, and in fulfilling their demands. it also gives you time to decide if this is what you really want, whether the terms are realistic, as opposed to immediately signing away one year not knowing if you can stick to it or not. the marketing and exposure through these sponsors is also something of value to the team, so much so that even if they leave the sponsor eventually, their name will still be recognisable, making it easier for them to pick up new sponsors.

sponsors, are in the end, just like the teams who seek them. they want to know they are getting their money's worth.

just so everyone's on the same page, here are the other links to the so called "ice Saga".

MYM article done by Neha

Dotasg forum - both sides of the coin

the initial expose posted by me

- The "ice Joins Ks" Post -

the background.

ice is one of the founding members of Team Zenith, put together by a bunch of ex-DsD DOTA players and initially named mVp). Together, this formidable team walked all over their opponents for the good part of a year before tasting defeat in WCG 2006 to team mi2. Following that, LuX- enlisted and quit the team, xMusiCa- left for Australia, and GPS- took a backseat as organizer while preparing for his A levels. Tofu-, Ant- and ice were similarly weighed down with major exams. With this first major reshuffle in line-up, Zenith was thrown into some sort of disarray and it was thus not very surprising that they lost WCG 2007 to Micronology.

What happens next makes things more complicated. Under Tofu’s direction and persuasion (and the lack of original Zenith members), he initiates a merger with arch rivals Micronology.

the controversy.

After a break from team Zenith in 2007 during which he was studying for his N levels, ice returns to a totally different Zenith, with only 2 original members still actively in the team, and arguably, only Tofu actively playing. (Ant, and the team, was pre empting his imminent enlistment, hence he took on the role of Organiser)

Not very certain how things would turn out, ice plays a couple of competitions with the new micro-Zenith before breaking away to form his own team “JUJUJU”. Reluctant to go back to micro-Zenith, but also admitting that JUJUJU was not experienced enough to win as consistently as micro-Zenith (especially since WaN decides to go back to iPod), ice plays for the 2 teams for different online competitions - ADC and SKOTH. (ie, JUJUJU and micro-Zenith)

the finale.

About this time, interaction with Malaysian team Kingsurf increases due to the nature of Asian online DOTA competitions which have to be played via GGC. They invite him for some games (which I think they’ve been dying to do for a while) and things work out really well with them.

ice however, doesn’t feel that its realistic to play with Ks, especially since he is in his O level year. Also, he wouldn’t be able to take part in Malaysia’s ESWC or WCG or any of the national competitions which exclude foreigners, and vice versa. This indecision culminates with a discussion with micro-Zenith, where they voice their dissatisfaction with his teaming up with their current arch rival team Ks. Being pressed for a decision, he avoids giving an answer until he played – and won – a Malaysian Cc competition (Cyberstar) together with Ks.

ice in competition in malaysia @ cyberstar.
from left to right, seated - ice, xiaoma, yamateh, papaxiong, ice.

Having lived, slept, played and eaten with the Ks guys for 3 days and 2 nights, the decision is easy to make. So easy that he makes it without me. (The first decision EVER he makes independent of me, possibly.) So, in the wee hours, I wake up, and find out, that…

ice chooses Ks.

(incidentally, Ks is going to change their team name as they are leaving their current sponsors Kingsurf. Also, it would be interesting to see how the team differentiates between their 2 ice’s.)

receiving prize money and medals.

from left to right - papaxiong, yamateh, ice(sitting down to prove that he's taller than yamateh even when he's seated), xiaoma, ice, cyberstar staff.

Today is Wednesday the 12th of March.

At 2pm today CMPB calls me up. I've got to collect my enlistment notice from CMPB as soon as I can.

Because it seems that I'll be enlisting on Friday the 14th.

2 days notice seems very insufficient to cancel everything you wanted to do at least in the next month.

And there's the story of how ice screwed us over, but that I'll leave to... probably never.

As a note to self:
- I have books to return to people
- I have registration fees to collect
- I have prize money to take and distribute
- I have scores to collect back

and I have to be in Tekong soon.

Tofuboi posting!

www.teamzenith.net

A surprisingly detailed look through of our first LAN compe in 3 months.