Forum

Main article on VanillaTF2 – http://www.vanillatf2.org/2013/08/esea-europe-free-premium-league-fees-competition/

We’ve all heard of the E-Sports Entertainment Association (ESEA) announcing their intentions to host a European division for the first time ever. I think this is great news for European TF2, in terms of future support for the competitive scene at the highest level, possibly seeing the league setup expand in a similar way to the North American scene, with LAN finales and prize money for 3 different skill tiers. To begin with though, ESEA will only have one TF2 Open division for Europe, meaning there will be quite a skill gap throughout the division. I can understand some player’s points of view for not wanting to subscribe for the Premium accounts and pay the league fees in order to compete in a league where you are not going to win any prize money and possibly lose a lot of matches.

I have picked up on this discussion where [flag=ru] Angel, the Russian multi-billionaire has sponsored a team’s League fees and premium costs. Division One team [flag=eu] D-d-did I Stutter? are the lucky recipients of a free season of ESEA courtesy of Angel’s generosity. Having done some calculations myself, and saved a bag load of money in crashing on Hotel room floors for i49, I realised I could easily afford to sponsor a team myself. After deciding my team were all rich snobs who pretend to be poor to LAN dodge, I realised I could use this money to encourage a team that would otherwise not play in ESEA to sign up in Open and experience the opportunity to play in this new league.

I am willing to pay upwards to £150 in league fees + premium costs for 6 players, I have purposely over estimated as I will intend to pay on a monthly basis for security and also need to take into account possible team member changes.

Competition details

Whilst Angel was looking for the best, most reliable team to sponsor, I am looking for something slightly different – personality, commitment and a desire to play. That is why I will be asking all entries to be made in the form of a video, either uploaded to a video hosting website like Youtube or a streaming website like Twitch.tv as a Highlight, with the winner being the video that presents yourself and your team as the best people for me to sponsor. Just by making a video, it will prove to me you’re dedicated which is why I have chosen to do it this way, also I just like to see people be creative.

I’ve intentionally left the requirements for the video with regards to length, format and everything else open ended. I want you to turn in an entertaining video that you feel represents your team well. Whether you do this by showing me clips of your matches, detailing your plans for the season, introducing your team (either in mumble recordings or video recordings), or anything else… that’s up to you. I want to get a sense for who you are as a team, although, of course, bonus points will be given for originality and entertainment value.

Criteria for entering + Deadline

Historically it is well known when it comes to competitions that garner a lot of high level interest, the majority of teams below Division 2 level will not sign up out of fear of being eliminated early. That is why I will only look to fund a team that is Division 3 or below in skill and played Season 15 of ETF2L without folding or giving away a default loss. I will only look to fund you if you are serious about completing the season, no matter how many times you lose or how badly you place, you must finish the season.

Entrants will have until Saturday September 7h, 23:59 BST (British Summer Time) to submit their videos. I will announce the winner on Sunday 8th September at some point in the evening, please post all entry videos in this thread along with a link to your team page and if you like, additional information. Any troll posts will be deleted and may result in a forum ban if a repeat offence.

Have fun.

<3

Awesome Hildreth!

Thanks, man! Now we have two teams. :)

nice one, hope to see other low div teams there heh, my team is entering and want someone who doesn’t beat the crap out of us hopefully :P

Now i know ESEA is a profit centered organization, but i do feel they would gain a lot of participants if they allowed EU teams to try their first season for free. I worry about the amount of signups if that’s not the case, as us Europeans are not used to the subscription type model seen in NA.

Well at least the teams that do pay to play will be serious about the league, so there is that.

Nice sponsorship idea btw!

Entry for my team: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3yvY4FJusI

Team page: http://etf2l.org/teams/17042/

We’d planned to make a full fragmovie for the competition but unfortunately the team member who was going to edit it was too busy and Freaky only started with a few days left to go, this was what we got from the short time and hope you like it!

Last day folks, best chance you will have for a free season in ESEA. :>