I don’t want to derail this thread anymore then it already has been so I’ll keep this short and to the point. First off I just want to apologize for redirecting the focus of this thread and for taking attention away from the exciting announcement JC made. I hope this has not discouraged him or other new players from participating and I assure you this will not be a repeat offense. This community thread exist to serve the interest of the community so please feel free to use it as I will not be causing anymore problems from now on.With that said I want offer a completely optional read about my final thoughts on the unfortunate situation that occurred these last few pages and just leave it at that before officially moving on.
[details=Spoiler]I was hoping the ban would have changed the complexion of this thread but clearly I was wrong. I doubt this reply will change the status quo either but I don’t want this thread to dissolve into the mess that was the 2011/2012 disaster. I’m making this long ass reply to conclude the lingering issues that have followed me and prevented me from enjoying my local FGC so keep in mind that I’m not trying to flame or bait…this is a sincere post that I hope will finally resolve the drama and I apologize in advance for taking more time and space from this thread but I promise this will be my last word on all of this.
First off in regards to"things getting to personal" with calgary, the hilarious thing about this is that in the entire examination of this conflict between me and calgary, no one from that scene has been willing to admit the origin of why I do and say the things I do and say. I’m not a confrontational guy or even remotely violent and I don’t go out of my way looking for trouble. Everything I’ve ever said or done to the Calgary scene has been reactionary in nature or out of self defence. I didn’t just come on SRK and start blasting Calgary players out of the blue, I only starting doing that after months of repeated attacks on me. Lets not forget that at various points in the past, I made it clear that I wanted to move past the turmoil hence why I apologized…in response I was told to go fuck myself which I warned would have consequences. Now I’m not saying I haven’t made any mistakes nor had a hand in escalating things but if ya all wanna know why things got to this point…well look in the mirror. In saying this I’m perfectly aware that there are several instances in which I instigated conflict even without being provoked…I have no excuses in these particular situations and I can admit fault.
As for the comments about my skill…this might be a moot point since I rarely play anymore but I just want to correct a few things said in the 2-3 post above me. First off I’m perfectly aware that I’m far from the best player in the world and I know there are a lot of things I could do to improve my game. My issue has never been with critiques though or even losing at the game. My problems are with the people who critique me and how/why they do it. Remember that the drama I have with calgary all started initially from Cody and his buddies calling me a lag abuser/scrubby player and taking as many jabs against me as possible either on their own thread,the sask thread or even through XBL messages. Considering how a lot of calgary people get on my case for my videos on jamie, I find it hypocritical that when I was being treated the same way by these same people, no one in that community said anything about it. I’m just expected to"get over it"and I’m called delusional for expecting a apology or any acknowledgement of the abuse I endued…even in extreme situations such as the time when cody texted me to tell me how terrible I am as a player or when he uploaded the DP from jamie. In other words its perfectly fine to treat me like shit without any provocation yet when I repeat this same behaviour against the people abusing me I’m suddenly the one going to far?
The calgary community seems a little too eager to completely remove any personal accountability regarding this drama and don’t even consider for a second that maybe the sole cause of my hostility towards their community all originated from how I was treated early on by their players. It was never about just the game or the spirit of competition because a lot of people from the calgary scene made things VERY personal with me early on…and that was something I in no way,shape or form was responsible for. The part that really annoyed me though was the constant"downplaying"and disrespect of my skill from the Calgary scene. Sure its just a game but I don’t think its unreasonable to get annoyed by people constantly taking unprovoked attacks against you like "thebest"demonstrated above. The irony to this situation though is that these same people whom persistently call me a bad player are the same people who have never nor could never beat me nor replicate the few small feats I had in SF4, which included winning a tournament and beating some top players. Granted I’m not saying I won evo or anything but by comparison to these people…exactly what have they done or accomplished in the FGC and who have they beat?
I question the authority of the people telling me "I suck"or people talking about my limitations because the people who do so are in no position to do it for the same reason I’m in no position to tell Tokido that he’s terrible or limited. Across all the Calgary events I’ve ever went to I played every notable calgary player (including the ones telling me I only win cause of lag and would be destroyed in person) and I’ve beaten nearly all of them rather easily with barely any effort. This is why I called Calgary free and while it might not have been the most honourable and respectful thing to do I don’t have any regrets considering the things being said about me by you guys…I felt and continue to feel no need to show any courtesy or restraint. On that note even to this day my opinion on that “free”statement has not changed a bit and I still think you guys are free. I’ve seen nothing in these last 2 years from calgary to convince me you guys still aren’t terrible and I have no problems stating confidently that even with 2 years worth of rust, I know I could easily best you guys with my Dan. This statement isn’t intended to be antagonist nor am I saying it for a reaction. I’m merely stating a opinion in the same way Ricky and “thebest”expressed their opinion that I’m a barely average fei.
Now to address ricky’s point about questioning his skill when offering so-called advice, let me make it clear that I’m not against my flaws being pointed out but there is a clear difference between someone communicating constructive criticism and between someone clearly making a passive aggressive attack. Therefore when I ask you about your skill at the game I do it to establish a base of credentials, a question about what makes you think you can criticize me as a player and why you think you know better. I don’t recall seeing people like ricky or the people who routinely talk shit to me ever beating my ass badly in SF4…I don’t see them beating much of anyone to be honest. I see them talking a lot about the technical aspects and theory fighting but ultimately when it comes down to the game itself they fail to incorporate any of this knowledge. This is maybe why all the hate towards me started in the first place…a guy like me who knows less then they do about the game with a fraction of the training time was able to school them in a game they purport to know inside and out. I’m not saying this to be a jerk mind you but I’m merely pointing out the fact that my biggest haters are all people whom I’ve played and beaten badly or are friends with people I’ve played and beaten.
Now before anyone goes off and says”its not about the game”I’m afraid I’ll have to call BS on that because all the initial attacks against me from cody and company all revolved the game. Regardless if it was”only winning cause I’m using fei”or”spamming CW”I was constantly under attack about my supposed lack of skill…I can even recall my XBL buddies telling me cody would message them telling them that “Saskatchewan players don’t block on wakeup”. This was all done against me without even so much as a word from me and it went on for a good 3-5 months before I finally snapped and responded…this part of the story is always neglected for whatever reason. Anyways the main point I’m making here is that in short, I ask about skill because I know when people like ricky talk “game” with me it isn’t out of some genuine interest to open a dialogue and share ideas, I see how calgary players talk about the game with each other and I see how they talk about it with me and I’m able to easily spot a veiled insult a mile away. Therefore it only makes sense that I in-quire about their own ability at the game and ask if they can demonstrate my flaws to me in real time…I prefer to dispense with false formalities and get straight to the point. If I’m as bad as you say I am then you should be able to easily prove it in the game against me and kick my ass while taking notes about why I’m losing…shouldn’t be that hard if I’m just barely average right?
However every single time I ask 1 of you guys to step up and prove it where it counts you guys always shift the conversation and talk about how”irrelevant”your lack of skills are. It seems perfectly relevant if it happens to go in your favour like when tyler boasted about taking 1 match from me at that edmonton tournament and mouthed off for a full 2 paragraphs about”stomping my shit”and exposing me (even though he got eliminated by me and lost badly the 3rd match) yet when it doesn’t go in your favour suddenly skill is irrelevant cause”were all just friends trying to have a good time, stop taking a video game so seriously you lonely psycho”…I really love how that line of reasoning works. Although beyond all that terrible reasoning my favourite deflection about why the topic of skill is irrelevant has to be the fact that I lose to Jamie…like as if his victories over me are some transferable trait that applies to the rest of you by virtue of being his friend. I never get why losing to him is such a routine insult used against me…like he’s supposed to be good right, the best vega in the world according to you guys so why is losing to him speak poorly about me. I remember a few of you guys commenting on my “jozhear exposed vids”explaining that those loses weren’t a big deal cause he only gets wrecked by top players…yet when I lose against him it’s used a insult against me, almost as if to say”your so terrible you even lost to jamie”. You guys can’t maintain that he is a good player and potentially “the best vega in the world” yet use a loss against him as a insult. Last I check it wasn’t a particularly shameful thing to lose against good players so unless your trying to imply that he isn’t good I’d stop making that argument.
On the last comment about a FT10 with jamie…well I’ll be honest in saying that did give me quite a laugh. If I wasn’t able to lose 10-0 against Wolfkrone in a FT10 after almost a year of not touching the game I sincerely doubt I’ll only be able to take only 2 or less games from him. That might be how it would be between me and any of the other calgary guys in a FT10 set but in this case it ain’t happening. I already had a FT10 set with him in person once and it was far from how ricky envisions it…even the double perfect was nowhere to be seen. I don’t doubt I would lose to him in a FT10 and its possible he might have improved (had to gauge based off his poor tournament performances since the last time I played him) but regardless I’m sure I’d lose but just not as bad as ricky posits. Granted I’m aware I lose to him badly in tournaments but that’s because jamie is a better tournament player then I am. He doesn’t lose his nerves like I do and he actually practices…I on the other hand have a terrible approach to this game and never trained seriously so as a result I would always lose to the same things again and again. This is in part due to my arrogance regarding this game and my unwillingness to accept that raw skill only takes you so far. The gap between me and jamie has always been defined by his ability to learn from his mistakes and his better understanding of the game. With me, I let my overly competitive nature cloud my judgement and blind me with pride…as such I never evolved the way I could. It unfortunately took me a long time to admit this and I ended up making excuses behind my loses and justifying my treatment towards him the same way you guys did with me…none of us are perfect and I have no problems admitting I fucked up in that situation.
With all this said though I think the most important question is”why does it matte now”and the simple truth is it doesn’t. I could go on for days about the drama and telling my side of the story but ultimately I would just be wasting time making it sound as if the abuse was directional which as we can all see wasn’t the case. Regardless of how I was treated, my reaction and how I decided to handle the situation was inappropriate and clearly in poor taste…fighting fire with fire only ended up burning us all. I can openly admit that I’m not proud of how I acted though and regardless if anyone else can admit that either, I will say now for the record that I don’t care anymore. Its clear there is a fundamental difference between what a lot of us feel is appropriate treatment towards someone and what constitutes justifiable retribution. It’s for that reason that I will no longer be expecting a apology nor attempting to explain my point of view on things…I say lets just it leave at “irreconcilable differences”and let the past be where it belongs.
In closing to all of this, ricky stated that he wondered what I wanted from the community and why I continue to stick around. The answer has always been a very simple 1 because I’ve always made my intentions clear when it comes to the FGC. What I want from this experience is to have a community, is to have fun and indulge a hobby with people who enjoy the FGC as much as I do. Somewhere along the way this simple premise got twisted and this experience because something stressful,unpleasant and in a lot of ways a train wreck. I’m not expecting that all wounds will be healed or that roads will be rebuild because lets face, too much has been said and done to stand back at a neutral position again. Instead what I’m calling for is a truce, and I’m declaring that I will show respect and refrain from bringing up anymore of this nonsense so long as I’m shown the same respect and civility that people expect from me. In my view you should treat people the way you want to be treated, and in the event that some people still decide to disrespect and insult me…well that’s a reflection on how you chose to present yourself and its not something I care to be involved with anymore. From here on out I’m moving forward and this will be the last time I ever speak on this subject again. If you guys also want to move past this then great but if not then that’s you choice too, either way I’m done and finished with this topic.
[/details]
Moving forward I just want to say thanks to dalton for still inviting me to your future events and to the new community JC plans to organize I just want to say I wish you the best of luck and I’ll be sure to show my support in anyway I can.