Well I guess I'll say my 2 cents as well. (Still have to write my FSAK Props)
I know what Woahhzz and SU did was wrong and that it hurt Malek, Idle, and the community, but at the same time it is understandable what they did. This is just human behavior. Every human want to benefit themselves first, but if they can't benefit themselves, due to whatever reason they with try to help another person who they identify with. Woahhzz and SU both join the SC community in SC4, they both were online player who transition to offline, and they are both from the east coast. These two players identify with each other, and have a strong friendship/bond than that of Malek.
So I am not going to judge them, because realistically if any two friends were in the same situation they would most likely do the same thing. I mean if I had an opportunity to help Oof get a higher placing I would do whatever I could to help him.
Even if the top 3 people were different people the result would be the same. Suppose if the top 3 were SU, Dreamkiller, and Ramon. SU and Dreamkiller were tied for 1st and Ramon was 3rd no matter what. The deciding match is between Dreamkiller and Ramon. What would happen?
These 3 people are from the same area, and are all good friends, but Ramon is closer Dreamkiller, so there is a high possibility that he will do whatever to make sure Dreamkiller can get first place.
This situation you are under pressure and you’re not thinking about the negative effect it can do to the community, you are thinking about the money and your friendship.
Like Malek said friendship is a very important.
Now I am not trying to defend their actions, because wrong is wrong. But people should not condemn them so harshly, they are human, and human make mistakes. We should just learn from this and move forward. We should discusses more about what are way to prevent this or minimize the chance of this happening (Malek mention a lot of points), and try to repair damage done to the communities image.
When a bad situation occurs we must confront it and discuss openly about it. If we just present the mentality "deal with it" new player are going to be turned off by this, and will be more resistant to join our community. They’re going to think we’re bunch of assholes that take their money and say "deal with it". The community needs to understand that we can only get stronger/grow if new people are willing join it.
So this thread, even though it controversial, is a step in the right direction. Though there are thing we don't want to discuss openly, by having this discussion were are being transparent to the new player and to the community. Hopefully through time the community can be stronger.
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Woahhzz: I an't made at you or think any less of you. You said your apologies to the people that matter. I hope you don't quit SC4 and will still travel. You’re a good guy, and people do make mistake, it just depend how we learn from them. I wish to play your more. Every time I play against you I have the most fun, because we are always laughing. Usually when I play anyone else it is always intense and serious. So I really hope you continue to play, beside I still have to beat you and take that title of the best Ivy :P Anyway hope we can hang out some time, also go study!
Oof: I don't say it enough, but thank you. You are my friend and have help me so much, have taught me a lot about SC, and have introduced me to a lot of cool people, and I am grateful for that. So I have a lot of respect for you, and I respect your decision if you don't want to travel for US tournaments. But now I don't think I could go to the US tourneys, and it not because I am mad at the US players, I still respect them all, they're all cool people from Ramon, Dreamkiller, SU, to Woahhzz etc. But I don't think I can go because I would feel like an asshole who ditches his friends. So far every US tournament I have travelled to you came with me, and any person I faced you help me, gave me advice and I did better. Again as Malek said friendship is a powerful strength, and I feel I do better when I have my friends around me. But I guess I can talk to you about that later.
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In the end everyone wants the same thing. We want a bigger scene, more competition, and more tournaments. So let use the mistake today to create a better tomorrow. Peace