Just listened to the first episode of The Pylon Show. It's wonderful (though I would have called it "The Monty Pylon Show), I highly recommend it. I agree with Artosis and Incontrol's sentiment that the current SC2 community is too commercialized and that the amateurish feel of the early days of SC/SC2 are sorely missed.
What I liked most about the show is that the hosts can comment a little bit more freely on what's going on in the community and aren't bound to non-stop promoting a commercial product like they are when they cast WCS or GSL.
I already have enough corporate bullshit in my day job; when I play and watch video games, I want the "amateurish" and "dirty" look and feel, trash talk, and all...
(Having said that - and I know I digress - Artosis and Tasteless' GSL casts are far and away the best professional SC2 content out there.
OK, now to the point. Regarding the Avilo drama. Full disclosure, I don't know how this played out, all I know about the situation is what the two hosts discussed. I also have no opinion on Avilo as an SC2 personality. I'm just making a point on principle here:
It is ALWAYS a bad idea to penalize misbehavior in a current game by handing out a penalty for a future match, for the following 2 reasons:
Artosis and Incontrol discussed reason (1) but I think missed (2) which is more important
1. It gives Avilo an opportunity to game the system because he can basically choose which unimportant "next" game he'd like to lose
2. It gives an unfair and potentially tournament-distorting advantage to the opponent of that "next" game who gets an easy win without deserving it. If Avilo is penalized because he accuses his CURRENT opponent of cheating (arguably just to get under the person's skin), it's also the CURRENT opponent who should benefit from any sanctions agains Avilo. Rewarding Avilo's next opponent for no good reason could even have tournament-distorting consequences (if for example Avilo's current and next opponent are in direct competition for something, or if Avilo gets a forced loss against a player he would have beaten easily under normal circumstances).
And thanks Artosis and Incontrol - apparently their show fascinated me enough to "resurrect" this blog... well done!
