Why I am not streaming for Tetris Tournament Online III

This post is over 10 years old and may contain information that is incorrect, outdated, or no longer relevant.
My views and opinions can change, and those that are expressed in this post may not necessarily reflect the ones I hold today.
 

I do a lot of things on the Internet, so you might not necessarily know me for this, but a good handful of people discovered me due to my primary streaming leadership role in the Tetris Tournament Online II, the official annual Tetris tournament sponsored by the Tetris Company, the official copyright holder of the Tetris brand.

Many people were looking forward to Tetris Tournament Online III (TTO3), the sequel to last year’s tournament, and they were eager to have me return this year as a streamer and shoutcaster. However, most of these people noticed that I have not been the one streaming or shoutcasting any of the TTO3 matches so far.

I did announce some specifics about why I have not been the one streaming, but due to the unofficial nature with which I shared the information, a lot of it was lost or changed as it was passed on from person to person. There have also been some particular individuals who intentionally changed information as a personal attack to me.

To make things easier for everyone, I decided to publish my reasons here. If you hear anything else not included in this list, and it seems a little outlandish, it’s probably a rumor.

  1. I am gravely disappointed in the Tetris Company, and do not feel they deserve the publicity and free advertising that comes with Tetris Tournament Online. Their cooperation last year was mini­mal, and they just barely provided enough to get the tournament running. Nobody with whom I spoke showed any sort of genuine excitement about the tournament. The amount they supported our tournament was abysmal. They had many outlets to let Tetris enthusiasts know about our tournament so they could sign up, compete, and watch others’ matches; these outlets were barely used at all. Instead, a majority of our publicity came from Twitch, with whom I partnered in preparation for the event.
  2. I received next-to-zero compensation from the Tetris Company for the work I put in last year. The competitors at least received mediocre prizes – the first place winner received an electronic, but the runners up received prizes worth less than the shipping costs needed to send them internationally. The stream­ers, organizers, and hosts received absolutely nothing. The only benefit I received whatso­ever from streaming was a little bit of advertising for my website via the logo I had on the stream overlay. My co-commentator for the grand finals received literally nothing.
  3. I no longer have the time to put into Tetris. I graduate from undergraduate university, and have moved on to a graduate and licensure program. I no longer have the time to do whatever I want with my free time like I did when I was an undergraduate. I also have other things into which I must invest time.
  4. I no longer have the resources to stream. Back when the Tetris Tournament Online II was going on, I lived in my own apartment in Madison, WI that came with free 50 Mbps Internet. I no longer live in Madison; I moved out after I graduated. I now live back at my regular house in my home town, and commute to my graduate university. This also means that we don’t get free Internet, and the Internet we have is approximately 1.5 Mbps – nowhere near fast enough to stream anything at any viewable quality.
  5. The time I do spend on gaming, I would like to spend on games that have a future. At the rate the Tetris Company is going, Tetris has no future. Their attitude towards the Tetris community is counterintuitive, and is causing them to miss out on opportunities that will make their game more popular. On the other hand, there are plenty of other game developers who engage closely with their community and player base that has a much more promising future. I am going to stick with those companies.

Hopefully that will satisfy a lot of curiosity revolving my Tetris situation. Again, there is a lot of incorrect information intentionally being passed around by individuals who oppose my decision and wish for my failure. If you wish to remain at a neutral or supportive stance with me, I ask that you combat the wrong information by linking to this post, or simply by just not passing the wrong information on further.

 

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