This post is over 9 years old and may contain information that is incorrect, outdated, or no longer relevant.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.
There isn’t much more time left until Ed leaves to get started on his Master’s degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, so we’re getting the most out of his final days in our home town before he moves out for a while.
We’ve been regularly going out to get lunch, but today, we decided to go on an extra adventure after our meal. After going to Chick fil’ A, using a coupon for a buy-one-get-one-free chicken sandwich, and seating ourselves in a convenient corner of the restaurant such that we were able to access the Pokémon Go PokéStop in the building across the street, we stopped by a few stores on the way back home.
It’s the middle of August right now, so it’s burning hot. I have air conditioning in my house, but I also don’t really want to spend hundreds of dollars extra on my electricity bill for running it to a low temperature. So, I end up sort of just getting used to being warm during the summer. This wasn’t a problem back when I was an undergraduate university student, because my electricity was included in the base rent payment – now that I’m actually paying a separate electricity bill, I’m more conscious of it.
We decided to wander into an electronics and appliance store called hhgregg. I quickly realized that, whenever I’m warm at home, I should just pack up my laptop and come over to hhgregg. Not only do they have it cooled to a very comfortable temperature, they have plush couches on display for sale, that we can just use to relax.
The best part (for us, not for hhgregg) is that it’s not very busy there, so it’s peaceful and quiet.
After relaxing for a bit, we decided to go next door to PetSmart. Ed and I both absolutely adore animals, so we went straight to the pet display. We started off with the cats – here’s a photo of Ed observing and smiling at a cat, and a photo of a different orange cat who was one of the only active ones.
Next up were the birds. They were pretty loud.
We made our way to the back of the store, where the dogs were kept. I don’t think there were any dogs available for sale or adoption (unless all of them were literally out for a walk all at the same time). But, we got to see the dogs inside the “dog hotel,” that offers babysitting and training for dogs.
And finally, before we left the store, we stopped by the fish. There were a ton of fish, including one that apparently need to be kept in solitary confinement, or else they will eat each other (according to Ed). I decided to take a picture of more peaceful fish – neon ones, kept inside a brightly-lit tank.
This post is over 9 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.
This post is over 9 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.
Last night, one of my good friends Mellina Kong, manager of Astral Authority’s professional Heroes of the Storm roster, posted an update on Twitter about how her players had their dreams crushed. Curious as to what was happening, I looked into it.
Apparently, Astral Authority had qualified for the HGC Fall 2016 NA Regional, happening in early August. The winner of this regional will qualify for BlizzCon 2016 to take their shot at proving themselves to be the best team in the world, on the grandest stage of them all. Not long after, Astral Authority was notified that their qualification had been revoked and their team was disqualified due to bug abuse.
Tyrael has a bug with his trait where selecting a particular sequence of talents and inputting a series of key presses with the right timing will cause his Archangel’s Wrath to deal an unintentionally high amount of damage. According to investigations conducted by ESL and Blizzard, a player on Astral Authority was abusing this exploit to gain an unfair advantage in their games, and consequently, the team was disqualified.
Drama began to explode, with some members of the community and other professional players directing the hatred of 10,000 years at ESL, Blizzard, and Astral Authority’s opponents. People attempted to justify Astral Authority’s behavior by bringing up evidence of other teams using the exploit, claiming ignorance, and just spewing hatred to get the frustration out of their bodies.
What’s done is done. ESL disqualified Astral Authority from the tournament and are scheduling a match to determine their replacement. No matter how vocal Astral Authority fans get, I highly doubt that ESL will reverse their decision by reinstating Astral Authority or revoking the match offer they gave to the runner-up teams.
Having an educational and professional background in sociology and psychology, with a specialization in criminal psychology, I decided to write this piece to help explain this whole fiasco, and nudge the community in the right direction – away from drama, and towards a thirst for learning.
There are some valuable lessons we can learn from this situation about how life works.
Just because you work hard for something doesn’t mean you get it.
People will break rules.
Not everyone gets punished for wrongdoing.
Don’t get caught off guard by Schadenfreude.
Just because you work hard for it doesn’t mean you get it.
If you truly believe that you can try your best at something and get guaranteed results, you are terribly mistaken. The key to success is not to chase your passion and give it your all. The key to success is to chase opportunity and be smart about it.
Sometimes, you suck at your passion.
If your passion is painting, and you’ve been dedicated to becoming a better painter for the past ten years, but your products look worse than something I painted with my foot, you should probably give up painting. No matter how passionate you are about painting, it’s just not your thing.
There is no doubt that the members of Astral Authority worked hard to qualify for the North American regional. However, just because you work hard doesn’t mean you have the necessary skill. Just because you work hard doesn’t entitle you to results.
A Korean streamer by the name of chu8 threw together a random team to compete in the qualifier. Even though they didn’t put any effort into it, they had the skill to win and get far in the qualifier bracket – and ultimately, that’s what matters in life.
It really sucks that Astral Authority ended up getting disqualified out of the third and final opportunity to qualify for the regional. But if they were actually so good that they deserved a spot in the regional … Unfortunately, there’s no denying that they already failed to qualify twice.
People will break rules.
A psychologist by the name of Lawrence Kohlberg created a theory called the Stages of Moral Development. This theory states that, as people grow older, they shift from ethics based on simply avoiding punishment, to ethics based on societal well-being.
These are his stages:
Obedience and punishment (“How can I avoid punishment?”)
Self-interest (“What’s in it for me?”)
Interpersonal accord and conformity (“I want to act in a way that makes people like me.”)
Maintaining social order (“I have to follow the law.”)
Social contract (“I need to serve the greatest good for the greatest number of people.”)
Universal ethical principles (“I must use abstract reasoning to determine the best way for humans to exist.”)
The stage at which someone exists is the stage that best describes the primary reasoning behind a majority of their decisions. For example, if someone regularly shoplifts and focuses on not getting caught, they are at Stage 1. Just because this individual sometimes thinks about how society can help the homeless population does not put them at Stage 5.
Unsurprisingly, most people hit a ceiling at Stage 4. Adolescents and young adults – the demographic that best describes esports athletes and viewers – linger around Stages 1-3, before some of them mature into Stage 4.
What’s the point of going over the stages of moral development?
It shows that the young and fresh minds in esports still focus on avoiding punishment and acquiring personal gain. As long as they can make sure they’re subtle about their wrongdoing, and they can reap the benefits, it’s likely they will engage in the unethical act – especially when the punishment is abstract instead of concrete (“do not exploit bugs” vs. “Tyrael is banned”).
If you’re an Astral Authority fan, there’s no reason to be upset at the player who used the bug. This is the kind of behavior that a vast majority of people his age exhibit, and that’s just how life is.
Not everyone gets punished for wrongdoing.
I’d like to make a comparison here between Astral Authority’s disqualification and driving over the speed limit.
Driving over the speed limit
Astral Authority’s use of the Tyrael bug
Driving at or under the speed limit is the law.
Not abusing bugs is the rule.
Many people drive over the speed limit.
More teams other than Astral Authority abused the bug.
Not all speeders get a speeding ticket.
Only Astral Authority got punished.
Telling the police officer to chase after someone else will not get you out of your ticket.
Telling ESL and Blizzard to punish other teams will not change Astral Authority’s punishment.
Speeding just a few kilometers per hour over the speed limit doesn’t get you a speeding ticket. There are too many variables that could account for going a few KPH over the limit.
Teams that only abused the bug mildly did not get punished. Those teams could claim the bug abuse as a mistake, and it would be difficult to disprove otherwise.
You will probably only get a ticket if you are going 20+ KPH over the speed limit.
ESL and Blizzard determined that Astral Authority’s abuse of the bug was intentful and severe.
Just because you didn’t know the speed limit doesn’t mean you don’t get a speeding ticket.
Just because Astral Authority claims they were not familiar with the bug does not excuse them from punishment.
If people call the police to report a particular car and license plate number for reckless driving, they are more likely to get punished.
Members of the community called out Astral Authority publicly, which increased the likelihood of them receiving punishment.
If ESL and Blizzard’s investigations were 100% accurate and Astral Authority did indeed intentionally abuse the Tyrael bug, does Astral Authority deserve to be punished? Yes.
Do the other teams that intentionally abused the Tyrael bug deserve to be punished? Yes.
Do all wrongdoers always get punished? As we saw by the “driving over the speed limit” example, unfortunately, no.
And that’s just how life is.
Don’t get caught off guard by Schadenfreude.
Schadenfreude is pleasure derived from the misfortune of others.
This phenomenon is based on social comparison theory, where we feel better about ourselves when others around us have bad luck.
The bigger you are, the larger the target on your back.
Astral Authority has made a decent name for themselves so far. The one big instance I remember from Astral Authority is when one of their staff members chose one day to randomly publicly insult those with mental illnesses. The CEO stepped in within half an hour and fired the imbecile. This established the brand’s mission as one that cares about its fans, and the community in general.
Just because you’re building up a good reputation doesn’t mean everyone likes you. As your fan base increases, so does the number of people who dislike you – people who will gain pleasure from your misfortune.
This is why public figures need to be particularly careful about what they say – not only because they are a role model to many, but also because there are people waiting to pounce on all their wrongdoings. Don’t get caught off guard by Schadenfreude.
That’s just how life is.
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.
As long as you haven’t just been completely disconnected from the Internet for the past few weeks, you probably know of Pokémon GO, the new augmented reality game that uses GPS to inject Pokémon into the real world and encourage you to get out and hunt for Pokémon.
Although I’ve been a fan of Pokémon since I was a little kid, I never really got into Pokémon GO because of how busy I am. During work days, I watch our family business and do a lot of other work, so I end up having no time to go outside and look for Pokémon or battle at gyms. During weekends and off days, I usually still do even more work online, and use all remaining time to rest and relax.
On top of all this, it doesn’t help that it’s been pretty hot outside.
Nevertheless, I got persuaded to go outside and go on a Pokémon GO gym run today by Mike. If you’ve been reading my blog posts lately, you probably remember him – he’s one of the masters and co-owners of Keumgang Martial Arts Academy, and he’s in quite a few of the photos I’ve posted recently of the albums and videos I filmed at demonstrations and events.
The nearest Pokémon GO gym to the martial arts academy is a water tower nearby, so Mike and I walked over there.
This gym was occupied by Team Mystic (which is our team), and was guarded by Pokémon with combat power of over 1,000. Unfortunately for me, I don’t actually play that much, so I only had Pokémon with combat power of 100 or less. Meaning, this trip was almost entirely useless for me. Apparently battling Pokémon of your own gym is supposed to help train you, but that was obviously not happening, because I wasn’t able to defeat anything.
Mike, however, plays this game a substantial amount more than I do, and so does Chris, the other co-owner of the martial arts academy. When we came here, Mike brought Chris’ phone as well, and he was playing on both phones at the same time.
This is Mike battling the gym two times at once:
But, as we were battling the gym and trying to raise our prestige, we noticed that it was falling faster than it was rising. I walked over around the corner of the fence surrounding the water tower, and noticed that there were other Pokémon GO players sitting on the ground against the fence, presumably trying to take over our gym.
Tragically, they succeeded.
But, Mike wouldn’t have any of that. Once the gym got neutralized, he reacted quickly by putting in one of his own Pokémon into the gym again, stealing the “claim” away from the other team that had just defeated us.
Moments later, I notice the other guys rage quit, get up, and walk away.
gg
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 signed on to StarCraft II today and was met with this screen:
(Click to enlarge)
When are we getting this feature in Heroes of the Storm?
I hate the arbitrary assignment of leagues and divisions to MMR. Why not just show us the number so we really know how good we are?
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.
Like last year, I went along with Keumgang Martial Arts Academy to the Mundelein Community Days Festival, in celebration of the United States’ Independence Day.
I whipped out my trusty phone to record the full demonstration, then went through and took stillframes of action moments and compiled them into a photo album.
Luckily, not only was this later on in the evening (instead of right in the afternoon when the sun is strongest), but it was in a much shadier region, so I didn’t end up getting my skin slightly burned, like I did during the Lambs Farm demonstration.
Here’s the video and the photo album:
And finally, here’s a bonus photo not included in the album above – this is Mike, one of the masters of the academy, holding a sword with an apple wedge onto the tip, for one of the acts:
After relaxing for a bit, we decided to go next door to PetSmart. Ed and I both absolutely adore animals, so we went straight to the pet display. We started off with the cats – here’s a photo of Ed observing and smiling at a cat, and a photo of a different orange cat who was one of the only active ones.
Next up were the birds. They were pretty loud.
We made our way to the back of the store, where the dogs were kept. I don’t think there were any dogs available for sale or adoption (unless all of them were literally out for a walk all at the same time). But, we got to see the dogs inside the “dog hotel,” that offers babysitting and training for dogs.
And finally, before we left the store, we stopped by the fish. There were a ton of fish, including one that apparently need to be kept in solitary confinement, or else they will eat each other (according to Ed). I decided to take a picture of more peaceful fish – neon ones, kept inside a brightly-lit tank.
This is Mike battling the gym two times at once:
But, as we were battling the gym and trying to raise our prestige, we noticed that it was falling faster than it was rising. I walked over around the corner of the fence surrounding the water tower, and noticed that there were other Pokémon GO players sitting on the ground against the fence, presumably trying to take over our gym.
Tragically, they succeeded.
But, Mike wouldn’t have any of that. Once the gym got neutralized, he reacted quickly by putting in one of his own Pokémon into the gym again, stealing the “claim” away from the other team that had just defeated us.
Moments later, I notice the other guys rage quit, get up, and walk away.
gg 
