The new free agency restrictions set in place by Major League Gaming this week have caused an uproar in the Call of Duty community, and apparently there’s no bigger critic than Patrick “Aches” Price, the captain of Evil Geniuses and winner of last weekend’s MLG Anaheim tournament.
Price tweeted a scathing analysis of the rule changes, prompting MLG boss Sundance DiGiovanni to implore Price and his team to “be leaders” and bring criticism directly to DiGiovanni.
But Price seemingly has a different idea of what leadership is. He’s not afraid to speak his mind when he thinks something is wrong, and has sparred with MLG in the past over attempts to restrict player streaming to the MLG.tv platform. And even Sundance admits he’s earned that right as part of the “Yankees” of Call of Duty.
Price admits that the new rules, which sets up a kind of protected professional status for the 48 players on the 12 teams who qualified for the third season of MLG Call of Duty, barely affects his team. They don’t need to make any roster moves. But he believes MLG’s new restrictions, as well as their league structure as a whole, are a detriment to the growth of Call of Duty esports.
“This whole system/league is stupid and flawed and shouldn’t be here in the first place,” shared Price, with regards to MLG’s league structure. “It was created and it’s sole purpose was to ensure guaranteed content hours exclusively (shocker) to MLG.tv. That’s it.”
“We’re now disguising growth for CODeSports as growth for MLG. Honestly it’s turning COD into something really lame in general and especially for those not turning a profit and thus forcing a lack of Live events.”
Price goes on to criticize MLG’s reliance on “no fun” online events that are “cost efficient” for the league.
“The worst part is we’re basically forced to play in them (AMs & Pros) because there is nothing else right now,” he says. “And to see pro-level players forced to be ‘sub & bench’ players for other teams is honestly disgusting.”
The new MLG rules require each of the 12 teams to draft a roster of four substitute players from the ranks of those who did not manage to qualify for the third season. For those drafted, moving on to a starting roster from that bench will be the only way to compete in Call of Duty’s only real competition running at the moment.
Sure, those players left out can form teams, and many of them may be competitive within the 12 inside MLG’s league. But they won’t be part of the toughest competition running, at least for the next few months.
“I miss real events,” laments Price.
“Not eight or eleven team invite only brackets with either no prize or a guaranteed minimum payout to last place. 196 teams competed for a spot in S3 this past weekend, and were competing for a prize purse that was the equivalent to dead-last in the pro bracket. Thats truly sad and I feel bad that’s how it is.”
Optic Nation managed to be the sole survivor of MLG Anaheim’s 196 team open bracket last weekend, an impressive achievement for any team. For their marathon victory, playing 12 series, they pulled in $3,000 in winnings. That’s the same amount as Curse Australia got for losing every single game they played on the pro side of the tournament.
MLG’s DiGiovanni responded quickly, prompting this exchange.
. @EGACHESpp ever consider reaching out to us direct with concerns? Or would that just be too productive? You’re the Yankees – be leaders.
— Sundance DiGiovanni (@MLGSundance) June 27, 2014
@MLGSundance Ive done it before, mainly before in the Winter Inv, Season 1 days. Didn’t work then. Figured I’d still be a pawn in this game
— Patrick Price (@EGACHESpp) June 27, 2014
. @EGACHESpp my email is Sundance @ mlgpro dot com Consider me at your disposal For this to really work it needs us all to work together.
— Sundance DiGiovanni (@MLGSundance) June 27, 2014
That’s a sentiment that Price can get behind, despite his negative view of MLG policy. The game needs both the league and players and teams to move forward as an esport.
The biggest issue is, there is no bad guy. Everyone means well, its just being done the wrong way, IMO.
— Patrick Price (@EGACHESpp) June 27, 2014
