Definitely heard all of the feedback and would probably make a couple key tweaks to qualification format if I could go back in time. Currently, HCS actually has strong momentum with growing viewership, as well as participation at open events. I also think the open events with Gfinity in Mexico and London were crucial for those scenes, and am very happy we were able to deliver our first official open events in those regions. There's definitely a lot room for improvement and we have already taken steps to grow the entire scene more (Summer and Fall 2017 Finals being open events, and crowdfunding going to open events).
I personally feel we need to do a way better job at communicating rules, formats, reasons for decisions, and timelines further ahead. Believe it or not we have improved in these areas but still not where I want us to be. I also want to focus on building relationships with more players in the amateur scene to get better feel of what motivates them, what are their wants/needs, etc. I also want to ensure all HCS events provide unforgettable experiences that people regret not attending. Those are just a few of my goals for 2017.
Lastly I think it's important to note that the HCS team is small, but we're tough and extremely passionate. And just like any other team working on a program/project, we have logistical and resource boundaries that we must work within.
BTW - I absolutely love how much HCS talk there is in HaloGAF these days. Years ago, people only really spoke about it around major events. I'm also noticing more chatter in general Halo communities like on Waypoint and r/Halo.
Gfinity was pretty awesome. For example. I respect the tough, inconvenient, call they made in LATAM, to bring more integrity to the qualification format.
Also, it's nice to know you aren't satisfied yet. Early and frequent communication is key. I think there were a lot of details in the Worlds qualification format that probably could have been properly addressed if people actually knew the scoring system ahead of time. Teams didn't know how many points they had earned until registering for the first online cup.
As far as building a relationship with AMs, they all seem to congregate at Team Beyond. I know things seem contentious atm, but that place could easily be a vital resource to the HCS team. It really would be nice to see more interaction and discussion there. Neighbor has been stepping up his presence there with comments on The balancing side of things, so that's a start. It's also worth mentioning that folks from TB are driving much of the HCS discussion on Reddit and Waypoint. They want the scene to grow too!
As far as what AMs are motivated by, I'd say it's opportunities to earn $ and the aspiration to become pro. That's why having frequent opportunities to compete against Pros
on a level playing field is key. (Also, east coast LANs)
Season 1 of pro league was rough on AMs because they were completely separated from Pros. Pros had no reason to scrim them, and they couldn't get any LAN experience prior to relegation.
Season 2 saw immediate results as AMs had more chances to guage themselves on LAN
With Worlds, we finally saw some overlap between AM and Pro caliber performance, and it would have been nice to see AMs actually get rewarded for their performance, rather than seeing Pros get arbitrary bonuses for being pros.
