: Y'all got spanked. Embarrassed. Humiliated. If it weren't for [TSD]NartFOpc's
: assistance in the Shotty CTF game, and the help of non-HBOer LOGIQ in the
: Adrift CTF game, it would have been a complete rout. But I'm not going to
: trample on a dead team's grave with a recap or write-up. Instead I'd just
: like to visit a few things that went wrong.

: 1. Notable absences. If Snipe and Avateur had played, it would have been a
: competitive night. Snipe had plans unfortunately, and Avateur refuses to
: play Halo 4. MoltenSlowa flaked out. Xenos kind of committed but didn't
: show up. CARDO's non-HBO friends and NartFOpc had to help out just to even
: the numbers out.

: 2. Disparate interests. Pkmnrulz saw the night as a chance to beat TSD in
: battle. IsThisThingOn and Malagate, seldom-active holdouts from the
: Golden Age of HBO, wanted to chill out and relive 2005. CARDO just wanted
: to play Halo. TSD, even though we had to bring some members out of
: retirement, presented with a united front and united with a common
: purpose. Except for UnrealChief whose purpose diverged at a critical
: moment near the end of the Shotty CTF game (he is currently serving out a
: two-game suspension).

: 3. Lack of leadership. Snipe was the ostensible captain of Team HBO, but did
: not act as such. This is probably because he had a feeling he wouldn't be
: able to play anyway, but regardless, the lack of leadership on HBO's side
: made planning and organizing difficult. There was no one person on the
: other side for me to negotiate settings/gametypes with, or to beat a team
: out of the HBO userlist. It got to the point where I was the one
: corralling Team HBO. That's not a good situation.

: 4. General lack of interest/malaise. This might be TSD's fault as much as
: HBO's: I might have done too good a job of recruiting the skilled and
: ambitious players from here, leaving behind only non-competitive
: canon-peddlers. With one email to our patented "mailing list" I
: had succeeded in rustling up a team of men, some of whom hadn't touched
: Halo in months but were nonetheless eager to compete. Even little kanbo,
: cooking pot on head, enlisted. Why not HBO?

: I would like to play the real Team HBO. I know it's out there. Snipe,
: Avateur, etc. But I'm not going to force the issue, the challenge would
: have to come from you. If you can get the real Team HBO together, we're
: ready. Halo 4, Reach, or Halo 3, when the roosters are crowing and the
: cows are spinning circles in the pasture: ducks fly together.

Yeah, I was definitely with CARDO and probably thought more of a fun night of customs against an above average competition. Not so much obviously. Add to that, I had a 101* temp with Tonsillitis and the flu at the same time, I don't think I used my mic but twice the whole night...not really conducive to teamwork. Sorry HBO.

I will say from HBO's side of things, that first game when we had Pkmnrulz and Nart communicating and ordering flow, it felt really good. So I think your point #3 was probably the biggest cause for a less than lackluster HBO performance.

- MacGyver10