: 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.

And, again, for the record, I'd just like to thank Nart for being such a good sport about that. Nart: all-around good guy.

: 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.

The invitation was out there for a few days ahead of time, so, really, Team HBO has no excuse as to why we weren't able to come up with enough players for a team. Pathetic, really.

: 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).

You linked to my post, so I won't bother repeating everything here... but, yeah. I really didn't see this as a combination casual hug-fest and tea party, and Schooly, I know you didn't either. That's why I'm a little irked that so many people from Team HBO approached this as such. (Still can't believe we pulled out a tie from that first game... YES SCHOOLY IT WAS A TIE.)

: 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.

I personally was hoping Snipe would show up and do all of the above. Of course he didn't, and then we never really had a foundation for Team HBO to sit on and build upon.

: 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 think it goes back to the overly casual attitude of too many players. Perhaps you have recruited most of the more competitive players. Maybe. But, yeah, the only name on Team HBO that I even recognized was CARDO, and I don't think I've ever played with him before.

: 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.