TLDR: thank you to all the players who are out there, keeping a level head, staying positive, and giving out criticism when it's applicable and not just because you've got a thing to say.

Long version:

This community is great, and despite all the whining, it does a lot for keeping us all together and promotes (often enough, at least) the idea that staying positive, and self reflecting are the best ways to "climb the ladder." I say that, because not everyone is really interested in elo, but almost all of us are interested in improving. Why? Because we are here to have fun and as I've heard "winning means having fun."

But we all know that's absolutely not true. Winning =/= fun. So many of us are grinding it out. Yet, still, we know rank essentially means nothing. Upper elo is a shit show. Lower elo is a shit show.

So to those of you who don't already know, when you're choosing a main, it's not really important who you play (play everyone to know what their abilities are...play a couple reliably), but your attitude. So many of us are easily tilted, and end up tilting our teammates. Not a winning strategy, but we've all got our flaws.

What video games lack, what esports lack, is a reliable community of adults (coaches) to guide younger players. This isn't just in game strategy, but also on how to be an admirable winner, and even a dignified loser.

It's so painful to see an otherwise silent topfrag teammate say "ez" when they were just about to exit like a boss. It's seriously the effect of looking back at the explosion just to be sure you're ok. Don't reveal your fragile ego, lol. Play it cool, man. People will look up to you more. Now, I'm not really talking about the bottom frag troll who says "gg ez" as a joke. That's kinda irritating, but par the course. If we were all there in person, a good deal of us might laugh, but usually the older players will smirk and give that kid a bit of a "seriously, m8" look. It's all in good fun, but being there in person gives off a lot of phsycial ques that we absolutely don't get in game.

so for all of you who have the ability to keep it cool, play nice, and keep the team together: you're doing a great job, and you're absolutely doing the best for your team.

To summate: keep on keeping your head. have fun. This shit can be super irritating, so seeing a player's fragile ego doesn't evoke strength, and we all know it. You can be playing to win, playing to improve, and still have fun. It's not videowork

<3, stay cool