Saturday, February 9, 2013

Ken "xanderK" Smith Released from S2: An Introspective Reasoning

This is the third draft I've written about this topic, and the one I chose to release. Why? Because I believe that whatever I write is going to come across as either being butt hurt, or vengeful. And while I love to get gossip out there, whatever I write is going to based off of my experiences with S2 Games, and that makes it hard for me to be objective. While I like to get gossip out, I don't like to just smear people for no reason. I look at personal experience, at facts given to me. I may just be some washed up nobody, but I still have respect for myself and for proper journalism. Hongossip has had renewed life and interest for me over the past week, and I'm happy to be writing again.

So let's get down to it.

The truth of the matter is, Ken is a great guy. I've known him just as long as I have known Breaky, and as far as community servants go, I can't think of anyone more passionate about Heroes of Newerth. In fact, aside from Breaky, I can't think of anyone who did as much for Heroes of Newerth both on and off the radar as Ken. For that, his release from the company is definitely a travesty. It's hard to see someone who was as public as a figure as Ken was removed from his position. Once again, the reason we're getting is "S2 is moving in a different direction" but that's just the easy way of saying, "We think we found someone who can do what you're doing better." And you know what..

They are probably right. But before you guys all call me an asshole, let me fully explain.

I love Ken and value his friendship, but honestly, he probably wasn't everything S2 needed as a Community Manager; just like I obviously wasn't everything they needed as a Director of eSports. At the time, I focused so much of my efforts on stabilizing the competitive community and making sure that the competitors knew I was approachable, that I lost the big picture and the ability to be an actual Director or Manager. I think Ken was like this as well. I've known him long enough to say that Ken always had his heart in the right place, but not always his head, just like me. On the flip side of that though, you begin to wonder about why so many roles that lack definition have such high turnover. Ken and I weren't the first people in our roles at the company, for instance; we replaced others.

The roles for our positions were never really defined. I was never sat down in a performance review type of setting with goals and outlines dictated to me by a superior, they simply let me work on whatever it was I wanted to work on. It makes it hard for an employee to understand what the employer wants when the employer seemingly doesn't either understand or know exactly what they want. Now, I can't speak for Ken in this subject because I've been gone for nearly 5 months now; but I remember going to work without knowing exactly what was in store for me. This was compounded by the fact that, like Ken, I reported to a myriad of people and had my hat in so many different rings I hardly knew who was in charge of me and which items took priority. To be short, and blunt: there was a failure in the chain of command at S2 Games when I was there. One that, I truly believe, has been corrected. And this is why Ken met his end with the Company.

I believe that S2 Games is finally looking at the big picture, and I believe that AceJR's achievements will surpass xanderK's as a Community Manager;  just as I think Milkfat's achievements will surpass mine as a Director of eSports. Not because these people are more passionate about the growth of S2 Games or HoN, but because these employees have seen their predecessors' faults. This is the time for S2 Games to prove it's moved on from being "just an indie company." If these community servants fail, it will be because S2 Games failed them.

33 comments:

  1. I want to run my fingers down your happy trail phil

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  2. HoN?? e-sports??? right now LoL and Dota are the real deal, hon don't gonna survive 2 more years... e-spots on hon ?? hahahahahahaha

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    1. Hon dont gonna surive? what does that mean brah

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    2. -If you're a troll, then just get out of here
      -If you really believe what you just said, then just wait and see. HoN has never been bigger and it only seems to grow stronger and stronger.

      Imo, if one of this games won't survive in e-sports, this has to be League of Legends. Competitors prefer it now because of the much larger prizepools. However, I highly doubt it that DotA2 and HoN will let Riot keep on with that lead

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    3. You are fuckin delusional to think that HoN is gonna become as huge as dota2/LoL. I like HoN, but I'm sorry - there's no fuckin chance that HoN is gonna be the bigger esports game than either games considering how long its been out.

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    4. Dota 2 is never going to be as big as LoL yet that doesn't stop some people from enjoying the scene. It's cute how you group those 2 together, when in fact dota 2 is much closer to Hon than lol is to dota 2.

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  3. As someone that's worked for s2 in a lesser (but still paid) capacity in the past, that 4th paragraph is so true it hurts to even read it.

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  4. who better testie moon

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  5. xanderK you have failed this company!
    (My name is Maliken. For five years I was stranded on an island with only one goal: survive.)

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    1. This made me lol.

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    2. I'm still laughing, about 9 hours after I read it. I was sleeping on that show, figured it was gonna by more CW trash, but it's actually not awful. Like Batman with a nutsack.

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    3. LOL, great show though.

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  6. Director of esports...who are you?

    Also, have you noticed how Ask S2 hasn't been updated in a while?
    :balp:

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    1. you are an idiot

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    3. Ismael, it was a sad day for HoN when they didn't choose you to replace XanderK, SAID NO ONE FUCKING EVER.

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  7. Is S2 gonna make a news item on the forum about xanderK's release?

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  8. Phil tells it like it is :) My question is though what changed or who rather that made them have more structure. I left a job because of the exact thing that you are describing. What it comes down to in the end with no performance reviews/structure hard to live up to what management expects of the position. It's almost like mgt has higher goals/expectations than is realistic. Case & point: Milk fat said in stream a while ago about him getting an assistant, so they finally realize that maybe it's too much for one person to do all the things they were expecting.

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    1. Lol, that's what they said to Phil at first as well ;)

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  9. XanderK was released cause Soontour didnt come soon enough, confirmed by franzzi

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  10. Yeah well, the truth hurts. I hope xanderk got a backup plan for his life.

    btw still wanna know why tralf left honcast to join a mediocre team like otp, or was he fired as well?

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    Replies
    1. His girlfriend got a job in vancouver.

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  11. everytime i read this gossipgoat crap xoxo becasue phil has nothing better to do in his life i feel like im losing braincells
    #lasttimeireadthiscrap
    #youhadnocompetativeinsight
    #bald_thethrill

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  12. Fucking corny fat piece of shit cunt get a life my god.

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  13. Rofl all the previous comments, almost noone saying anything on the topic at hand. The kind of people this site attracts...

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  14. Pathetic shit blog, die in a hole please

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  15. Thanks for that bit of insight.

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  16. Great post Phil, explains a lot about s2 really.

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