pretty good post about the hon comp scene
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It's dead in a sense of being a "big time" esport game. Just look at the sponsors who left, and the sponsors replacing them. EG, Empire, OK, SK, Complexity has been replaced with.. Aerosol Esports? Who is that? I took a look at their sponsors just now...
http://www.aekro.be/ <-- makes jerseys, logos for website
http://www.betfair.com/ <--...horse racing? Sports betting website, shady sponsor?
http://www.iw-hosting.de/ <-- typical website hosting sponsor, probably hosts site for free and calls it a deal
http://gamersuniform.com/ <-- more jerseys
http://www.my-cb.de/ <-- more websites
So.. this team is sponsored by small time webserver hosts and companies who make jerseys and graphical design. Personally I would of taken the small time sponsors who at least provide a headset and mousepads... even though if YsR wins anything from HoN its going to be mousepads anyways.
I mean, lets compare that to Empire Esports, who is sponsored by Razer, Seagate, and Adidas. Large corporate names. Even if they may actually provide less (though I can assure you, they don't) than these small time names, representing large companies provides legitimacy to your organization, and it shows that the game, and team you're playing for is big enough that big companies want exposure in.
Big gaming organizations with big sponsors is good for HoN. Unknown gaming organizations with unknown sponsors does nothing. Just because you have "Esports" in your name does not mean you did anything to help the scene.
Basically what i'm getting at, is HoN's shot at being with the "big boy" games is gone. It doesn't matter how super amazing HonTour is promised to be, and even if its the best thing since sliced bread when it gets underway (if it gets underway) it won't bring back all the big sponsors. The scene is banished to be second rate forever now because it never built on the huge momentum it once had. NASL did nothing for HoN because its a trash organization that even the SC2 community laughs at. For now on you'll see 1, maybe 2 legitimate sponsors, and a whole ton of small fry who will "sponsor" a team for a month or two, then that team disbands for another one. From now until eternity.
The damage is done, and it can never be repaired. The laughable thing is, the "Esports Director" for HoN, Phil_The_Thrill has probably done more to damage the scene than he can ever do to help it. The entire Complexity/NASL fiasco was just terrible....