71 confessed that he is not a person who likes tattoos, and even rejects this matter. BUT IN 2016, HE LEFT EHOME ON HIS LEFT ARM, THE ONLY TATTOO ON HIS BODY.
"AT THAT TIME, IT (EHOME) WAS ALREADY IN A VERY IMPORTANT PLACE IN MY LIFE, JUST LIKE MY CHILDREN," HE SAID. I feel like it's really a part of my life, a good memory, and it's supposed to be there. ”
(Note: Because this article deals with historical events too early, Witness71 emphasizes to us that memory reproductions of some historical events may not be accurate.) If there is a discrepancy in the facts, please correct it. ）
Author: Erhao
ON MARCH 9, AFTER PERFECT WORLD ISSUED A BAN ANNOUNCEMENT INVOLVING 46 PLAYERS, EHOME WAS REMOVED FROM THE DPC CHINA LEAGUE.
THE NEXT DAY, FORMER EHOME CLUB MANAGER TANG WENYI (ID: 71) WROTE A TWEET: EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE, LIKE A DREAM BUBBLE. If dew is like electricity, it should be viewed as such.
In the eyes of many old players and fans, 71 is EHOME's "ironclad camp". Even though he's been retired from esports for a long time, fans still think of him at a time when the club is in a desperate moment and want to hear what the legendary coach has to say.
And 71 also learned of this incident in the @ of many fans, and finally wrote the above words.
For the once legendary club to fall into the current situation of "late festival insecurity", 71's response to some "hindsight" and the meaning of the four verses at the end of the Weibo content "Diamond Sutra" seem to represent his plainness and calmness.
BUT THE AVATAR OF THE EHOME TATTOO, WHICH HE HAS USED FOR MANY YEARS AND HAS NOT BEEN REPLACED, IS MEANINGFUL.
01
A "giving" 18 years ago
Everyone in the world thinks that 71 is one of the founding participants of EHOME, but this is not the case in his own memory.
Twenty years ago, on Gaoliangqiao Xie Street in Xizhimen, Beijing, there was an Internet café named Hunter. It was the largest Internet café in Beijing at the time, with 400 machines.
Such a scale allowed Hunter Internet Cafe to gather the largest number of game enthusiasts in Beijing, and also "hatched" the famous e-sports team of the same name - HUNTER Club in the circle at that time.
SKY, PJ, DEEP and many other famous "ancient gods" were once members of the HUNTER Club. And 71's career path also began with this club.
"I DID CS INSIDE (HUNTER CLUB), FIRST AS A TEAM LEADER AND THEN AS A COACH." 71 Memories.
In 2004, under his leadership, the CS team of HUNTER Club won the national championship of WCG that year. At that time, his ability to lead and coach was beginning to appear.
WITH THE SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCE ON WCG, 71 CARRIED THE BANNER HIMSELF AFTER HUNTER LEFT, WHICH ALSO LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR HIS ENCOUNTER WITH EHOME.
In the second half of 2004, under the leadership of the General Administration of Sports, the pattern of Chinese e-sports under the CEG (National Electronic Sports Games) system was gradually sorted out: only 10 clubs nationwide had officially recognized "e-sports club" licenses, and these 10 clubs also represented the 10 earliest provincial e-sports teams in China.
They have a unified title in the circle - Old Ten. 71 and his own team belong to Nanjing, while EHOME represents Beijing.
At that time, the clubs of the "Old Ten" had not only realized the urbanization layout that professional leagues such as KPL and PEL were now pursuing, but even opened the home-and-away system.
Of course, although the system of the industry at that time seemed quite advanced and professional, 71 knew very well that the conditions for front-line practitioners were extremely difficult.
He vividly remembers that during a away game to Beijing, "I couldn't eat at noon when I played the game" because the team was too short on funds.
"At that time, the Beijing club brought us some Red Bull, and then gave our children (71 players call them children) some food, which took great care of us." 71 recalled. HE CALLED EHOME'S HELP TO HIS TEAM "GIVING", "BECAUSE THAT TIME OF GIVING, THERE WAS SUCH A CAUSE." ”
The "alms" from the outside obviously could not change the overly difficult living conditions of their own team, so it didn't take long for the 71st team to reach the end.
Looking at the children who were going to "wander" because the team was disbanded, 71 dialed the phone number of Li Xiaodong, the owner of EHOME at the time: "We children are dispersed now, do you see if there are any team members you like?" I can help with matchmaking. ”
To 71's surprise, Li Xiaodong solemnly threw an olive branch to himself after selecting a few team members. In fact, Li Xiaodong's favor for him is not difficult to explain, the latter at that time, in addition to leading the team very well, there was another identity - the coach of the CS project Chinese national team.
JUST LIKE THAT, THE STORY OF 71 AND EHOME OFFICIALLY BEGAN.
02
THE "BIRTH" OF EHOME
IN 2005, WHEN HE JOINED EHOME AT '71, THE SIZE OF THE CLUB COULD ALREADY BE DESCRIBED AS EXAGGERATED. The headquarters of the original EHOME is located on the 5th floor of Zhongguancun Digital Building, Haidian District, Beijing, which occupies the entire floor and covers an area of nearly 2,000 square meters.
Of course, all this is not entirely due to the "banknote ability" of the club owner. At that time, the Haidian District Government issued a policy to support emerging industries, which are both e-sports in emerging industries and EHOME, which is naturally close to the water with Beijing roots.
The venue is large, and the club's e-sports stalls are also very large, from CS, Intergalactic, Warcraft to FIFA and Need for Speed, covering almost all the popular competitions at that time.
In 71's memory, this base can not only meet the training and combat needs of multiple project divisions, but also provide various manufacturers for press conferences and training camps. Even the esports national team at the time would train and hold meetings at EHOME's headquarters.
In addition to this, there were millions worth of direct broadcasting equipment at the club base at the time. All of the above impressed 71, who was accustomed to a hard life in the industry.
Surprisingly, these favorable conditions were not the key reason for his stay.
"At that time, I felt that they did have the intention to do e-sports well, but I felt that they were not particularly experienced and efficient, so I wanted to help them sort out, thinking that if I could help get something, I would leave after one and a half years." 71 IS BLUNT ABOUT HIS MOOD WHEN HE FIRST ARRIVED AT EHOME, AND HE IS MORE LIKE RETURNING A FAVOR FOR THE PREVIOUS "ALMSGIVING".
Until he and the boss came to a heart-to-heart push, this time it was related to the "birth" of EHOME.
It has been almost 20 years, the EHOME logo is still engraved in the minds of many gamers and DOTers, even if the person or thing behind it has temporarily reached the "end", but everyone knows that the box that has never changed records most of the memories of Chinese e-sports, and also records the youth of countless people.
This "box" was not designed by 71, but by Li Xiaodong, the boss at the time. In that conversation, Li Xiaodong and 71 described the original intention of designing this LOGO: "It is like a Rubik's cube, when it is opened, there are all kinds of subtle and brilliant lights blooming inside, and these lights can produce all kinds of possibilities." ”
The chemistry came so subtly that these "lights" seemed to shine on 71's heart, "and he brought me into that realm [of looking forward to the future]."
But what else does this "box" seem to be missing?
It is a slogan, a spirit that can be engraved in everyone's memory.
After that, 71 always wrote and drew on paper, listing many Slogans that he felt were good, and in the end, Li Xiaodong's description of "brilliant light in a box" inspired him.
At this point, EHOME was officially "born", and a row of English letters appeared under its LOGO: THE ONE AND THE ONLY.
With this spiritual guide, the development of EHOME is obviously much sharper: in the 71 specialized CS project, EHOME has become the first batch of clubs in China to introduce the concept of "women's CS". In 2006, 71 led the EHOME CS women's team E-HonoR to the runner-up at the ESWC (Esports World Cup), which was then on par with WCG.
In addition, EHOME's exchanges with international esports have also become more intensive, and the introduction of "foreign aid" from overseas top players to promote technical and tactical exchanges and enhance the strength of the club.
At that time, EHOME, which was "injected into the soul", was constantly exploring the development and imagination of e-sports, which also brought out 71's proud ambition: "I want to make it a century-old store!" ”
03
Dota dynasty on a tightrope
In the history of EHOME, DOTA may be the most critical and core sector, and the glory of the DOTA team is even equivalent to the glory of the club as a whole. BUT MANY PEOPLE DON'T KNOW THAT BEHIND THE GLORY, THE SEPARATION OF DREAM AND REALITY RUNS THROUGH THE EHOME DOTA DYNASTY.
CONTINUING "THE ONE AND THE ONLY", THE CLUB'S FORAY INTO DOTA IS STILL IN A LEADING POSITION IN THE INDUSTRY. In 2007, EHOME incorporated the HtmL team and established its own DOTA division, and it seems that the former action is not too early.
But in fact, when the RPG map in Dota War3 was just becoming popular in China, 71 launched a research on this project in the club.
In order to better understand the project and determine its development potential, 71 spoke several times with IceFrog, a map programmer at DOTA, on the social software MSN at the time. However, in the face of the RPG map produced by the "small workshop", the ice frog did not have much concept of the e-sports path of this work at that time, and was even a little confused.
ACROSS THE INDUSTRY, IT'S NOT JUST EHOME THAT SMELLS NEW OPPORTUNITIES. 71 remembers that while the club was preparing for the DOTA project, there were already external brands that threw olive branches to them, willing to provide some funds and resources for them to form a DOTA team. Even if the financial support from external brands did not materialize, it had already sent a signal at the time that Dota had the potential to become a top esports event.
FROM 2007 TO 2011, IT WAS PROBABLY THE PEAK OF THE EHOME'S MOMENTUM AND INFLUENCE. EHOME wins 90% of all esports events in a year, and the legend of the "Ten Champions", which is widely praised by everyone, occurs at this stage.
How beautiful EHOME was at that time can be seen from the lineup of big-name sponsors that the club worked with: Razer, Gigabyte, and Intel.
But 71 admits that the state of the club at that time was "tightrope walking".
At that time, EHOME's survival funds basically came from Jiujiu Interactive Entertainment, another company of the club owner Li Xiaodong at that time.
"At that time, EHOME's survival model was to earn money and spend it, but when the club side will survive, when it will be self-sufficient, when it will be profitable, I don't know." 71 said.
As mentioned earlier, EHOME's hardware level is very luxurious, but because the club itself has almost no source of income, everyone's life is still tight, and there have even been salary delays.
At that time, 71 often appeared in front of the media as a club manager, but in fact his role at the time was very complicated.
From arranging the players' training to eating, drinking, and sleeping, from renting an apartment to buying water, from signing contracts to carrying bags, his work is meticulous.
In the words of 71, at that time, EHOME's financial strength did not allow for more abundant conditions, and one step was not good, "maybe the whole club will have to fold in".
And at that time, the whole Chinese esports was also walking a tightrope. "With our top results nationally and internationally at the time, we could only ensure food and clothing, and we can imagine how other clubs will survive." 71 frankly.
04
Curtain call at the height of its heyday
71 CONSIDERS 2011-2012 AS THE LAST PHASE OF THE ORIGINAL EHOME. BECAUSE AT THIS STAGE, EHOME SEEMS TO REALLY ACHIEVE "THE ONE AND THE ONLY."
At the 2011 Games Show in Cologne, the first ever Dota 2 International tournament opened, with a total prize pool of $1.6 million and a $1 million exclusive to the winning team. With the prize pool alone, the first TI caused a shock in the entire industry.
What's more worth mentioning is that at the first TI1 International Tournament, EHOME from China was shaped as the "big devil".
On March 18, 2014, the world's first Dota 2 documentary "Free to Play" produced by game developer V Company premiered in San Francisco. THE DOCUMENTARY CHRONICLES THE STORY OF THE THREE PLAYERS OF THE FIRST DOTA 2 INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT, NONE OF WHOM ARE FROM EHOME, BUT ALMOST ALL OF THE FILM TELLS HOW BRILLIANT EHOME WAS AT THAT TIME.
"THE MANAGER OF EHOME TOOK NOTE OF THE HERO LINEUP AND MADE THE PREPARATIONS, AND HE IS THE EQUIVALENT OF THE COACH OF THE PLAYERS."
"Their manager is sitting right behind them, he's making all kinds of decisions, and he's always carrying his little black book, and it's the first time I've heard that there's a team that's so professional."
This is the impression of 71 from overseas players in "Free to Play".
At that time, Dendi, who was still young in the camera, said: "If you want to get a good place in the competition, don't invite the Chinese team to participate, because they are too strong." ”
Everyone also knows that the Chinese team in Dendi's mouth is EHOME, which has just won the honor of "Ten Champions".
At that time, 71 was also in good spirits: "We are in any international arena, all the managers and players of foreign teams, when they see us, they will all shout EHOME!" ”
When everyone sees Ehome, they naturally think that the king is going to enter.
NO ONE WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT AT THIS TIME, THE COUNTDOWN TO THE COLLAPSE OF THE EHOME DYNASTY HAD BEGUN.
What caused the dynasty to fall apart so soon after TI1 ended? The answer may still haunt many fans and viewers who don't know what to do to this day.
Even if EHOME were defeated in the TI1 final, the $250,000 runner-up prize was still an astronomical amount for them.
71 recalled, even if the club achieved ten championships one year ago, the total bonus added up to only 5.6 million yuan. The $250,000 was close to 2 million yuan at the exchange rate at the time.
BETTER GAMING PRODUCTS (DOTA 2), HEAVIER ESPORTS EVENTS (TI), AND A LUCRATIVE PRIZE POOL, THE SITUATION IN FRONT OF EHOME SEEMS TO BE VERY GOOD, BUT FOR CLUB INVESTORS, THE SURVIVAL LOGIC OF THE INDUSTRY AT THAT TIME WAS STILL CHAOTIC.
Even the birth of a TI level of competition still does not change the reality that the club has no source of income, and the reason is simple: the income that bonuses can bring to the club is too unstable.
IT WAS AT THIS LEVEL THAT ANOTHER THING THAT ACCELERATED THE DISSOLUTION OF EHOME APPEARED. The "rich second generation Plus" represented by Wang Sicong began to enter e-sports, which promoted great changes in the industry environment.
Wang Sicong's entry into esports created two major events - the establishment of the IG team and the establishment of the ACE League.
The influx of huge capital not only represents the doubling of the salary of esports professionals, but also brings out more content such as "signing fees" that increase the operating costs of clubs, which has led to the "food and clothing line" that many established clubs, including EHOME, have tried to maintain in the past to be completely broken.
This wave is not something that a club can resist with good results. "In addition to recognizing you (the club brand), everyone also recognizes money, and if you don't pay for it, you really can't sign good players." 71 said.
In addition, with the establishment of the ACE Alliance, the clash of interests between new players and old guns has also been put on the table.
71 and Wang Sicong's first meeting happened during the ACE alliance meeting, but this meeting did not end happily, but the two pointed at Mai Mang. BECAUSE THE LEAGUE ACCUSED HIM OF SIGNING PLAYERS IN VIOLATION OF THE RULES, EHOME WAS "BANNED" BY ACE, AND OTHER LEAGUE TEAMS WERE ASKED NOT TO ALLOW ANY TRAINING WITH EHOME.
71 recalled that at that time, the clubs signed players whose contracts expired, but the wood was already in place, which became the last straw that crushed the camel: in the environment where the survival of the industry has not been sorted out, the "infighting" between clubs or the "internal friction" between capitals completely frustrated the boss.
As for the boss's decision to give up EHOME, the empathetic 71 said: "When you (the club) can produce results, you will suffer a lot of sins, but the problem is that even if you suffer these sins, even if you get results, you still may not survive, so I can actually understand it at the time." ”
05
NEW EHOME AND OLD ISSUES
On Baidu Encyclopedia, the history of EHOME's team reads: On January 1, 2015, 71 re-established EHOME Club. In fact, the prototype of this club was not EHOME.
Near 2015, Sun Xiyao, the owner of Firecat Live at the time, acquired Team LV and wanted to develop his own esports business. This boss is not small, from Huaxi Village, once the "richest village in China". With a team, it is natural to need a strong and talented management talent.
Under the guidance of Pan Jie (now CEO of LGD Esports Club), Sun Xiyao and 71 met in Shanghai.
The former asked 71 a key question: "What do you want?" ”
His answer was blunt, saying, "I just want to be a club, EHOME." ”
The reason why 71 is obsessed with the EHOME signboard is simple, from an emotional point of view, there are a large number of players and fans who have witnessed the glory of EHOME, and everyone has an obsession and recognition of this club. FROM A REALISTIC POINT OF VIEW, RAZER, INTEL, GIGABYTE, CHERRY AND OTHER BRANDS HAVE BEEN PARTNERS OF EHOME, AND THIS SIGNBOARD IS ALSO RICH IN BUSINESS RESOURCES, "IF YOU WANT TO BE A CLUB BRAND, WHY NOT EHOME?" ”
One side has strong funds, the other side has experience, and the value accumulated by EHOME over the years makes the two hit it off and talk happily. Soon, Sun Xiyao got the EHOME signboard from the previous boss Li Xiaodong.
71's spiciness in club management and team leadership was also quickly displayed, and the restructured EHOME won consecutive championships such as the Hui Night Cup, Shanghai Open, Dota 2 International Elite Invitational, Bucharest Minor and other tournaments. It also reached fifth place on TI5 and TI6.
PROBABLY THE MOST MEMORABLE OF THE DAYS WHEN EHOME HAS JUST BEEN RESTRUCTURED IS 71 AT THE END OF 2015 AT THE TS4 PINNACLE LEAGUE, WHERE HE LED THE TEAM TO LOS ANGELES. THERE, EHOME'S RESULTS ARE NOT OUTSTANDING, BUT THERE ARE A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE THAT THE "OLD KING" AT THIS TIME IS IN THE CRITICAL STAGE OF "REBIRTH", INCLUDING THEMSELVES.
At the time, 71 made the big decision to tattoo EHOME on his left arm, the only tattoo on his body.
BUT IRONICALLY, SUCH A BOND THAT SEEMS TO NEVER BE SEVERED SOON WITNESSES THE SEVERING OF ITS OWNER AND EHOME.
From the EHOME reorganization to 2017, various controversies spread internally, 71 and the team. Externally, ACE's "care" for them is also still going on.
SOON, AHEAD OF THE TI7 QUALIFIERS, 71 HELPED THE CLUB WITH ONE LAST SIGNING, OPTING TO LEAVE BEFORE EHOME SUCCESSFULLY SIGNED Faith_bian AND Y TEAM.
When it comes to the reason for leaving, he summed it up in one sentence: "I don't think it's what I want anymore." ”
IT'S NOT SURPRISING THAT 71'S AND EHOME'S SECOND RELATIONSHIP ENDED SO QUICKLY, EVEN IF MORE MEMORIES OF THE CONTROVERSY ASIDE, ALTHOUGH THE INDUSTRY AT THAT TIME WAS MUCH CHANGED FROM AROUND 2010, BUT THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM WAS NOT SOLVED.
So later, the "second generation" of EHOME soon could not continue to operate, and even reached the situation of "selling his body", and even now he was removed because of the fake competition. All this seems to be a chain reaction.
06
The difficulty of "palm down"
Recalling the restructuring of EHOME in 2015, 71 discovered the earth-shaking changes in the entire industry in hindsight.
AT THAT TIME, HE WAS OBSESSED WITH REVIVING EHOME, BUT HE DIDN'T CARE THAT ALL THE CLUBS HAD ALREADY LIVED IN LARGE VILLAS. At the same time, each villa is fully equipped with jobs from team leader and coach to cleaning and cooking aunts.
This is a configuration that the original EHOME could not have imagined, and it is also a microcosm of the changing conditions of the entire esports industry.
In 71's view, such changes can be summarized as improving living conditions, but it cannot be described as improving the industry environment. Because everyone soon found that as the conditions of the players became better and better, the salary and overall income became more and more exaggerated, and it seemed that it was more and more difficult for the team to achieve results.
"This is a question that needs to be thought about and dialectically answered, it cannot be said that the environment is not good when you take 5,000 yuan, and if you take 50,000 or 500,000, the environment will be good, I don't think so." Many teams are gone, or drumming flowers are sold, you don't think the ecology is not destroyed, right? You don't think the mentality of the players hasn't changed, do you? 71 said.
In addition to the bubble caused by the "internal involvement" and "internal consumption" of industry capital, the "explosive" income brought by game live broadcast platforms to industry players is also another important factor affecting the mentality of players.
"There are a lot of players who have the idea that I'm retiring more than I'm active. It's true, a retired player is paid more than an active player who trains 12 hours a day, so the active player has to wonder, 'Why should I be busy for 12 hours', right? "71 expressed his opinion.
When talking about this topic, "palm down" is also a word he highlighted. In his opinion, if the team wants to perform, it is necessary to train hard with the palm down.
"But in this state of the industry, you tell the players that we will train 12 hours or more a day from now on, how much and how much hardship will we have to endure, is it possible?"
"Besides, the most difficult thing to hear, are all the current players and coaches palms down?"
07
A person who has an EHOME tattooed on his body
ALTHOUGH WHEN EHOME GOT TO WHERE HE IS NOW, 71 DESCRIBED HIS MENTALITY AS "AS IT SHOULD BE", HIS WORDS STILL REVEAL AN "OBSESSION" WITH THE CLUB HE USED TO BE, ESPECIALLY WHEN TALKING ABOUT THE TATTOO.
71 confessed that he is not a person who likes tattoos, and even rejects this matter. BUT IN 2016, HE LEFT EHOME ON HIS LEFT ARM, THE ONLY TATTOO ON HIS BODY.
"AT THAT TIME, IT (EHOME) WAS ALREADY IN A VERY IMPORTANT PLACE IN MY LIFE, JUST LIKE MY CHILDREN," HE SAID. I feel like it's really a part of my life, a good memory, and it's supposed to be there. ”
Talking about this pattern that contains too much content, 71 lifted his cuffs again, and he remembered that more than 6 years ago, this "EHOME" was brightly colored, and the "Rubik's Cube" bloomed with the "brilliant light" that everyone longed for.
But because of his professional experience, he never touched the tattoo again.
"The light of it (the tattoo) has dimmed and may be like what is happening now."