Shrinkzxo Profile Joined August 2014 Dotoland 268 Posts #1 Anna Zhang, Wings Media Officer

Speaks out

The following is a





Comments here represent my personal view only.



I know everyone wants to know what really has happened, and whether the rumours are true or not. I am very confused these days as well, overwhelmed with a feeling of helplessness. It is almost like trying catching a blob of water. You can only watch it flow away and can’t do anything to hold it.



I am an employee of the club, and before the official announcement, I am not allowed to say a word. But when there are so many rumors smearing the company, I just feel sad. For things ending up as they are, both sides are to blame. From each person’s point of view, their interpretations of the events will be different. While it is clearly an outcome no one wanted, but due to various circumstances and reasons, it has come to this.



I won’t be able to reveal what happened behind the scenes, but there are rumours I want to squash.



It is said that TI prize money was withheld or a large cut taken by the company. Actually the players got 80%. And the money went directly from Valve to players’ accounts. There was no way the company could withhold the money.



The company is not a charity; it wants growth; it wants profits. Using the share of prize money to flame the club makes no sense. When the team did not achieve great results, the club did not give up. From the beginning to the end the club has never considered selling the Dota2 team.



Lastly, the team currently does not have a new org. They have simply independently formed Team Random. For fans of the team, they are still playing as the same five. Tagging up under the banner of Wings shouldn’t matter so much.



In response to the comment section:



The club never thought about breaking up the five.



What I wanted to say is both sides share in the blame for things becoming they way they are. It is not that the players had no choice.



Nobody from the company knew I was posting this. I am just an impatient person. After seeing so many comments attacking the company, I just wanted to say something for the company. I joined Wings last July, I feel it more than you guys. I am not doing PR, this is just a personal act.





Source: https://www.zhihu.com/question/58696247/answer/158118416

Translator: Shrinkzxo

Editor: Tangeng The following is a direct translation from the Chinese version of Quora. Anna Zhang, Media Officer for Wings Gaming came to the website to clear up a few things about the reasons for the team leaving their organization on her own personal accord. We are still waiting on an official statement from the org itself, but this is a first look at what may have gone into the decision by the players to leave.Comments here represent my personal view only.I know everyone wants to know what really has happened, and whether the rumours are true or not. I am very confused these days as well, overwhelmed with a feeling of helplessness. It is almost like trying catching a blob of water. You can only watch it flow away and can’t do anything to hold it.I am an employee of the club, and before the official announcement, I am not allowed to say a word. But when there are so many rumors smearing the company, I just feel sad. For things ending up as they are, both sides are to blame. From each person’s point of view, their interpretations of the events will be different. While it is clearly an outcome no one wanted, but due to various circumstances and reasons, it has come to this.I won’t be able to reveal what happened behind the scenes, but there are rumours I want to squash.It is said that TI prize money was withheld or a large cut taken by the company. Actually the players got 80%. And the money went directly from Valve to players’ accounts. There was no way the company could withhold the money.The company is not a charity; it wants growth; it wants profits. Using the share of prize money to flame the club makes no sense. When the team did not achieve great results, the club did not give up. From the beginning to the end the club has never considered selling the Dota2 team.Lastly, the team currently does not have a new org. They have simply independently formed Team Random. For fans of the team, they are still playing as the same five. Tagging up under the banner of Wings shouldn’t matter so much.In response to the comment section:The club never thought about breaking up the five.What I wanted to say is both sides share in the blame for things becoming they way they are. It is not that the players had no choice.Nobody from the company knew I was posting this. I am just an impatient person. After seeing so many comments attacking the company, I just wanted to say something for the company. I joined Wings last July, I feel it more than you guys. I am not doing PR, this is just a personal act. Translator https://twitter.com/shrinkzxo

ahswtini Profile Joined June 2008 Northern Ireland 16336 Posts #2 thx for the translation. still curious as to how this $3m was squandered on a league time "As I've said, balance isn't about strategies or counters, it's about probability and statistics." - paralleluniverse

TanGeng Profile Joined January 2009 Sanya 5606 Posts Last Edited: 2017-04-19 15:13:21 #3 I have no idea about 101, but I think there's some pressure in the Chinese esports scene to get into 101.



I can't ever tell if that stuff is ever sustainable by the economics of esports or if owners have to be "super fans" and just pay for the esports glamor like a status item. Moderator 我们是个踏实的赞助商模式俱乐部

ahswtini Profile Joined June 2008 Northern Ireland 16336 Posts #4 arent many of the team owners the sons of rich businessmen. i know this current generation of young adults in china usually spoilt beyond belief. the result of a combination of the one child policy, as well as their parents not wanting their child to go through the same deprived upbringing that they had. "As I've said, balance isn't about strategies or counters, it's about probability and statistics." - paralleluniverse

lxginverse Profile Joined May 2008 Monaco 296 Posts #5 my internet has been acting up for hours now so i cannot actually search, what happened? Pan!

intotheheart Profile Joined January 2011 Canada 16170 Posts #6 On April 20 2017 00:45 lxginverse wrote:

my internet has been acting up for hours now so i cannot actually search, what happened?

Wings' players left the organization. They're still playing as 5 I think. I haven't heard too much from the wire either, I think the English-speaking DotA world probably only heard about it today or last night. Wings' players left the organization. They're still playing as 5 I think. I haven't heard too much from the wire either, I think the English-speaking DotA world probably only heard about it today or last night. kiss kiss fall in love

calippo Profile Joined March 2011 Sweden 1658 Posts #7 Pretty sure they are better off without that organisation. in it for the game not for the .... - PMS Army. [WUFC-SDK. VIM. PMS]

DavoS Profile Joined October 2012 United States 2689 Posts #8 From what I understand the org blew a ton of money in a failed effort to get a LoL squad, and they had to drop y' and co to mitigate losses "KDA is actually the most useless stat in the game" Aui_2000

Coolsnow7 Profile Joined May 2015 46 Posts #9 Things I agree with:



- It makes absolutely no sense to flame the org for taking as big a cut as they and the players agreed to.

- There are always two sides to a story



Things that strike me as biased (even if the poster is herself being as genuine as possible):



- While there are always two sides to a story, the sides can be 50:50 or 90:10 or 99:1 in terms of share of responsibility. It sounds a lot like the share of responsibility here rests mostly with the org.

- Until I hear a Wings player or their representative say "the players got 20%" I'm not believing any numbers.

Hydrolisko Profile Joined May 2004 Vanuatu 151 Posts #10 These were and still are young kids, from China no less. Pretty sure they were extremely naive. I am always skeptical of the organization in situations like these. Hopefully everything gets settled well and Wings get back to their top form!

Coolsnow7 Profile Joined May 2015 46 Posts #11 That's entirely fair, but frankly I'm not terribly concerned if these kids are making $1 million or $800,000 from playing Dota. I'd be concerned if it was $1 million vs. $100,000 but that's clearly not the case.

haduken Profile Joined April 2003 Australia 1125 Posts Last Edited: 2017-04-20 01:43:31 #12 On April 20 2017 03:15 DavoS wrote:

From what I understand the org blew a ton of money in a failed effort to get a LoL squad, and they had to drop y' and co to mitigate losses



That really make no sense at all. I mean yeah you just blew a ton of money but the dota 2 squad is probably their most valued commodity as an esports club, unless the players are on some insane level of salary... it just makes no sense.



What else is there for Wings with out their dota 2 squad?



I'd think it's more plausible that Wings want to split and sell the players to fatcat clubs like newbee/ig and the players don't want that.



TI winner squad would be hot properties, it's likely that the players want a bigger cut of that sale so they strive out on their own and hope to get picked up on their terms later on instead of letting the club getting the wind fall of transfer fees.



With their TeeEye dollars and reputation I doubt they struggle to eat or scrim so they should be okay.



The thing is if I was a TI winner and my club is squandering dollars on league and have nothing to show for it, I'd question my commitment to the club too, especially if I still have great market value. That really make no sense at all. I mean yeah you just blew a ton of money but the dota 2 squad is probably their most valued commodity as an esports club, unless the players are on some insane level of salary... it just makes no sense.What else is there for Wings with out their dota 2 squad?I'd think it's more plausible that Wings want to split and sell the players to fatcat clubs like newbee/ig and the players don't want that.TI winner squad would be hot properties, it's likely that the players want a bigger cut of that sale so they strive out on their own and hope to get picked up on their terms later on instead of letting the club getting the wind fall of transfer fees.With their TeeEye dollars and reputation I doubt they struggle to eat or scrim so they should be okay.The thing is if I was a TI winner and my club is squandering dollars on league and have nothing to show for it, I'd question my commitment to the club too, especially if I still have great market value. Rillanon.au

Sbrubbles Profile Joined October 2010 Brazil 2521 Posts #13 "It is said that TI prize money was withheld or a large cut taken by the company. Actually the players got 80%. And the money went directly from Valve to players’ accounts. There was no way the company could withhold the money."



This is weird, I thought Valve deposited 100% (after-tax) directly into the player's account, making the player responsible for giving his team its share. Maybe Valve is intermediating this now? Bora Pain minha porra!

Belisarius Profile Joined November 2010 Australia 3334 Posts Last Edited: 2017-04-20 01:49:47 #14 Those statements aren't necessarily inconsistent. If the money went directly to the players accounts, they could pass 20% to the team and still be consistent with "got", depending on translation etc.



Or maybe tax-wise it's better to give the organisation its share separately. These are pretty sizeable amounts of money, it's worth optimising the transfer.



The main point is the org doesn't have any direct way to withhold the players' share, and that's consistent with Valve's previous policies.

DucK- Profile Joined January 2009 Singapore 9489 Posts #15 If the contract says players are to give 99% of the prize money to organisation, I see no reason why the players should not. It is an agreement. You consider yourself to be professional, you therefore honour your contracts, unless the organisation had not been keeping their end as well.

Corgi Profile Joined December 2014 United States 385 Posts Last Edited: 2017-04-20 10:31:22 #16 PR officer not supposed to say anything but does it anyways without asking anyone before hand is not a good way of doing PR professionally regardless of their personal beliefs. The only thing to take from it is that she apparently believes in the org and the brand enough to stick her neck out like this.



If their contract says X money goes back to the org, the players are obligated to then divert the funds from their accounts to the org, that's just business. It doesn't matter if Valve sends the money directly to the player accounts, that's just so the orgs can't withhold the money from the players in the first place.



At the end of the day:



1. Its still unknown how much money wings had to give up to the org, only the players can clear that up at this point.

2. The entire millions of $$ lost to a league scam was unaddressed

3. The club wants to stay a team, most likely because of the free pass to TI7 which is really important.

4. Rumor that players havent been paid for several months unaddressed.

fpivan15 Profile Joined February 2017 United States 63 Posts #17 On April 20 2017 17:25 Corgi wrote:

PR officer not supposed to say anything but does it anyways without asking anyone before hand is not a good way of doing PR professionally regardless of their personal beliefs. The only thing to take from it is that she apparently believes in the org and the brand enough to stick her neck out like this.



If their contract says X money goes back to the org, the players are obligated to then divert the funds from their accounts to the org, that's just business. It doesn't matter if Valve sends the money directly to the player accounts, that's just so the orgs can't withhold the money from the players in the first place.



At the end of the day:



1. Its still unknown how much money wings had to give up to the org, only the players can clear that up at this point.

2. The entire millions of $$ lost to a league scam was unaddressed

3. The club wants to stay a team, most likely because of the free pass to TI7 which is really important.

4. Rumor that players havent been paid for several months unaddressed.

Really, there were no answers to the main questions. Really, there were no answers to the main questions.

KoKurenai Profile Joined August 2016 20 Posts #18 On April 20 2017 17:25 Corgi wrote:

PR officer not supposed to say anything but does it anyways without asking anyone before hand is not a good way of doing PR professionally regardless of their personal beliefs. The only thing to take from it is that she apparently believes in the org and the brand enough to stick her neck out like this.



If their contract says X money goes back to the org, the players are obligated to then divert the funds from their accounts to the org, that's just business. It doesn't matter if Valve sends the money directly to the player accounts, that's just so the orgs can't withhold the money from the players in the first place.



At the end of the day:



1. Its still unknown how much money wings had to give up to the org, only the players can clear that up at this point.

2. The entire millions of $$ lost to a league scam was unaddressed

3. The club wants to stay a team, most likely because of the free pass to TI7 which is really important.

4. Rumor that players havent been paid for several months unaddressed.



I'll just add a few things:



These were her own words and the Wings official have yet to make an announcement on this matter. She made it clear that she feels hurt seeing all sorts of posts targeting the club and the company. As many others concluded, her post is just emotional and gives nothing critical.



Their boss invested heavily into LPL after TI6, but unlike the Dota team it went catastrophic. The TI champions even had a tag for sale for a brief period.



There are all kinds of rumors about the salary thing. It does sound reasonable since the company lost heavily on the LPL investment, also consider their treaty with Dota ACE. However both the club and the players chose not to leak a word, so we don't know what really has transpired.



Their former team leader/manager also the all around helper, zaizai, left the org to join IG shortly after TI. Not much details regarding his choice can be found, but one does not simply leave the team that just claimed aegis.



From interviews we learned that Wings could not focus on Dota after their TI victory, as they were heavily occupied by interviews, shows and other business events. In a recent interview after iG claimed DAC, zaizai also commented that regardless of the team or club he is serving, he always wanted to provide a good environment for the team so that they could just focus on the game. I'll just add a few things:These were her own words and the Wings official have yet to make an announcement on this matter. She made it clear that she feels hurt seeing all sorts of posts targeting the club and the company. As many others concluded, her post is just emotional and gives nothing critical.Their boss invested heavily into LPL after TI6, but unlike the Dota team it went catastrophic. The TI champions even had a tag for sale for a brief period.There are all kinds of rumors about the salary thing. It does sound reasonable since the company lost heavily on the LPL investment, also consider their treaty with Dota ACE. However both the club and the players chose not to leak a word, so we don't know what really has transpired.Their former team leader/manager also the all around helper, zaizai, left the org to join IG shortly after TI. Not much details regarding his choice can be found, but one does not simply leave the team that just claimed aegis.From interviews we learned that Wings could not focus on Dota after their TI victory, as they were heavily occupied by interviews, shows and other business events. In a recent interview after iG claimed DAC, zaizai also commented that regardless of the team or club he is serving, he always wanted to provide a good environment for the team so that they could just focus on the game.

Corgi Profile Joined December 2014 United States 385 Posts #19 I just hope Team Random finds new ownership so they can keep their TI7 invite.

TomatoBisque Profile Joined March 2013 United States 5992 Posts #20 invites to valve events are to players and not organizations, so they will get one as long as they still are a team together, regardless of organization rip