Valve’s new policy restricts coach participation

By
Deepak Ojha
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In an email earlier this morning sent out by Valve to ESL, and then been communicated to certain organizations and players, Valve has supposedly restricted the involvement of coaches in the game, limiting their existence to warm up, half-time, and the strategic timeout.

According to the email sent in, Valve’s perception to coaching is divergent to the masses. The email which was sent to ESL says that CS:GO is a 5v5 game and an involvement of the 6th player diminishes the excitement and thrills for the playing five in-game. Valve’s unassociated thoughts and observation suggest the member of a team to be considered as an active player and not coach if he is taking care of the economy, strategies and calling plays.

If a person is performing these actions, we consider them a player.

Contrary to the majority of the community disassociating themselves from what Valve has planned, it surely affects a lot of top teams and players in both good and bad ways. From the perspective of organizations who structured their roster according to the rules set by the coach, things now will be difficult for them as well.

Valve’s letter to ESL on new coaching restrictions.

Interestingly, the statement from Valve also seems to be very independent and limited to majors in their own way as it also reads, “Obviously, third party events can use whatever rules they want but if you want to align your events with ours then we recommend using this coaching rule.”

The outrage of this particular is already foreseen. Not only will the recent roster changes get affected, but also the victim of this unwarranted policy, coaches will also be the one to have their career endangered overnight.

Mixed reactions from the professionals

The LOL’s

Suggestions

Negative

https://twitter.com/blucsgo/status/765949316728889344

Positive

Well..

Complete statement from Valve

“With unrestricted communication with their players, coaches can currently function as a sixth player, and not solely as a source of guidance or training. Activities such as keeping track of the economy, calling plays, and general situational awareness are important components of CS gameplay. If a person is performing these actions, we consider them a player.

Since the goal of our events is to identify the best five-player CS teams that exhibit the best combination of all CS skills, the current participation of coaches in the game is not compatible with that goal. To address this problem, future Valve sponsored events will enforce the following coaching rules:

During a match, the coach may only communicate with the players during warmup, half-time, or during one of four 30 second timeouts that the coach or player can call.
Obviously, third party events can use whatever rules they want but if you want to align your events with ours then we recommend using this coaching rule.
Ido Magal”

Bonus Content

Ironically, Valve has mentioned a statement on their official website regarding their course of working decorum. As they state, they work “boss-free”.

“We’ve been boss-free since 1996.

Imagine working with super smart, super talented colleagues in a free-wheeling, innovative environment—no bosses, no middle management, no bureaucracy. Just highly motivated peers coming together to make cool stuff. It’s amazing what creative people can come up with when there’s nobody there telling them what to do.”