It was André 'LINKAGE' Fecha (TEK-9 Networks Editor) who rightfully concluded “thunder in, thunder out, thunder in.. can't find a single line about it” - I decided however incestuous or self damaging the SK' case may be, it should be written because it's perfect proof of how the CoD community is coming to terms with the professional standards required of them.

The SK story revolves around Volkan 'thundeR' Kocakahya and his recent separation with the team. Now I understand that simplifying doesn't really help here and the important information as far as you're concerned is "when was he in or out of the team", and "what I read on esports4all or TEK-9, was it true"? Well, no, not really. 'thundeR' never 'officially' left SK. The cat is out of the bag, 'thundeR' contrary to 'popular belief' was never removed from the SK roster.

It was on the 10th of June when I wrote news of Enrico 'Fuchsstute' Ausborn taking the vacant managerial position within the team. 'thundeR' was in the lineup that was published to accompany the news, though moments later I was informed that he was to be removed and that Timothy 'merusame' Ellersiek (Head of SK's player and team management) was being contacted. While we discussed the whys and hows it became apparent it was 'thundeR' who took the initiative, it wasn't a case of him being removed from the lineup for performance or inactivity.

This is where the somewhat infamous cliché of “internal problems” is banded about, Andre 'iFEARdilemma!' Merzinsky explained that 'thundeR' is “one of the hardest to handle characters in CoD”, a consequence of his past experience and teams while “we were the first one [team] staying together even if we have problems”. 'Fuchsstute' later admitted that he thought he'd joined too late to resolve the situation.

This is where the story splits between the CoD player in us seeking no more than a barrel of laughs and some fun on ventrilo and the ambitious player desperately wanting CoD to go as far as possible. While I'm sure a good number of you would side with 'thundeR' in a heat beat, it's only a game after all and why should anyone deny someone the opportunity to play the game?

The only surprise as far as I'm concerned is what happened next. We all know 'thundeR' went onto “join” SK's biggest domestic rivals, Team SPEEDLINK, but there really isn't a case here whatsoever, the player is contracted and SPEEDLINK' shouldn't have gone anywhere near the player. 'thundeR' had signed away his right to enjoy the game as he pleased and this is where the desperately ambitious players (or anyone with common sense) usually laugh. While SPEEDLINK may be “disappointed in SK”, I'll happily lighten the situation somewhat by quoting Meet Your Makers (MYM) player Jason 'LoOkzor' O'Conner - “lol owned by contract xDDD”.

What happened next requires mentioning only because it goes against the grain, the proverbial pimp laid down the law, reverse psychology style - "you're free to leave and play with who you want". SK (eventually) reeled its bitch back and all was good again, the emotional bound proved too strong. While Daniel 'L-KING' Luther was signed, 'thundeR' remains a part of the six (or is it seven or eight?) man line-up.

The changes needed aren't really significant either as there has always been contracts in CoD, the only change is the number of contracted teams and players becoming the majority, not the minority. Contracts protect everyone and help stabilise the community. No matter how modest or lucrative a contract may be, whether it's promising you a weekly wage or only assuring you LAN support [Big Mac and 45 hour National Express coach!] if you've signed one, you've something to fight with or against. It's a statement of intent.

'thundeR' however can thank his lucky stars that CoD isn't as big as Counter Strike 1.6. SK gave him another chance, in the past they've proven to be somewhat ruthless in the enforcement of contracts and wouldn't have thought twice about letting him rot in the sidelines while the rest of Europe enjoyed the best summer in the entire CoD franchise, and that my friends would've been a shame.