Hey folks,

I'm sitting here right now at Berlin Schoenefeld airport waiting for my delayed flight to departure, and since I got a lot of time left I decided to eventually write the highly anticipated blog I talked about day and night. By the way, this is my first blog ever, so please be extra extra hard on me.

The NGL One Finals Season 5 are over with mTw placing first, followed by SK Gaming and MeetYourMakers - and I think it's safe to say that not only 2008 as an eSport year, but a whole era of competitive Warcraft III just came to an end.

I have to admit that the NGL One is actually not that bad, especially compared to what I had expected. In contrast with other events I've visited over the last few years, I felt they actually care for their players. They got all of them a decent hotel with an enjoyable breakfast. They arranged a shuttle bus to make sure everyone arrives in time and provided a room for each and every team they could use to bootcamp and relax. The players had their own computers they could set up as desired.

The NGL One even made pizzas, baguettes and stuff like that to make them feel as comfortable as somehow possible. All in all, there was not a single thing I can think of that was not taken care of. Frankly, there are lot more famous tournament organizers out there that should follow NGL's example in this case.

On the other hand, there are a couple of reason for the NGL not to be considered in a league with ESL, ESWC and Co. and the they proved them right once again. First of all, no offence, the ICY Box eSports Center is nothing compared to the locations the ESL has chosen in the past. Over the whole weekend, they had presumably not a single spectator on-site and I think it wasn't even supposed to be spectator-friendly at all.

Having Tosspot and Rotterdam cast the matches was definitively a step forward but still not far enough if you ask me. And another side-note: smoking was not forbidden in the main hall and, yeah, let's say, people made full use of this - an absolute no-no.

And another thing I would like to talk about. About stars, about negative habits. About how hard a pro-gamers actually is. I guess there a few of you who can not imagine how much a considerably successful Warcraft III player earns including the salary he gets and the prizemoney he wins, just to mention this in the first place.

Between all those to players gathered in Berlin, Germany, this weekend, there was one who attracted my attention in particular - unfortunately not gaming-wise. As I mentioned before the NGL One arranged a shuttlebus that was supposed to get all our players to the venue. The bus was scheduled for 9:40, players got on board bit-by-bit, somehow late as always, but there was specific player and his girlfriend everyone had to wait for in the end.

Still, something like this can always happen. The funny thing is: Guess who we had to wait for at the end of that day again until we decided to stop waiting and made him take a cab? Still, things like this happen, even twice in a row. However, next day, the finals had just come to an end, the three teams attending went out to celebrate and we had a great evening this far till it got straight down to the nitty-gritty, the bill.

Mr. X overlooked it a couple of times, moaning about each and every beer not being listed separately. And that very player refused to settle the check not willing to pay for a 1,60 Euro water they didn't get the bottle for.

Just to make this clear to everybody: If you get your water without a bottle in a restaurant, you don't know what you get at all and, this said, you don't have to pay for it. Still, we are talking about a 1,60-Euro water and a player earning thousands and thousands every year. He ordered it, he drank it and therefore he has to pay for it.

In the end, someone else had to make up the difference just to get out there with our heads held high. Still they, he and his girlfriend, insisted not to tip the waiter (don't worry, we did). As we left the building and went out to get some cash in the meantime, guess who we had to wait for again, not knowing whether he took a cab again or not? We decided to leave for the hotel without him and as he caught up with us all we got was a sarcastic "thank you for waiting". I bet you didn't expect that.

I just want to make sure it's not like I don't like that player, I do. I like the way he plays, the way he managed to stay on top over the years as one of the few Europeans. I'd say he was always personable. And all the things I mentioned above might not be that much of a big deal but yet it was something. Something that was enough to change my mind about the way I think about him as a person and a Warcraft III star to some extent.

I know it's not that much of a story, but something for you to think about!

Merry Christmas. Enjoy the festive holiday!