Nili announces NC4 - $100K AoE4 LAN

[oozkan]

Perhaps this $100K was available only for AOE4 and not AOE2

Possibly the most logical explanation in this thread. I second to that, money was most likely available for AOE4, that also explains commitment of AOE4 since he himself said, NAC4 plans started in September.

So there are 3 serious legal concerns here:
1- Nili knew that more money was available for AOE4 instead of AOE2 so his commitment could be biased.
2- Nili used money for his tournament, which will be broadcasted on his channel so he will benefit from it directly (not even indirectly, so this is actually quite serious issue).
3- Nili used GL headquarter which he is affiliated with, which means he can/may indirectly benefit from this arrangement. A nut-head like me can say, that explains why GL keep a top400 (optimistic) AOE4 player in a professional team.

I am literally working in tech branch of an audit company, when audit in, no matter how good our project, we are kicked out. These are really serious issues.

Microsoft is a private company that can do what they like, it still feels a bit wrong.

Microsoft is not a private company, so if you really want to open a lawsuit, you just need to buy 1 share. And you can actually win, but it will cost a fortune and since Nili will never be in US lands (unless he went poker), he might never be judged.

 

[damdres]

Why $100k for a AOE IV tournament? FeelBadMan The prize pool is going to be the same for AOE II tournaments, right?

 

[kshotts1]

so to summarize:

1. Nili allocates by far the largest aoe4 prize pool to his own tournament.
2. Nili decides the tournament that Microsoft is sponsoring should be held at his own team’s venue.
3. Nili invites one of his teammates to the tournament when there are only two total invites to give- based on results of a 2-day tournament right after the game was released (not to mention Viper will conveniently bring aoe2 viewers to the tournament).
4. Instead of having a fair, objective, and impartial way to determine prize pool between aoe2 and aoe4, it is simply decided by what Nili feels like he wants to do.

 

[menonation]

so to summarize:

1. Nili allocates by far the largest aoe4 prize pool to his own tournament.
2. Nili decides the tournament that Microsoft is sponsoring should be held at his own team’s venue.
3. Nili invites one of his teammates to the tournament when there are only two total invites to give- based on results of a 2-day tournament right after the game was released (not to mention Viper will conveniently bring aoe2 viewers to the tournament).
4. Instead of having a fair, objective, and impartial way to determine prize pool between aoe2 and aoe4, it is simply decided by what Nili feels like he wants to do.

Nili close this thread

 

[Zenack]

Nili should leave the GL team, because he is the organizer of the tournament.. We must also require a yearly schedule with all the aoe2 and aoe4 tournaments.

 

[mytholia]

This topic is pure entertainment. Finally, everyone's eyes go open.

I hope that nobody watches and supports N4C. Only that way you can hit corrupt Nili.

 

[SuperskinnyBLS]

Look at the bright side

GL players basically quit aoe4 which means they had no idea about this incoming event so there wasn't any leak from Nili.

 

[Sekigahara1]

The ideal solution for Microsoft, AoE streamers and communities would be if AoE4 was a real successor to AoE2. I sense that the backlash primarily comes from the situation, in which AoE4 and AoE2 are direct competitors for sponsorships, sales, players and viewers. AoE4 didn't and won't replace AoE2, because it's a different game. The premise is the same of a history-based RTS, but it's so different that the games can only compete against each other. It's natural that the newer game will have more support and tournaments for now, but it's not a given it'll last for years to come.
Nili's taking a huge risk with this decision. There's a clear conflict of interest of him being a twitch streamer, e-sports team member, Microsoft-employed tournament manager and even Viper's friend, all at the same time. Nili's now using all these positions to make the best event possible, for himself and for everyone. A success of failure depends on how the tournament streams will go, if they're top-notch quality, the twitch audience will accept it.

 

[MadeByJoe]

Possibly the most logical explanation in this thread. I second to that, money was most likely available for AOE4, that also explains commitment of AOE4 since he himself said, NAC4 plans started in September.

So there are 3 serious legal concerns here:
1- Nili knew that more money was available for AOE4 instead of AOE2 so his commitment could be biased.
2- Nili used money for his tournament, which will be broadcasted on his channel so he will benefit from it directly (not even indirectly, so this is actually quite serious issue).
3- Nili used GL headquarter which he is affiliated with, which means he can/may indirectly benefit from this arrangement. A nut-head like me can say, that explains why GL keep a top400 (optimistic) AOE4 player in a professional team.

I am literally working in tech branch of an audit company, when audit in, no matter how good our project, we are kicked out. These are really serious issues.


Microsoft is not a private company, so if you really want to open a lawsuit, you just need to buy 1 share. And you can actually win, but it will cost a fortune and since Nili will never be in US lands (unless he went poker), he might never be judged.

So I don't know the law all over the world but as a lawyer I know a thing or two in general.

Firstly, Microsoft is a private company, private meaning it is not owned by a government. There are some in-between cases but we won't get into that. And as you already stated, Nili is in Germany, so he has to care (mostly) about german law.
edit: There are also the terms "public and private companies" to differenciate between companies that are traded on the stock market and those which are not. In that sense Microsoft is public, but it is private as in not a government branch.

So Microsoft is free to do with their money what they want. They need to be able to justify it to their shareholders and the ones that have actual power in the company can't just redirect it into their private pockets. Also bribery isn't welcome in Germany anymore. Nili doens't decide how much money overall is given to prizepools, someone has to greenlight it, he decides how much of that goes where. To go into your points specificly:

Him knowing that there will be money in the game and thus playing it isn't against any law. We are not trading stocks.

Him gaining something from a tourney sponsored by microsoft is, again, not against any law. I wish I could explain more, but your claimes are completely baseless. If Microsoft is fine with it he can buy himself a new house for NAC4 with the MS money. He is not bribing anyone, which would be a legal issue. (Also i just heavely expect the higher ups knowing where the money is going, otherwise it absolutely could be trouble for our Hippo).

Now, just because I don't see any legal issues that doesn't mean I think this should happen. Whoever in charge of giving money for prizepools should make sure the money is used in the best economic way, so putting someone in charge of allocating those funds when he himself is directly affected by it just a big red flag.

Note: This isn't at all my area of expertise. If you happen to know a specific law that is broken, feel free to correct me.

 

[R0ca]

Look at the bright side

GL players basically quit aoe4 which means they had no idea about this incoming event so there wasn't any leak from Nili.

I’m sure they will switch back to aoe4 to try play this.

 

[HongeyKong]

Banters and **** talks are the core of NAC, I dont think the aoe4 pros know each other that well...

 

[Baron Icey Harkonnen]

can someone tell me the odds increase of viper winning with the free seed?

 

[komtan]

HOPE NO COVID LAN PARTY(^_-)-☆

 

[bigus.dicus.official]

here s my 2 cents. contribution....why for the love of aoe4 did nili not invite memb, THE best aoe4 caster and aoe4 #1 fan, to the event? :D first it was NAC3, now this??

but for real, I petition to get pkz to change this forum name to aoe2zone

 

[LowEloNobody]

Possibly the most logical explanation in this thread. I second to that, money was most likely available for AOE4, that also explains commitment of AOE4 since he himself said, NAC4 plans started in September.

So there are 3 serious legal concerns here:
1- Nili knew that more money was available for AOE4 instead of AOE2 so his commitment could be biased.
2- Nili used money for his tournament, which will be broadcasted on his channel so he will benefit from it directly (not even indirectly, so this is actually quite serious issue).
3- Nili used GL headquarter which he is affiliated with, which means he can/may indirectly benefit from this arrangement. A nut-head like me can say, that explains why GL keep a top400 (optimistic) AOE4 player in a professional team.

I am literally working in tech branch of an audit company, when audit in, no matter how good our project, we are kicked out. These are really serious issues.


Microsoft is not a private company, so if you really want to open a lawsuit, you just need to buy 1 share. And you can actually win, but it will cost a fortune and since Nili will never be in US lands (unless he went poker), he might never be judged.

In his YouTube video, Nili mentions that if he had held NAC4 instead as an AoE2 tournament, it would also have a 100k prizepool. So I think it's fair to say that there was significant discretion as to where the money went across titles

 

[hdalby]

Seems to me you lot are all mad because it's aoe4 and not aoe2. If it were aoe2 there would likely be no mention of inappropriate allocation of money. This isn't scandalous, it's a bunch of people mad because their favorite game didn't get the attention this time (for the record, I think aoe2 is the much better game as well)

 

[huntskiki]

Not really, other than lidakor or adicco and lorpatito, aoe4 topics about tournaments have poor views and likely 0 comments.
------

Back on topic i remember being accused of being a conspiranoic, even tho i predicted the 100k event like a month ago, the price is only there to hype the communities involved and generate views on twitch and youtube platforms to deliver those good numbers to the people in charge to justify the support to the game.

But this is like beyond corruption, not only because he is using the money to sponsor his own event but also being an employee of microsoft, but also inviting viper for winning the first aoe4 thing after a week of its release, i mean viper who happens to be a clan mate from his another job as a pro gamer, who also hasn't been performing great on aoe4 and withdrew from aoe4 events, the invitations should go to the current top players or all of them should qualify, that invitation system worked for aoe2 cause the gap was insane btw the top 8 players and the rest, but for a new game where the winner is always a different guy and the position are also not the same, invitations doesn't make sense or are fair, they are just inviting top aoe2, top aoe3, pro sc2 and top wc3 players to gather viewers.

Nac 3 was the best aoe2 social event, nac 4 will go unnoticed.

The issue is that MS doesn't care about the conflict of interest. They just want Nili to run a good event. He could hire his entire family and MS wouldn't care if the event gets viewers. It's mindboggling that they don't though because it brings on huge headaches like this. Now MS has to wonder if he's doing the right thing by having the event at GL offices, inviting Viper, etc. From a cynical view, it looks like Nili is just using his position to benefit his friends and colleagues. That's the problem with conflicts of interest, you never know if the person is acting in good faith or for the benefit of something else.

In his YouTube video, Nili mentions that if he had held NAC4 instead as an AoE2 tournament, it would also have a 100k prizepool. So I think it's fair to say that there was significant discretion as to where the money went across titles

The video was a self-serving attempt to get out ahead of the inevitable controversy that was going to blow up the minute he announced the tournament. I'm not sure why you're taking what he said at face value and just believing it. His explanation for why he went with aoe4 was that he was really enjoying the game at the time and that the best events are when he's really enjoying himself. It's honestly embarrassing. And then to tease that he might be able to squeeze in an aoe2 tournament beforehand? GTFO with that ****. he made the wrong choice to go with an aoe4 event and now he's scrambling to try and appease the aoe2 community. Oh and as a side benefit to hosting an aoe2 event his team house gets to rent their venue for another week+ and all his teammates will get to play in the event. It's a joke.

 

[Tempires]

...

Don't quote someone else words as mine

 

[huntskiki]

Don't quote someone else words as mine

I'm not sure why it's showing your name. I tried to change it but I can't for some reason. I just quoted the post and responded. Super weird.

 

[lecracheursagacite]

I'm not sure why it's showing your name. I tried to change it but I can't for some reason. I just quoted the post and responded. Super weird.

If you change the view to bbcode you can manually edit the target of a quote. See:

I'm not sure why it's showing your name. I tried to change it but I can't for some reason. I just quoted the post and responded. Super weird.

Here is the correct text to use for the opening quote bracket:
QUOTE="SouFire, post: 768547, member: 17044"

 

[IYIyTh]

I don't see what the risk is for Nili, he's getting paid no matter what.

Plus the lot of you will throw eggs one day, and donations and subs the next.

All the talk about conflict of interest is seemingly rooted in personal feelings regarding fairness, not law.

Can bark about ethics but I'm not sure which lawyer of the entities that all stand to profit you think is chomping at the bit to sue its own company for making business decisions.

 

[LowEloNobody]

The video was a self-serving attempt to get out ahead of the inevitable controversy that was going to blow up the minute he announced the tournament. I'm not sure why you're taking what he said at face value and just believing it. His explanation for why he went with aoe4 was that he was

I don't disagree. I was responding to a post claiming that there was likely only money for an AoE4 event, when Nili himself clearly said that it was his choice which game to support

 

[huntskiki]

I don't disagree. I was responding to a post claiming that there was likely only money for an AoE4 event, when Nili himself clearly said that it was his choice which game to support

Yes, that is what he is "saying", that it was his choice, how do we know if that's actually the truth or not? His explanation literally made no sense. This is why I'm saying we can't take it at face value.

 

[huntskiki]

I don't see what the risk is for Nili, he's getting paid no matter what.

Plus the lot of you will throw eggs one day, and donations and subs the next.

All the talk about conflict of interest is seemingly rooted in personal feelings regarding fairness, not law.

Can bark about ethics but I'm not sure which lawyer of the entities that all stand to profit you think is chomping at the bit to sue its own company for making business decisions.

Conflict of interest is not necessarily against the law (though it can be in certain situations like a lawyer), but it still leads to difficult situations like this that are controversial. Of course, as you said, the company isn't going to sue itself, they are definitely allowing this, I'm just not sure why.

 

[Baron Icey Harkonnen]

Can't fault the man for doing a LAN event at a venue/area he knows
Many are concerned about COVID. This seems like the best bet?

100k Event is good for Age of Empires 4
Which is good for Age of Empires 2
Which is good for you

Whats good for the goose is good for the gander