Hey everyone, happy 2023! I wanted to take a moment to connect with you about some changes I’m making at ESChamp this year. As many of you know, my goal has always been to help people get better at StarCraft 2 and other RTS games. Last year, I experimented with different types of content and community programming and based on the feedback I received, I’ve set out a new course for this year.
For me, helping people get better at this game has been at the center of what I strive to do. Whether playing or creating bots around it. Making improvement easier is the goal. When to creating a community, I wanted to strive to create a safe place where its members can get better and increase in skills, talk strategy and get feedback. When it came to content Last year I worked on guides, interviews with players and other content around getting better. With an effort to make it accessible to improve in the game. That resonated with some people and so I am excited to keep the efforts going.
Community
My goal is to create a safe and supportive environment where members can improve their skills, talk strategy, and get feedback. This year, I’m taking that a step further by introducing new community programs like coaching clinics and replay watch parties. Coaching clinics will feature experienced players teaching specific aspects of the game, like macro, micro, and build orders. Replay watch parties will be a chance for us to get together and discuss the strategies we saw from professional tournaments. Some people already watch replays after the replay pack is released, why don’t we do it together?
Membership Changes
In terms of membership, I’m making some changes to better reflect the community I want to build. I’m renaming the name of the community from Crown Club to the Crown Clan. The idea behind the name change is to reflect the ideal of a clan, which is a group of players that come together to help each other improve and compete. I want to create an online family where members can help each other get better and that’s what the Crown Clan represents. Some of my greatest memories when playing Broodwar and WarCraft 3 came from being apart of a clan. Clans evolved into what we know today as Teams and esports Organizations with much of the emphasis put on the top players. Less on creating an on creating an improvement and social environment that any of its members can take advantage of. The term Clan is still visible today in StarCraft 2 in the UI, and as serves as a good reminder of something I still believe in.
I’m also streamlining the membership tiers. The Insider Membership will be removed and its perks will be included in the Backstage Membership. If you have the Insider Member, you’ll be upgraded and still keep the same payment as long as you stay a member. Speaking of the Backstage Membership, it will be renamed to Pro Crown Membership.
Lastly, we’ll continue to put our member content on our website ESChamp.com rather than on Patreon. This way it’s easier to find and access the perks. I’ll be working on making the membership integrated with the website for a seamless experience.
Content
In terms of content, we’ll continue to work on guides, tips, and equipment reviews. We’ll be focusing on topics that can help players improve their gameplay, but also providing insights into pro player strategies and the esports scene. We’ll also have shows like Ranked which will have new guests to reveal an insider look into Pro Player strategies. Inside The Scene will return but with a tweaked direction, less on individuals coming through the scene but on topics on all the things it takes to be pro in the scene outside of just being good at the game. With ProBots we’ll give it its own channel and push forward to give more time to exploring topics for the AI community and trying new series and making the main show more interactive.
That was alot of ground to cover but I am excited for 2023 and I am glad you’re on this ride with me. As always, I appreciate your support and feedback.
