GosuGamers Awards 2010: Community Effort of the Year
With a commanding 47.6% of the vote, Sean “Day[9]” Plott has won the “Community Effort of the Year“ award as voted on by GosuGamers readers.
Sean has been a familiar face in the StarCraft scene for over a decade and, in the last year, has become the face of StarCraft in the Western world. Through his commentating events such as Dreamhack, organizing events such as his release countdown party and his Day[9] Daily show, Sean Plott has become an institution in StarCraft, in e-sports and in gaming at large around the world.
Upon hearing that he’d won this award, Day[9] expressed genuine surprise that he’d won by such a significant margin - his closest competitors were Tasteless and Artosis who clocked in with a respectable 21%.
If Sean was surprised that he'd won the award for best community effort, he may have been the only one.
On being asked what it was like to be seen as the standard bearer for the StarCraft community, Sean said, “I’ve always thought of myself as a community member, not a messiah leading the masses.”
Sean Plott is more popular than Jesus.
Day[9] came to this point because he’s one of the most talented professors in the world (and is teaching a fun and visible subject to boot). The Day[9] Daily can reach over a million people in a single episode. Since October 2009, Sean’s project has launched him into the spotlight by displaying his uncanny ability to show any audience exactly why they ought to be excited about StarCraft.
You may have spotted him on the pages of PC Gamer being dubbed “Gamer of the Year”, on the stage at some of the biggest tournaments in the world or sharing the story of his life in the milestone Day[9] Daily #100.
Perhaps you’ve seen him recently in Facebook offices when they invited him to commentate games or when he stopped by the Jinx offices to plug the gaming clothing line’s new products.
The chances are good that you’ve seen him a lot. And yet, for a face and voice that seem to be anywhere and everywhere these days, there has been little backlash or tiring of the self-styled ambassador of e-sports. His fan base remains just as excited, growing larger every day.
Why? While Sean may not see himself as a leader, that’s exactly what he is.
His ability to lead has inspired a love affair between the growing StarCraft community and him.
Whether Day[9] is leading a thousand newbies from bronze to diamond or leading a community member toward a valuable contribution, it is abundantly clear from every cast and appearance that he is tirelessly working to grow and improve the e-sports community one step and one newbie at a time.
Perhaps tirelessly is the wrong word. After all, in addition to school, Day[9] has been jetting around the world recently from event to event. His packed schedule has occasionally taken a serious toll on him.
Sean’s trip to the Game Developer’s Conference last year resulted in a stay in the hospital after his overworked body nearly gave out on him. Going to and from Sweden for Dreamhack also adversely affected his health.
“It makes you realize that even if you love something and you want to do it, you have to take breaks to be nice to yourself,” he said of the GDC incident. “I have so much fun that I tend not to take an objective step back.”
The old saying remains true: too much of anything is a bad thing.
As his fame increases, as more and more companies and tournaments fill his email and voicemail boxes with offers and requests, the fact that our friendly neighborhood celebrity is just human remains in the back of his mind.
Rich McCormick wrote in PC Gamer, “Nowhere else in gaming can you find a personality so welcoming, patient, and selfeffacing. I get the impression that even with a fraction of the monumental audience he has with each entry, Sean would still be in his room, talking to his computer about the game he adores.”
Even with the packed schedule, Sean still finds time to watch the big events.
The GSL Season 3 was his favorite event of 2010 due in no small part to Jinro’s ascendancy.
“I’ve known Jinro for years,” said Sean. “A lot of people don’t understand what it takes to improve, how to practice. He does. During beta one night, he four Gated me for four hours while I practiced a fast expansion Terran build. He was pleasant and ready to practice it. He’s the most awesome practice partner. When you play with him, win or lose, there’s no ego.
“In GSL3, with all the Korean cheese, Jinro came in and played long games. And not just long but brilliant long games and I couldn’t help but think ‘gosh, how long did it take to get this exactly right?'”
His favorite player from 2010 is KiwiKaki and inspires a similar joy in him.
“KiwiKaki doesn’t just innovate but his timing is so crisp that it’s really exciting. I’m someone who will play 2,000 practice games to figure out a build. In 100 games, you get it. But in the last 1900, you knock out every little kink - like, what if I build my Overlord here or what if I gas here? - and that’s my greatest joy. Plus I just like seeing people I know do well.”
As an active member of the community, Sean says his favorite places in the community are Team Liquid and GosuGamers.
“Multimillion dollar corporations have risen and crashed in the time these two have been around but they’ve withstood the test of time. As far as up and comers go, Redditors are very impressive organizationally.”
The ambassador to e-sports maintains that it is not just one site but the community overall that will grow e-sports.
“Anyone can have a voice. Look at me. I’m not important, I’m just a nerd who loves games, Chipotle and comic books. But I started to do the Daily anyway. I didn’t need anyone’s permission, I just did it.”
Now he is arguably the most famous member of the StarCraft community, outshining players and casters alike. Not bad for a nerd.
Voting results
| Day[9] | 47% |
| Tastetosis | 21% |
| Husky | 8% |
| Take | 8% |
| John | 4% |
| Nazgul | 4% |
| HDStarCraft | 2% |
| DjWheat | 2% |
| iNcontroL | 0.5% |
