As the title indicates, I've made the decision that it is time to move on. ENT has been around since April 8, 2012. Members of the community came running to volunteer their time in order to provide our community with bots, stats tracking, game moderation, leagues, tournaments and countless other services. ENT has not been perfect. It's had its difficulties down the road, but everyone - staff members and players alike - has walked toward the same goal to provide for a fun and entertaining gaming environment.
Being a part of the staff for so long has given me a one-sided perspective. A perspective wherein I mostly dealt with the negative side of things like ban requests, complaints, ban appeals due to 'unjustified bans', etc. However, I never forgot the reason behind all of it. It may only be a game, but if people came here to post ban requests or ban appeals or complaints, it is because they care about this game and this community. They, too, wanted to make it a 'better' place, one wherein it would be the most fun and most competitive place to enjoy playing. Being able to see this side of the medal is the reason why many other staff members and I have stayed around for so long.
However, we must not blind ourselves to the reality that Warcraft III and ENT have become. The community has shred by a lot over the years. People moved on. The recent patch updates - most notably the latest one - have not helped the situation. ENT is no longer the community it once was, but it is only normal... After all, Warcraft III was first released in July 2002. It is a miracle that people are still playing it up to this date, but it goes to show how passionate and tenacious this community has been.
We were happy to be on the status-quo for years, but the recent patches have rendered this situation untenable. @uakf.b , the founder of ENT and the genius who has reverse-engineered WCIII in order to code the bots you've all grown acquainted to, is no longer actively around. We haven't had a tech guy to implement meaningful stuff in years. Many of the staff members have moved on, and many of the remaining ones, including myself, have lost their passion. At this point and for the reason above-mentioned, I believe ENT no longer has a purpose to be. We do not know much about reforged yet. We do not know if there will be an influx in new players, nor what Blizzard will implement on the technical side to compensate for all of the utilities that the bots have brought to the game. We do not know either if there will be a purpose for an outside community. However, and if there is a need for it, I believe it is best that it rises on its own, with passionate players, just like ENT did in 2012. Our discord server will remain in place as a way for everyone to keep in touch and discuss about any potential way forward.
I've decided to passively shut ENT down, meaning we will no longer moderate our games starting tomorrow. You will still be able to play but game quality is expected to go down until we finally pull the plug. As I said, the discord server will remain as a way to keep in touch. This passive shut down will also allow players (and most notably LIHL) to slowly migrate toward battle.net.
I would like to specifically thank @aRt)Y , for the tremendous job he's done as upper staff over the years. A true pillar of the community, whom I have not once seen lose his cool.
Special shout-out to @Haunt , @matdas and @Merex (Av1oN), who have all been staff for longer than I can tell. A big thanks to @Jabba41 @nabo. @Beerlord @FalenGa @Unitil @Hyo @RadiantCrystal and the rest of the staff and ex-staff alike, who've dedicated countless of hours to this community.
Finally, cheers to every players and donors alike who have also participated in making this community what it's been over the years.
It's been an hell of a ride. Best of luck to everyone
