We were able to catch up with famous player and manager Dave “Moto” Geffon to get updates about his life
Thanks for taking the time to sit down with us. First and foremost, what are you up to these days?
Thanks for having me! I’ve actually been quite busy as of late. When the Championship Gaming Series closed down I knew I wanted to continue to work in the gaming industry, but in what capacity I wasn’t sure. I thought about staying involved in eSports on some level, possibly entering into game design or working within the marketing and community aspects of gaming. Ultimately, I decided to get more involved in the marketing and community side, which lead me to Trion World Network. Trion World Network is a game developer and publisher currently working on two new and exciting next-generation mmorpg franchises. While it would seem that more and more companies are throwing their hat into the ever competitive mmorpg arena, it was the innovative and groundbreaking ideas of Trion World Network that got me hooked. For instance, we’re currently working with the SCI FI channel to co-develop a connected, cross-platform mmorpg and television show which will share the same fictional universe. This will allow the storyline and universe to expand and change over time, while allowing the audience to participate in this evolving world. What got me so into gaming around 10 years ago was the involvement and dynamic nature of online games. It was a huge step above single player gaming, and I definitely think this will bring a whole new level of interactivity to gaming — it’s really exciting.
I’ve also been working on an exciting side project with my friend and former CGS colleague Mark Dolven. He and I have been working with QPAD over the past few months and are in the final process of finally bringing QPAD to North America. I think it’s going to be really great finally having a product that’s been almost exclusively European finally here in North America.
When you found out that CGS was closing its doors, what were your thoughts? Were you surprised by the news?
I was definitely surprised that they closed the company down completely, but I knew some changes were on the horizon. I figured that given the amount that was already invested in the league that closing up shop completely didn’t quite make sense. On the other hand, I never had an opportunity to look at specifics such as finances/viewership so the situation could have been much worse than most of us realize.
What is your greatest disappointment surrounding the closure of CGS?
I think the biggest disappointment for me is not being able to pick and build another team. I really enjoyed the researching of different games, working with the players and watching our team come together as a unit. I always enjoyed the strategic aspects of team games more than anything else. In my mind, there’s nothing prettier than watching an organized team execute a complex strategy and see it work from top to bottom.
It was a ton of fun and I really loved it. I’m really going to miss that more than anything else.
Craig Levine recently said that he is re-acquiring the Team3D brand from CGS. Do you have any plans to be involved with the brand in the future? Would you like to be?
That’s a good question and I really don’t have an answer. I really don’t have much of an interest in running a professional gaming team nor do I have any real interest in playing. I would love to be involved behind the scenes if the opportunity presents itself.
What other roles can your fans expect you to be filling in the eSports world in the future? Manager, player, business?
You’ll probably only see me in a business related role. I enjoyed my time as both a player and a manager and really have no desire to do either anytime soon, but I do want to remain involved and help the community when I can.
What is your opinion about the current state of professional gaming? Do you think the current downturn will last long or will eSports bounce back in 2009?
It’s tough to say. The professional gaming/eSports boom was fueled almost entirely by the Marketing and Advertising dollars of large tech companies such as Intel, AMD, Nvidia, ATI and Samsung. While most of these companies are still involved with gaming on some level, they’ve definitely scaled back (and away) from professional gaming/eSports.
I don’t think eSports will ever go away. There will always be competitions, leagues and events in games that people enjoy and want to be the best in – that competitive spirit will never die. I do think the opportunity for players to be true professional gamers and make a real living from gaming will continue, but those people will be few and far between. The money is too heavily reliant on the willingness of sponsors and event organizers to spend cash for the professional gamers to win, which is just not happening frequently enough.
Over the years you’ve been involved in eSports on many different levels. What was your single favorite moment? Do you have any regrets?
I think my single favorite moment in eSports was when I went to the CPL Speakeasy Counter-Strike event in April 2001. I went to meet all the people that I had known from playing online, hang out and play games and just have a good time – we also played in the tournament and won. I remember leaving the event and thinking “wow, I got to play together with all my friends on lan and hang out, that was amazing!” and I didn’t really think twice about winning the event.
The event was very pure for me. I went to many different LAN tournaments around the world and can wholeheartedly say they never felt like that. The goals, the expectations and pressure over the years just made things different. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t times when I wanted things like they were, but I knew being able to travel, have a salary and receive bonuses were bi-products of sacrificing that level of carefree play.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts with us. Any final thoughts, shoutouts or comments?
I’d like to thank Complexity and the Complexity Community for taking the time to have me as a guest. I’d also like to wish the best of luck to Mikey and Sal with their new team. They were always great teammates, good players and even better friends.