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The CPL forces players to use surnames in competition
Several controversial management decisions have brought the Cyberathlete Professional League into the spotlight in the last few weeks. It seems as though the organisation has decided to gradually revamp itself in a more mature guise, perhaps in an attempt to help realise their ambition of attaining sport status for gaming. Easily the most controversial of recent announcements at TheCPL.com is the news that the CPL will be adopting player surnames instead of aliases. "In an effort to further professionalize the sport of competitive gaming," the self-righteous update beams, "the CPL will no longer allow players to represent themselves with a nickname in league tournaments. The CPL now requires that all players use their surnames in official CPL matches." So from now on, if our gallant Editor-in-Chief John "Gestalt" Bye wishes to compete, he'll have to be known simply as Bye. According to the announcement, the Cyberathlete Amateur League (CAL) will also adopt this naming format. Now, we appreciate that the CPL organisation wants to avoid obvious embarrassments like abusive nicknames, but why not just subject all entrants' nicknames to a screening process? Openly defying one of gaming's strongest traditions for the sake of a bit of media exposure is ridiculous. Meanwhile, the organisation has announced plans to enforce ESRB age guidelines.