The Guest Spot is a feature opening the floor to a prominent eSports personality.

Mike “SmellyMoss” Bembenek is the editor of Enemy Down, a former presenter/commentator/editor/producer of XLEAGUE and volunteers as the UKeSA Press Officer. He has been involved in numerous LAN events as a shoutcaster and producer including XL, iSeries and the WCG.

This column is the sole opinion of the author and does not represent the opinion of Heaven Media Ltd or the opinion of any affiliates. Like most of the people who have written here before me, when I was asked to do this by Cadred I pondered for a long time on what I should write. At first I was going write about the UKeSA, how I am involved and how it is definitely not a grand conspiracy. I also thought about explaining who I am and how I became involved in eSports (via television editing and Halo and through the support and encouragement of QuadV and our favourite UKeSA Chairman, Ray Mia). I also thought about teasing an essay I've been researching on if Counter-Strike will ever work on television. In the end, I've ultimately settled on something much more important. I've written about us. I've written about how and why we, as the greater gaming community, must make eSports more accessible. The time has come for us to lay down our keyboards and to support each and every UK competitive gaming community. To aid in this, I've created a mantra that could help make the UK the envy of the global gaming population. Getting involved in my mantra is as easy as doing one or two of the following:

Mike Bembenek

Don't knock other games.

One aspect of the new Enemy Down (and the UKeSA in some respects) that I really enjoy is the wide range of titles on both console and PC that are on offer. The site is making a serious attempt at bringing together both console and PC gaming communities and should be applauded for that. Same goes to Multiplay who are hosting their first true attempt at a team console event with their Halo 3 tournament at i36. For the first time outside of a WCG event, Multiplay are working hard to make sure the best Halo 3 teams in Europe are in attendance. Every dog has its day and every game, if supported by a dedicated enough community, will have its spotlight. The next time a game like TF2 grabs the top prize in a competition, as is what happened with the Dell XPS Premiership, don't slag it off. Work as collective in your gametype to figure out how to take that top spot next time. A little coordination can do wonders. Always help spread the word.

Volunteer.

If you really want to get involved, figure out where you fit in and how you could help eSports and start contacting people. There are hundreds of sites out there that are always looking for good, reliable people. Writers, graphic designers, video editors, shoutcasters, and most importantly, admins are always in demand. Most of these posts only require a couple hours a week and can be extremely rewarding. They can also lead to bigger and better things.

Click site ads.

This is an easy one yet most of us don't do it. Many of our community sites depend on ads. The biggest UK eSports advertiser at the moment is probably BE due to their affiliate program. If you plan on signing up to BE Broadband, find a community site that you support and enter the BE sign-up page from there. If you do that, you just made the affiliate 50 quid to keep their servers running. Good job!

Spread the word.

Don't be embarrassed about this incredible and diverse community. The simple fact is that almost everyone plays computer games. Sure, not everyone plays in a league or goes away for a weekend to play at a LAN but most people do play online and understand the draw of eSports. What we do is unique and, most importantly, almost anyone can do it. Not many hobbies get to have that claim. Age, physical ability, sex, creed; not a single one of these things matters in competitive gaming. Ultimately, gaming embraces a fundamental human trait and the point of any sport: the spirit of competition. In order to make eSports more profitable for everyone, we need to keep the community growing. Tell your coworkers and friends.

Open Up.

Many community sites are tight knit and can be closed off. It's time we worked together to open them up and welcome new blood. Just because someone is new and asks questions doesn't make them an idiot nor a lesser person or player. A new player today could very well be your teammate tomorrow. Welcome noobs with open arms and show them the ropes. It's for the good of the cause.

Don't cheat.

This week ETF2L posted their latest ban list, and although short, it should never have been created at all. Aimbots? Account Sharing? Why? I could go with the age old saying that the only person you are cheating is yourself but that's not really true. If you get caught, you're cheating your teammates, your opponents, the sponsors, and most importantly, the volunteers who have to fix your mess because you suck at a game.

Communicate.

This may sound like a no-brainer but you would be surprised at how little communication goes on in eSports. Everyone expects everyone else to contact them when it should be the completely opposite way around. Teams should be using RSS feeds to publicize themselves and drive traffic. I won't visit every team site but I will subscribe to their RSS feeds. Managers should be talking to avoid sponsor clashes and to help hype competition. Players should actively work to promote themselves and their teammates. We should all work to comment in a constructive manner. Try it sometime.

I know many will think this is lame and a waste of time but it is important. We need more players, managers and teams. We need more sponsors. We need a clear direction and guidance. to achieve any this, we need to work together.