A Message from Caley

I will not be competing in SCL Season 6, and will in fact be taking an extended hiatus from SpyParty competitive play which will last for the foreseeable future. I will continue to administer the league, though, and I will continue to play SpyParty casually and be an active member of this wonderful community. The hiatus only extends to actual competitive play.

The reason is a simple one of time. Playing SpyParty competitively requires an enormous sum of time and effort from me, and while I could feasibly continue to keep that up, it always takes away greatly from other projects I could be working on, especially other projects for SpyParty.

I have devoted so much to competitive SpyParty nonetheless over the last seven (!) years because it’s always been very rewarding in return, in victory and defeat. This game is always very humbling in either event. I’ve gotten to play so many wonderful matches against a variety of truly great players, and I’ve had the rare opportunity of contributing meaningfully to the theory of a game. I certainly do not think I’ve learned all there is to learn in this game; quite the opposite. But after a long run of pretty good results in competitive, I do think that I should take a bit of a break from the grind and give myself back some of those hours and hours and hours that I have to play seriously. To try and play offhand, without giving the game the attention and study it deserves, would be a disservice to it and to my opponents.

I realize that in some respects me leaving the competitive scene is not especially convenient; in halting competitive play now I’m ceasing to contribute to the game’s theory, denying the community a very hype moment when I finally lost an SCL season, and so forth. But in other ways I think it will be a very good thing. I will have more time to make the league run smoother and will be able to contribute to the community in a variety of other ways. Plus my absence will lead to what will hopefully be some new, fresh hype in SCL storylines.

Thank you to all my opponents, and to everyone who’s participated in competitive SpyParty. Thanks also to every member of this wonderful community, which is like a second family to me. I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to do some cool stuff for everyone as a result of this decision!

Much love,
– Συ