UK-based esports and raiding guild organisation Method have terminated the contract of Daniel Vella ‘Jokerd’ Gobey, just two weeks after signing him.
The Maltese player, who became the first to reach the level cap in WoW Classic as a gnome mage, ninja looted a Staff of Dominance in a Molten Core raid group yesterday (in other words, he took a piece of in-game loot that wasn’t considered rightfully his).
The raid was a pick-up group, meaning people didn’t need to be in a specific guild to join it, and it was led by Jokerd himself. When the item dropped, he didn’t allow the other members of the raid to roll virtual dice for it, he just took it for himself.
You can see the moment he took the item here, spurred on by some viewers in the Twitch chat to take it:
Someone else by the name of Returnoftruth shared the news on Reddit in a post that has been upvoted more than 16,000 times.
“Not only did Joker ninja the item, but he genuinely screwed the raid over multiple times by trying to raid lead it,” the post read. “Anyone is free to watch the VoD and how many mistakes this guy makes with the actual raid. It’s pathetic.”
Method first responded by removing Jokerd from their Twitch team and suspending him from the organisation, ‘pending further investigation into the future of his contract as a WoW Classic influencer’.
Shanna ‘Darrie’ Roberts, Method general manager, described Jokerd’s behaviour as ‘offensive and unsportsmanlike’.
She said: “On behalf of Method, I want to apologise to our fans, sponsors, and community. We feel let down by his behaviour, just as many of you are.”
Shanna at Method then put out another statement later on, saying:
“After having the chance today to meet with Jokerd’s manager, we can now confirm publicly that Method has terminated the contract of Jokerd effective immediately. We wish Jokerd well in his streaming and playing career. No further statements will be made as we look towards moving on from this incident.”
Shanna ‘Darrie’ Roberts, Method
After the ninja loot incident in-game, Jokerd said (as shown in this Twitch clip): “Who do I think I am? Let me tell you who I am. I am world-first level 60 in fucking classic WoW, [I had] the most views ever on this game.
“I can do whatever the fuck I want.”
Except being a part of Method, it seems.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
>Kick someone for ninjalooting item in the raid he made himself.
>Keep Josh for probably years knowing about the accusations
Well played Method