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I Don't Understand the Viewer Count for LoL

Blogs > Thaniri
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Thaniri
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
1264 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-03-10 20:14:05
March 07 2012 16:02 GMT
#1
Edit: I hate to bump, but I see IPL with 5k viewers, and TotalBiscuits monobattle thing with 25k Viewers. I opened my LoL client and could not find a stream for IPL. Based on your responses, IPL should have way more.

When I see for IEM that there is 120k viewers for League, and 30k for Starcraft, it sort of bothers me.

I know that the viewer count is massively inflated by having it in the client of League, but what is going on?

Every friend I have who plays League does not watch competition because it is boring to watch or they would rather play.

Yet every Starcraft player from bronze to grandmaster seems to know and care about our pro scene and we pull in 30k viewers.

Doesn't it feel like cheating by Riot to have the stream in the client? Because it feels to me that one would log in, go AFK and the viewer count is filled with non-viewers.

Or I could be completely full of crap and my friends who play League (ranging from casual to mega tryhard again) are just part of a minority in League.

**
Asha
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United Kingdom38256 Posts
March 07 2012 16:04 GMT
#2
Stream doesn't start from the client unless you choose to open it.

LoL is just massively popular, that's all there is to it.
ThatGuy89
Profile Joined February 2011
United Kingdom1968 Posts
March 07 2012 16:05 GMT
#3
the games free and its easy to understand and play
therefore, alot more people are interested in it

SC2 is expensive, and you have to be good to play it, at least once you get into at least gold/plat
udgnim
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States8024 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-03-07 16:06:28
March 07 2012 16:05 GMT
#4
LoL has a much higher user count than SC2

Doesn't it feel like cheating by Riot to have the stream in the client? Because it feels to me that one would log in, go AFK and the viewer count is filled with non-viewers.


Riot does a much better job than Blizzard promoting its game as an e-sport to its user base
E-Sports is competitive video gaming with a spectator fan base. Do not take the word "Sports" literally.
LemonyTang
Profile Joined March 2011
United Kingdom428 Posts
March 07 2012 16:05 GMT
#5
LoL has a way bigger player base than sc2 - literally four times as big. Further more, not every starcraft player cares about the pro scene at all. sc2ranks says there are 800k players active this league but the most that tune in for even a major event doesn't peak anywhere near that.

Also, you still have to open the stream. It's not as simple as if you start the game you start the stream.
Mvp #1
Kipsate
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Netherlands45349 Posts
March 07 2012 16:14 GMT
#6
Alot more people play LoL then SC2, thats it basically, also the stream is NOT embedded in the Client, its at the startup of the client as a suggestion, if you click it then it will open.
WriterXiao8~~
IronMan3
Profile Joined March 2012
31 Posts
March 07 2012 16:14 GMT
#7
Because SC2 is not Brood War and it sucks and Blizzard hasn't done much to help the scene now have they? In fact one could say they are ruining the scene by requiring money to host a bigger tournament and having a crap Bnet 0.2 system!
LayZRR
Profile Joined February 2011
Germany449 Posts
March 07 2012 16:16 GMT
#8
you seem mad cuz sc2 is not #1.

sc2 is still a great game.
Nikon
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Bulgaria5710 Posts
March 07 2012 16:17 GMT
#9
On March 08 2012 01:16 LayZRR wrote:
you seem mad cuz sc2 is not #1.

sc2 is still a great game.


So is League of Legends, yet a lot of people get mad at it for no reason, right here on this site. C'est la vie.
Talin
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Montenegro10532 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-03-07 16:18:21
March 07 2012 16:17 GMT
#10
Simply put, it all depends on how many people actively play a game (especially in terms of its core game mode, as in 1v1 multiplayer in SC2).

I myself stopped playing a few months ago, and I kept watching tournaments for some time, then less and less by the month, and now I'm not even watching IEM, just keeping an eye on results. It's just a natural process, without a direct connection with the game, it's much easier to lose interest in e-sports as well over time.
Myrddraal
Profile Joined December 2010
Australia937 Posts
March 07 2012 16:18 GMT
#11
That does seem odd, as I don't know anybody that watches or follows LoL either, the only thing I can think is that it might be different in Asia, (LoL is very popular in Asia right?) where perhaps they do follow the pro scene and obviously there are a tonne of people.
[stranded]: http://www.indiedb.com/games/stranded
zalz
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
Netherlands3704 Posts
March 07 2012 16:19 GMT
#12
Just for the record:

The LoL client does not count everyone that logs into the client as a viewer. There is simply a link that can be clicked. If you click on the link it takes you to the stream. As long as you watch the stream, you are counted as a viewer.

Peak numbers for LoL are something like 200-250k people. Average numbers are 120k for any client-supported tournament.


That is just smart promotion.

There is really no reason for Blizz not to do the same. Well, there is one reason. They don't actually give a shit about the pro-scene and building it into the client takes work. More work than you want to put in for something you don't give a shit about.

Riot supports their pro-scene more and they have more players. That is why they are winning by miles.
Kipsate
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Netherlands45349 Posts
March 07 2012 16:20 GMT
#13
On March 08 2012 01:18 Myrddraal wrote:
That does seem odd, as I don't know anybody that watches or follows LoL either, the only thing I can think is that it might be different in Asia, (LoL is very popular in Asia right?) where perhaps they do follow the pro scene and obviously there are a tonne of people.

LoL is fairly decently popular in Asia, but Dota I believe is more popular then LoL there.
WriterXiao8~~
SkyBlaze
Profile Joined August 2010
Canada191 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-03-07 16:31:14
March 07 2012 16:26 GMT
#14
On March 08 2012 01:20 Kipsate wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 08 2012 01:18 Myrddraal wrote:
That does seem odd, as I don't know anybody that watches or follows LoL either, the only thing I can think is that it might be different in Asia, (LoL is very popular in Asia right?) where perhaps they do follow the pro scene and obviously there are a tonne of people.

LoL is fairly decently popular in Asia, but Dota I believe is more popular then LoL there.


I would like to add this, is that I hear that in China LoL is very popular in PC cafes'. If you think about it, China has one of the largest E-sport scenes out there (maybe bigger than Korea). Also a lot of my friends who are bad at sc2 1v1 go to teams games in sc2 then over time look at LoL for the Team aspects due to the fact of less stress and being group actives are more fun.
| (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ | ┻━┻ ︵╰(°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Aocowns
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
Norway6070 Posts
March 07 2012 16:29 GMT
#15
Yeah, it's pretty much that Blizzard are disgustingly bad at promoting the game, and caring for it's community and growth compared to Riot. LoL is, as has also been said free to play, easy to play, and fun to play, even when you're bad.

But then take a look at the live audiences. As far as I know, the live SC2 audience has thrashed the LoL audience for at least every MLG up until now

I think the SC2 fans are in general a lot more dedicated, and that most LoL viewers are just people that casually click the link, then casually watch, and casually stop if there is ever a need to pay.

My view on Riot and LoL is probably a little biased to SC2, but I don't think I'm too far off
I'm a salt-lord and hater of mech and ForGG, don't take me seriously, it's just my salt-humour speaking i swear. |KadaverBB best TL gaoler| |~IdrA's #1 fan~| SetGuitarsToKill and Duckk are my martyr heroes |
vOdToasT
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Sweden2870 Posts
March 07 2012 16:37 GMT
#16
People watch LoL because people play LoL. And I don't have to explain to you why lots of people play it.

StarCraft 2 on the other hand has lots of viewers who don't play, because it's an actual fun spectator sport. LoL is only fun to look at if you're a player.
If it's stupid but it works, then it's not stupid* (*Or: You are stupid for losing to it, and gotta git gud)
theBALLS
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
Singapore2935 Posts
March 07 2012 16:37 GMT
#17
Why do more people watch Jersey Shore than an Attenborough documentary?
If you lose the stick, you'll always have theBALLS.
HwangjaeTerran
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Finland5967 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-03-07 16:43:55
March 07 2012 16:38 GMT
#18
Me neither, but then again I'm not sure if I understand the viewer count for sc2 either.

Or bw, but for the opposite reason.

e. My flatmate brings all the loot to a trader in Skyrim/KoA, even when there is nothing left to buy in the game.
Might have something to do with this phenomenon.
https://steamcommunity.com/id/*tlusernamehere*/
Lightswarm
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
Canada966 Posts
March 07 2012 16:48 GMT
#19
What exactly has blizzard done to promote their game to the casuals? This system forces you to queue LADDER games that demoralize people from playing further. How many people have tried this game for a few months and quit for LoL? There is basically no casual base for SC2 whereas if you compare to LoL, the 5v5 format can be played without the ladder system. Go on SC2 front page and look at what you see. Starcraft Art of War, Upcoming Tournaments, Actor Cheats, Starcraft Master (WTF?), Season 7 Map Pool. And that is only in the home page, which most of the time is ignored by the players. You log into the multiplayer page and all you ever see is your meaningless ladder ranking and the queue ladder buttons. Now check out LoL; more than 70% of the front page (where you do your queueing for games) is the IEM tournament with the view stream button (in fact, anywhere you click around the front page would link you to the stream. And just so EVERYONE IS CLEAR, the LoL viewers only take into account of people who actually clicked on the stream link, not just logging into the client (which trust me if they do that count, the stream number would be alot higher). If we want a dedicated fanbase, then look at BW and see how thats doing. This game is not going to grow by tastosis/day9/whoever providing exciting commentary because the only way the game grows is by a CASUAL fanbase with few that move into the competitive scene, and Blizzard has done nothing to promote this casual fanbase. Quite the opposite, they have developed a system that deters players from playing their ladder and, eventually, their game.
Team[AoV]
matiK23
Profile Joined May 2011
United States963 Posts
March 07 2012 16:48 GMT
#20
On March 08 2012 01:37 theBALLS wrote:
Why do more people watch Jersey Shore than an Attenborough documentary?


I get your point, I guess, but are you really comparing Starcraft to educational documentaries?
Without a paddle up shit creek.
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