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Now i'll foreword this with the fact that i'm mostly a Dota person, but before my time here, in the long long ago when Jatt was still on Dignitas, Dyrus played for a team called Epik, and Reginald was still bad(and he's hardly changed) I watched a lot of league.
Even as I left league and Dota 2 ignited that old WC3 Dota addiction in me, I've kept my eye on the league of legends scene, just because.. Well you start to be interested in the story of players, even those you don't like when you used to watch them. Which brings me to more modern league. I only tune in occasionally to LCS broadcasts, but I do do it.
In my honest opinion, the LCS is a total mess because of one and one thing only, its blind ambition to follow sports in format and the way content is put out. Specifically the NFL and NBA, the largest leagues. Its almost a mind boggling choice. And I don't feel like I should have to say this but I will. Esports, competitive gaming, whatever you want to call it, is and probably will always be its own beast, its not gonna be the same as those leagues. In all honesty the life of most esports is closer to a game like Tennis or Golf, with many smaller tournaments. Its a viable format on its own, you don't HAVE to be the NFL.
But Riot wants to be the NFL. They shot wildly and scored big with League, there's no doubt about it, but what the LCS is selling you isn't league. That's a myth. What the LCS is trying to sell you is Riot Games. Riot Games as leading the charge in Esports! Giving players a salary! Riot Games is trying to make games less toxic! Look at them BOLDLY fining their plays for having a potty mouth. Riot Games! Look how fan focused they are, bringing the LCS around the world! London, Singapore, Korea, where-ever the fuck.
Riot Games. Who will happily sacrifice competitive integrity in the name of the show, because the show is Riot Games now. Everything is part of the show, the show that is LOOK AT HOW GREAT WE ARE.
And this is the real nature of the LCS I personally perceive as so problematic. Everything, credibility, competitive integrity, the ability of their teams to practice, is all given up in the name of the show. And here's where I go on, in no particular order, my list of disappointments with the LCS
Why the hell does the spring split even exist? Ostensibly it provides time for teams that got in to gain experience, but in reality.. Nobody cares about the spring split, even the players say the spring split doesn't matter. Why even have it? I get you need to provide the show and so on and so forth, but the spring split is a nearly irrelevant time of year. This could be a time when teams are out at Dreamhack and MLGs and ESL could all be doing events for league, events that would probably be more international, hype, and far more INTERESTING than the worthless spring split.
OH MY GOD IT GOES ON SOOO LOOONG
each team plays FOUR freaking games against each other in the LCS, there's so many matches to sort through that they simply stop MATTERING at some point, no competitive player wants to play games that simply don't matter, that's why CLG flew off to Korea, because it just DOESN'T MATTER, even in the summer split people know that the games stop mattering! Those were FOUR games in one 'super week' that CLG didn't give a shit about because they were mathematically locked into playoffs anyways. And the rewards for placing higher are very minimal in the LCS playoffs setup. I'd far prefer to see a 'bubble race' style that really made getting the top spot WORTH.
THE WHOLE GODDAMN CHALLENGER SCENE, lack of tournaments because nobody wants to see a bunch of no name players on teams that they don't freaking know play league. This is another point where just getting RID of the spring split in favor of an open tournament season because it would allow all of these teams exposure, who doesn't want a Cinderella story of a team coming from nowhere to absolutely crush a tournament against all odds? That's what great moments are MADE of, and weekend tournaments are where these moments happen. In an incredibly long format like the LCS, you'll almost never see the Cinderella team come through, even if you did, after 3-4 weeks of watching them play at the top, is it even a Cinderella story anymore?
And then there's the stupid ladder qualifiers, which exist only because Riot wants to create this myth of that if you just play and try really hard YOU TOO can be in the LCS. Not to mention the seemingly everpresent problem of DDOS in the challenger scene. And you know why? Because the challenger scene doesn't contribute to the SHOW, to the mystique riot is building up. They don't really give a crap about it outside of the promotion tournament. The Coke Zero league is a nice gesture, but its tacked onto the end of LCS broadcasts, but the lowered production really hurts the chances of people keeping it on.
And these quals are followed by Best of Ones, which are pretty bad, but i understand why Riot does those at least, because it just cuts down on the time needed so significantly.
Like, there should be no spring split, and you can assign ladder points to all the events that take place where the spring split was to form the basis for LCS spots in the summer.
And then lets just look at the embarrassing incompetence of Riot's esports department in something as simple as communication. They couldn't communicate to gambit about the trip to London in a reasonable time frame (that shit should be months in advance), they failed to communicate about how worlds was set up. But beyond that, is this fucking rulebook for the LCS that Riot itself doesn't even know. Its why Gambit got hit with that remake, it contributed to why CLG got fined, and then Riot basically threw the book at Reginald just to FLEX its esports muscles. Like, not knowing your own rules is just a total joke.
and this isn't to say the LCS is all bad. Stable salaries for players and consistently high production value are things Riot SHOULD be lauded for. But these are easily lost in the question of if Riot is doing these things for Esports, or to support the Riot Show, sponsored by Riot, hosted by Riot, funded by Riot. Riot riot riot.
tl;dr LCS sucks, spring split is pointless, let MLG, dhack and ESL n shit have open tournaments in that time instead, fix the esports department, create opportunities for challenger teams to prove themselves outside of promo tournaments. Riot needs to relinquish its iron grip of its game for the scene to be healthier.
Well that was a rambling pile of words.
 
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Proleague lasts entire year, lets get rid of Proleague.
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Doing things for Esports is an idiotic concept that doesn't really exist. The current incarnation of the LCS is fantastically produced and does more or less what riot wants it to do, obviously there are hilarious debacles like Gambit gaming and CLG playing with standins for various entertaining reasons, but that kind of thing exists in every scene. At the end of the day they've created a pro scene with storylines that people can follow, competitive games (for the most part), and in an amount that is pretty decently balanced as to not overload viewers.
The main issues with LCS imo is that it
1) Kills most smaller events by committing players to a centralized LAN setting 40 or so weeks a year and prohibits them from joining riot-unapproved tournaments. While they're certainly 100% entitled to do so since the players are salaried contractors instead of what are independent ones in most other games.
2) Artificially prop up the competition with Region-locking. This one I'm actually pretty ambivalent about since it obviously is not to Riot's advantage to have a situation similar to the SC2 that's completely dominated by Koreans. On the other hand we don't see players from minor leagues play in the NBA, for example. This is related to a dualfolded problem that's especially prevalent in NA wherein being mediocre(staying in LCS) and capable of bringing large streamer numbers is far more profitable and stable than actually putting in the effort to being good once you accept that no NA team has a shot at winning worlds.
The longer end of the problem is already evident as the players from stronger regions would inevitably seek to move to weaker ones, as seen my the influx of imported Koreans and LMQ. Imagine if a team like Jin Air going to EU LCS; the absolutely mediocre team in Korea would instantly become favorites in the scene and for a spot at worlds.
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On August 26 2014 19:41 supernovamaniac wrote:
Proleague lasts entire year, lets get rid of Proleague.
proleague is split up into a lot of smaller sections and doesn't monopolize its players absolutely to the exclusion of other tournaments
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On August 27 2014 00:35 Shaella wrote:Show nested quote +On August 26 2014 19:41 supernovamaniac wrote:
Proleague lasts entire year, lets get rid of Proleague. proleague is split up into a lot of smaller sections and doesn't monopolize its players absolutely to the exclusion of other tournaments
I'm sure any Growth Hacker could tell you from definitive Data Science that this sort of monopolized and subsidized growth is superior to the slow Organic growth wherein you have high rate of distributed failure because when you have a single thing it can be Too Big To Fail and thus more robust.
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On August 27 2014 03:35 xes wrote:Show nested quote +On August 27 2014 00:35 Shaella wrote:On August 26 2014 19:41 supernovamaniac wrote:
Proleague lasts entire year, lets get rid of Proleague. proleague is split up into a lot of smaller sections and doesn't monopolize its players absolutely to the exclusion of other tournaments I'm sure any Growth Hacker could tell you from definitive Data Science that this sort of monopolized and subsidized growth is superior to the slow Organic growth wherein you have high rate of distributed failure because when you have a single thing it can be Too Big To Fail and thus more robust.
the problem here is that Riot isn't trying to grow the LCS, or Esports
Riot is trying to grow Riot.
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This is true of every company trying to do "esports" and hardly limited to riot
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very true, but i don't like how Riot presents it as them martyring themselves for esports, how they don't make any money on LCS ect.
I also think the spring split is worthless and i have no idea why anyone would watch it
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On August 27 2014 03:48 Shaella wrote:Show nested quote +On August 27 2014 03:35 xes wrote:On August 27 2014 00:35 Shaella wrote:On August 26 2014 19:41 supernovamaniac wrote:
Proleague lasts entire year, lets get rid of Proleague. proleague is split up into a lot of smaller sections and doesn't monopolize its players absolutely to the exclusion of other tournaments I'm sure any Growth Hacker could tell you from definitive Data Science that this sort of monopolized and subsidized growth is superior to the slow Organic growth wherein you have high rate of distributed failure because when you have a single thing it can be Too Big To Fail and thus more robust. the problem here is that Riot isn't trying to grow the LCS, or Esports Riot is trying to grow Riot.
Sorry if my use of Proper Nouns didn't fully convey my disdain for "growth hacker" or "data scientist" as professions.
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On August 27 2014 05:08 xes wrote:Show nested quote +On August 27 2014 03:48 Shaella wrote:On August 27 2014 03:35 xes wrote:On August 27 2014 00:35 Shaella wrote:On August 26 2014 19:41 supernovamaniac wrote:
Proleague lasts entire year, lets get rid of Proleague. proleague is split up into a lot of smaller sections and doesn't monopolize its players absolutely to the exclusion of other tournaments I'm sure any Growth Hacker could tell you from definitive Data Science that this sort of monopolized and subsidized growth is superior to the slow Organic growth wherein you have high rate of distributed failure because when you have a single thing it can be Too Big To Fail and thus more robust. the problem here is that Riot isn't trying to grow the LCS, or Esports Riot is trying to grow Riot. Sorry if my use of Proper Nouns didn't fully convey my disdain for "growth hacker" or "data scientist" as professions.
i'm gonna call poes law on this one.
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On August 27 2014 04:37 Shaella wrote:
very true, but i don't like how Riot presents it as them martyring themselves for esports, how they don't make any money on LCS ect.
I also think the spring split is worthless and i have no idea why anyone would watch it
Is OGN's winter split worthless? Spring? Or are you saying you would rather the spring split winners get some sort of advantage or seeding for worlds?
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On August 27 2014 10:40 miicah wrote:Show nested quote +On August 27 2014 04:37 Shaella wrote:
very true, but i don't like how Riot presents it as them martyring themselves for esports, how they don't make any money on LCS ect.
I also think the spring split is worthless and i have no idea why anyone would watch it Is OGN's winter split worthless? Spring? Or are you saying you would rather the spring split winners get some sort of advantage or seeding for worlds?
Sure why not.
Or just something. Like i know there's money but the way the LCS is that feels like such a non issue, ya know?
I'd rather the spring split not exist tho.
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Well, that's just like, your opinion, man.
I personally like it and think it's rather enjoyable.
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On August 27 2014 22:30 ZERG_RUSSIAN wrote:
Well, that's just like, your opinion, man.
I personally like it and think it's rather enjoyable.
100% agree. Hi, 5HITCOMBO btw, haven't been on here in a while :D
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On August 27 2014 22:30 ZERG_RUSSIAN wrote:
Well, that's just like, your opinion, man.
I personally like it and think it's rather enjoyable.
well, yes, it is like my opinion man.
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Preach it, Shaella.
HALLELUJAH!
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On August 27 2014 10:40 miicah wrote:Show nested quote +On August 27 2014 04:37 Shaella wrote:
very true, but i don't like how Riot presents it as them martyring themselves for esports, how they don't make any money on LCS ect.
I also think the spring split is worthless and i have no idea why anyone would watch it Is OGN's winter split worthless? Spring? Or are you saying you would rather the spring split winners get some sort of advantage or seeding for worlds?
If they want Spring Split to matter and have the teams play to the best of their ability, the winner needs to get some sort of advantage out of it for the only tournament that really matters in the Riot Controlled world of League Esports.
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EPT
