Recently, an interview with Andy “Reginald” Dinh, owner of Team Solo Mid, surfaced on the internet. In the interview Regi explains why he does not like the untimely and sizable changes made to the game in the latest patch. The patch dropped before the European and North American League Championship Series playoffs (and other regions as well but for the sake of this post we will be focusing on the LCS system).
Regi voices his concern for not only his own players but all professional players who have to deal with the meta changes. He states that the practice it requires to be a professional player is difficult enough and that a drastic change in the way the game is played is both discouraging and detrimental. When teams have practiced all season to become as proficient as possible in a certain meta and that meta changes via champion nerfs or buffs and/or specific objectives’ weight in priority shift then it becomes a serious problem. All of the hours spent crafting and perfecting a team’s strategic approach and identity can be made irrelevant. Not to mention that the strengths brought to a team by a player’s mastery of a champion(s) can be drastically reduced or even completely negated. It is also alluded to that the short career lengths of pro LoL players can be attributed to such changes either by burning a player out or cause a player’s organization to drop him for another player that the changes favored. And while adapting to change is part of any job, whether it be a sport or an office job, it is apparent that these changes were horribly timed.
Despite Team Solo Mid being one of the biggest eSports organizations in the world with some of the strongest infrastructure (and best compensation outside of China) for its players Regi reported that the players and support staff still struggled mightily to get somewhat comfortable and prepare well enough for the playoffs. One can also be sure that they are continuing that struggle as there is still more League to be played. This is not the first time that Riot has pulled out a game changing patch during crunch time. Last year Riot rolled out a patch with reworks to a lot of previously unused champions with an array of new items to accompany them. The result was a scavenger hunt in the dark to see who could get the firmest grasp of the new meta. To add to the chaos the patch fell right before the world championships kicked off. But from Riot and the average viewer’s perspective it was extremely entertaining. New champions and strategies! More action and blood in new areas of the battlefield! Now, almost a year later the players and organizations find themselves in a familiar place. Even with the situation being similar it does not make it any less stressful on preparations. It is easy to see the frustration organizations and players are experiencing as they strive to lock in an appearance to this years World Championship.
As the interview continues Regi briefly touches on a developing issue regarding organizations having difficulties pulling in money to fund their teams. Regi also talks about the fear of relegation and the subsequent lack of job security in the current LCS system. Although his responses do not go in to great detail his tone reveals that the topic is a great concern both for himself and other team owners. The interview ends with Regi pulling attention back towards the patch and the players; in an already volatile environment like the LCS, changes such as the latest patch can make it much worse. Not long after the interview was uploaded the co-founder of Riot, Marc “Tryndamere” Merrill responded on Reddit. The post comes across as hastily written, aggressive, and thus unprofessional.
Upon reading Tryndamere’s response it is clear that he felt the need to defend Riot’s position. Even with majority of the interview focusing on Riot’s untimely patch half of Tryndamere’s post focused on teams’ (more specifically TSM) income and spending. He starts with accusing Regi of spending much of his “millions” earned from LoL on other eSports instead of putting the money back into his LCS team. He states that there is a problem in the balance of power between owners and players. He explains further that Riot has no say in player market value and that owners not wanting to pay for the best makes for a “tricky” situation. To clear the air with the readers Tryndamere adds that Riot has helped the bottom of the LCS ecosystem before and is looking to do the same with the top end. Halfway through the post the point is made clear that the solution to the teams’ problems is in their allocation of money, that the players are not getting their fair share, and that Riot is looking to help smooth those things out.
With the strength of the statements made in the first half of Tryndamere’s post the second half is almost laughably different as it feels as though he is shrugging off the teams’ complaints on the latest patch. He admits that the timing of last years patch before Worlds was not the best. This year, however, the patch’s focus is somehow more on the “viewer experience” and that it should not impact the teams that greatly as a result. Tryndamere then argues that the complaints are not about the practice and progress made on the previous meta being spoiled but are about how teams can no longer run from their weaknesses with certain strategies. He then concludes the post by encouraging the best players not to be afraid to use their star power in their contract negotiations. An interesting (and off-topic) way to end a short post in response to a rather lengthy and in-depth interview.
The League of Legends community has always been very vocal about their opinions of all things LoL related from game client features to LCS teams’ actions. Unsurprisingly the community also had an opinion on the exchange between Regi and Tryndamere. While there are supporters of either side weighing in on the internet the most unsettling opinion is that Regi is a “greedy” owner and that he is over-exaggerating the struggles LCS organizations and teams are dealing with. There is a lot that the community is unaware of due to businesses keeping much of their inner workings private. I will, however, be keeping you all posted as the story continues to unfold since there are clearly bigger issues at hand than just patch timing. Enjoy the rest of your week.
Cheers!
— illMindOfPrime
sightstonelol 