On June 25, the current world champion, T1, released a video in which they let their professional players speak freely. The star of the team, Faker, has two demands for Riot Games regarding what they need to get a handle on in League of Legends.
These are Faker’s demands: In a video from world champion T1 in Korean, Faker calls for two things that Riot urgently needs to address:
- DDOS attacks that disrupt online games
- Personal attacks
Faker says: It is crucial to address both problems. If they remain unresolved, they would gradually undermine the value of esports.
T1 under constant focus of DDOS attacks
Why are DDOS attacks such a problem for him? For the competitor Faker, the DDOS attacks are a critical issue because they specifically target T1.
When T1 players stream on Twitch and are in the solo queue, their games are deliberately sabotaged and torpedoed. It has reached the point that other players say the Korean solo queue is like Russian roulette. If you have a T1 player on your own or in the opposing team, the game becomes practically unplayable.
DDOS attacks at T1 have now reached such proportions that they affect training and, consequently, the world champion’s performance. Even the otherwise sober Faker cited them as a reason for losing important games.
What does he mean by “personal attacks”? As the most prominent face in League of Legends, Faker often receives the unfiltered hatred of fans in personal messages or through other means.
In South Korea, LoL is not just a video game, but an important aspect of life for many people – similar to how soccer is for many of us. There is great rivalry among fans of individual teams, like the rivalry between Schalke and Dortmund here. The most famous rivalry is probably between T1 and Gen G, who previously as Samsung Galaxy Faker ruined the 4th World Championship.
Even today, Gen G. with “Our Lord and Savior” Chovy is considered the great rival to Faker.
When Faker makes a brilliant play in the mid lane that crushes other teams’ playoff hopes, he receives much love from his own fans but also hatred from the opponents.
And the love from his own fans can quickly turn into hatred when things don’t go well. T1 fans are known for renting trucks and driving them through the area of Seoul where the T1 players live and train with a message.
“That it undermines the value of esports” is certainly correct. An experienced player, who is already 28 years old like Faker, can handle it. But younger players can break under the pressure: LoL: Pro breaks under pressure and is criticized by supermarket cashier – Now afraid to buy food
