Twitch streamer Tyler ‘Tyler1’ Steinkamp is known for two things: his streams of League of Legends and his fiery temperament. He combined both in a new LoL stream on Twitch on July 27: he took aim at two teams from Riot Games, claiming they only sit in their beanbags and do nothing. Tyler1 calls for their dismissal.
Who is the angry man?
- Tyler1 is a phenomenon on Twitch: he has transformed from an angry outsider who was constantly banned to an even angrier guy who is now considered the ‘face of LoL.’
- At first, Tyler1 could only play one champion, Draven, really well in LoL, but now he has mastered all roles to the point of reaching Challenger rank – a feat that even Riot Games acknowledged.
- In his private life, Tyler1 lives a secluded life with his girlfriend in the countryside – his life is described as a sort of ‘lonely grind hell.’
Tencent is burning money paying these losers
Which teams is Tyler1 really upset about? Tyler1 has two targets at Riot Games:
- the general balance team
- and the team responsible for client behavior.
In a Twitch stream, he recently looked at the patch notes and found only the entry that one could now see which teammates honored them after a LoL match under “Behavioral Systems.” For Tyler1, this is proof that the team at Riot is just sitting lazily in their beanbags, drinking coffee and twiddling their thumbs.
Tyler1 sarcastically applauded and explained:
These are losers. You’re stealing your salary from that crap Tencent. Do they know what you’re doing? Maybe I’ll send them a salty email. They burn money paying these people: They shouldn’t have jobs!
All other teams are fine – but they should be homeless
What’s bothering him? Tyler1 seems to be upset that the balance team and the client team work too slowly and do too little for the game. In a stream, he really gets into it:
“I think the casters are great, all the eSports teams, actually all these guys are okay. I’m really only talking about balance and client behavior: They should be homeless!”
Tyler1 then imagines a strange scenario: When the day comes that Riot Games fires these people and they leave their offices with their heads hanging low, Tyler1 would fly to California to cheer them on.
Is there any truth to the criticism? Some balance changes at Riot Games have been controversial lately, especially the ‘Durability’ update: They wanted to slow LoL down, while ‘glass cannons’ should still achieve their kills. This led to massive upheavals in the game.
The balance team pursued a policy of releasing a patch that they knew would change so much that it would inevitably lead to problems. These new problems were then to be addressed with further radical patches – an operation on the open heart of the game.
These patches and adjustments are not being implemented quickly enough for many players. This can certainly be viewed critically – especially when your favorite champion’s win rate plummets.
However, wishing someone to become ‘homeless’ goes too far. But it seems to be the typical move of Tyler1. LoL is known for its toxic community – making someone like Tyler1 the face of the game sends a clear message:
