Photo: LoL Esports
Obviously, we don’t have all the science and it is impossible to determine precisely why the Chinese team RNG receives so much animosity on the networks. In addition, the reasons are multiple and specific to each. However, several avenues seem interesting to us to explore. They engage only us and we let you make your own opinion on the question. One thing is certain, however: the international community seems to have much more affection for the Korean league than for the Chinese league, even though the two have quite a few similarities… In particular that of destroying Western teams every year during Worlds and MSI.
As a reminder, this whole ping problem is related to the absence of Chinese players on the spot. They could not come because of the restrictions linked to the coronavirus on their territory.
To participate, China received “special treatment”
This is undoubtedly the main reason for the international community’s animosity towards China. While South Korea has one of the best internet connections in the world, players cannot benefit from it at MSI. To ensure “competitive equity“, it was decided that we would use a tool to smooth the ping of participants, whether they are remote or on site. We understand the mechanics, but this measure is experienced as a disadvantage and an injustice, especially by the Koreans, who are not used to having so much latency. Impact the top laner of Evil Geniuses used this very telling comparison: it’s like tying a sandbag to the ankles of footballers. let’s add that the Chinese should have played “outside” in South Korea with a potentially hostile public. Instead of receiving this pressure, they are quietly in their living room. Even if it is not their fault, it makes wince a bit, especially in Korea.
Another country is quite sad and makes it known. the Vietnam couldn’t send their best team, busy for another tournament coming up. But he especially missed the last two years of international tournaments, not being able to go there to participate. Theoretically, one could have imagined seeing the champions of the VCS participate in at least one event… the Worlds 2019 having been played in China. But if we made the effort for the LPL this year, we never did it for the others before.
On League of Legends, China is a very closed country
Competitive regions are more or less closed. In North America, it’s a bit of an open door because there are a lot of Korean players (Huni, Impact, Huhi…), European players (Bjergsen, Jensen…) and also Oceanians (Lost, Fudge). Europe is a region that is also open internationally, with Koreans, Turks or Russians. On the other hand, the Asian leagues are generally not very open… We only find Koreans in the LCK. In China, there are mainly Chinese in the broad sense (Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China…).
However, the Korean league remains very popular almost everywhere… But the reason is simple: Korean players export very well to the four corners of the world. Thus, of the 11 teams present at the MSI, we find 5 which has at least one Korean in its ranks. For the Chinese, this is not really the case. There are a few in the LCS, but it’s very sporadic. In Europe we haven’t seen any yet, even if it is rumored that Bo would arrive at Vitality. We had the case of Shadow, formerly at MAD Lions. But the jungler is Chinese-Italian.
On a network like Twitter, there are very few Chinese
We also point out that Twitter offers a distorted reality. Theoretically, the Chinese do not have access to this social network, which is prohibited in their country. For this reason, even if in terms of demography the Middle Empire weighs enormously, it is necessarily more discreet on “Western” social networks. We were able to see it during the Twitter votes for the songs of the MSI… RNG has very little involved the community. Of course, people in China can still use a VPN. But generally the community is content to use Weibo, the Chinese RS par excellence.
Finally, without going into details, China also suffers from a somewhat average image in the Western press. Respect for human rightsthe question of Tibetthe problem of Uyghurs… All this has nothing to do with League of Legends, but it also weighs in the balance.
esport-lol
It’s called being in the sauce. After many complaints from players, Riot finally recognized that there were problems connecting to the League of Legends MSI. For this reason, a team has been favored… And its matches will have to be replayed. What a story !