Just a couple comments about the Coast situation!

Hey, everyone!



Sorry I haven’t been too active—I’ve been busy with classes and my internet at school doesn’t handle streaming very well.



Recently, some people have been asking for my opinion regarding the purchasing of LCS spots and players being replaced, so I figured I might as well make a post about it based off of my personal experiences. (With regards to the Coast situation but also just in general)



I personally do not agree with the current e-sports scene. I think that, in general, players have very little power with regards to their career. From the conversations I’ve had with Challenger/LCS players and through my own involvement in the industry, contracts in the professional League scene heavily favor the organizations. The players who sign the contracts receive little to no benefits and their job security is extremely low.



There are a lot of Reddit posts going around claiming that the League players who were replaced are at fault when it comes to the current situation—some have gone as far as to say the players are dumb for signing the contract in the first place—but I believe the underlying problem here is the fact that these players are dispensable. Yes, it takes skill to compete at a Challenger level, but if we really inspect the Challenger scene a little closer, there are actually a dozen or so players who are strong enough to compete for each role.



To put this in perspective, let’s pretend I am trying to negotiate a questionable contract. If I try to contest any unfavorable point, I could potentially completely lose the contract to another Challenger player who mains top lane. This dispensability makes it very difficult for a player to prove to an organization that they are worth more than another similarly-ranked player who is actually willing to sign that same contract.



“If they’re good enough, they’ll get on a LCS team.” I think this mindset is flawed. It’s very difficult to see if a player is good enough to compete at a LCS level unless they’re playing on a competitive team. You can’t be on a competitive team unless you get contracted. If you try to negotiate your contract, organizations will look for a different player. Maybe it isn’t true in all cases and maybe some very exceptional players will make it through, but in general (at least in NA) I feel as though very few if any LCS players are coming from the challenger scene since they never get a chance to see LCS level play.



So why try to be in LCS at all? Maybe you need the money. Maybe you like the rush of competing on the highest possible level. There are endless reasons for why someone would want to enter the professional gaming industry. Some players would rather sign onto a contract which isn’t very favorable in order to avoid their alternative situations, which just adds to the issue of how the current setup is discriminatory towards the League players.



Of course, I don’t have all the answers, and my opinion does come with biases given my past with e-sports, but I do know that this situation as a whole was one of the main reasons as to why I chose to go back to school rather than continuing to pursue e-sports. All in all, I do genuinely believe that the players should be given more protection, whether it’s through Riot or external agents.



As a final note, I’d like to thank everyone for continuing to follow me! I should be home for winter break (in about a month) and I plan on streaming some more then!



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