Some thoughs - Twitch Faker stream and why you should NOT support KeSPa streams

I was going to write a long blog post on this with a ton of sources and what not to back my points up, but most of this stuff is common knowledge. I might still do it when I get home because I think this is an important topic and there are a lot of people trying to discuss an issue that they're missing some underlying fundamental issue of.



So recently there was a whole dramatic ordeal about a person who was streaming Faker's gameplay on Twitch. Let's go over some quick facts.



- The guy streamed Faker's gameplay using the League client

- The streamer was using a publicly available tool provided by Riot

- The streamer never streamed at the same time Faker dude on Azubu

- The streamer advertised Faker's stream for free, pointing back to his stream via links

- He never profited (directly) from the stream



This is an easy, clear-cut, knock out case. The guy is not only doing nothing wrong, he could easily go farther. I think it would be okay to profit from the stream and I think he should have been allowed to stream at the same time as Faker, too. But that's taking it further, and he wasn't doing either of those things.



For Riot to step in and intervene here means that Riot only has one logical step they can take, which is to shut down their public system that allows people to observe others. PERIOD. Anything else is stupid. Why? Let's look at a couple of implications.



What if someone was streaming a game after queuing with me and he was on Twitch and I was on Azubu. Do I have the right to tell him not to stream? No.



Even though this particular stream was shut down, is there anything stopping other people from observing Faker's gameplay by using the publicly accessible API? No.



So targeting this sole stream and shutting it down just because it was getting a lot of viewers by using a tool publicly created by Riot is absolutely stupid. Tryndamere's sad defense, claiming that this is "harassment" or "stalking" is so mind-numbingly stupid that I'm not even going to address it unless a lot of people honestly buy into it.



ALL OF THAT ASIDE, THOUGH, WHAT IS THE REAL PROBLEM?



KeSPa streams are TRASH TIER and people should STOP SUPPORTING KESPA STREAMS.



Let me explain how KeSPa streams and other Koreans viewed streaming back in the SC2 days.



"Oh, hey, all of these white guys are making money streaming! I want to make easy money doing nothing because streaming is easy!"



This is the exact attitude that a TON of Korean streamers had, and guess what we got? Disgusting, cash-grab streams of abysmal quality in both resolution and entertainment value. We got Nestea blaring shitty k-pop in 240p cheesing every game and MKP running replays with no mic and no webcam. Korean after Korean popped onto the scene, put up a shitty stream, tried to get some viewers and then ultimately fizzled out because it was obvious it was just a cash grab.



And now it appears the same thing is happening in SC2.



Azubu is still relatively unknown in the streaming game so they are trying to buy up talent to get them to stream on their platform. KeSPa will do whatever for more money, even if it means forcing their players to do things they don't want to.



So we get this perfect storm. Streamers putting out shit-quality streams in order for KeSPa to get an insane payout (150-200k USD/month?) from Azubu/Clauf.



It's disrespectful to the players and it's disrespectful for the fans.



In the real world, where people actually take streaming seriously and treat it like the job it is, THIS SAME PROBLEM WOULD NEVER, EVER HAPPEN. NO ONE could stream only my gameplay and get more views than me because MY STREAM is entertaining. Same thing with Trick2G, or doublelift, or dyrus or any other large streamer. Streaming is more than just playing games. It's having a webcam, listening to music, interacting with your audience, talking through your gameplay decisions, reacting to what's going on in the game, etc...etc...If your stream is so fucking bad that you do NONE of these things, then of course people won't tune in and watch, and if a convenient twitch stream pops up people are more likely to check it out just because it's more accessible to Azubu.



I'm really disappointed that RioT went this route to protect the people that launder money via Azubu. It's disgusting to see them support cash-grab streams that are essentially a giant "fuck you" to everyone who honestly wants to see these players stream.



This is kind of disorganized but I'm still in Seattle, if there's enough demand for it I can do a more thorough and organized write-up but I think I got most of what I wanted to say out here. If you're not going to take streaming seriously, fuck off and don't do it, and fuck you KeSPa for spitting on your own players and fans for producing these shit quality streams.

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