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Hard to Watch

IncrediPhiLL·7/29/2017, 9:53:22 PM·1 votes·303 views

Man... these games are hard to watch. Zero close games. Same teams still winning everything. Same 13 champions every single game. No surprises. No fun. No viewership either. 60k less viewers in week 8 than in week 1 through Twitch. 20k less on Youtube. Seems like the fans are finally giving up. I tuned in this week after two weeks of not watching... looks like I didn't miss anything. Suppose I'll go back to watching Impractical Joker reruns to finish off my summer.

I wonder if the same effect is being had in the amount of players playing the game. I played for the first time in a few weeks the other day. People still toxic. People still raging. Seems like every game involves an intentional feeder and people calling each other F*ots and Rards and wishing people to die. What's up with this community? The kind of behavior even translates to these very boards. People raging on people in the forums. Calling people names in the forums. The forums are supposed to be a place for intelligent discussion and people to share their opinions. I used to enjoy getting on the forums and seeing what people were saying. Now there is just a bunch of down votes and hate from people who simply disagree with one another. There is no moderation in game or out of the game by RIOT and it's resulting in a bad playing community that pushes people away rather than bring new people in.

Not sure if there is a connection between viewership of LCS and the amount of people who actually play the game. I'd assume, like anything, that the more people who watch something results with more people who play it and vise versa.

Just some thoughts.

2 Comments

GeminiRune7/29/2017, 10:50:13 PM1 votes

  1. There's 12 other Leagues that have their own variety. Why not tune into some of those why don't ya if you think it's that stale. But no you'll just continue to over exaggerate.

  2. Viewership numbers seems to only matter to the viewers themselves and are also rather inaccurate and over exaggerated as well. Until you can tell me a time Riot spoke of "our viewer numbers are awful," then my point will stand.

  3. Are you one of those who gave up? If so, see you at playoffs where it usually matters the most anyway.

  4. There was no Cho'Gath and tank focused meta two weeks ago, which makes me think you've only watched like one...two....maybe one and a half series.

  5. Impractical Jokers is a good show. Sort of. I have not been watching much TV lately. More indulged in whatever eSports, Speedrunning, or personal hobby that entertains me.

As for the rest of that, you're not wrong. I just wonder why you rant over it. The toxicity of the community is usually produced by players who believe they are entitled to the success and goals they desire - getting out of ranked ladders, getting that Mastery 7, etc. I'll just go on the part that matters in the context of eSports. The most competitive League does is give an insight at how the best and most dedicated players play to prove themselves as a collective team - sometimes as their own individual; similar to every other eSport in that matter. What the community, moreover the negative side, tends to do is take what they see, bring it to game, and write it out as "the meta." If not watch competitive, just pull from the highest of ranked ladder and call it the same. Break it, do something unusual, and you're a troll. Simple as that. And that's just outright wrong. Can't change that though.

Which has me asking, why now? Just to rant? Because anyone could think, snap their fingers, and say "hey this is what this is" you know?

IncrediPhiLL7/29/2017, 11:50:11 PM1 votes

The decline in viewership is noted with... I don't know... two sets of eyes? 150k viewers on Twitch in week 1 vs the 90k on Twitch i noticed today. That 90k dropped to 50k on twitch when TSM wasn't playing. I mean... it doesn't really take a viewership expert to stare at the numbers of how many people are watching a League of Legends game...

I would also point out that Riot's very quick and sudden inclusion of Rift Rivals was their attempt at bringing in more viewers or else they wouldn't have sped up the process to make it happen on such short notice. Again, i'm not a "viewership expert," just noting the trend in the numbers. I don't need RIOT to say "You spent 10$ on a League card today" I have two eyes and can see how much I spent. Unless RIOT is purposely hiding viewership numbers from the streaming services they use, anybody can go and... you know... look.

This also has nothing to do with "giving up." It's the basic format of any kind of television show or sporting event. When no excitement or entertainment is offered, people stop watching. When a football game turns into a blowout, people change the channel. When a game comes on and everyone knows who is going to win, no one bothers to tune in. This is what the league is suffering from now. Has nothing to do with "giving up."

The meta does change, sure. Opening the door for 1 or 2 champs to peek in, but when it does 1 or 2 champs normally get tossed out... hence the same 13 champs over and over again. Zac, LB, and Cait have been permapicked and permabaned for 2 straight splits now.