Shouldn't pro players be using their actual names?

Zero Shingetsu·Jul 13, 2016·1 votes·1,095 views

I'm not exactly what you'd call an LCS fan. (In fact it repulses me.) But I keep seeing these front end promos and I can't help but wonder. If League has truly taken off as a sport, as Riot has said... Isn't it time the personalities involved start going by their real names? I'm not sure about America, but where I'm from, the only people who go by aliases are comedians and some singers. Professional athletes always go by their real name, and they work to make it so that you respect that name for when they move on to other occupations.

A more western example... Maybe mixed martial arts. Almost all the fighters have nicknames, but Carlos Condit doesn't go around referring to himself as "Natural Born Killer". You know what I mean? I feel like it would help legitimize your sport if players and especially commentators went by their real names more often, because from the viewpoint of people who watch real sports, they see this on TV and think it's a bunch of children who never grew up based on these handles.

I don't mean to sound rude, by the way. I merely suggest based on Riot's stated goal for esports. If my comments seem offensive, I apologize. o(_ _)o

6 Comments

archerno1Jul 13, 20163 votes

Please dont...

Lets talk about most populart sport shall we? Football (or soccer as americans call it)

-Guess who is Edson Arantes do Nascimento? PELE. He always used that nickname

-Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite. Guess who it is? Famous player who wear KAKA on his shirt

-Javier Hernández ? Ever heard of Chicarito

-Givanildo Vieira de Sousa? U thought Hulk was his real name?

I dont really follow other sports that much. But i know throughout history there were thousands players who didnt use real name.

Zero ShingetsuJul 13, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Please dont...

Lets talk about most populart sport shall we? Football (or soccer as americans call it)

-Guess who is Edson Arantes do Nascimento? PELE. He always used that nickname

-Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite. Guess who it is? Famous player who wear KAKA on his shirt

-Javier Hernández ? Ever heard of Chicarito

-Givanildo Vieira de Sousa? U thought Hulk was his real name?

I dont really follow other sports that much. But i know throughout history there were thousands players who didnt use real name.

Good points. The best one was that football is the most popular sport in the world, with hundreds of leagues each with hundreds of players in various countries. What percentage are the players named here of the hundreds of pros around the world? I never said there weren't exceptions, but the thing is, most nicknames in sports are derived from the fans. A very small percentage of those nicknames stick to become what they're normally called.

In League, these are online handles created by the players themselves back before there was a pro League circuit, and they continue using them now that they're at this level. I have no problem with them using whatever names they want. But the general public will probably never accept esports as legitimate so long as they're seeing a bunch of kids with names like you'd see in a 1990's hacker film.

archerno1Jul 13, 20162 votes

I used football as example because thats sport i kinda watch. But if u just search google u will see that every sport have players that dont use real names. Darshan that used name Zionspartan was called "Zionspartan" even by his teacher. So public accepts those names.

But i understand what you mean

For example xPeke is derived from Peke which means small or tiny in spanish. That would be acceptable and people would get used to it easily. But having something ridiculous like BunyFuFu or KiwiKid or CandyPanda would be funny to watch on TV :D/

Zero ShingetsuJul 13, 20161 votes

{quoted}

I used football as example because thats sport i kinda watch. But if u just search google u will see that every sport have players that dont use real names. Darshan that used name Zionspartan was called "Zionspartan" even by his teacher. So public accepts those names.

But i understand what you mean

For example xPeke is derived from Peke which means small or tiny in spanish. That would be acceptable and people would get used to it easily. But having something ridiculous like BunyFuFu or KiwiKid or CandyPanda would be funny to watch on TV :D/

Lol. I think I've actually heard of a UFC fighter who goes by "Twinkletoes". Can you imagine if he went by that for every public appearance? "Our trucks are strong. Durable. Tough. And if you don't believe me... Just ask Twinkletoes."

BigBellBruteJul 13, 20161 votes

American football had the XFL and someone put HEHATEME as his name.

FlashNekoJul 14, 20161 votes

In terms of in-game casting, it's easier to use the screen names for the players because each one is unique and tend to be short.

Out of game interviews and such, they have started using the players real names somewhat, though usually just for interviews where they have [First Name] "[Screen Name]" [Last Name] on-screen. And yeah, a lot of times sports stars will be mentioned by their nicknames more often than their real names anyway, such as "A-Rod", "Chipper" and the like.