London's calling: Stress and Pulse discuss the UK audience
Shoutcasters Richard "Pulse" Kam and James "Stress" O'Leary are a familiar partnership. As hosts of the EU LCS Challenger Series, they're about as established a duo as fish and chips -- and they're equally as British. Pulse's English upbringing and Stress' formative years spent in Wales make them the perfect pair to speak with about League of Legends' return to the Wembley Arena, and the UK audience.
"It's very much a community," Pulse says, describing the London attendees. "That's what it feels like right now. Even from backstage where we're quite far away from the audience, we can still hear them when they cheer for specific players." The atmosphere at the Wembley Arena has certainly been unique. A different vibe to the Group Stage in Paris, but no less exciting or infectious. "I'm really, really happy with how the crowd are, as well as the atmosphere at the event." Stress agrees. "It's very special, especially compared to a standard show."
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The difference in the European audiences is something we'll see more of as we head to the Semifinals in Brussels and the Finals in Berlin, but already we're noticing some distinct tonal changes. "I think that's the really interesting thing about it being in Europe. You go to different countries. The French crowd is very animated," Stress explains. "Very into everything that is happening. The British crowd, they're not quite the same way."
Perhaps the British audience has more of a Studio Ghibli feel compared to France's happy-go-lucky Disney stylings. Both fantastically hand drawn, but each with their own cultural twang. "In Europe you have a lot of backing for the regional players. When we were in Paris, everyone was cheering for all the French players," Pulse tells us. "I've been hearing some football chants out there as well. Definitely the British culture coming in."
While the French seemed happy just to be in attendance, the UK crowd is a little more discerning about who they lend their support to. "When the Flash Wolves came out on stage there was a mixed reception. I think people took that to be a negative thing." Stress says. "I don't really see that. The crowd is still respectful, while echoing who their favourites are. As a European I'm kind of used to it with sports, seeing a crowd air how they really feel."
But when you have the support of London, you know about it. "When Huni comes on stage, it's going to erupt." Pulse explains. "It was very loud for Faker yesterday, but I think Huni gets a lot of fan response."
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The duo has been hard at work throughout the Quarterfinals, helping bring the BBC Three stream to life. Stress was co-casting with ex-LCS caster Leigh "Deman" Smith, while Pulse manned the text feed, which included a mixture of entertaining and educational live updates in real time to accompany the stream. "Our whole broadcast is aimed more towards the newer viewers to League of Legends." Stress tells us. "BBC are looking to bring in a little bit more of their audience, so all of our content has to be focused just that bit more to being more accessible."
League of Legends can be a complicated game to get to grips with and Pulse clearly feels strongly about making it easier for people to get involved with esports. "What it does is opens it up to a larger audience, which I think is cool. It makes it more accessible for different people. Different age groups, as well. I know there's a lot of people in the UK who wouldn't watch a Twitch stream, but if it's on the BBC website and has the BBC logo they'll go ahead and take a look. It exposes League of Legends and esports to a bigger audience."
"I think it helps a lot when it comes to conversations between parents and their kids," Stress posits. "I think it's good to show that there's a real sense of community around League of Legends. It's a really good opportunity for kids to say 'Hey look, this is on the BBC. This is how cool it is. It's big, I love this thing. I want to be a part of this.' That's really, really cool."
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So what has it been like working alongside something like the BBC that you've grown up with your whole life? "There's very much an honour that comes with working with the BBC. You know, I've watched the BBC my whole life, so it's pretty cool." Stress says. Pulse nods along in agreement, before adding that "the community response has been really good. There's a great atmosphere behind the scenes. I think the general response from the BBC and the public has been so good that I would be surprised if we didn't see more down the line from the BBC and more mainstream media."
I've learned more about League of Legends in an hour than I have about cricket in 41 years. LoL is a much better sport.
But all this work hasn't prevented the young casters from spending some time among the fans. Even if they don't notice they're there. Stress laughs as he begins his story. "There's this funny thing that happens with me at events. When I put my glasses on -- see, I never wear them on stream. So a couple of the other casters say it's almost like Clark Kent. I actually put my glasses on and walked through the crowd outside, when everybody was out there yesterday. Just trying to meet some friends to just say hey before the show. Five minutes later, Krepo walks out and the whole crowd moves over to him and I'm like 'Yeah, I'm just going to go back inside while he's causing a distraction'. That tends to happen at events. It at least allows me to move subtly into the crowd. Absorb some of the atmosphere."
Now that the cat's out of the bag, we suspect Stress' magical invisibility spectacles may have been rendered inert. Both he and Pulse will be present at the Finals in Berlin, so make sure to say hey if you can spot them.
