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Another Worlds...

BeatinWarDrumz··28 votes·3,953 views

Another year when NA gets crushed by Korea. Why? It's not magic, it's not genes, it's culture

Quite simply Koreans are far more accepting of nerds and gamers and far more dedicated to success.

In America, if you play LoL and take is seriously you are laughed at as some no life nerd, even if you're challenger and make money off the game. In Korea, success is success, regardless of what it is in.

So, until Esports and gaming gets more recognition in the U. S. as a non-loser thing, look forward to seeing yet another year of NA getting crushed.

48 Comments

ABlueQuaker16 votes

I was about to agree with you when I saw the mention of culture, but then you went the wrong way with it.

Koreans, and by extension a vast majority of people within a variety of Asian cultures, have an impeccable work ethic. That's the edge that Korea, China and GPL teams have over EU and NA. They see LoL Esports as their occupation and they give it 100%.

BeatinWarDrumz5 votes

[{quoted}](name=A Blue Quaker,realm=OCE,application-id=9hBQwnEU,discussion-id=XpGjwict,comment-id=0002,timestamp=2015-10-12T12:03:11.881+0000)

I was about to agree with you when I saw the mention of culture, but then you went the wrong way with it.

Koreans, and by extension a vast majority of people within a variety of Asian cultures, have an impeccable work ethic. That's the edge that Korea, China and GPL teams have over EU and NA. They see LoL Esports as their occupation and they give it 100%.

I said that in my post o.0

"Quite simply Koreans are far more accepting of nerds and gamers and far more dedicated to success."

MCBiggah995 votes

The way you worded it gives it a different meaning. It isn't that they are necessarily more accepting of nerds and gamers, it is that the work ethic of those people is better.

IntakiNine1 votes

It has nothing to do with "superior work ethic", and everything to do with the fact that in Korea large, wealthy organizations will pay you to have a great videogame work ethic. That simply isn't true in the West. When you start seeing Microsoft/Apple/Coca-cola teams, then we can talk.

Jingerbeardman1 votes

NA players are getting payed as well, they also have sponsors. McBiggah is right though, it is the mentality and dedication to their goal that is the difference. It is not just playing a videogame to them it is their job, their life. The NA teams dont take it any where near as seriously. If they did, they would do better.

IntakiNine1 votes

NA players may be getting paid, but not near the same level as Korean players. And that's not even taking into consideration the social legitimacy of the profession: in Korea, esports players are rockstars (with a salary to match). In NA, the only respect esports players get from the population at large is for making any money at all.

Again, it's not a matter of "work ethic". It's a matter of one culture (and its corporations) providing vastly more support and funding to esports talent than the other. What you're asking is for NA players to give equal effort for (currently) less reward.

Kal Vas Flam6 votes

Koreans bash on nerds too, not really sure why you think they don't. They win more because commit more. Commitment is one of NA's biggest weaknesses right now as a nation. Christianity has nothing to do with video games.

Rhlax1 votes

in korea you have politicians attending lol games.. its just not the same

Omniphonic5 votes

korean society isn't dogged by the albatross of christianity nor plagued by the pestilent spectre of multiculturalism. but no, it's probably because greed affects people differently, you're totally right.

BeatinWarDrumz3 votes

{quoted}

korean society isn't dogged by the albatross of christianity nor plagued by the pestilent spectre of multiculturalism. but no, it's probably because greed affects people differently, you're totally right.

Christianity is a big issue for the U. S. - it is a source for our moral weakness. But, at the very least in terms of LoL, multiculturalism isnt that big of a deal

GhastlyGhoulMan1 votes

Well that escalated quickly.

Shaabanglyy4 votes

{quoted}

Christianity is a big issue for the U. S. - it is a source for our moral weakness. But, at the very least in terms of LoL, multiculturalism isnt that big of a deal

Just stopped by to say that this couldn't be more wrong. True Christianity has a very positive effect on morality, and the TRUE teachings of Christianity, if correctly applied and followed would produce a very ideal society.

The problem is that like most things, religion has been turned into a business and has been whored out to every corner of the Earth.

Poske1 votes

{quoted}

korean society isn't dogged by the albatross of christianity nor plagued by the pestilent spectre of multiculturalism. but no, it's probably because greed affects people differently, you're totally right.

That was beautiful

DrCyanide1 votes

https://youtu.be/21QEIYovTlo?t=21s

If you're going to call Christianity an albatross, at least know what you're referring to.

Cynical Rain4 votes

This is one of the stupidest things I've ever read.

NA is the global center for achieving success in the most diverse of manners. This is mostly because it has the liberty/luxury of being able to sustain that sort of society due to its economy. So much in NA revolves around service instead of production. If you have an idea, and you know how to sell it, people will buy, because they have more money to "throw around".

NA companies acquire the most foreign players as well, and those players agree to move. Why do you think that is? It's not about culture, it's not about magic, and it's not about genes. It's about discipline and motivation. The competition in Asia is far greater than the competition in North America. If Doublelift under-performs, what will the team do about it? Replace him? With who? NA doesn't natively produce great players one after the other. In contrast, if a player under-performs in Asia, there are many others who can replace him.

At that point, you can argue your point - that the lack of motivation stems from e-sports' perception - but it'd still be a weak argument. Players in NA are happy with just being able to "game for a living". The ambition of becoming champions is lesser here than in Asia because you'll still have fans, and you'll still have your contract. All you need to do is create a persona which people love. Even if you're a terrible player, if people like you enough, you're fine.

TL;DR - It's not about magic, genes, or culture. It's about complacence which stems from a lack of discipline and motivation.

Silica SAO3 votes

Bull.

An NA team won TI in Dota 2 this year, which proves that it has nothing to do with gaming culture and whatnot.

The cause of the poor performance of NA teams in LoL Worlds simply boils down to:

  1. Lack of competitive discipline in terms of adhering to a tight scrimming and training schedule, instead prioritising streaming on solo queue.

  2. Refusal to innovate in terms of preparing multiple new strategies and experimenting with less popular champions, both before the tournament began as well as figuring out counter-strategies on the fly in between games.

MetalGearTeemu1 votes

Alot of that has to do with NA pros being content with the twitch paycheck, while Dota players are constantly preping for one tournament or another.

Kaitri3 votes

na didnt get crushed by korea... they also got crushed by china, taiwan, eu and wildcards :D dude dont blame it all on korea, na lost to every team this year lol. i bet clg would have lost to bang cock titans.

Ale non è male2 votes

Except NA situation isn't much different from Eu and Eu has historically performed better than NA at world stage...

The problem is simpler, there is a smaller and with less average quality pool of potentially good pro players in NA server compared to the other main regions (barring maybe LMS, and I underline the maybe at this point) for a number of different reasons

PoisonedTea2 votes

[{quoted}](name=Ale non è male,realm=EUW,application-id=9hBQwnEU,discussion-id=XpGjwict,comment-id=0004,timestamp=2015-10-12T13:13:53.478+0000)

Except NA situation isn't much different from Eu and Eu has historically performed better than NA at world stage...

The problem is simpler, there is a smaller and with less average quality pool of potentially good pro players in NA server compared to the other main regions (barring maybe LMS, and I underline the maybe at this point) for a number of different reasons

No it is different

for one NA is a big patch of land with spread out major communities. EU is more compact so you get a better solo queue connection all around mostly.

two EU has a big esport in counter strike were they have a crowd were the dominate the idea of competitive gaming is somewhat accepted on a small scale in EU. NA is completely against it on a social scale. Of course that just takes time.

And NA is smaller population.

Ale non è male2 votes

{quoted}

No it is different

for one NA is a big patch of land with spread out major communities. EU is more compact so you get a better solo queue connection all around mostly.

two EU has a big esport in counter strike were they have a crowd were the dominate the idea of competitive gaming is somewhat accepted on a small scale in EU. NA is completely against it on a social scale. Of course that just takes time.

And NA is smaller population.

Nah, these are just non-sense argumentations Eu is not more compact as far as conncetions goes, as the orography of the world causes far more troubles for infrastructures given the mountains, hills, seas, etc between the entire continent. Upon old server, yeah , you could argue east coast had a problem, but now your new NA server is pretty much in a central position among NA

And Na has just big esports organizations and companies as well (heck, they are probably richer than Eu one if anything), and competitive gaming niche isn't smaller than EU one Na populations is more than big enough to have a champion pool as rich as European one of pro players, too

There are other reasons for NA server to have smaller and on average less quality pool pf potential pro player, really

Ludovico1 votes

EU is more compact so you get a better solo queue connection all around mostly.

Made my evening :D ! I mean, I play there on a daily basis - the last weeks were full of lag spikes again. Nothing too serious, but bad enough for Riot to jump in.

And "EU" just isn´t "EU". While there are countries with a big esports culture (fanbase) like germany, there are those like sweden/denmark that are only a fraction of that. Basically the acceptance varies greatly.

Xonra2 votes

[{quoted}](name=Ale non è male,realm=EUW,application-id=9hBQwnEU,discussion-id=XpGjwict,comment-id=0004,timestamp=2015-10-12T13:13:53.478+0000)

Except NA situation isn't much different from Eu and Eu has historically performed better than NA at world stage...

The problem is simpler, there is a smaller and with less average quality pool of potentially good pro players in NA server compared to the other main regions (barring maybe LMS, and I underline the maybe at this point) for a number of different reasons

That isn't true. We've seen much more dedication from EU players than NA players. I compare players from say, TSM or Liquid, with their girlfriends around rather often, sometimes on camera (less so TSM recently. Good job Regi on that one). Look at saaaay, the old Gambit/M5, with one of their players who had a wife and kid, and was dedicated to the team enough to leave them sometimes when needed, etc. They were also one of the better EU teams for a year or two because of that. When they started getting complacent and lazy, look at the state they are in now.

It is about dedication, and NA doesn't have it, because they aren't put into a position to need it. Here, players are thrown parties, made a big deal of (see Dyrus and all the fanfare over him retiring, compared to none for many other players in other regions who were MUCH better players retiring recently with no word at all), celebrating our domestic victories over so much in so many cases. EU had that same problem this year unfortunately, but for better reason with Fnatic at least, but they've done the same in the past.

when EU and NA start realizing domestic means dick compared to the international stuff, they will improve. Until then, they will continue to celebrate "first place in the LCS" so much that they completely seem to let off the gas for anything past that.

Ale non è male1 votes

Nah, it's not a dedication problem in the strict sense you are mentioning here Players can't reach that level of individual mechanical skills if they are not dedicated, and NA hasn't had their meni problems on mechanics - and players like Dyrus, balls, lemon that were less good mechanically are among the longest tenure professional players so obviously they must be dedicated to not be replaced by a team -

The problem is that the competitive scene doesn't start at CS/LCS level, it start on a much earlier level...and is at that level , and then going further up in the ladder that NA lacks competitiveness in comparison with the other regions and so end up having the worse resume among the major regions overall, barring few exploits here and there In Eu, if you want to even try to go pro, to have to beat various tiers of teams of increasing quality and there is a ferocious competitivity to get to the top, an underwood of players among which pro teams can choose a good amount of players potentially good to play at pro level In NA, this kind of competition do not exist, and if exist is at a far lower level than in EU, and at the end you end up having a smaller pool of players which are on average of a lower level than the ones of the other region among which pro teams can select players, so they gor forced to go for imports, which creat a vicious circle in which Na talent has few possibilities to improve and end up with NA left behind from EU...which isn't even the top region as China and Korea are far ahead of EU

Rinky Dinky2 votes

I would argue its because NA teams love to randomly stop using the strat that works for them, and try to copy others, at the last second, resulting in crushing defeat.

Teams from NA seem to randomly stop playing towards their strengths. EU is also guilty of this

CrazedPorcupine2 votes

But, NA won the Dota 2 International...

Stillname2 votes

Was going to mention this but looks like you beat me to it... koreans don't really play Dota as much as league so the main competition is china but I think it proves that culture isn't the problem so much as the "culture" of NA solo q players.... hard to have a good talent pool to grab from when none of the top solo q players take the game seriously... not saying they have to... just saying they don't

gubigubi2 votes

Or maybe its because their solo Q is considered the best in the world as far as competition and skill level of each player. Maybe if NA started taking ranked soloQ more seriously then we could actually compete.

Validation from outside sources is no real excuse to stop anyone from doing what they set out to achieve.

kaltenashes1 votes

its sad life bro, its a sad life

TurquoiseYoshi1 votes

COUGH JIMMY KIMMEL COUGH

Teslablade1 votes

YES

General Esdeath 1 votes

I assumed it's because in America they make money off of just being the team whereas in Korea they get more money from sponsorship. It's a little detail but it drives people.

Xonra1 votes

I'd say it is partially what you mentioned about it not being accepted, but in reality it is a matter of commitment more than anything. These spoiled and coddled NA kids get to move into a nice big house, have all of their stuff paid for, and in plenty of cases we have seen (from it being shown publicly) their isn't a very strict environment from coaches and management.

In Korea, for example, they are barely sharing spaces bigger than a 1-2 room apartment sometimes during the times they are "in season" playing. They have strict diets, are required to go to the gym in some cases with each other, aren't allowed to have girlfriends or at least have them around, unlike most NA teams. They don't just play a few scrims and call it a day, they grind their asses off, and in most cases for less money and terrible streaming deals (thanks to how the payouts and management works there).

They want to WIN where in NA it is just something kids think is cool to do and get paid for. How many kids wanted to grow up and get paid for playing games, sitting in their bedroom playing Zelda or something? In Korea they do it because they are good at it and want to win. In NA in most cases they do it because it is a pay check and fun. It is hard work, and we've seen plenty of cases where the pro players aren't willing to put in that hard work. Look at Cop from Curse/Gravity. Dude didn't play but maybe 5 solo queue games in what, 2-3 years? Imagine how good Cop would have been had he actually practiced and put in effort, seeing as he was still statistically relevant with little solo practice.

Most of the problems are easily fixable with more dedication, but that isn't going to happen, because it has to start first with the owners, and outside of, I'd say 2 and a half of them (Steve from Liquid, Regi from Tsm, and at one point HotShot, who apparently hates League right now so he declared) really care, so not holding my breath of NA winning more than unimportant tournaments or events at best.

Hellmet1 votes

{quoted}

In Korea, for example, they are barely sharing spaces bigger than a 1-2 room apartment sometimes during the times they are "in season" playing. They have strict diets, are required to go to the gym in some cases with each other, aren't allowed to have girlfriends or at least have them around, unlike most NA teams. They don't just play a few scrims and call it a day, they grind their asses off, and in most cases for less money and terrible streaming deals (thanks to how the payouts and management works there).

What's the point of winning if you are killing yourself doing it and not getting to enjoy any part of it? Yes, there is winning at all costs.. but sometimes those costs don't justify the accomplishment. Ask NFL Super Bowl champions if they would return their ring in exchange for taking all the head trauma away and getting their brains back.

Think about faker, he has been doing this grind since 12.. at some point the next faker is going to come along and he will be replaced. What will he have then? No relationships, little education, no future, nothing. Is that what we want our North American teams to experience? Sorry, I'll take a pass on that. If the Korean teams want to destroy their players that way then let, winning at all costs doesn't hold a lot of value to me when it's at that extreme.

evil magic1 votes

you also left out the part where faker was like 12 when he became a professional gamer. half of the people from NA are 16+ when they start, and some are like 30 something neckbeard losers (like me).

they literally only know league of legends. zero real life experience outside of gaming.

thewire6661 votes

No, EU raped NA, not just korea :)

T RexHasTinyArms1 votes

It's not a thing of being accepting of nerds/gamers so much as it is a thing about money. There are football players at fancy prep schools who are absolutely encouraged to go pro by their families when 50 years ago they would have been disowned for bringing up the possibility of wasting their education and family prestige to go pro. The difference is money. Before the NFL became big enough to be a wealthy and prestigious career option you would never have seen someone from a university like Stanford playing ball instead of working in business (like Andrew Luck).

Similarly there was an article on Faker a while back (ESPN magazine maybe?) where it mentioned his father was hesitant I to let him sign at first but realized it was a good option for his son and a good way to make money. South Korea has a smaller economy and so the opportunities provided by esports are a larger % of the opportunities to earn that kind of money than in NA. The average esports player earns what, 30-100k Max a year maybe? Factor in the cost of living and travel expenses to see family in NA compared to KR and it gets smaller for NA. I'm not sure how many major cities are in KR where you could reasonably expect that pay range, but there are so many in the US where with an education 40-60 k is just like good average pay for a 40 hour work week, so I think in a lot of ways the hub just isn't as good a job in NA economy bc the money isn't there yet.

The Bíg Ticket1 votes

Pretty sure South Korea has a higher living standard and average income than USA.

T RexHasTinyArms1 votes

I wouldn't be that surprised if that's true given that those numbers tend to be based on averages. It isn't a good source so you might be right, but wikepedia says the income is the other way https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_wage Also, I was referring to cities and opportunity by total rather than %. South Korea is a much smaller population than the US, and moving is more difficult. If there isn't the job/education you want in Texas, you may find it in New York here in NA, but to move the same distance for an opportunity if you live in Korea would require moving to another country. Smaller parts of NA have less connection to the Internet often (rural internet is shit here) times, and larger cities (Dallas, Houston, LA, NYC, Boston, Chicago, etc) have a much higher average income for educated/skilled workers, and thus I think the average income potential of people who would have access and resources to end up in the NA pro scene is significantly higher than the average NA income.

Hellmet1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Buff Jax please,realm=EUW,application-id=9hBQwnEU,discussion-id=XpGjwict,comment-id=00100000,timestamp=2015-10-12T21:49:50.013+0000)

Pretty sure South Korea has a higher living standard and average income than USA.

Have you ever been to South Korea? No thank you.

The Bíg Ticket1 votes

The only problem is NA never produced an elite player who could keep up with the best at his position. Korea, China, EU and even LMS had several of those but there never was any NA player who you regarded as absolute top tier at his position.

junglerboy161 votes

the sad thing is NA getting crushed in worlds just adds to the mentality that NA gamers are no-lifes or losers. It's a self fulfilling prophecy.

DarthSpectrum1 votes

On the contrary.

By no means Koreans, or any Asian ethnicity condone playing video games. Most teenagers in Asia have extra morning classes, after school cramp course, and/or weekend private school lessons.

Korea even had to ban night classes after 10 p.m. because they were negatively impacting the students' well being.

The reason Koreans, and Asians in general, are so dominate in League is because they dedicate a lot more time to it. Just like focusing on their studies, they are used to spending every waking hour improving in one aspect.

Quite frankly put, Korean teams invest a lot more time practicing, and their success isn't exclusive to their culture. Look at Fnatic or AHQ for example. They have shown themselves capable of competing against Korean teams without being predominately Korean.

NA will start winning too when they also find the same dedication for League of Legends.

The Loveless1 votes

NA teams are pretty nerdy too. Some of those guys stream non-stop. Like, they wake up, log into twitch and/or just the client, and play all day for the whole week/month/year.

I will say that Korean coaches are infamous now for practically torturing their teams. They live in worse house conditions too. It's common for teams to all share one room.

They just have better mental fortitude. They live tougher.

Myz1 votes

Why do you say US when both CLG and C9 are registered as Canadian teams & most of the top NA players are either Canadians or from EU ?

Plus in korea they practice for like 60 + hours a week, in NA teams barely practice 30-40 and most of it consist of solo q.

ElegantDoge1 votes

And you believe it's different in Europe ? Here in Europe,being a pro player is still not a "thing". Even in Korea they're not praise like actors and celebrities but clearly accepted.

JavelinJoe1 votes

Shhhh..... Keep the genetics part a secret.

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