2015 League of Legends Esports Q&A [COMPLETED]

RiotHitstreak·1/21/2015, 4:01:31 PM·18 votes·125,097 views

Even as we were celebrating the 2014 World Championship, we were already hard at work planning out our 2015 season. We've had some announcements recently with our Mid-Summer Invitational, All-Star Game and now with our Worlds location announcement (Europe, yes!), we're stoked to talk about all things 2015 League of Legends esports!

That's a wrap, thank you for joining us! We'll continue to check in for questions throughout the day.

The 2015 #LCS season kicks off tomorrow at 1800 CET/9:00AM PDT with Elements facing FNATIC live from our new studio in Berlin, Germany!

Dustin Beck, VP of Esports Whalen Rozelle, Director of Esports Jason Yeh, Head of EU Esports Nick Allen, Esports Manager, League Operations

209 Comments

Obscurica1/21/2015, 5:11:50 PM7 votes

What are the current plans for the broadcasting of the LPL? Why does the current bandwidth issue exist, causing the tension between casting both OCE and LPL out from the same studio -- was it an unforeseen hangup, or what were the reasons considered for the schedule clash?
Kriz and Emily were volunteer casters for the CBLoL scene, but appear to have retired from that role recently. Does this signal plans for an English broadcast for the Brazilian scene as well? In general, what are the plans for South American esports, especially given Brazil's known issues regarding Nintendo's recent wholesale departure and the infrastructural deficits?
The LMS is now the only major non-wildcard circuit to lack English broadcasts in any shape or form (excepting a couple VODs from me to try and bridge the gap for enthusiasts). I've been told that Garena TW wasn't planning one in the first place -- will this be addressed in the near future, and can I help?
How much oversight does Riot have over competing organizations in China? There've been rumors of bait-and-switch contracts and shady agents during the China-Korea player transfers -- is that within your jurisdiction, or wholly up to Tencent and L-ACE to manage?
OGN, now LCK, used to have 1080p available for subscribers, as well as the Twitch icons. Will at least the stream quality level be made available again in the future? (720p still causes clarity issues at times--names and numbers are especially affected). Speaking of which, are you adamant about keeping the LCK acronym?
There've been significantly less coverage of collegiate and grassroots tournaments since S2--for obvious reasons, since the LCS and its peer circuits take precedence. But I personally feel this might be hindering developmental opportunities for future casters and players (the pressures of a live audience and face-to-face competition is incomparable to doing so within one's bedroom). Are there plans to spotlight more fan-operated initiatives?

FullTilt Frozen1/21/2015, 5:07:49 PM5 votes

NA rank reset? Has it happened? For some reason this information is like the Lost city of Atlantis to me.

Awerp1/21/2015, 5:35:19 PM4 votes

What is the thinking behind the hashtag We are LCS? To me it seems like a poorly ripped off version of different sports hashtags like the Toronto Raptors We the North.

hw0D5M7yVu1/21/2015, 4:15:23 PM4 votes

Will there ever be a worlds in Canada?

Very Cash Money1/21/2015, 5:09:25 PM3 votes

Have you considered making a switch of broadcast in the middle of the LCS season? So you know, EU players get weekendgames half of the time and NA players get them the other half?

Mattacrazy1/21/2015, 5:54:30 PM3 votes

Will we be seeing an upgrade to 1080p or 60FPS for streams/vods this year?

OH NO ITS LU BU1/21/2015, 5:04:36 PM3 votes

If you guys could be any grilled cheese, what kind of grilled cheese would you be?

Follow up question, who is your favorite league community chef?

Yamazuya1/21/2015, 4:48:06 PM3 votes

General

Seeing how there will be no play offs at PAX this year, is it correct to assume that Gamescom will also not see an LCS event?
Will there be a roadshow event this year (both NA or EU) and could you hint at possible locations?

LCS

How close is the cooperation between Riot and the teams in regards to acquiring visas and sorting out the issues that arise there?
The video features are a great part of the LCS production. Will we see one or more that focus on the work that the "little people" do behind the scenes?

And finally

On a scale of $100 to $1,000,000 how fine is Nick Allen?

Blaaki1/21/2015, 7:10:50 PM2 votes

Hey guys,

Any news about a server for the Middle East? The game is gaining popularity in this area day by day, I'm sure you can check that from your side :-)

Also wanted to thank you for being a company that's so close to the player base!

Can't wait for the LCS to start !

warpenguin5551/21/2015, 4:11:05 PM2 votes

If you had to give 3 reasons why this Esports season/year/whatever will be better then the others, what would they be and why?

Gloobus1/21/2015, 4:20:59 PM2 votes

Do you already have chosen places for Worlds in Europe and keeping it in secret for now or are you still searching for them?

whattabow1/21/2015, 5:07:06 PM2 votes

What are the plans, if any, for increasing the viewership of League of Legends esports beyond players of the game?

There are clear challenges associated with presenting esports to audiences unfamiliar with the specifics of the game being played. How do you address the challenge of attracting naive viewers (and prospective players) without alienating die-hard fans?

Its The Kuchiri1/21/2015, 5:07:50 PM2 votes

What's the possibility of a Twisted Treeline or Crystal Scar Championship Series?

Dantilq1/21/2015, 5:49:15 PM2 votes

How much did you like the Esex article? Especially aimed at the Arch Bishop himself.

http://esportsexpress.com/2014/12/riot-excommunicates-deman-and-joe-miller/

TBSkyen1/21/2015, 5:57:05 PM2 votes

A lot of European countries have a long history of state funding for small community sports initiatives (soccer clubs and the like). Are you exploring these options when it comes to expanding the amateur scenes around Europe - through outreach to schools and after-school institutions for example?

RoygbivWhite1/21/2015, 6:03:20 PM2 votes

What is the copyright status of LCK?

As a content creator it seems like CJ (who owns OGN) is hitting with copyright strikes every channel uploading videos from LCK. Does CJ own the LCK material and they are doing it rightfully or Riot owns the LCK material so they are abusing the youtube copyright system? Are you working towards a solution (and if yes what solution might that be) for this matter?

username21/21/2015, 4:10:31 PM2 votes

which will be the cities where the championship will take place? Greetings

IMeMps1/21/2015, 5:37:00 PM1 votes

What are the plans regarding all the transferproblems with poaching and such lately, any thought on adding something like a lot of other sports have, that if you have lets say 1 month left of the contract ur allowed to discuss with other teams?

FatedTitan1/21/2015, 4:13:42 PM1 votes

Will the Southeast be receiving some LCS one weekend? Not asking for any location specifics, just region specifics (if all goes according to plan).

Metuni1/21/2015, 5:11:02 PM1 votes

Hey Riot,

I'm very interested in eSports, and even thinking about searching for a job in that direction,

however, my background is in the form of electrical engineering,

so I was wondering if you could share any tips on getting into eSports

Thanks in advance!

Han SoIoque1/21/2015, 5:03:16 PM1 votes

I'm sure the community would love another performance and collaboration with a popular music artist this year, how does Riot feel about this after Season 4 worlds?

Rhyzalar1/21/2015, 5:13:19 PM1 votes

Why does Riot treat tampering more seriously than any other sport? Do you feel it grants a competitive advantage?

BuGGeaD1/21/2015, 4:21:37 PM1 votes

at what hour the season will restart ?