Will Unicorns of Love be Required to Change Their Name?

FatedTitan·Sep 15, 2014·3 votes·3,653 views

Maybe I'm just not a fan of silly names like UoL in a professional setting, but I'm wondering if Riot is. Unicorns of Love is an incredibly unprofessional name and is the type of name that most would stereotype eSports as. It's hard enough to gain credibility in this new industry and to gain fans that don't think it's something for little kids. When you have a team like "Unicorns of Love", it won't help public perception at all.

Imagine that you've finally convinced your friend to check out LCS. You're excited that he's going to watch because you know if you can get him to watch once, he'll be hooked. He turns it on and the first thing he sees on screen is "Unicorns of Love." You think he's sticking around to watch LCS? Heck no. He's Xing out and turning the TV back on. He probably thinks they're sponsored by My Little Pony and thinks that's typical of what he'd think a pro gamer team would be like.

Unicorns of Love leaves a bad mark on the entire LCS structure and turns any professional credibility gained into just another laughable joke that outsiders think is typical of pro graming. There's no reason to lose the credibility we've gained due to the immaturity of one group of players. And yes, I do believe the name Unicorns of Love is immature. It sounds like a name that middle schoolers would come up with.

12 Comments

sp441Sep 15, 20144 votes

Yes, ONE NAME is going to completely and utterly demolish the entire eSport circuit credibility.

Y'now, I don't give one half of a crap about eSports, but if I did, I doubt that one stupid name would completely turn me off the entire thing.

The ChinSep 15, 20143 votes

I would be pretty upset if Riot forced UOL to change their name. Sure e-sports is a profession, but these are professional GAMERS and silly names is basically an intrinsic part of gaming.

More importantly, who cares what anyone else thinks of their name!? It's not offensive, it's not hurting anyone. They climbed up the ranked 5's ladder all the way to the challenger series because they're that good at the game. They've earned the right to have whatever team name they want.

Don't take everything so seriously :p

Sir ArmaMalumSep 15, 20142 votes

This is an interesting topic.

Part of me wants to say that the team name is the team's problem, and any ridicule and/or lack of professional regard should be expected if they're determined to carry the name. But you do bring a good point of the fragility of e-sport's reputation right now. We're on a nice little precipice of breaking into mainstream (e-sports in general, not just LoL) and having people who aren't hardcore players actually looking forward to watching the games as they would a college football game. I'll give more lee-way to e-sports teams due to the less serious nature of e-sports (we have robots bashing on spartans bashing on small children) but when it gets to the pro level there are indeed going to be lines drawn. Hopefully the expanding collegiate scene (and their pre-established mascots/names) will help this issue along. Until then though I'm inclined to agree with you, at least until e-sports as a whole has a decent reputation buffer.

progdogSep 15, 20143 votes

I find it hard to believe that someone would start watching LoL, discover a team was named Unicorns of Love, then quit as a result. If UoL weren't an acceptable team name, they wouldn't have been able to use it in the Challenger series either.

OP should just admit he hates unicorns and love.

Sir ArmaMalumSep 15, 20141 votes

Imho, it's not a question of people who currently watch e-sports regularly, because that audience is in it for the game and not care enough to have a team name impact their watching it. However, e-sports as a whole is currently breaching into different, less inclined audiences (in no small part due to Dota 2's World championship prize pool) and it's success/growth depends on it gnabbing this less gamer-centric audience.

While you and I may not bat an eye, someone who barely skirts around gaming might find small issues like this a mood-killer. That and this (imho) is less about this specific instance and more about setting a precedent. yes it's a very subjective issue but like I said, it's an interesting issue.

This is all purely my individual opinion though, I can understand why others feel differently.

WheatloafSep 15, 20142 votes

And Supah Hot Crew is terribly professional? We'd have more names like these if it weren't for the fact that most teams are named after whatever organization backs them. I don't think we really need to care what other people think of esports. If they actually care about them, a silly team name won't be a huge turn-off.

TeenbusSep 15, 20142 votes

Because having casters yell "AND I'M A CUTIE PIE GETS THE ACE" destroyed esports as we know it, right?

RIGedSep 17, 20141 votes

"and top laner Balls is going deep into enemy territory"

FebruAhriAug 22, 20151 votes

{quoted}

"and top laner Balls is going deep into enemy territory"

"Balls is HUGE coming into the fight"

XantakAug 23, 20151 votes

{quoted}

"Balls is HUGE coming into the fight"

Or from Season 4 in a C9 vs TSM match, where Rivington made the shoutcast remark "And Balls is getting hit up! They're gonna take him down and hit him in the name!"