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Some names of players and teams do a disservice: a plea for professionalism/change

SG Garrison··1 votes·97 views

Hey all. I have been watching a lot of the LCS this week and other challenger streams. I'm relatively new to watching competitive LoL and I'm really enjoying it. However, one thing has really been bugging me: "unprofessional" names. Names like Imaqtpie, Nintendudex, Supahotcrew, or IWillDominate just feel... weird. I know gamer handles have a long history and they range from the ridiculous to the symbolic but in the increasingly popular world of Esports I feel like they need to be phased out/ignored.

I know a lot of Esports fans would like to see their game broadcasted on mainstream television and other media outlets instead of the current niche i.e.Twitch/Azubu/etc (I know there is some exceptions). Names of the nature mentioned above is going to slow (IMO) any progress towards these goals of mainstreamness and reaching new demographics.

I think using the players' last names as their in-tournament handles would be a good idea. I feel that no personal identity would be lost and it would make the competitive scene more approachable by traditional sports fans. More viewers = more money.

I'm sure there would be a lot of backlash but I'm interested to see if there are similar perspectives and strong opposition to this type of change.

3 Comments

MackleDoge1 votes

Lmao, nope, get out of here. Who are you to decide what is professional or not? It's their personal name and identity, you have no business telling them they shouldn't do what makes them personally comfortable or happy. I'd rather have ESports and professional gamers maintain their identity to sell out just to please "traditional sports fans".

SG Garrison1 votes

The title is a little over-the-top but I'm not determining what is professional, I'm referring to what the rest of the sports world posits as professional.I assume that appealing to a broader number of people would be beneficial... perhaps not. I didn't realize that people have such a strong attachment to their handle which is why I said I felt that no perceived identity would be lost.If this is true then I am quite in the wrong.Thanks for your opinion.

MackleDoge1 votes

I flamed you on this, that's my bad man and I apologize. But you have to understand, that handle is a gamer's reputation, it's their history, it's who they are and how people know them. It's like jersey numbers for football or soccer players. For instance, I use the same handle for every game I play and it has lead to me meeting people from other games and making permanent friends. So it is really significant to some people and it can mean a lot.

As far as what the rest of the sports world thinks; who cares? There will forever be people that dismiss ESports, after all there are still people who think golf, tennis, NASCAR, or competitive cheer leading aren't sports. To be frank with you, I don't give a damn if a football fan thinks the name SupaHotCrew XD is stupid, and no one else should either. It is infinitely better to have a committed and spirited fan base that is smaller than a large fan base full of ignorance and judgmental behavior/opinions.

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