Boards›Player Behavior

Cowsep's Response AND a great chance to talk about KOREAN SERVER toxicity!!

Cowsep·3/29/2018, 7:07:30 AM·388 votes·51,271 views

Hi everyone, I'm Cowsep, the guy that everyone is flaming / calling a racist in the other thread. I didn't even realize this forum section existed but if Riot reads it, great! Today we need to talk about toxicity in Korean League of Legends.

First let me clear something up. Apparently I quit a Silver 2 Game and my behavior is toxic etc etc.

First of all here is the game I quit:

https://gyazo.com/fe233370b71d46abf7003e45584bc731

Second of all, I quit the game on a death timer, when I thought my team could end without me, and then when I noticed they weren't good enough to end it, I simply reconnected and helped them end. There really should not be any argument here. The client takes god awful to load when its hidden during a game, and if you watch me at all, I ALWAYS close my game early. This time a bit too early, but again, I reconnected and ended the game.

Watch the VOD yourselves, the OP in the last thread didn't include any of this information (5 hours, 58 minutes in, it does not appear to be starting at the right time...):

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/243782076?t=5h58m

Next, lets talk about some real toxicity that RIOT GAMES HAS DONE NOTHING ABOUT FOR SEVERAL YEARS.

Korean League of Legends server has an insane problem with toxicity. Like, its absolutely insane. Most people can't read Korean so when they watch my stream they don't see the written toxicity, but you can definitely FEEL it. I actually got called racist in the last thread because of how much I preach how much of a shithole this server is.

Kind of like this clip that happened YESTERDAY with even a PRO PLAYER (SKT T1 Bang) in my game (literally no fucks given):

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/244163217

Translation:

Cowsep: Anyone want to go Sion? 3rd pick: HAHAHAHA 3rd pick: Its the mother fucking yankee, look at his Korean writing. Cowsep: Yes I got a Korean patch (its an expression in Korea) Bang: Are you a foreigner? 3rd pick: Sorry, when I played with this guy earlier he sucked so Im gonna throw this game.

I don't even need to translate the rest because he said it in English. GO BACK TO YOUR SERVER.

This is just a small example of NORMAL behavior in the Korean server. Ever heard of China dogs? Korean Dogs? Taiwan #1? China #1? I'm not the racist here.

Here is a post from 3 years ago talking about RACISM IN THE KOREA SERVER (this is my old reddit account, someone hacked it and deleted it):

https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/2ummat/korea_soloq_racism_against_nonkoreanwhite_people/co9thnr/

NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE, AT ALL. NOTHING!!!!!!

You know that thread thats calling me a quitter? When I didn't actually quit? Do you know why I was smurfing? Its because I couldn't play my D2 account because someone was AFK in the fountain and I had to wait for the game to end. Instead of sitting in the fountain waiting for the game to end and boring my viewers, I had to QUIT and play on a different account.

VOD (5 hours, 28 minutes, I'm still trying and my teammates put "OPEN" in chat and Sion buys tear + mobi):

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/243782076?t=5h28m05s

https://gyazo.com/55da8c40d70a4b4ea07372330ea559ea (Tear Game)

THIS IS DAILY STUFF!!! I have to put up with THEIR BULLSHIT multiple times a day so someone doesn't post a stupid thread about the crazy toxic streamer on the forums like there was today.

I'd post a picture of every pre 20 minute game where someone goes afk, but it'd be too much! Instead, heres a picture of 3 in a row!

https://gyazo.com/e156abf2a2e8448ad22508383a3f5971

Koreans are also extremely toxic when you take blue buff. There was a thread on Reddit where Tyler1 took the blue buff and the mid laner went AFK. Everyone went nuts. You **KIDDING ME? **That is a normal Korean game. Anyone who watches my stream knows that I do not get a single blue after 7 minutes because of fear of my mid laner AFKing. I at one point was highlighting all the mid laners AFKing but it simply became WAY too much!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DQX6iwwU8AAvOci.jpg:large

I even had a Diamond 4 account, renamed it to "I'm taking the blue buff", and told them in lobby I was taking blue buff, and I ended up in Platinum 2 from Koreans going AFK! Its INSANE!

Did I mention that the Korean servers punishment server is non-existent?

You get banned for saying "fuck". **Thats it. **

I mean, theres a leave buster as well, not like it matters, any smart person will walk around until the game ends.

As long as you do not write "fuck" in Korean, you will not get banned. I mean, there might be some other Korean swear words, but seriously the filter is pathetic.

I've reported this issue to Riot Support multiple times and all they told me was to take it up with the Korean support. I've taken it up with Korean support and they told me to use the ingame report system (it doesn't work except for "cussing" and even that just checks for "fuck" LUL).

You may think me leaving the game and reconnecting and giving my team a win is toxic, but for the love of god something needs to be done about the Korea server. I've been living here and playing here for 6 years, AND NOTHING HAS IMPROVED EXCEPT FOR A "FUCK" FILTER!

So thank you for creating a thread and bringing attention to this part of the forum I never knew existed. Instead of witch hunting me for doing absolutely nothing wrong, hopefully we can take part in fixing the Korea server and INFINITELY REDUCING THE STRESS I HAVE ON A DAILY BASIS.

ARE YOU LISTENING RIOT?

Cowsep

245 Comments

Gall3/29/2018, 7:12:33 AM109 votes

Wow that's horrendous, and I thought NA was bad.

Unlawful Salmon3/29/2018, 9:27:55 AM34 votes

As someone who has watched you for a very long time the most mind-boggling thing about your stream is how you put up with that kind of crap everyday streaming. I would of lost it long ago! [zombie-brand-clap]

Perhaps a red can fill us in on why this kind of thing continues to go on unchecked when it clearly violates what they stand for? [sg-lux-2]

2nd Chance3/29/2018, 8:35:50 AM24 votes

Yeah I'm gonna focus on this instead of the tangent you went on about toxicity, which honestly makes it look like you were trying to get off this subject quick

Second of all, I quit the game on a death timer, when I thought my team could end without me, and then when I noticed they weren't good enough to end it, I simply reconnected and helped them end. There really should not be any argument here. The client takes god awful to load when its hidden during a game, and if you watch me at all, I ALWAYS close my game early. This time a bit too early, but again, I reconnected and ended the game.

Even if you were on a death timer and thought the game was done, that doesn't give you reason to quit a game

or the multiple other times you've also admitted to 'always' be doing this

You queued up for it

So you commit, stay until the end and finish it regardless if you're a rando not even lv30 account or challenger

Well unless an emergency popped up or your internet d/ced you, but I doubt ether of those happened, not to be rude or anything

edit - Nice circlejerk, I'm still not wrong though, regardless who he is

Everyone should finish games

Arammus3/29/2018, 8:52:43 AM22 votes

if riot is going to answer here i bet its 100% "korean server isnt in na's job sorry"

ModKnightsKemplar3/29/2018, 1:31:55 PM20 votes

Really informative post. I appreciate the classy way you went about refuting the public claims about you (don't have time to watch vids, but I believe you :P)

Riot does do a pretty great job checking the Boards; they don't always respond, though. I wouldn't be surprised if a Red showed up to address your points here, but I'm not holding my breath either.

If they do, addressing the difference in the Player Behavior systems between regions is an interesting topic. I've never spent any time even considering that the standards would be so different. News to me, so I expect it's news to a lot of folks.

SEKAI3/29/2018, 7:54:09 AM17 votes

The part about being hostile to "foreigner" seems to be comparable to OCE here.

A lot of time, especially in the late-night matches (talking about post-1AM) and in ranked, if someone shows up with a vaguely Asian name or type in any language that's not English, that's almost instant demerits, and from then on if they don't play absolutely perfect then some people just open the flood gate to questionable and racist remarks to be thrown at them.

Each place has their own devils to deal with, I suppose. Not saying it's k tho.

ViciousSummoner3/29/2018, 8:20:11 PM13 votes

When ya know the post flaming Cowsep was bull shit and just ignore it, and then this glorious post comes along. https://vibirai.ru/image/803273.jpg

AmazoX3/29/2018, 11:20:55 AM10 votes

This just makes want to puke at the other thread, what a joke.

YerroFever3/29/2018, 3:33:48 PM10 votes

It's really strange looking at how Korea has changed. Growing up, I'd visit my family in Korea every summer and they used to see English as this amazing godly language that connects us to the rest of the world. Koreans loved English so much they would incorporate words and phrases into their pop songs. There was a band named "투투/Two Two" (because when the band formed, they were all 22 years old). Back then it was an honor that someone would want to learn our language. You would see reactions on shows with non-koreans (mostly black or white people) speaking Korean and the audience is going "오오오우와!!!!" (the English equivalent of "oooh wow!!!!") and people are going wild and are super happy and they're getting asked why they decided to learn Korean and how they got so good at it and how their pronunciation is so great because trying to properly pronounce English is difficult because Korean and English have phonemes that are different and it's difficult for either side to pick them up and pronounce things correctly.

When I go back to Korea, I tend to use English in casual expressions at things like "Oh wow that's beautiful!" but I use Korean when speaking to strangers. I tend to spend most of my time out in public with my cousin as she's my age and wants to get better at English, so I speak English with her and translate words every now and then when she doesn't understand. I often overhear people who think I'm a Chinese American man who doesn't know a lot of Korean and is dating a Korean woman when I'm just catching up with my cousin and helping her practice English. So I understand what you are going through.

It's not just a toxicity that exists in the gaming community, but actually a toxicity that exists in Korea. Honestly I find it sad that this xenophobia and racism is still so deep rooted. Lots of people still believe Koreans should marry Koreans. When people talk about how the US has racism problems and think it's unique to NA... nope... Korea does too.

Your Korean is great. I respect that. The particle system in Korean is something people find difficult to learn and grasp. If you want to blend in better, no one uses honorifics in video games. A combination of your IGN and the use of 요 to strangers in a video game is how people can instantly tell you are a foreigner who learned to speak Korean. People are a lot more casual. The most context filled translation of your opening line is "is there an honored person who would like to play Sion?" I can see you intended to be respectful to strangers to get them to cooperate with you, but it doesn't always go that way. Typically with the whole honor system, when you're older than someone you are expected to be treated as the 형 and spoken to in the honorific, but that also comes with the assumption that the 형 will speak casually to the 동생 and no matter what you say to the 동생, he will still be respectful and speak in the honorific to the 형. Speaking to a peer in the honorific instantly puts you at a social disadvantage and personally I would suggest not doing it on the Korean servers to strangers. It just doesn't work the same way on the internet as it does in real life. From my observations, speaking with honorifics to a stranger on the internet is treated as going belly up to someone instead of how in real life, speaking with honorifics to someone face to face is treated as respect.

As for your comment about getting banned on the Korean servers for saying fuck... Koreans tend to tolerate swearing in English a lot less than swearing in Korean. I don't know why because there are a lot of colorful things that I've heard in public but most people just shake their heads but in my experience, when you hear an English swear... everyone around you gasps, turns to look, and drops what is in their hands. This might be the same way on Korean gaming servers.

The competitive nature in Korea is just exacerbated in competitive games. Competition is rooted in the education system and also in the culture. You have to be better than others and always hide your shame from your parents and strangers. With the anonymity of the internet, people there are just as awful on the Korean servers as they are here on the North American servers.

Flawless Fetus3/29/2018, 1:38:08 PM8 votes

Good to read. I'm by no means a consistent viewer of yours, but on the idd chance I stumble into your stream youve always seemed like a level headed, nice guy. A breathe of fresh air compared to most other streamers I've seen. That other thread didn't sound like you, but I wasn't sure because I don't see you much. Glad that that prior thread was unfair and skewed.

Negativity3/29/2018, 5:28:08 PM8 votes

Your mother boom

Parceval3/30/2018, 1:00:56 AM8 votes

I respect your playstyle, your streaming character, and more.

However, you did do something wrong. Leaving a game before it's over is leaving the game. You literally said "if they can't win now they don't deserve it." That's straight selfish behavior. Those players at that elo don't know how to 'end' the game normally. They're still learning. And you afk'ing was a rude, selfish, gesture.

Finish the game. Take 2m out of your time. Finish.

You have great arguments all around, but not admitting that what you did was also toxic injures the quality of your point.

Nobody likes a quitter, under any circumstances.

HalcyonDweller3/29/2018, 4:06:03 PM5 votes

Damn dude, I'm glad you posted this, the other poster completely misrepresented you and the situation. I would have been left agreeing with them if you hadn't cleared things up.

That sucks dude, if I may ask... why do you play and live in Korea if the toxicity is so terrible there? Wouldn't it be a better experience to play league on a server where the culture is less toxic?

Reletr3/30/2018, 8:00:56 AM4 votes

Just a quick thing, quitting while in the game, regardless of context, doesn't really help. I find it pretty demoralizing, even if you dc'ed on a death timer.

Auld3/30/2018, 9:45:03 AM3 votes

From reading Cowseps OP, makes EUW look like heaven and I spent the whole of last season on NA to escape the cestpit that is EUW.

Peebs and Jay3/29/2018, 7:12:05 PM2 votes

This is hilarious and fucking ignorant of Cowsep (probably because he doesn't know that he's an exception of being able to play in the KR server).

If you guys didn't know. Korean gaming servers are generally blocked off to the outside world except for Korea itself, using a SS ID to register for accounts. Thus, not allowing anyone who isn't a person with this SS ID to sign up and play. This was done for several reasons (keeping players accountable by IDing, etc).

The fact that Cowsep is even allowed to play in the KR server or any player that isn't from KR without this SS ID, is an exception/blessing - meaning it's allowed because of who they are + outside world can't compete against the Korean players, so they needed to let the pro/famous players compete in the KR server to stay relevant on world stage.

So the toxicity? Yeah, it's there because unlike me who lives in Seattle and plays LoL for fun > seriously, they play seriously > fun. The mentality of eSports or games in general is different from that of Korea compared to any other country. In other words, deal with it. If you can't, just play in the server that you can handle.

Riot won't do anything because they know you playing in the KR server is a favor given by them. They could really just revoke your access in the KR server if all you want to do is cry about it. Seriously, if you can't handle the "threats/toxicity/etc" of KR server, then why do you even play there?

Edit: To add onto your racist comment... You act as if "USA, USA, USA" chants isn't a thing. (This is done EVERYWHERE, doesn't matter where). If you want to bash on Asians, then do it in good taste. Don't try to make it seem like you're the victim.

Dr Rick Report3/29/2018, 9:28:15 AM1 votes

The sad part is he has no idea that (other than the chat toxicity stuff) the report system is exactly the same deal everywhere. Had 3 accounts get into a 14 day suspension just because I got feeders/afkers game after game AND I GET PUNISHED FOR FLAMING THEM. Riot really has to realize that in order to stop flaming, they should start with the obvious and start banning people who run down lanes or go afk not with people who say "fuck you for ruining this game"...

I mean there is a reason League is starting to lose its #1 place in game directories, this being one of them.