and i don't even mean the championship game, i'm talking the whole shabang. i have to say, i am thoroughly satisfied with the mid season invitational. yea, TSM shit the bed, yea Fnatic got a bit screwed by a wonky bug, but whatever, things like that happen. all sports/games/activities/hobbies, have quirks. shit happens, things go wrong or not as they were intended to go...it sucks, but we move passed it, just as these teams did. i can say, the fans are WAY worse than the players are, because the players understand that there is always a tomorrow, and a next time.
congrats to EDG, they made me look stupid. i put all my eggs in the SKT basket, and while they looked like the best team over the course of the 4 days, they lost when it mattered most. but we got to see Faker's LeBlanc, we got to see a shining example of a team, baiting a super star into playing into their trap. it was beautiful. there was legit excitement around all these games. we had trash talking, blown opportunities, surprises...MSI was the best thing we've had in competitive league in quite some time.
all this gilding the lily though, brings me to the "underbelly" of it all. the fans. while most were pretty great, on reddit, things got a little out of hand. the TSM/Fnatic apologists were out in full force. the haters, hating on Dyrus but making excuses for Bjergsen were relentless. the pissing contest between na and eu reached a fever pitch and stopped being about who's better, but who's the bigger asshole. it even spilled over into insulting casters! joshua "jatt" leesman was called out because of things he said about TSM and Fnatic, Jatt...who is incredible at calling things right down the middle, with an honest and unbiased eye. its things like that, that give this community a black eye. i'm not saying we all need to hold hands and sing songs while hugging and loving one another, but i do think we need to really look at how we handle "fandom" and stop being such colossal assholes about who we like, who we don't like, and why everyone is a dick. we the real fan of the game, who would rather see the best of the best, going toe to toe on the grandest of stage, whether they be korean, american, european, taiwanese, chinese, etc, we want to be entertained and given a great show...and that's exactly what MSI was, a great show. in a few months, when worlds rolls around, there might be new teams in the conversation, it's probably unlikely, but there's a chance, because that's what this game gives us, unpredictability. lets just all enjoy it, and let ourselves enjoy it, before getting too wrapped up in the bullshit that surrounds it.
have fun, and i'll see you on the rift!
-Hooks
Tower Dive Podcast
@Cptn_Hooks
Cptn_Hooks on Twitch
Monday, May 11, 2015
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Cptn's Log - i told you so
if any of you listen to my podcast (well, mine and Pan's podcast, but that's neither here nor there), you would know that i thought pretty highly of this AHQ team. maybe not highly enough to think they'd win, but i definitely thought they could compete...and look at that, i was right.
my "buying and selling" segment on this weeks show couldn't have been more spot on...i mean...all except my TSM prediction. what a letdown. this team. they just slipped back into old ways, being big fish in a small pond. Fnatic dominated them, SKT dominated them, EDG, AHQ, both dominated them, the only team they beat was the lowly turkish team that went 0-5. you can chalk up one or 2 games to being nervous, but going 1-4 was unacceptable for this squad coming into MSI after such a strong showing in the NALCS and IEM. TSM apologists will make excuses for Bjergsen not playing well, they'll blame Dyrus, who, while not the problem, was certainly not the solution, being banned out in most games and left to flounder on carry tops that he, simply, doesn't carry on. Turtle and Lustboy seemed overmatched most games in bot lane, and i don't want to blame it on Turtle, but i have to assume he had far more jitters than Lustboy, although the latter didn't look very impressive either. Santorin looked lost for most of the games, not much more can be said about him, but you have to assume he'd struggle, he's, by far, the most green member of TSM and has almost no big stage experience. all in all, they came out flat and looked intimidated. other teams brought THEIR game to the bigger, better teams, all TSM did was react to the way the other teams were playing. instead of taking the other teams to task, they were made to look like a little kid in the mall, who lost his parents, afraid and lost.
today we have the top 4 teams: EDG, Fnatic, AHQ and SKT1 all vying for a shot at the finals. SKT dodged a bullet against Fnatic potentially because of a strange bug, other than that, they've looked like the strongest team here. EDG looks good, but something about them seems to be missing, maybe they'll find it today, but maybe not. Fnatic plays a messy style, but it seems to work...on occasion, they'll have some trouble today, but they can surprise someone today. the real wildcard is AHQ. their good games have been very good, their bad, very bad. it depends on which team shows up to the stage today to see where they can go, they definitely have the talent to win, but can they?
i'm sure i can wax poetic on this for much longer, but i'd rather let the games do the talking. i'll be back here tomorrow, before the next docket of games to reflect on today's match ups. other than that, i'll see you on the rift.
-Hooks
Tower Dive Podcast
@Cptn_Hooks
Cptn_Hooks on Twitch
my "buying and selling" segment on this weeks show couldn't have been more spot on...i mean...all except my TSM prediction. what a letdown. this team. they just slipped back into old ways, being big fish in a small pond. Fnatic dominated them, SKT dominated them, EDG, AHQ, both dominated them, the only team they beat was the lowly turkish team that went 0-5. you can chalk up one or 2 games to being nervous, but going 1-4 was unacceptable for this squad coming into MSI after such a strong showing in the NALCS and IEM. TSM apologists will make excuses for Bjergsen not playing well, they'll blame Dyrus, who, while not the problem, was certainly not the solution, being banned out in most games and left to flounder on carry tops that he, simply, doesn't carry on. Turtle and Lustboy seemed overmatched most games in bot lane, and i don't want to blame it on Turtle, but i have to assume he had far more jitters than Lustboy, although the latter didn't look very impressive either. Santorin looked lost for most of the games, not much more can be said about him, but you have to assume he'd struggle, he's, by far, the most green member of TSM and has almost no big stage experience. all in all, they came out flat and looked intimidated. other teams brought THEIR game to the bigger, better teams, all TSM did was react to the way the other teams were playing. instead of taking the other teams to task, they were made to look like a little kid in the mall, who lost his parents, afraid and lost.
today we have the top 4 teams: EDG, Fnatic, AHQ and SKT1 all vying for a shot at the finals. SKT dodged a bullet against Fnatic potentially because of a strange bug, other than that, they've looked like the strongest team here. EDG looks good, but something about them seems to be missing, maybe they'll find it today, but maybe not. Fnatic plays a messy style, but it seems to work...on occasion, they'll have some trouble today, but they can surprise someone today. the real wildcard is AHQ. their good games have been very good, their bad, very bad. it depends on which team shows up to the stage today to see where they can go, they definitely have the talent to win, but can they?
i'm sure i can wax poetic on this for much longer, but i'd rather let the games do the talking. i'll be back here tomorrow, before the next docket of games to reflect on today's match ups. other than that, i'll see you on the rift.
-Hooks
Tower Dive Podcast
@Cptn_Hooks
Cptn_Hooks on Twitch
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Cptn's Log - Taking My Time, Doing it Right...
i'm spacing out my posts more, in an effort to let more happen so i have more to say, lets see how that worked...so the last few days, a lot of shit has gone down. hai retired - not a big surprise. for a time, he was a great "support" mid laner. when the meta started to shift, and his champs either became irrelevant or were simply banned out, his game began to suffer. when his wrist problems began to rear their ugly head, his limited game suffered even more. he couldn't practice as much as his team, he couldn't get better or deepen his pool, and C9 as an organization slowly started to dip. now, it wasn't a significant slide. it isn't like one day they were first, and the next, last. they still remain a top na team, but they got figured out and couldn't change their style enough to fix the growing issues. i'm not blaming all that on hai, but as the captain and shot caller, this is a decision that needed to be made sooner. C9 is HIS company, he started it, he should have known, the moment he couldn't put 100% effort into it, even if it is because of a medical issue, then he needed to step down. "playing through it", "toughing it out", these aren't things that a team owner should be considering, he should think "what is best for the team", and an injured player that can't deepen his champion pool is not helping the team. i like hai, and he will be missed as a personality in the scene and as a player, but this was a move that is a full split late. either way, best of luck in management, hai. i have the utmost confidence that you will succeed in this new chapter in your life.
second, and this could have been first, because its impact was felt, almost at the same time. popular (or notorious, depending on what side of the fence you're on) esports journalist, Richard Lewis was perma-banned from reddit, all of it, not just the league sub. now, while his interactions with the average reddit user/hater/troll, might not always be viewed as the most professional way to handle a community, there is no argument that his facts, his leads, his stories, they're on point and usually broken by him. he is important to this community as an unbiased voice breaking the news we want and need. the reddit mods, who, in their own right, have been marred by controversy and seem to have a bad habit of overstepping their boundaries, not following their own rules and generally making mountains out of molehills. what they apparently want is not something Richard was intending to give, mostly because of journalistic integrity. they wanted his stories before he published them, they wanted his sources, they wanted what he should never HAVE to give to a moderator of a subreddit, but they felt they were entitled. while not necessarily related to this issue, it is no a surprise to find out that the reddit mods of /r/leagueoflegends are in riot's back pocket, and there is nothing wrong with that, inherently, unless riot is making content suggestions to them, and then they are subsequently following those "requests" to stay in riot's good graces. mind you, that is all speculation, but still something to consider. either way, Richard was silenced in a blatant act of censorship with no ground to do so. he violated no rules, yet had posts deleted and was being stalked by certain mods who were constantly warning him about things he wasn't doing. ultimately, he was banned because he refused to have, what was called "a working relationship" with the moderators of the subreddit. they didn't care for him personally, and they overstepped their bounds in banning him. i have personally have correspondence with Richard, and there will be more on that when i can talk about it freely, but this is all what i know and my opinion on the matter.
lastly, the rest of the world is wrapping up their spring seasons in preparation for MSI. EDG bested LGD in a great match up of two powerhouses to decide the chinese champion. Korea got a rare treat when SKT took on CJ Entus in a match up that went the full 5 games, and if you know anything about the korean scene, you know game 5 means....BLIND PICK!!! blind pick games in a professional setting are always great, mostly because you get pro's on their top champs, which meant Faker's 11-0 LeBlanc was going to be brought out. the sad truth was, CJ Entus had to know that when they were up 2-1 and lost game 4, that their time was up, because a game 5 meant LeBlanc, and that meant they had no chance. well the game was played, Faker got LeBlanc, went 15-1-10, and SKT rolled to victory. now SKT goes on to play the GE Tigers in what may prove to be a real clash of titans and a potential look at where the world championship will have to go through.
in na and eu, relegation matches were played, personally, i was hoping to see more new blood infused into the summer split, but only one new team (outside of the challenger series winners) will be joining the ranks of the LCS as Team Dragon Knights (with Alex_Ich playing as a sub) defeated Team WinterFox in not a very close series. WinterFox never looked truly comfortable and Pobelter and Altec couldn't find their groove, and the team was bounced from the LCS. it will be interesting to see what ends up happening to the team now, will they stay and play for next season in the challenger series, will the team be dropped, what will Helios and his brother do? a lot of questions need answers, but these answers will have to come at another time, mostly because i have written a great deal here and you have a lot of reading to do. thanks so much for checking me out, keep an eye open for the next Tower Dive podcast this week and i'll see you on the rift!
Cheers,
-Hooks
Tower Dive Podcast
@Cptn_Hooks
Cptn_Hooks on Twitch
second, and this could have been first, because its impact was felt, almost at the same time. popular (or notorious, depending on what side of the fence you're on) esports journalist, Richard Lewis was perma-banned from reddit, all of it, not just the league sub. now, while his interactions with the average reddit user/hater/troll, might not always be viewed as the most professional way to handle a community, there is no argument that his facts, his leads, his stories, they're on point and usually broken by him. he is important to this community as an unbiased voice breaking the news we want and need. the reddit mods, who, in their own right, have been marred by controversy and seem to have a bad habit of overstepping their boundaries, not following their own rules and generally making mountains out of molehills. what they apparently want is not something Richard was intending to give, mostly because of journalistic integrity. they wanted his stories before he published them, they wanted his sources, they wanted what he should never HAVE to give to a moderator of a subreddit, but they felt they were entitled. while not necessarily related to this issue, it is no a surprise to find out that the reddit mods of /r/leagueoflegends are in riot's back pocket, and there is nothing wrong with that, inherently, unless riot is making content suggestions to them, and then they are subsequently following those "requests" to stay in riot's good graces. mind you, that is all speculation, but still something to consider. either way, Richard was silenced in a blatant act of censorship with no ground to do so. he violated no rules, yet had posts deleted and was being stalked by certain mods who were constantly warning him about things he wasn't doing. ultimately, he was banned because he refused to have, what was called "a working relationship" with the moderators of the subreddit. they didn't care for him personally, and they overstepped their bounds in banning him. i have personally have correspondence with Richard, and there will be more on that when i can talk about it freely, but this is all what i know and my opinion on the matter.
lastly, the rest of the world is wrapping up their spring seasons in preparation for MSI. EDG bested LGD in a great match up of two powerhouses to decide the chinese champion. Korea got a rare treat when SKT took on CJ Entus in a match up that went the full 5 games, and if you know anything about the korean scene, you know game 5 means....BLIND PICK!!! blind pick games in a professional setting are always great, mostly because you get pro's on their top champs, which meant Faker's 11-0 LeBlanc was going to be brought out. the sad truth was, CJ Entus had to know that when they were up 2-1 and lost game 4, that their time was up, because a game 5 meant LeBlanc, and that meant they had no chance. well the game was played, Faker got LeBlanc, went 15-1-10, and SKT rolled to victory. now SKT goes on to play the GE Tigers in what may prove to be a real clash of titans and a potential look at where the world championship will have to go through.
in na and eu, relegation matches were played, personally, i was hoping to see more new blood infused into the summer split, but only one new team (outside of the challenger series winners) will be joining the ranks of the LCS as Team Dragon Knights (with Alex_Ich playing as a sub) defeated Team WinterFox in not a very close series. WinterFox never looked truly comfortable and Pobelter and Altec couldn't find their groove, and the team was bounced from the LCS. it will be interesting to see what ends up happening to the team now, will they stay and play for next season in the challenger series, will the team be dropped, what will Helios and his brother do? a lot of questions need answers, but these answers will have to come at another time, mostly because i have written a great deal here and you have a lot of reading to do. thanks so much for checking me out, keep an eye open for the next Tower Dive podcast this week and i'll see you on the rift!
Cheers,
-Hooks
Tower Dive Podcast
@Cptn_Hooks
Cptn_Hooks on Twitch
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Cptn's Log - I'm back!
so i took a few (10) days off, 1. to let some news happen. i felt like i was saying a lot of the sames things over and over, ad nauseam infinitum, and 2. i want you to CRAVE what i say...ok, so really it's just the first part. that being said, a lot has happened during my self imposed sabbatical. first things first Fnatic!!! so, Fnatic is the EU Spring Split champs, with an amazing series against the Unicorns of Love. you really couldn't have asked for anything more from this series...well, i mean, other than high quality play and calculated objective calls. this series was fun to watch from a viewers perspective, but a "what not to do" in terms of its educational value. but education and entertainment have never played nice together, so screw that shit and bring on the ham! congrats to eu darlings, Fnatic, who, against all odds have emerged as the champs and are still the team to beat, even with a new roster. maybe they're sloppy at times, maybe they play all ham all day, but i think this team can definitely put on the blitzkrieg bop on a korean or chinese team...catch them off guard and potentially steal a series on the world stage. on the other hand, UoL didn't even expect to be in this spot, which is nice to read, since, unlike a lot of teams, they didn't lie to themselves and their fans. everyone knew what they were capable of, but no one honestly believed they'd ascend to the top of the division. this team is definitely poised to make a move next split, and while they might not be ready to take on korea or china, i think they are just good enough to scare a team or 2.
back in the good ol' us of a, we had a familiar match up, pitting C9 against mainstay, TSM. the na region hasn't been quite as exciting as eu, but has still provided us with some great series...this just wasn't one of those times. i've been saying, all split, C9 doesn't look motivated to win. they play very reactionary and they just don't dictate any sort of pace. Hai's champion puddle is evaporating, Meteos makes questionable gank calls and Balls is far from the power top laner he's been in past splits. all in all, they are not the same team from a few splits ago, and they've slowly gone down hill, as Jatt was quoted as saying in a recent interview. will next split be the first time C9 has a roster change? only time will tell. on the flip side, TSM, since IEM, has looked pretty dominant. Bjergsen is the straw that stirs the drink. his mid lane dominance has given TSM what they've craved for so long, a true carry. Santorin has been the perfect compliment for this teams composition, and Lustboy has been the balance that has kept WildTurtle from going too ham too much. as it stands, this team, i believe, as much as it pains me, has a viable chance to win worlds. it may be a small chance, but its a better chance than they've had in any previous year. what i am happy about is that na has some new blood on the rise, with TiP, Team8 and Gravity all having strong showings this split, we could see a shift in power sooner than later.
now with the na and eu splits over, korea and china finishing up, as well as the other regions, this leads us to the Mid Season Invitational (MSI). while this will be a fun, post split, distraction, the real heat will be generated by the potential roster swaps amidst all the rumors and rigmarole. so many players futures are up in the air, and so many are being talked about going to all sorts of regions, it will be fun to see what changes and it will give me plenty to talk about. just a few names to keep in mind, Rekkles, Wickd, Shook, Forg1vengre, Hai, Incarnati0n and HolyPhoenix. i'm sure there are others, but off the top of my head, those could end up be some movers. as for the MSI, GE Tigers and Edward Gaming are the 2 that are obviously "expected" to be, 1. in the MSI and 2. be contending to win it. SKT1 and Vici Gaming are respectively on the other side of that conversation, and if you replace either of those former teams with the aforementioned teams, the other regions still have their hands full. i hate to be another broken record, but any type of championship still goes through korea and/or china and not beating a team from either of those regions would feel like a hollow victory. beyond that, we have our relegation matches for both na and eu. hopefully some more new blood will be injected to both LCS' and shake things up even more. i tire of the same old teams.
now for the fun stuff, we MAY be getting our Samsung world championship skins! no announcement has been made, and no previews have been provided, but the timing is roughly around when we got the SKT1 skins from s3, so hopefully we'll see something of those in the coming months.
i've typed a lot, and i think i've given you a lot to read. a new podcast from Tower Dive is on the way this week, where i'll get to bicker with my main man, Pan, about all things League. thanks for reading, and i'll see you on the rift!
Cheers!
-Hooks
back in the good ol' us of a, we had a familiar match up, pitting C9 against mainstay, TSM. the na region hasn't been quite as exciting as eu, but has still provided us with some great series...this just wasn't one of those times. i've been saying, all split, C9 doesn't look motivated to win. they play very reactionary and they just don't dictate any sort of pace. Hai's champion puddle is evaporating, Meteos makes questionable gank calls and Balls is far from the power top laner he's been in past splits. all in all, they are not the same team from a few splits ago, and they've slowly gone down hill, as Jatt was quoted as saying in a recent interview. will next split be the first time C9 has a roster change? only time will tell. on the flip side, TSM, since IEM, has looked pretty dominant. Bjergsen is the straw that stirs the drink. his mid lane dominance has given TSM what they've craved for so long, a true carry. Santorin has been the perfect compliment for this teams composition, and Lustboy has been the balance that has kept WildTurtle from going too ham too much. as it stands, this team, i believe, as much as it pains me, has a viable chance to win worlds. it may be a small chance, but its a better chance than they've had in any previous year. what i am happy about is that na has some new blood on the rise, with TiP, Team8 and Gravity all having strong showings this split, we could see a shift in power sooner than later.
now with the na and eu splits over, korea and china finishing up, as well as the other regions, this leads us to the Mid Season Invitational (MSI). while this will be a fun, post split, distraction, the real heat will be generated by the potential roster swaps amidst all the rumors and rigmarole. so many players futures are up in the air, and so many are being talked about going to all sorts of regions, it will be fun to see what changes and it will give me plenty to talk about. just a few names to keep in mind, Rekkles, Wickd, Shook, Forg1vengre, Hai, Incarnati0n and HolyPhoenix. i'm sure there are others, but off the top of my head, those could end up be some movers. as for the MSI, GE Tigers and Edward Gaming are the 2 that are obviously "expected" to be, 1. in the MSI and 2. be contending to win it. SKT1 and Vici Gaming are respectively on the other side of that conversation, and if you replace either of those former teams with the aforementioned teams, the other regions still have their hands full. i hate to be another broken record, but any type of championship still goes through korea and/or china and not beating a team from either of those regions would feel like a hollow victory. beyond that, we have our relegation matches for both na and eu. hopefully some more new blood will be injected to both LCS' and shake things up even more. i tire of the same old teams.
now for the fun stuff, we MAY be getting our Samsung world championship skins! no announcement has been made, and no previews have been provided, but the timing is roughly around when we got the SKT1 skins from s3, so hopefully we'll see something of those in the coming months.
i've typed a lot, and i think i've given you a lot to read. a new podcast from Tower Dive is on the way this week, where i'll get to bicker with my main man, Pan, about all things League. thanks for reading, and i'll see you on the rift!
Cheers!
-Hooks
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Cptn's Log - well this exploded on the scene
now i've already gone into my feelings on Incarnati0n and how letting him play again is a bad idea. i don't love the idea of the hyper trolly, toxic and potentially dangerous (a confirmed DDOS'er) being allowed to play the game that i enjoy. that being said, he's an asshole, but not a genuinely bad person (he is but he isn't, its a fine line, you'll understand where i'm getting at later in this piece...). what he did affects everything you would do, IN GAME, that is the crucial element here. yes, he's a jerkoff and toxic and all that, but everything we've seen Incarnati0n do, it's all related to IN GAME activity. i put that term in caps again, clearly i'm alluding to something.
recently, on reddit, it was "confirmed" that XJ9 would be allowed to play League of Legends again. to those of you that don't know, and count yourselves lucky, XJ9 was a high level player, who, 2 years ago, was perma banned from League because he posted a naked picture of his underage girlfriend, on facebook. read that again, let it soak in. the reason he gave, because she played lee sin, and they had this...ridiculous pact, that if one of them played lee sin, then that meant they were over, or something incredibly childish like that. well, he saw her playing it and he acted...poorly. he attempted to ruin this girls life because she played a champion, in a game, that he didn't like...seems legit. well, the shitstorm that followed was pretty swift. he was banned for life from the game, Riot didn't press charges on him, i don't believe, he was a minor at the time anyways, but i don't believe they pressed charges and that was the end of it. over the years, his name has come up time and again, but his presence was no longer part of League. fast forward to this week, where he posted on reddit that he was "back", after successfully completing some class or something, Riot let him back in, provisionally, to play, stream and make money. XJ9's facebook post, proclaiming his return, was laden with passive aggressive jabs, canned "remorse" for his actions, and a promise he would change his ways, even though he didn't really believe he was those things that people said. if you managed to watch his stream, you see, he wasn't different, just older. still a troll, but now a bitter one, still passive aggressive, blaming everyone around him, not taking ANY responsibility for anything, yea...he's a new man. well, in the short time he was "back", RiotLyte, famed smiter and arbiter of justice in all things League, made short work of him. in short, XJ9 being allowed to play again was an oversight, it was an accident by someone, unfamiliar with the circumstances of his dismissal. quickly and with no pomp or circumstance, he was put back on the ban list, because what he did was heinous and Riot, as a company, did not want to be associate with activity such as he engaged in. justice served, everyone is happy, lets all move on, correct? wrong.
LS, currently a League coach for Gravity Gaming, decided to fire up his stream and comment about the situation, because he knows XJ9 in real life, and we're all just witch hunters. please, LS, enlighten us with your vast swaths of knowledge on XJ9, human nature, legal and moral issues and all things we should be thinking. as you can already tell, i'm not a particularly large fan of LS. so he starts his stream unable to figure out how to type in notepad, not a great start, but keep going. so he starts his stream breaking down what XJ9 did, essentially rationalizing it because the girls face wasn't shown in the picture, she didn't immediately come forward, blah, blah, blah. all of this comes right after his statement of "now i'm not condoning what he did...", no, dude, you are, just because you're not outright saying you think what he did wasn't wrong, you're rationalizing it, which might be worse. so he goes on about how the whole situation is giving him anxiety, for no good reason. he prattles on about how everyone on reddit has no clue what the real problem is, how XJ9 is being bullied, how he won't be able to get a job because of this. well, i think we need to step back and say, if he was thinking about his future, XJ9 shouldn't have done what he did in the first place, now, as a community, we're supposed to feel bad that there are consequences associated with his actions? perish the thought! he has to be held...accountable?!? this is where LS loses me, we have, XJ9, who may or may not have some sort of emotional disorder (i'm not a dr. so i can't diagnose it...), took it upon himself to potentially ruin a young girls life, whom he claimed to care for, by posting a naked picture of her on facebook, over some bullshit, is being bullied because the community at large thinks he's a scumbag and voices it on reddit, an open forum. so LS wants the community acted upon for not letting XJ9's actions go. mostly because we're spouting "facts" that aren't verified, we're slandering XJ9 (btw LS, slander is spoken, in print its libel.), and on top of that, it's NOT slander or libel, its rehashing what he did, and how it's wrong!
all in all, LS waffles throughout the whole stream, trying to make it about bullying, when it's really not. is it wrong that the community comes down on XJ9 like an avalanche? maybe, but what he did rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, and if the WORST thing he is dealing with, is a bunch of angry gamers on reddit, then he got off easy. yea, his life is probably going to be difficult moving forward because he won't be able to escape the "demons of his past", but again, if you do dumb things, be prepared for their consequences. in the end, LS doesn't really understand what he's talking about, he's trying to diffuse the situation for someone he knows, and that's admirable, but it would be best if he kept himself out of it, as he has no part in any of this. personally, i'm glad XJ9 is still gone, he doesn't affect me or my game, but knowing that Riot has taken a stand against activities such as his, and is keeping to it, makes me feel better about the company i love and respect.
thanks for being a part of this post. remember, episode 2 of my podcast, Tower Dive, is up on our site, on itunes, soundcloud, sticher, and youtube. have a great day and i'll see you on the rift!
-HooksTower Dive Podcast
@Cptn_Hooks
Cptn_Hooks on Twitch
recently, on reddit, it was "confirmed" that XJ9 would be allowed to play League of Legends again. to those of you that don't know, and count yourselves lucky, XJ9 was a high level player, who, 2 years ago, was perma banned from League because he posted a naked picture of his underage girlfriend, on facebook. read that again, let it soak in. the reason he gave, because she played lee sin, and they had this...ridiculous pact, that if one of them played lee sin, then that meant they were over, or something incredibly childish like that. well, he saw her playing it and he acted...poorly. he attempted to ruin this girls life because she played a champion, in a game, that he didn't like...seems legit. well, the shitstorm that followed was pretty swift. he was banned for life from the game, Riot didn't press charges on him, i don't believe, he was a minor at the time anyways, but i don't believe they pressed charges and that was the end of it. over the years, his name has come up time and again, but his presence was no longer part of League. fast forward to this week, where he posted on reddit that he was "back", after successfully completing some class or something, Riot let him back in, provisionally, to play, stream and make money. XJ9's facebook post, proclaiming his return, was laden with passive aggressive jabs, canned "remorse" for his actions, and a promise he would change his ways, even though he didn't really believe he was those things that people said. if you managed to watch his stream, you see, he wasn't different, just older. still a troll, but now a bitter one, still passive aggressive, blaming everyone around him, not taking ANY responsibility for anything, yea...he's a new man. well, in the short time he was "back", RiotLyte, famed smiter and arbiter of justice in all things League, made short work of him. in short, XJ9 being allowed to play again was an oversight, it was an accident by someone, unfamiliar with the circumstances of his dismissal. quickly and with no pomp or circumstance, he was put back on the ban list, because what he did was heinous and Riot, as a company, did not want to be associate with activity such as he engaged in. justice served, everyone is happy, lets all move on, correct? wrong.
LS, currently a League coach for Gravity Gaming, decided to fire up his stream and comment about the situation, because he knows XJ9 in real life, and we're all just witch hunters. please, LS, enlighten us with your vast swaths of knowledge on XJ9, human nature, legal and moral issues and all things we should be thinking. as you can already tell, i'm not a particularly large fan of LS. so he starts his stream unable to figure out how to type in notepad, not a great start, but keep going. so he starts his stream breaking down what XJ9 did, essentially rationalizing it because the girls face wasn't shown in the picture, she didn't immediately come forward, blah, blah, blah. all of this comes right after his statement of "now i'm not condoning what he did...", no, dude, you are, just because you're not outright saying you think what he did wasn't wrong, you're rationalizing it, which might be worse. so he goes on about how the whole situation is giving him anxiety, for no good reason. he prattles on about how everyone on reddit has no clue what the real problem is, how XJ9 is being bullied, how he won't be able to get a job because of this. well, i think we need to step back and say, if he was thinking about his future, XJ9 shouldn't have done what he did in the first place, now, as a community, we're supposed to feel bad that there are consequences associated with his actions? perish the thought! he has to be held...accountable?!? this is where LS loses me, we have, XJ9, who may or may not have some sort of emotional disorder (i'm not a dr. so i can't diagnose it...), took it upon himself to potentially ruin a young girls life, whom he claimed to care for, by posting a naked picture of her on facebook, over some bullshit, is being bullied because the community at large thinks he's a scumbag and voices it on reddit, an open forum. so LS wants the community acted upon for not letting XJ9's actions go. mostly because we're spouting "facts" that aren't verified, we're slandering XJ9 (btw LS, slander is spoken, in print its libel.), and on top of that, it's NOT slander or libel, its rehashing what he did, and how it's wrong!
all in all, LS waffles throughout the whole stream, trying to make it about bullying, when it's really not. is it wrong that the community comes down on XJ9 like an avalanche? maybe, but what he did rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, and if the WORST thing he is dealing with, is a bunch of angry gamers on reddit, then he got off easy. yea, his life is probably going to be difficult moving forward because he won't be able to escape the "demons of his past", but again, if you do dumb things, be prepared for their consequences. in the end, LS doesn't really understand what he's talking about, he's trying to diffuse the situation for someone he knows, and that's admirable, but it would be best if he kept himself out of it, as he has no part in any of this. personally, i'm glad XJ9 is still gone, he doesn't affect me or my game, but knowing that Riot has taken a stand against activities such as his, and is keeping to it, makes me feel better about the company i love and respect.
thanks for being a part of this post. remember, episode 2 of my podcast, Tower Dive, is up on our site, on itunes, soundcloud, sticher, and youtube. have a great day and i'll see you on the rift!
-HooksTower Dive Podcast
@Cptn_Hooks
Cptn_Hooks on Twitch
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Cptn's Log - it started out slow...
but wow, yesterday was a pretty busy day! i skipped posting a blog yesterday, mostly because it just didn't seem like much was happening. with week 1 of the LCS playoffs in the books, there was a bit of a lull, but then, reddit lit up a like a christmas tree. first, we'll start with the roster moves, and with that there is only one place to go, and that's Rekkles wants out of Elements in a bad way. he hasn't seemed happy all season, and now that has become obvious. he wants out and it looks like Tabzz will be in...again. i have to assume he's not going to be thrilled being second banana. jettisoned FOR Rekkles at the start of this season, he's now being brought back to the fold, it's like "hey, you suck, we have a better option, don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out", to "hey, we really need you man, please come back." i'm sorry, but its comical, and this team is an absolute disaster, so i'm going to get my popcorn and enjoy the show, because it's far from over. sticking with Elements, as i mentioned Rekkles leaving and Tabzz rejoining, there is also the Incarnati0n rumors, which i touched on in my last blog, i think...if i didn't, the EL manager hinted that there might be a marriage between Incarnati0n and EL, which would move Froggen, and his farm heavy playstyle to top lane. in theory, not a terrible idea, but in practice, it could make a combustible team even worse.
now, with Rekkles leaving, he's going to need a new team, right? well the rumors around that are that he would like to return to Fnatic, which is hilarious, because they have no use for him. Steeelback's playstyle works perfectly with the way Fnatic play their game. also, Rekkles had the chance to build this team in his image, he chose to jump ship. YellowStar built the team that he wanted, with young, hungry, talent at each position. he had the chance to bring in vets like Tabzz, Kev1n, etc, but he didn't, he wanted new blood and it has paid dividends. so a return home for Rekkles is unlikely, but a new challenger emerges, first place finishers, SK Gaming seem to be past the honeymoon with star adc Forg1ven. his recent comments about how he doesn't care for nRated as a support, and how he's generally not thrilled with SK as an organization lead many to believe he will leave, allowing Rekkles to slide right in there, leaving Forg1ven without a team. it's all very salacious and when the dust settles, it will be interesting to see where everyone ends up. it's like a volatile game of musical chairs.
speaking of volatility, yesterday, a dota2 player came to the League subreddit to, essentially, call us "spineless". the reason being, because we don't boycott Riot when they don't give us what we want, because our client is outdated, because we pay for champs, because dominion is never updated, because Riot is "evil" and we let them get away with this. first of all, League is free. let me repeat that, League is FREE. yes, skins cost money, yes, boosts cost money, do you need those? no. there is no pay to win. yes, league is the most expensive free game ever created, but it's as expensive as you want it to be. personally, i love skins, i'll buy skins, i'm THAT guy, and i'm ok with that. in fact, there are a LOT of "that guy" that play League. these games that came out after League: Dota2, Smite, Infinite Crisis, they have a slightly different business model than League, why is that? oh, well, if they didn't their parent companies would be run by morons, because there would be no reason on earth to play their game if they offered the same game with the same model...that's just idiotic! fact is, League released a graphical overhaul of its map, it is giving visual updates to all of its outdated champs, yes, the client sucks, but they are working with internet providers to help streamline their ping and latency issues. riot, unlike valve (who was said to have one of the worst customer service departments in america as of a month + ago...food for thought) interacts with their community a lot, maybe too much. we are always part of a discussion of some sort. they don't have to do that, but they do. sure, maybe we're not helping them make decisions, but should we? if we did every champ would be both OP and Super Weak...how? who knows? the fact is, they know what they're doing, if they didn't 27 million of us wouldn't play DAILY. we're humans, we like to complain, but i'll be dammed if i'm going to let some dota2 douche call us spineless!
that's all i have to say today, but keep an eye out, Tower Dive episode 2 - What Would Lustboy Do? as it will be going up this week. thanks for reading, and i'll see you on the rift!
Cheers
-Hooks
Tower Dive Podcast
@Cptn_Hooks
Cptn_Hooks on Twitch
now, with Rekkles leaving, he's going to need a new team, right? well the rumors around that are that he would like to return to Fnatic, which is hilarious, because they have no use for him. Steeelback's playstyle works perfectly with the way Fnatic play their game. also, Rekkles had the chance to build this team in his image, he chose to jump ship. YellowStar built the team that he wanted, with young, hungry, talent at each position. he had the chance to bring in vets like Tabzz, Kev1n, etc, but he didn't, he wanted new blood and it has paid dividends. so a return home for Rekkles is unlikely, but a new challenger emerges, first place finishers, SK Gaming seem to be past the honeymoon with star adc Forg1ven. his recent comments about how he doesn't care for nRated as a support, and how he's generally not thrilled with SK as an organization lead many to believe he will leave, allowing Rekkles to slide right in there, leaving Forg1ven without a team. it's all very salacious and when the dust settles, it will be interesting to see where everyone ends up. it's like a volatile game of musical chairs.
speaking of volatility, yesterday, a dota2 player came to the League subreddit to, essentially, call us "spineless". the reason being, because we don't boycott Riot when they don't give us what we want, because our client is outdated, because we pay for champs, because dominion is never updated, because Riot is "evil" and we let them get away with this. first of all, League is free. let me repeat that, League is FREE. yes, skins cost money, yes, boosts cost money, do you need those? no. there is no pay to win. yes, league is the most expensive free game ever created, but it's as expensive as you want it to be. personally, i love skins, i'll buy skins, i'm THAT guy, and i'm ok with that. in fact, there are a LOT of "that guy" that play League. these games that came out after League: Dota2, Smite, Infinite Crisis, they have a slightly different business model than League, why is that? oh, well, if they didn't their parent companies would be run by morons, because there would be no reason on earth to play their game if they offered the same game with the same model...that's just idiotic! fact is, League released a graphical overhaul of its map, it is giving visual updates to all of its outdated champs, yes, the client sucks, but they are working with internet providers to help streamline their ping and latency issues. riot, unlike valve (who was said to have one of the worst customer service departments in america as of a month + ago...food for thought) interacts with their community a lot, maybe too much. we are always part of a discussion of some sort. they don't have to do that, but they do. sure, maybe we're not helping them make decisions, but should we? if we did every champ would be both OP and Super Weak...how? who knows? the fact is, they know what they're doing, if they didn't 27 million of us wouldn't play DAILY. we're humans, we like to complain, but i'll be dammed if i'm going to let some dota2 douche call us spineless!
that's all i have to say today, but keep an eye out, Tower Dive episode 2 - What Would Lustboy Do? as it will be going up this week. thanks for reading, and i'll see you on the rift!
Cheers
-Hooks
Tower Dive Podcast
@Cptn_Hooks
Cptn_Hooks on Twitch
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Cptn's Log - i just can't believe it...
really, a 3-0 sweep of CLG? we all know of my love affair with Team Liquid, and their "shot caller" IWDominate. but CLG was supposed to knock them off and i was going to laugh about it. but nooo, they had to go and lose every game in picks and bans. Link, who looks lost and uninterested, needs to be replaced. this should have happened a while ago, but he managed to stave off execution, well, that was a mistake. they lost out on the Incarnati0n sweepstakes, there's really no other great choices, unless there is some crazy good challenger mid that's not on a team or is on a bad team, i don't see CLG fixing their issues.
speaking of incarnati0n, EL Incarnati0n? the rumor birds are flocking on a tweet from Elements manager that COULD mean the talented troll could find himself on the "super team", which would move Froggen to top lane, where his "farm first" style of play would be suited nicely.
staying in EU, my sleeper darlings, CW, couldn't get out of their own way and find themselves out of the playoffs, following the drubbing they took from H2K. a drubbing so bad, that talented but inconsistent jungler, Airwaks, may find himself out of a job. onto Gambit, after dumpstering UOL in the first game, they proceeded to shit the bed in the next 3 games, for a tidy, 3-1 loss.
back on the homefront, Gravity managed to steal one from Team Impulse, in a game where XWX forgot to set up his masteries, but they ended up winning the series, 3-1, with some really standout play from Rush, but ultimately, the whole team stepped up when called upon. they still remain my sleeper pick as they go up against the top seed, TSM in what should be an interesting match up.
thats all from me, look for our 2nd episode of Tower Dive this week, and as always, i'll see you on the rift!
Cheers!
-Hooks
Tower Dive Podcast
@Cptn_Hooks
Cptn_Hooks on Twitch
speaking of incarnati0n, EL Incarnati0n? the rumor birds are flocking on a tweet from Elements manager that COULD mean the talented troll could find himself on the "super team", which would move Froggen to top lane, where his "farm first" style of play would be suited nicely.
staying in EU, my sleeper darlings, CW, couldn't get out of their own way and find themselves out of the playoffs, following the drubbing they took from H2K. a drubbing so bad, that talented but inconsistent jungler, Airwaks, may find himself out of a job. onto Gambit, after dumpstering UOL in the first game, they proceeded to shit the bed in the next 3 games, for a tidy, 3-1 loss.
back on the homefront, Gravity managed to steal one from Team Impulse, in a game where XWX forgot to set up his masteries, but they ended up winning the series, 3-1, with some really standout play from Rush, but ultimately, the whole team stepped up when called upon. they still remain my sleeper pick as they go up against the top seed, TSM in what should be an interesting match up.
thats all from me, look for our 2nd episode of Tower Dive this week, and as always, i'll see you on the rift!
Cheers!
-Hooks
Tower Dive Podcast
@Cptn_Hooks
Cptn_Hooks on Twitch
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