Riot's LCS players streaming contract

[shadowfyre27]

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/rio...ames/1100-261/

Personally I find this to be a disgusting thing to do. Apparently if you want to play competitively you are allowed to stream only their game pretty much and nothing that could in any way pose a threat to their company or gaming base.
I have never heard of a company telling it's players that they can't stream something other then their game if they want to be "pro" players. What's your guy's opinions on this "contract".


Riot has since changed their stance on the issue. I've edited the title and added a link to their decision so the thread isn't misleading.

http://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflege...eaming_policy/

[Deleted]

You should take a hint from the games acronym, LOL.
I just dont understand it, can someone explain to me why Pros prefer LoL above HoN or dota 2, considering the skillcap in those games is much higher and all heros are unlocked from the start, is it all just about money?

[Zorohon]

You should take a hint from the games acronym, LOL.
I just dont understand it, can someone explain to me why Pros prefer LoL above HoN or dota 2, considering the skillcap in those games is much higher and all heros are unlocked from the start, is it all just about money?

Certain games with certain features will appeal to different types of people. They are free to choose how they spend their time.

I'm on the fence about this announcement. Their reasoning behind it is fairly reasonable, but I believe that the article in question is a bit misleading with its information. I suppose we will see.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

They are salaried players though, right? Or am I missing something?

[lopk]

Think about it in a slightly different way. They are paid by Riot to play LoL professionally; of course Riot doesn't want someone who they are paying to be playing and thus endorsing / advertising a competitor's game. I don't see what's wrong with it.

Besides, if it means they'll stop playing Hearthstone between games I'll be happy (fun to play, not to watch).

[Deleted]

Oh my... This is the last time i use that recent forum post feature...

[shadowfyre27]

They are salaried players though, right? Or am I missing something?

No they aren't salaried players, that's after LoL becomes a legitimate sport. They want LoL to become a legitimate sport which is fine. When they start paying those players real money to play and the players aren't being sponsored by another company, then they can tell the players what they can and can't stream because they are technically employees. Atm those players are making their money from their streams and from sponsors only, and the sponsors might not actually be paying them money but giving them equipment to use and giveaway.

[Rucati]

You should take a hint from the games acronym, LOL.
I just dont understand it, can someone explain to me why Pros prefer LoL above HoN or dota 2, considering the skillcap in those games is much higher and all heros are unlocked from the start, is it all just about money?

Simply because LoL was the first free MOBA and got a lot of people into it, and because HoN/DotA 2 are harder they don't want to go to the more difficult game. If DotA 2 had come out before LoL then DotA 2 would be bigger, simple as that.

Anyway, as for the topic, that's absurdly idiotic. Doesn't much matter though, because people will agree to it and nobody will care in the end. Do LoL streamers even ever stream other games?

[Thallidomaniac]

No they aren't salaried players, that's after LoL becomes a legitimate sport. They want LoL to become a legitimate sport which is fine. When they start paying those players real money to play and the players aren't being sponsored by another company, then they can tell the players what they can and can't stream because they are technically employees. Atm those players are making their money from their streams and from sponsors only, and the sponsors might not actually be paying them money but giving them equipment to use and giveaway.

Riot does pay salaries to the LCS teams per split. They are paid for their streaming by the streaming platform of their choice. (Twitch or Azubu)

[Steampunk]

They are paid by Riot to play LoL professionally; of course Riot doesn't want someone who they are paying to be playing and thus endorsing / advertising a competitor's game.

Exactly. The obnoxious thing about this is that people want to be Pro's and get paid, without having the responsibility of being a professional about the product they represent.

This is Riot acting like a normal company, that endorses an athlete... and their paid players acting somewhat juvenile and entitled about how "unfair" it is.

Don't like it? Don't sign up for it. Riot doesn't owe these players a thing.

[Sarval]

You guys clearly glossed over it, or didn't read anything. The contract, which is new and hasn't been signed yet as stated by pros/riot is simpy saying that while they are being paid by riot, aka having a salary, they cannot stream those games. All this is doing is keeping the big streamers, who are almost all under salary besides a select few, from streaming their competition. Most of the games on that list I have not heard about so I wont comment on those, but the others make sense. Dota, Hon, Blizzard, Dawngate to name a few are all direct competition, although blizzard isn't so much at this time, but they are coming out with a MOBA game. People that stream league are still able to play other games and stream but, but if they are paid by riot they cannot stream the game, aka they can still play it just can't show it off.

[Thallidomaniac]

although blizzard isn't so much at this time, but they are coming out with a MOBA game.

Considering that all of the Blizzard franchises (Diablo, Hearthstone, Starcraft, Warcraft) are on that blacklist, it's safe to say that they are competition.

[Bullettime]

Exactly. The obnoxious thing about this is that people want to be Pro's and get paid, without having the responsibility of being a professional about the product they represent.

This is Riot acting like a normal company, that endorses an athlete... and their paid players acting somewhat juvenile and entitled about how "unfair" it is.

Don't like it? Don't sign up for it. Riot doesn't owe these players a thing.

Some of the pros are pretty miffed by this because it will cause decent damage to their streaming revenue if they want to keep playing in the LCS. People aren't going to stick around to watch them browse reddit for 20-30 minutes while in queue. It also defeats the point of subbing to a stream. Yay you get to skip most ads to watch them browse more reddit! Players like Doublelift don't just turn the stream on and say "playing Starcraft today guys enjoy!" They turn on Hearthstone as a way to kill time between queues where nothing else is going on.

It's understandable from a business side but it really depends on how much extra Riot is paying the LCS teams. And given how pissed some of the pros are, it's entirely possible that they're worried about taking a decent loss over this. If they make a bit more money this season to play in the LCS but lose a lot of ad and sub revenue, then it's still going to suck. Riot may not owe them necessarily but if the NA players suddenly stated they weren't signing the contracts and made more money streaming, the NA pro scene would be dead.

In the end, it all comes down to money. Streamers like Phantomlord and Wingsofdeath have even stated they would make significantly more money on ad and sub revenue from their streaming than they would playing for an LCS team which is why they never pursued it even when offered a chance. Riot will have to pay enough to cover the potential losses or they risk losing players.

[Itisamuh]

I get it, but I still think it's wrong. As far as I'm concerned, what a pro plays when he's not competing shouldn't be anyone's business but his. I could agree with the move if they were streaming directly from the company's website or something, but they aren't. They're private streams, and have nothing to do with the tournaments and leagues.

[Bullettime]

Another note, it also extends beyond LCS players, where featured streamers are unable to do things like Hearthstone while in their long queues or be removed from the featured streamer list. Guardsman Bob, Wingsofdeath, and Phantomlord as notable ones are being threatened and will suffer sub losses whether they comply or not.

Guardsman Bob, an original of the LoL streamers and being one of the first to popularize LoL streaming, host community events, advertised for Riot during the early stages of the game, and taught quite a bit to new players was removed without notice as a featured streamer because he booted up Hearthstone while in a 30 minute queue without warning of a rule change or signing a contract.

[Delekii]

Making comparisons between streaming other games and sportsmen playing other games in their free time are obnoxiously asinine. There is no parallel between, say, a football player playing basketball in his free time, and a lol player playing hearthstone between games. Ultimately, videogames are NOT sports, and the current funding model for the pro streamers relies on them streaming almost all of their "free" time.

Basically, this agreement is Riot asking players to stop streaming to fill the time between games, effectively costing them money (the players).

[Nerevar]

Idiocy at its finest moment. Then again, LoL always attracted idiocy. Good bye the "perfect" reputation of Riot.

[Deleted]

I know a lot of people don't like totalbiscuit but he makes some very good points in his video on the issue

[Deleted]

Making comparisons between streaming other games and sportsmen playing other games in their free time are obnoxiously asinine. There is no parallel between, say, a football player playing basketball in his free time, and a lol player playing hearthstone between games. Ultimately, videogames are NOT sports, and the current funding model for the pro streamers relies on them streaming almost all of their "free" time.

Basically, this agreement is Riot asking players to stop streaming to fill the time between games, effectively costing them money (the players).

It would if the football player earned something off playing basket, which in this case the players do.

Insted of looking it from a personal perspective, look at it from a business perspective.

[Bullettime]

I know a lot of people don't like totalbiscuit but he makes some very good points in his video on the issue

Yeah...what Riot considers competition and blocking is pretty absurd and so inconsistent. Let's block all Blizzard games because of Hearthstone and Starcraft, no mention of Heroes of the Storm, but only blocks Dota 2 from Valve, completely skipping TF2 and CS, TF2 being an immensely popular F2P game. It has games listed that no one plays, games that aren't running any longer, or ones that never even made it out of beta. Blocks MMOs that no one has ever heard of but no mention of Guild Wars or Rift?

It makes sense business wise to put restrictions in but Riot is very inconsistent with that list and made them look like jokes in the process, on top of pissing off streamers and viewers. Pros and popular streamers like Qtpie and Doublelift have already spoken out about it. Even Saintvicious changed his stance after realizing what the new contract entails.

Not the first time Riot has done something like this. There was a big uproar before S3 where Riot wanted to force Evil Genius's to make a choice between having a SC team or a LoL team as they wanted an organization in their LCS to only have name recognition with LoL, or when Riot made deals with certain venues to not play Dota or HoN events. Riot's "we want esports to grow" bit is bullshit. They're proving they want esports to grow, but only if esports is another term for LoL.