I know I said I would be posting the rest of my 7.20 patch analysis soon. That is on the way, there's just a lot to figure out and constantly new things I'm finding out every day. Not to mention that hotfix patches are coming out constantly and changing the meta all over again. But a new incident popped up today that I just need to talk about. Of all the regional divisions between the Dota 2 community, none have been wider than the rift between the Chinese and non-Chinese community. A few weeks ago, that rift was split a little wider as some drama between Southeast Asian players Rolen Andrei Gabriel "Skemberlu" Ong and Carlo "Kuku" Palad and the Chinese Dota 2 players broke out.

The Incident

In a match between Complexity and RNG at the Dreamleague Season 10 Minor, Skemberlu began the game by making an ill-advised statement to the enemy team, "Gl chingchong". Skem made an apology on Twitter later that day. He received a fine by the team, and that was the end of the story. Or, at least, it should have been.

Later, Kuku made the equally ill-advised decision to repeat the same racial slur (Or so people have been calling it. I really don't think ching chong is that offensive of a statement. Am Chinese btw) in a public ranked match. As soon as this spread on Weibo and Sgamer, the conflict with Skem came back full circle.

Escalation

Soon after Skem and Kuku ignited the flames, the Chinese Dota 2 community started retaliating in as many ways as they could. They took up arms in chat forums, began review-bombing Dota 2 on steam, and even went so far as to contact their local government about these players. That third point is where the real sticking point is today. Amidst cries from Chinese citizens, the municipal government of Chongqing has effectively decided that Skem and Kuku will not be allowed to participate in the Dota 2 Major in that city.

It's not the only city speaking up about these players though. Complexity was also in communication with Valve and Perfect World (The Chinese tournament organizer) before deciding to drop Skem from their roster. You can infer for yourself what the talks were like. Two other players, EternalEnvy and SneyKing also decided to step away from the team. Once again, you can decide for yourself if this move was in response to disappointment at placing 5th-6th at the Dreamleague Major, or if they were standing by their friend Skem.

Community Reaction

The Dota community all over Twitter, Reddit, Weibo, and Sgamer were set on fire as soon as Skem and Kuku's careers were put in jeopardy. On one hand, we had pro players, journalists, and talent in full support of Skem and Kuku stating that being banned from Chinese tournaments when China is the venue for a major and The International this year.

Reddit was blowing up over how insane it is that saying "ching chong" is somehow racist enough to be worth destroying their entire careers over. Kuku, in particular, said it in a public matchmaking game. I'm not going to speak for everyone, but I know that I would probably be executed in some countries if they ever found out the stuff I've said in Dota pub matches before. People get heated and passionate over the game and shouldn't be punished for saying something as minute as "ching chong".

Reddit blaze got even more fuel poured on it when the Chinese (but not really) player Xnova decided to like AdmiralBulldog's tweet calling for The International to be relocated out of Shanghai. The community on Sgamer instantly pounced on Xnova like a pack of wolves calling him a traitor. Xnova then had to issue a heartfelt apology for the terrible sin of liking a tweet. Of course, Reddit saw this as another instance of the Chinese reacting in a volatile and overly defensive manner.

Furthermore, western Dota 2 players are saying that this sets a horrifying precident for the future. Skemberlu being banned at least remains in the realm of logical thought. Kuku's ban is for something that he said in a public match. If we are going to do this, then just quickly ban every professional Dota 2 player from every tournament. Especially the Chinese, by the way. They may act like some victim in this case, but there are few communities as xenophobic as the Chinese Dota 2 community.

Valve's Position

Over the years, Valve has largely made it clear that they feel teams should be responsible for punishing their players if they act out of line. Things were no different this time around as they left it up to Complexity to fine and eventually fire Skem. TNC Predator was also free to punish Kuku as they saw fit. In this case, Kuku will be fined half of his winnings and will be holding a charity stream for the Chinese.

Unfortunately, that just wasn't good enough for the Chinese, which led to them taking things by their own hands. Now, Valve is placed in a very difficult position where they can't be on the fence anymore. Valve will have to move The International out of Shanghai if they want to retain the support of the Western Dota 2 community. But if they decide to do this, then the Chinese Dota 2 community will likely never forgive Valve. The Chinese are second to none in terms of how much revenue and support they provide to Dota 2. There is simply no easy answer here.

Conclusion

Most of the problem people have with how the Chinese have been acting is that no other race ever does this. You can't go a day in SEA Dota without hearing a Filipino being called "pig noise", you can imagine the stuff that the Peruvians get called on the NA servers, and Team Liquid's MindControl seriously said he wished that Hitler had committed genocide to the Russians. You can argue that none of these are right, but the fact of the matter is that you grow thicker skin while playing Dota, and the Chinese acting like children throwing a tantrum is going to be met with ire.

But that's just coming from a seasoned Dota 2 player who, as I said before, is definitely on some government watch lists for the vitriol I've spouted in-game before. Whether you're also a Dota player or not, I'd love to hear what you think about this situation and what you think is the best move for Valve to make here. I promise I'll be out with part 2 of my 7.20 patch overview as soon as possible.

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archdruid (50) 6 years ago

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