Recently there has been some drama regarding disrespect of players, and maybe even players of a certain country or region in the professional Dota 2 scene. The teams involved were EG and paiN. The reddit posts can be found here:
EG vs PaiN - Disrespectful behavior from PPD toward BR players (context on comments)
Will jD MLG League take any action against EG.PPD?
Just to provide some extra context, MLG has put EG into North American qualifiers despite EG's reputation and track record as the uncontested champion of the North American Dota 2. PPD has personally posted his feelings that this takes away from the lesser skilled teams that might need the chance to qualify, as well as implying that it was a waste of EG's time (source).
It is hard to argue that the content of PPD's messages were disrespectful. But in the context of eSports as a competitive sport, is this really different than what's being said on the ice, court, or field? Commentators in hockey tell anecdotes of superstars saying "Who are you again?" to lesser bench players as they are competing, and it is seen as playful or amusing. We expect our pro players to have a competitive spirit, and sometimes that means they will say things to each other. The fact that it can be recorded and displayed in PPD's arena versus Michael Jordan's is the only difference here.
As another example, at the weigh ins for professional fights in sports such as boxing or MMA, people trash talk all the time. The press love it, the fans love it or love to hate it, and everyone wins.
In addition, the implication that PPD was disrespectful to Brazilians because they are Brazilians or toward all Brazilians from the title of the first reddit post is unfounded from the image. There is absolutely no evidence of that at all, and I believe PPD would say what he said to any low tier team.
However, my initial reaction was that he was a jerk and he should not have said those things when I first read them. Why? It's partly because that we all love an underdog story, and PPD played the role of the big bully that was trying to keep the small guys down. It's a position Hollywood has trained us to identify and has trained us to hate the aggressor. If PPD said this to C9's EternalEnvy, no one would care. It would be seen as competitive banter between two nearly equally matched teams. But because paiN is still a second tier team, it was like berating a puppy who's just trying its best.
So here is the corner we've run into: Is it more disrespectful for PPD to say these things, or to treat them specially, as if they weren't equals? In paiN's manager PAADA's response in the reddit thread, he mentions that he wants his team to be "treated with respect and professionalism." To me, that means EG should be trying to leverage every advantage possible to win the game they are paid to play (and win). Whether that's pressuring admins to play on their preferred server, or trash talking to get opponents off their game, that is the kind of professionalism shown in other sports. And as for respect, as I've mentioned, I believe it is more disrespectful for them to not try to get every advantage and to not treat paiN as he would have treated other top tier teams.
So what is the problem? One problem redditors are bringing up is that there is a rule against disrespect toward other players are admins. Though there is a similar rule in pretty much all tournaments and leagues, it is rarely enforced. It is there just in case someone gets really out of hand, but it is not something anyone wants to enforce. If it does get enforced strongly, you get something like the Korean StarCraft scene, where the players are seen as faceless and lacking in personality. Personally, as much as I like StarCraft, I prefer the variety in the Dota 2 scene any day. If you want mild mannered and nice, you have Aui and Universe. If you have salty, you have PPD.
Another worry is that rude pros will inspire the community to be rude. But let's face it - the community will always be rude because it is on the Internet. Role models are not going to help that. Only the community can fix that, so let's not put that mission on our young talent. Let our players show us how to compete and how to win at a game we love, and work on being decent human beings on our own.
Finally, there was some discontent shown by some redditors that EG was using their high profile or status to get special treatment or to pressure the admins into making a decision in their favour. And I think that's totally fine. Fair? Maybe not. But again, it is done in sports. How many times do you see a player or coach yelling at a referee so that they will get a more favourable call next time? So again I would argue that it is in fact their duty as players who should want to win so badly that they do everything within the rules to win, even if it makes them look like villains. That is why I admire EternalEnvy. He will bother whoever he has to bother, and complain about any negative conditions, no matter how slight, if it even remotely increases his chance of winning. To me, that is the definition of a professional. Do lawyers worry about sportsmanship? They will do whatever it takes to get the job done.
In the end, it seems to me EG and PPD have done nothing wrong. They are not responsible for the history of disrespect, real or perceived on the part of paiN. I am sure bad things have happened to them and I don't think that should be happening, but this incident is not one of them. paiN should try their best to get favourable conditions for themselves. Other team should do so as well, and admins should have to make hard decisions. Otherwise, no one is taking their profession seriously enough.
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