I’m never going to deny the fact that ultimately, the impetus for going out to Europe in the first place came about on account of video games, namely the one that I talk about just about every single day, League of Legends. Given the fact that Riot Games made it clear that the annual World Championships would take place in different countries each year, it was a pretty safe bet back in like March that 2015’s WORLDS was very likely going to take place in Europe, considering the previous two WORLDS were in two of the other primary LoL markets of the United States and South Korea. And when it was confirmed that WORLDS would be scattered throughout Europe, it was full speed ahead on making plans not just for attending WORLDS events, but also providing the opportunity to do some European travels.
But yes, for lack of a better term, it all started with WORLDS, and frankly it ended with WORLDS too, since the entire trip was bookended by the WORLDS semifinals in Brussels, with the finals in Berlin.
Everything in between was the sweet gravy of personal travel and new experiences, with the mythical girlfriend.
Anyway, in an attempt to compartmentalize and try to organize my thoughts into neatly organized brog posts, I’m taking an approach of writing about one thing at a time, if I can manage to stick with it; seeing as how WORLDS was what led us to Europe in the first place, I figure there would be no better place to start talking about my Europe trip than talking about WORLDS.
Firstly, as a whole, the entire trip to Europe, naturally, felt too short. Such is often times the mark of a good vacation in my opinion, when things feel short, activities were left on the table, a desire to return to some places, yet somewhat ready to be back home.
Considering the fact that I’ve never left the western hemisphere in my entire life, one thing that I experienced for the first time in my life, was jet lag. Even after taking sleeping pills on the eight hour flight across the Atlantic, I was unable to really get any good, much less any sleep at all much to my dismay, as I was hoping to konk out the entire flight, and land in Brussels feeling refreshed and ready to experience a new country and watch some League of Legends. That didn’t happen.
Regardless, it was nothing a solid hard power nap couldn’t help with at least resting up before the first day of WORLDS semifinals, and it wasn’t long before the mythical girlfriend and I were off to the first venue.
The Brussels Expo was an interesting venue, as it was basically a series of grand halls; think like the Georgia World Congress Center, or the D.C. Armory where they’re a property with a series of large buildings, all independent and separate from one another, all hosting individual events. That’s what happened during the semis, as Riot secured the supposed fanciest and largest of the halls, Palais 12, to be where the semis occurred.
What I really appreciated was the effort Riot went through to adorn the surrounding area with signage, identity and kind of create a little atmosphere for the event. Clearly, none of the other events in any of the other Palais(es?) bothered to do such, so in spite of the fact that there were other things going on, including a Cirque du Soleil show right next door, only League of Legends put forth any effort to make their presence known.
As for the semis themselves and the spectator games we watched, it really was nothing nobody really expected. Which is to say that in both days, Korean teams wrecked shop against their European opponents, with both SKT and KOO running trains on both Origen and Fnatic. Honestly, I pegged both Korean teams moving forward, but figured both would drop at least a single game in the process, but wrong I was on that assessment.
But the scene in Brussels was pretty alright; the cool and dreary weather probably had something to do with tempering the hype and excitement outside, since frankly, it couldn’t have been more stereotypical going to a European country only to be met with gray skies, cool weather, and everyone around me not speaking English and mostly wearing black and gray.
The semifinals were fun, but I was naturally going to expect bigger and better when it came to the finals in Berlin, since it was, the finals. Honestly, not that it was something that could be controlled, but the SKT vs. KOO final matchup was probably the worst-case scenario that could’ve happened with the remaining four teams in the semifinals; sure, they were the clear superior teams going into the finals, but I can’t imagine anyone outside of Korea really wanted to see a Korea vs. Korea matchup, when it’s something that’s been seen before countless times throughout the course of the 2015 League season. It’s kind of like the old college football national championship, when it would be like LSU vs. Alabama, when the two teams played against each other just two months prior.
But anyway, moving onto the finals in Berlin.
Admittedly, after the fun and excitement of doing a little exploration between Brussels, Paris and Amsterdam in the days prior, I kind of put League of Legends in the back my mind when we made our way to Germany. And after a chaotic experience trying, and failing to utilize Berlin transit resulting in one of numerous costly cab rides, I was kind of over Berlin already, and just eager to get to the hotel and start the next day, which was championship day.
But when we walked to our hotel, which was quite literally next door to the Mercedes Benz Arena, and seeing some of the things that Riot had already erected out front, combined with the sparse, but numerous people milling about the lobby and the hotel that were obviously there for the same reason I was, the excitement began to grow for me.
Seeing the light-up GG sign, and the gigantic Baron Nashor sculpture, it really sank in fast that we were actually here, at the championship finals for WORLDS; something that I watched, the three prior years, without really thinking about actually attending, and then knowing that we were right next door, and on our own way to attending it the following morning. I knew that I wanted to take pictures of things the night prior, before hundreds and thousands of nerds would be crowding all around them the following day.
Sure enough, when morning arrived, it was a literal view watching an endless array of people walking from the nearest train station, filing onto the Mercedes Benz Arena site, gathering in front of the doors. I took some enjoyment of trying to identify peoples’ costumes from the top floor of the hotel, before getting into my own costume; after all it was Halloween, and I’ve done my share of League cosplay in my own time.
I didn’t stay in my Academy Darius costume that long, because funny story, I split my pants. You read correctly, I split my fucking pants. I squat down to get my camera out of my bag, and it was like a slapstick sitcom; there was the unmistakable sound of a tear, and the next thing I know my pants are literally split at the seam.
Typically, I’m the first one to say if it was because I’m a fat American, but in this instance, I’m playing the card that the Chinese, who made my base uniform, clearly do not, ever, do leg days. My quads and thighs were simply too muscular and swole for cheap Chinese-made pants, and I bust the fuck out of them like Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk.
Ultimately, it was one of those situations where I could be embarrassed, draw attention to it and get really upset over it, but considering the fact that I wear dark underwear, the jacket had tails, and the fact that the tear wasn’t that tremendous, it wasn’t terrible. I no sold it, and honestly, it is kind of funny, so all I could really do about it was laugh. Naturally, I changed before entering the arena, but not before at least getting a few nice pictures of myself with the mythical girlfriend, to prove that we were there.
The scene inside the arena, was really no different than many of the countless sporting events that I’ve been to in my life. Except maybe the crowds were nerdier and less alpha-jock types everywhere, but it was still crowded as shit, vendor lines were packed with amorphous crowds of people all trying to get to the front. I was actually a little frustrated with the poor attempts of people traffic, as there were an inordinately small number of available doors, stairs and paths to take, to funnel 18,000 through.
When it came to the actual event itself, there were no surprises, with SKT defeating KOO. I think the biggest surprise came with KOO actually taking a game off of SKT, which we suspected was almost a deliberate throw, so that the event as a whole, didn’t end so quickly with a 3-0 sweep. But ultimately, SKT won the whole thing, as expected, and I’m happy to have witnessed a little bit of League history in the short time it’s been around, with SKT being the first two-time champions, with two of their members, Faker and Bengi being members on both squads.
However, I’ll admit that KOO did make a fan out of me, seeing as how ultimately in spite of how good they actually are, they were pretty much underdogs throughout their entire ride through WORLDS. They snoozed their way out of the group stage, despite dropping both games to the FlashWolves, before toppling favored KT Rolster in the quarters, and then the home-country darlings in Fnatic in the semis, all while being actively rooted against the whole way. I can respect a squad that takes all the lack of support and uses it as fuel to power them forward, and it was cool to see how they won over many other people in attendance, when they finally got what they wanted all along – a little bit of fan support.
Now this is the part where I get critical about the events themselves, because when the day is over, I still had a good time attending these League events, and am happy that I can say that “I’ve been to WORLDS,” but I’ll also be the first to admit that as far as the semis and finals were concerned, they were not perfectly run events.
The Brussels Expo was a nice venue to have watched League of Legends, but to put it bluntly, the location absolutely blew. Saying that the Brussels Expo was a part of Brussels is like saying Alpharetta is part of Atlanta, or that Dulles Airport is in Washington D.C. The Brussels Expo is on the fucking moon compared to where Brussels the city is, and this fact is no more evident than by the fact that there is absolutely nothing to fucking eat anywhere around the entire place.
Seriously, after semis day 1, mythical girlfriend and I walked for a good bit of time, seeking out food, since in that day cycle, we literally had only eaten, a waffle each. Every single restaurant was closed, and if they weren’t closed, then the kitchens were. We drank our calories in Belgian beer before giving up and retiring for the jet lagged sleepless night.
The following morning, we walked around for another hour, looking for some breakfast, and ran into a similar problem, except that no place was open, and if they were, their kitchens weren’t yet operational. Coffee, tea, and as the Europeans do it, beer could be had however, at 10:00 am. Ultimately, we found a bakery and stocked up on pastries to sustain ourselves on before we gave up and went to the venue for day 2, and settled on an extremely mediocre hamburger that required waiting in line for an hour itself; but at least it was no surprise why mediocre vendors were so slammed, because there was absolutely fucking nowhere else to get consumable food at.
Inside the event at Brussels, I was kind of rubbed the wrong way when we were basically admonished for taking a picture, because they were trying to usher people into the arena for the event’s start. Excuse me, I’m a paid attendee, if I don’t want to actually go watch, there’s nothing saying that I have to go into the arena itself. If I wanted to soak up the scene and just hang outside in the concourse, I’m pretty sure I have the right to do such if I wanted to. But because I actually did want to watch, I complied, but such an archaic request was not lost on me.
But that’s really Brussels in a nutshell – decent venue, horrible location, but an overall okay event. Some questionable policy, League dorks are the same League dorks, no matter where in the world you go and what languages are spoken, but frankly, I wouldn’t have it any other way when it comes to a bunch of geeks coming together to partake in a shared common interest.
I’ve already touched on what was probably my biggest gripe about Berlin and the finals at the Mercedes Benz Arena, which was the questionable people trafficking throughout the arena. Seriously, it was like 3-4 sets of stairs and escalators available in the entire building, for a very, very large number of people. Ultimately, it made me feel like whether it was Riot or the venue, that this was event not taken very seriously.
Sure, it was probably the equivalent of a low 50s fahrenheit weather outside, but anywhere where people are crammed into an arena is going to get warm, and necessitate air conditioning, which was a courtesy clearly not extended by the venue. So, it was a good thing that SKT won in an expedient manner, because it was hot and miserable inside the arena itself, to the point where mythical girlfriend and I didn’t bother to stick around to listen to overly-gracious PC Korean victory speeches that would require double time to interpret on mic, when we could get to cooler temperatures instead.
But at least the Mercedes Benz Arena was one of the few places visited on the entire trip that actually had smoking policies. However because 99% of Europe chain smokes, it was impossible to take a step outside to feel some cool air without being subject to a power plant’s worth of exhaust smoke.
Something I wasn’t really that keen on about both events, and from what I understand throughout all stages of the tournament, was the notion that the events was bringing in “hired cosplayers” to be at all the events. Both the mythical girlfriend and I brought things we wanted to wear, because we’re fans of the game and like to dress up, but at least me personally, it makes me get a little tight-lipped when I find out that the event is hiring guns to superficially try to make their event look cooler. I don’t really know how to explain it without giving off the impression that I’m salty, because I’m really not despite that probably not seeming believable, but something about it just seems to compromise integrity, and the general rationale why people show up dressed up to events like this, in the first place.
But whatever, it was something I wanted to bring up regardless.
One of the concerns we had was wondering what kind of exclusive swag we might get, considering in years prior, Riot gave WORLDS attendees things as valuable or exclusive as Championship Riven skins, which typically have flipped on eBay in the realm of hundreds of dollars. Ultimately, I’m not the best Riven player in the world, but she is one that I’d say that I’m not completely clueless with, so I would’ve liked to have gotten a Championship Riven skin myself.
At first, it looked like Riot was going to be stingy with the swag, since nothing was gained at Brussels, and there was little indication that there would be anything given out in Berlin based on entry. However, mythical girlfriend and I spotted people unboxing hundreds and hundreds of boxes at the entry point, and it turned out that we got Heimerdinger figures upon exit. It was cool because these are not available for sale, but I have the suspicion that these eventually will be on sale in the future, thus eliminating the idea of exclusivity that I would’ve hoped for, having made a cross-global trip for the event. Already, I’ve seen them flipping on eBay for as high as like $160, but I’m content on keeping mine.
Ultimately, such is nitpicky and me being selfish, but hey, people in the past have gotten some really rare shit, I just wanted some too.
Such is actually the criticism season 5 WORLDS has been getting a lot of, according to scuttlebutt, the dreaded comparisons to a previous year, namely season 4 WORLDS which was in South Korea. Admittedly, I thought things would have been a little more, well, grander, than they were, because it was such a massive event last year, and this one, not really as much.
Season 4 WORLDS featured a concert by the Imagine Dragons, and multiple times, World Cup Stadiums were sold out and filled to capacity. To put that in perspective, the Mercedes Benz Arena holds 17,000 estimated, probably 17,500-18,000 if you count floor and any other auxiliary seating. The World Cup Stadium in Seoul where the finals were held the year prior nearly triples that number.
Sure, it’s not always fair to make comparisons, and for all we know Riot may have deliberately wanted to scale back. I’ve heard one argument where the lack of superficial flair may have been prevalent, but there was still as much production value, just allocated to different areas, such as video packages, and the upon another thought, somewhat interesting LED stage with graphics and lights.
But from a fan perspective, it’s hard to also not see where fans are coming from, because there’s no mistaking that everything really was bigger and grander a year prior to this year’s. It doesn’t change the fact that overall I had a good time, and I’d consider going to WORLDS again if it means I get to explore parts of the world that I’ve never visited before, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting more flair, more grandiose, and more fanfare than what I witnessed.
Anyway, that’s my WORLDS experience. It was good, although I think it could’ve been better, I think Riot still has a ways to go when it comes to putting together a really fantastic event based on my own personal experiences, and as harsh as it may sound, I actually think the Mid-Season Invitational I attended back in May was an overall superior event.
I still support Riot and the game, because I’m a fan and I love it, despite the fact that I sometimes hate it, and I’d definitely do WORLDS again if the cards line up right. And the ticketing (hopefully) improves from the clusterfuck it was this year.
