{"id":48935,"date":"2022-09-07T22:44:52","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T03:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/totfc.net\/?p=48935"},"modified":"2022-09-14T22:45:00","modified_gmt":"2022-09-15T03:45:00","slug":"the-brilliance-of-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/?p=48935","title":{"rendered":"The Brilliance of Players"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

I remember when I saw a teaser for Players<\/em> on Paramount; it became apparent quickly that it was about esports, and shortly afterward, it was evident that it was about League of Legends.<\/em>\u00a0 And then the drama about a headcase League player blathering on about how he wants to win something before he retires.<\/span><\/p>\n

The thing is, based on that alone, I actually thought it was something serious.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until I had already taken the bait and looked up what this show actually was, did I learn that it was a fictional mockumentary, and then I was like ohhhhhhh that explains why anyone would even attempt to talk about being a League of Legends champion, that wasn\u2019t in Korea<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Upon further discovery of the series, and finding out that it was done by the same team that had done the American Vandal<\/em> mockumentaries, I was sold, because both seasons of that show were brilliant, and colliding two things I enjoyed seemed like a recipe for something I would like.\u00a0 Even more so when I found out that the format of the series was going to borrow heavily from The Last Dance<\/em> documentary about the Chicago Bulls, which I also enjoyed immensely.<\/span><\/p>\n

Needless to say, I was optimistic about the series, and upon finishing it, I think my instincts were pretty good about it.\u00a0 As a whole, I found Players to be very entertaining, downright hilarious at many points, and having been pretty deep into the League scene at a point in my life, a lot of ohhhhhh moments at reminiscing about the scene in general.<\/span><\/p>\n

Creamcheese is a brilliant character in the sense that he\u2019s basically every obnoxious stereotype there is about a professional gamer wrapped into a singular package and then have the volume turned up to 11.\u00a0 He\u2019s no physical specimen, but he acts all hot shit because he plays games at a high level, and is just so unlikeable and obnoxious, but you can\u2019t help but be amused at the avalanche of bullshit he\u2019s just always selling.<\/span><\/p>\n

The show makes no effort to hide the fact that they are speaking to a very niche audience, primarily League players past and present themselves.\u00a0 But everyone I\u2019ve pitched the show to, who aren\u2019t even or never weren\u2019t League players who gave it a shot, all seemed to enjoy the show all the same, just because it\u2019s just that well executed.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the show digs deep with all the references that only really long-time League players would understand, and it really doesn\u2019t shy away from a lot of the behavioral tendencies that have emerged from internet culture and the League scene, from memes, the way that the internet piles on, latches onto jokes and references that become unforgettable no matter how much you try, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

But one of the most brilliant things about the show is that it\u2019s not officially sponsored by Riot Games themselves, the developers of the game.\u00a0 But their involvement in the show is unmistakable, considering almost all of the casters and commentators of the professional scene are all willing participants in the show, reprising their handles and identities.\u00a0 Regardless, in doing such, Riot kind of takes a lot of the steam behind most criticisms about the game, the scene, the culture, effectively out of the equation based on their general involvement, regardless of how palpable or not.<\/span><\/p>\n

By owning a lot of the jokes and criticisms, in the show, it takes a lot of the power away from those flinging the stones on the internet, and they\u2019re basically controlling their own narrative of how the League scene really is, by participating in the show and letting it happen the way it does.<\/span><\/p>\n

But all in all, it\u2019s just a well-executed show.\u00a0 It\u2019s endlessly entertaining the way utilizes flashbacks in the exact same manner that The Last Dance does, but instead of talking about Michael Jordan and basketball, it\u2019s talking about a bunch of video game geeks and a video game known for its ridiculous fanbase.\u00a0 But it does so with a tone and seriousness that of a real documentary, and as a whole package, it\u2019s just such an easy show to be snickering and laughing along with.<\/span><\/p>\n

It almost makes me miss playing the game, and being a part of the scene, but with two kids in the picture, ain\u2019t nobody got any time for any more League these days, so good on Players for coming into existence and helping me remember the good times, and all the time I\u2019m not blowing playing game after game of ARAM.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I remember when I saw a teaser for Players on Paramount; it became apparent quickly that it was about esports, and shortly afterward, it was evident that it was about League of Legends.\u00a0 And then the drama about a headcase League player blathering on about how he wants to win something before he retires. The … Continue reading The Brilliance of Players<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[59,76,154,99,69,19],"class_list":["post-48935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brog","tag-basketball","tag-geeks","tag-league-of-legends","tag-reminiscing","tag-television","tag-video-games"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48935"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48937,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48935\/revisions\/48937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}