Some Rocket League Players Are Complaining That There's 'Too Many' Events
RLCS X has come a long way. Before this season, RLCS teams might not even play 10 series in two months. Now, the schedules are so exhausting that some players took to Twitter to complain. Has the RLCS become too big for the players and the fans?
The start of RLCS Season X accelerated Rocket League esports like never before. Many more open qualifiers, many more matchdays, and many more matches. For comparison: BDS already played more series in RLCS X than the dominating roster of Jos "ViolentPanda" van Meurs, Alexandre "Kaydop" Courant, and Pierre "Turbopolsa" Silfver ever played together in over three seasons of RLCS. The RLCS X effect meant that countless opportunities opened up for upcoming teams, who could immediately qualify for a spot in the RLCS, instead of having to go through the Rival Series.
For the longest time, everyone seemed happy with the changes: more competition was welcomed by players and fans alike. So, what changed? Is the RLCS still as much fun to play and watch?
Too much for the fans
For dedicated viewers of everything that professional Rocket League has to offer, RLCS X has been a blessing and a curse. There’s always new content and new storylines to follow, for every individual region. Every weekend is filled with Regional Events and qualifiers, and the weekdays get their fair share too, with The Grid. A year ago, it was a lot easier to watch every match in a particular region. Now, even hardcore fans might have to pick and choose what they want to see.
The Regional Events carry the most weight, in terms of points, money, and prestige. So, depending on how much time you’ve got to follow Rocket League esports, you could watch just those - or just the final days, if it’s still too much. That doesn’t stop over 100,000 people from tuning in to The Grid Overtime, a show set up to tune in to the most exciting matches going on in The Grid.
The Grid evolved throughout RLCS X from weekly tournaments, to biweekly events, to now one big tournament, over the course of six days. It starts with a large Round Robin system, before closing with playoffs. Every Split has looked quite different from the previous one, which makes it harder to keep up for casual fans of the esport. Looking it up on Liquipedia will answer most questions people might have, but it’s fair to say it all adds to the feeling that some people have: it’s all a bit much.
School and schedules
For the players, RLCS X has been so much busier than anything before it. It adds a lot of pressure to the players and the teams, but most of them will be happy with the opportunities it gives them. That is, unless it’s messing with other aspects of their lives. Many pro players are young, and can’t compete full-time. They have to balance a pro career with going to school and doing homework. For them, it seems like the scheduling of the Spring Split is a bit too much.
When Jack "ApparentlyJack" Benton tweeted about The Grid being squeezed into 22 days, he found support from fellow players, as well as coaches and managers. Endpoint’s coach Aron "Eclipse" Jones said on Twitter that his team only gets three days off from tournaments in the next 11 days. That doesn’t mean they get to rest on those days: they still have to practise for the next tournaments.
ApparentlyJack’s teammate ViolentPanda thinks Psyonix should have asked the organisations what they think before planning everything. The issue the pros have with the current schedule is not the number of matches they have to play, but rather how packed it is in just a few weeks. Spreading things out more evenly would help everyone to keep control of their own situation, and balance Rocket League with whatever else they have going on in life.
Image via Psyonix