The Polar Global Race is almost becoming a global event, and it is the same in every country: media coverage, public attention, and the focus of all.
——Except China.
Compared with other countries, the popularity of global competitions in China is like two extremes. E-sports fans have well demonstrated what it means to "turn evil when love is not achieved".
Since we know that China is destined to have no name in the global competition, it is better not to pay attention to it.
Otherwise, why are all the major clubs gradually unable to sustain themselves? E-sports fans in China can really become so discouraged that they no longer support the game.
Because there is no audience, no one watches it even if the media broadcasts it. The media reduces its coverage, the popularity naturally drops, and even fewer people watch it. This is how the vicious cycle occurs.
E-sports is a young industry. With the “old guys” leaving and no “new guys” replacing them, it will naturally decline quickly.
Wu Liuqing is one of the e-sports fans who has turned "evil".
Once upon a time, when Chinese e-sports was still glorious, she was still young and once she entered the e-sports pit, it was like a mouse entering a rice warehouse. The major teams were competing fiercely and a hundred flowers were blooming. Just the internal competition before the global competition was so exciting that it was as refreshing as drinking an ice cola in summer.
Wu Liuqing has her own team that she supports. She is not stingy in investing money in it, buying tickets, joining the support team, and watching them move towards victory step by step.
She witnessed her team's efforts, rise, glory, and ultimately, shine in the world.
At that time, the cheers of the fan club almost resounded throughout the playground where they gathered.
After the peak comes the decline, which is a truth that every e-sports player knows.
But it was too fast.
Wu Liuqing watched with his own eyes as the team that had just won honors was abandoned by the club. He watched them either being forced to work, or being seconded everywhere, or not being allowed to play in domestic competitions.
Because the global competition is held every three years, the club does not want to "waste time" on these "old" e-sports players.
Fans like Wu Liuqing who witnessed the home team win the glory with their own eyes can be said to be the most loyal and sticky fans in the history of Chinese e-sports.
As a result, the team they were fans of was disbanded.
E-sports players who have won glory have either disappeared or changed careers, and all the public platform accounts they originally used are now in the hands of the club.
These e-sports players who were supposed to be full of vigor and vitality, those winners who were once hailed by the media and praised as talented girls and talented boys, were thrown away like garbage after their last bit of usefulness was squeezed out.
Who can tolerate this?
When Sheng Quan read the information, he thought the club's operation was amazing.
It's true that e-sports people pursue victory, but they also pursue team spirit. A team that has both victory and team spirit, even if they can't make it to the global competition three years later, at least gives them a decent retirement.
Tan Chen explained the situation at that time.
To put it simply and bluntly, there are too many shareholders involved in each of the major clubs, which can easily lead to internal fighting. In addition, as e-sports makes a lot of money, this "good business" has attracted the attention of other people with strong financial resources.
They just want to make a quick buck, but have no intention of doing it for the long term. To make money, they disrupt the entire market without any psychological pressure.
The internal management of major clubs is in chaos. He is his relative, and this one is that person's relative. These people often like to show off their authority, but most of the e-sports players are young and unwilling to put up with this. The "relatives" don't care about the interests of the club.
There are even worse ones who take a fancy to the fresh "genius boys and girls" and want to take advantage of them, but which player who can perform well doesn't have a lot of pride? Who can stand this kind of arrogance?
Just like Langzhong who has returned to the team, although she is young, her performance is extremely impressive. Before Shengquan acquired DE, she noticed her when watching the competition videos of various e-sports players.
As a player who mainly plays assassins in the team, Langzhong's assassination style is always beautiful and smooth. He even created a record of being a thin-skinned assassin and successfully getting a triple kill against three people.
The point is, those three people are almost at full health.
At that time, Langzhong was still in the youth training camp.
If she had been properly trained, she would have achieved more results. However, she had to leave DE because of an "equipment manager".
This happened when e-sports was already in decline. It is conceivable how many times similar things happened when e-sports was still relatively prosperous.
No wonder fans are so angry that they no longer pay attention to e-sports.
If it were translated into her following a novel, she would follow the novel with real emotion for 800 chapters with a very satisfying plot, but in the last chapter the author suddenly made the protagonist die miserably by falling on the roadside, and then wrote 8,000 words to describe how miserable the protagonist's death was.
Then the author finished the story right where it was, and even advertised in the last chapter: This protagonist is too old to be cool anymore, so I started another cool novel. You should all pay attention to the protagonist of the new book. They are all paper figures, so they must be the same, right? Who wouldn’t be crazy if this happened to them?
Sheng Quan swore that if she met such an author, she would ignore her iron rule of "never staying up late" and, even with a "staying up late repair mask" on, she would stay in front of the computer and talk frantically with the author.
It is even possible that they will stay away from such authors or subjects from then on, and may not even want to read the copy.
But, there is a solution.
If at this time, she accidentally sees other authors writing about similar topics very well, very enjoyable, and thrilling all the way to the end, she may hesitate, but once she tries it, she will feel that the world is full of love again.
The same goes for eSports.
Those huge number of old fans are unwilling to believe in clubs that do not treat the players they support as human beings, but the Water Breaking Club is brand new.
She just needed them to see it.
At this time, the ability to spend money comes in handy.
Overnight, the news of [breaking water and advancing to the global semi-finals] was all over various platforms.
The main strategy is "you can definitely see it as long as you go online."
"Will this kind of publicity cause some people to rebel?" Xu Man also participated in the publicity plan. She is now quite famous both at home and abroad. Just by posting a message on the social platform congratulating others for their promotion, she can attract traffic.
Xu Man's growth rate in the past two years has been visible to the naked eye. Her huge fame has brought her more and bigger opportunities. She was a little confused and overwhelmed at first, but later, when she saw Sheng Quan and others taking classes, she simply signed up for a class for herself.
After learning more and seeing more, she can also see the "shortcomings" of this overwhelming publicity plan:
“Old domestic e-sports fans are already resistant, will this make them even less willing to come back?”
"If it were another industry or another team, maybe."
Sheng Quan was quite confident: "But in e-sports, half the battle is won once you see the victory. In order to get the best effect, we even suppressed the news before, just for this moment."
"Besides, don't we still have an ace up our sleeve?"
**** As the publicity team had expected, in just one night, the news of [Breaking the Water and Advancing] was everywhere.
"Advancing to the semi-finals?! Is this true?!" When the e-sports fans who left the competition simply because their domestic team couldn't win saw this title, they all suspected that it was a clickbait title.
The Chinese team hasn't made it to the semi-finals for several years.
A certain netizen half-believingly opened the official website to confirm, and after being surprised and incredulous, he quickly searched for news about the Water Breaking Team.
It seems like a dead end, but first the "coach has to take the blame and withstand the pressure", then "he has to participate in variety shows to earn maintenance fees" and "the coach has to participate in boxing matches to earn bounties".
Finally, in a surprising turn of events, Sheng Quan, chairman of Xingmang Entertainment, also participated in the offline event of "Star Wars" in Fangcheng where the variety show was filmed.
The difficult situation of water breaking has changed——
This series of experiences is simply like a cool novel, with ups and downs and a villain (Bai Xiangyuan), which perfectly hits the public's sweet spot.
Especially the old fans who have long been disappointed with e-sports.
Having seen many news reports about clubs exploiting players, this is the first time they see a water-breaking club operating in this way. They feel relieved, but at the same time they are worried that it might be fake news.
Then, before they could even raise any doubts, a large number of doubts had already emerged on various platforms, with some saying something like, "It's so funny, isn't it just a semi-final? Do you really think a domestic team can win the championship? My water is broken, I've never heard of them, are they famous?"
Sheng Quan was not angry.
——Because she arranged it.
Xu Man is right about one thing. The public is prone to rebellion. If she doesn't post it, someone else will definitely post it. But if she posts it, those who originally wanted to say so will be aroused to rebel.
It’s like if someone posts on a forum [Looking for a good domestic skin care brand], the number of replies basically depends on luck.
But if someone posts a message like [There are no good skin care brands in China, which is really disappointing], I guarantee that there will be a large number of replies quickly gathering below, using their own brands’ effectiveness and cost-effectiveness as proof, and angrily refuting that the original poster is blind.
Although Sheng Quan had known this method for a long time, he usually didn't use it.
——Because it’s easy to get scolded.
As expected, those accounts that posted such messages were directly besieged, but the good news is that it was impossible for President Sheng to post them herself (she couldn’t do it either), so the promotion team and the internet trolls took on all the responsibilities.
Facts have proved that the fighting power of competitive fans should not be underestimated.
In the Broken Water Team, the members know that there are many people on the Internet speaking for them and supporting them, and they are all excited. During the season, they are generally not allowed to go online for fear of affecting their mood.
But they are all young people, who wouldn’t want to see how everyone supports them?
Tan Chen was easy to talk to in other aspects, but at this critical moment, he was extremely ruthless and impartial. No matter how the little brats took turns begging him, he would not give in.
Chen Mo, this little clever girl, took advantage of Sheng Quan coming over and acted like a spoiled child in front of her.
Sheng Quan couldn't resist and handed over his phone: "If you want to see it... But I suggest you be mentally prepared in advance."
The players were confused: "What preparations? Didn't the coach say that we were all speaking for us?"
Sheng Quan: "...I am speaking for you guys."
Chen Mo instantly became happy again: "Let me see, let me see first, how they speak for us!"
So excited! ! There are so many fans defending them! It feels so good to be treated like a treasure by everyone! Chen Mo looked at it with great anticipation.
Everyone is indeed speaking up for the Water Breaking Team.
There is even a clear division of labor.
Someone was trying to make sense: "Isn't it just a semi-final? Just post a record of water breaking. If you can do it, go ahead! We will definitely not stop you!"
Someone kindly suggested: "This is hilarious. Do you know how many years it has been since the domestic team made it to the top? If your village has internet access, I suggest you jump into a well and cool off for half a year."
Someone tried to comfort him gently: "You bastard, you are so stupid, you are making such a fuss at a time like this. I hope the club won't let the team members go online, otherwise, if these bastards ruin your mood, I will be really ***@#¥#¥!!!"
After reading it, Chen Mo: "..."
She was surrounded by other team members who came to watch happily: "..."
The cute true fans in my mind... have transformed into two-meter-tall strong men with beards. Oh, no, look at their nicknames, it is obvious that there are quite a few strong girls as well.
Sheng Quan looked at everyone's collective dazed expressions, smiled and took back his phone: "Please understand, they have been suppressing this for several years."
Tan Chen, who was leaning against the door and taking the time to rehabilitate, looked at the scene helplessly: "Don't tease them."
He went to urge Chen Mo and the others: "Hurry up and train. When the game is over, you can watch whatever you want."
A group of little chickens, looking dejected but unwilling to give up, sat in their own devices, looking back every few steps.
Unlike them who were training seriously, Bai Xiangyuan, who was hardly mentioned anymore by the members of the Poshui Team, suffered a series of critical hits.
He had been ridiculed before, but this time he broke through and won the semi-finals. A large number of new fans who were doing archaeology came in and dug him out.
Tian Zhan did not protect him and allowed him to be attacked by public opinion.
The more successful the water breaking was, the more foolish Bai Xiangyuan's departure seemed.
What he couldn't accept the most was that after he became in his current situation, no one from the water-breaking side even came to mock him.
It was as if they had forgotten him.
This was even more unacceptable to Bai Xiangyuan than being laughed at.
He didn't believe it, but fortunately there were many people attacking the Poshui Team on the Internet, which comforted Bai Xiangyuan.
He mixed in, predicting that if his water broke, he would only be able to advance to the semifinals at best.
Of course, Bai Xiangyuan didn’t want to slander Po Shui. He couldn’t do much slander by himself. He just held on to a hope.
I hope Po Shui can bring him back to the team for the sake of victory. After all, their tactics require cooperation and tacit understanding, and the person who replaces him will not be as good as him at all.
With a large number of people paying attention, the hidden talents on the Internet also noticed this. The temporary substitute player was gradually unable to keep up with the other members.
It’s not that he’s not strong enough, it’s just that his tactics are incompatible.
After all, it’s the tacit understanding that has been developed through training for such a long time. The previous competitions where the competition is not very fierce can be sustained. Once entering the semi-finals, almost every game will be a hundred times more difficult than the previous one.
Bai Xiangyuan was looking forward to it. After all, the water-breaking tactics were too special. Who else could they find besides him? Until, under the watchful eyes of everyone, the water-breaking official website replaced the player who came to save the game.
The new icon was hung up to show everyone its contents.
Attacker: Tan Chen.
(End of this chapter)