Through the eyes of Korean high-elo: the Korean LoL server mentality

The Korean League of Legends community is generally blessed with high-skilled players. However, with strengths, come weaknesses. We all know about the strengths of Koreans; they dominated the Season 3 World Championships, with SKT T1 Faker taking the spotlight. They are famous for exceptional players such as Madlife and Piglet, and they are known for their hyper-aggressive playstyle. These impressions may have left a permanent mark on the general League of Legends community.

My first impression of Korean League players was that their general skill level seemed higher in comparison to when I played on the North American servers, and the Koreans seemed more knowledgeable about the meta game. However, the more I played, the more I learned that the Korean servers have flaws and weaknesses of their own, too. Recently, we came across an opportunity to speak with several high ranked players from Diamond 3 to Challenger, and have gotten a little more insight into the Korean League of Legends community.

In the Korean League community, people like to use the word “mental”. This word seems to be a replacement for “morale” but is used more frequently in games. Hearing phrases like “my mental is broken” or “oh my mental!” has become something I’ve grown used to as a Korean-American player. The thing that really surprised me the most, though, was how many games the Koreans would give up on instead of playing through. Nmare, a Diamond 1 Support player, had an explanation.

“Like I said before, Koreans love FAST. We love fast things. We are not patient.”

I’ve lived in Korea for a long time and I’ve come to notice how much value time seems to have in Korean society. The driving here is hectic; people will cut you off whenever they feel like it, they will run red lights if they feel safe enough, and they will speed 20 kilometers over the limits. In fact, Korea has a highly popular navigation system which will tell the driver when to slow down to avoid being ticketed by an automatic speed scanner.

Renekton or ZeD, a Challenger in Season 3 and Support-nim Mikaels Please, Diamond 3, have a different take on this, though. Renekton or Zed thinks that the reasons vary from person to person:

”I think the biggest reason is that solo queue consists of five people who don’t know each other. If their opinions differ, it’s very likely that they will begin to argue. I see more people opening mid in order to protect their pride, they open mid [because they don’t want to lose too hard]. People who run solo queue often will talk about their broken mental more often, and will bring that same mental to the next game. It’s a cycle, really.”

To Supporter-nim Mikaels Please, it’s also about pride

“Hmm.. Koreans are very prideful. Many times, if they don’t like how the game is going, they will give up or troll. If it’s not “their way”, they will fight. I think that’s the biggest reason they give up on a game.”

This seems plausible since Koreans do have a lot of national pride. The Korean pride stems from the Japanese occupation. After finally winning back their freedom from Japan, the Korean Civil War erupted June 25th, 1950. This resulted in a split nation with a split pride. The thought process in the typical Korean citizen goes like this: small land, constantly invaded and bullied by larger nations such as China and Japan, but still alive in culture and people; definitely something to be proud of. Fueled by pride in their nation, South Korea quickly advanced both economically and technologically and managed to be among the top.

Another issue Korean servers seem to have is hostility and toxicity. Many times in a game, I’ve come across petty fights that escalate into death-threats or suicide suggestions. And although this is not the case for every Korean player, it definitely is the case for many. I wanted to know if the stressful lives of Korean children and adults could be the source of this issue, as Koreans live an unhealthy stressful life. When asked about this issue (keep in mind that all three interviewees are very well mannered and polite people), Nmare explained the lives of Korean teenagers.

“Yeah, I think that’s exactly on point. Many Koreans do not play outside, so League of Legends is the only source for the output of their aggression. [For most], the computer is their only hobby.”

He went on to talk about their school life.

“All parents have jobs in Korea, so they are not really there for their kids. They just go to hak-won (an academic learning center for all students from children to young adults: cram school). There is no child interactions. Many families in Korea have that problem. They are busy all the time.”

However, as before, both Renekton or ZeD and Support-nim Mikaels Please seemed to have a different take on this subject. To Renekton or ZeD, it’s simple:

There are two main reasons for this behavior, and the first is very much similar to the answer I gave to the previous question. If “I” receive a comment like “you’re bad”, then in order to protect my pride, we will argue and fight. The other reason is the need to protect your score.

If you run solo queue frequently, you’ll know that losing loses you LP (league points) and winning gains you LP. Players sensitive to their LP hate losing, so they will constantly call out mistakes made by their team-mates which causes a fight.”

Supporter-nim Mikaels Please feels a little differently, though:

It’s true that school and work is a huge stress factor, but to my knowledge, middle aged men generally don’t cuss and fight online. Those who do are usually immature adults or students, I don’t think it’s the stress that causes online aggression. If you cuss, you get more stressed. If you fight, you get angry. If you lose, you get stressed even more. I’ve even seen people who enjoy fighting online.

If we’re talking about a reason, it’s mostly because things aren’t going the way they want the game to go. As a Korean who loves gaming, I think the biggest reason for aggressive toxicity is useless pride.”

It seems like everything negative in Korean League of Legends servers boils down to pride. Korean society is fast, proud, and aggressive, and so it comes as no surprise that Koreans are so aggressive in their professional gameplay. However, I do think that it needs to be toned down a bit, as it has become a problem in the community.

What about you? Are there any questions you might have for these players in future interviews? Do you think that pride is a problem in the Korean gaming community? If not, why not?