First woman in the League Championships series is debating her attendance due to harassment
This past week the League of Legends team Renegades gained a victory against their opponent, Team Coast, which secured them a spot in the League of Legends Championship Series. While this is an awesome accomplishment, it's making headlines because their team has a woman on it - the first female to make it into the League of Legends Championship Series.
Thresh Goddess Creveling
Her name Maria "Remilia" Creveling, and the character she played in the deciding match against Team Coast was Thresh. Many players in League will admit that Thresh is a hard character to master, and if mastered properly is a great asset for any team. Being part of the support section for the match, Creveling was able to assist her team and was dubbed the "Thresh Goddess" on many social media outlets, as well as Reddit, due to her performance with the character.
One might think that with such an epic performance in the match Creveling would automatically be up for playing in the LCS, but she's is debating whether or not she will step down. Creveling accomplished what she aimed to, and that was to prove to herself and the League community that a woman can make it to the LCS. While the championship series is close, Creveling is facing challenges along the way that are "heartless", which is making her participation in the tournament a choice between her privacy or her legacy.
"In the end though the competition doesn’t mean much to me. I don’t care to be the best in the world. I love playing with a team and accomplishing stuff and being recognized for it. When I set out initially, I wanted to be the first girl in LCS. That was what motivated me. That dream I had, I accomplished and yet it is being challenged in such a heartless way. I really honestly truly hate so many people. If you want my honesty, everyone that tries to take away from what I accomplished, well I will always spite them. I’m always extremely salty when dealing with fans on mediums like twitter and reddit, I met some really cool fans in person at the studio for sure.
i just want it to be known that I accomplished my goal for real, and I accomplished it for me, my teammates, and girls in eSports. That’s it. No one else. Don’t fucking put me on some lgbt agenda or some bullshit and bring that up. That’s not me, I don’t believe in that. D don’t want messages acknowledging that part of my life, sorry."
- RenegadeMaria, Reddit
The dark side of eSports
When people think of eSports, they always dub it the "boy's" field of gaming, and that mindset has continued to ring true even when a woman is changing the paradigm. Though Creveling has done what was thought to be impossible by many, she's been receiving different forms of harassment - the most prominent attacks seek to reveal details about her private life.
The antagonists might think harassment doesn't have such a large effect in the long run, but Creveling has gone through deleting her social media accounts and changing her game handle to avoid the attacks. Based on the harassment accusations, its been assumed by the League community that the harassment problems throughout her eSports career has led her to opt out of the LCS.
Whether or not Creveling makes the choice to participate, what she's done for women in eSports will remain as a historic marker. Taking what was said to be a "boy's" game and proving that women can participate and win will change the face of League of Legends.
Opinion-wise, what do you believe Creveling should do; claim her victorious spot among her fellow Renegades, or call it there for her career?
Courtney Gamache
An online college student studying Business Administration and International Business at SNHU. I play a lot of different games, but I prefer management ones, including Minecraft, RollerCoaster Tycoon, Borderlands, and Assassin's Creed.
Source kotaku.com
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Well, it is easy to say she should ignore what people are saying and go, but she should ultimately do whatever makes her most comfortable. I think she should go, however.
Her own remarks are rather acerbic, and I'm very confused by her thing about LGBT agendas. -
Don't let the trolls win, give them the big ole ┌∩┐(ಠ͜ʖಠ)┌∩┐ and go kick some ass in the LCS.
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Remilia has proven herself to be part of the best League has to offer. I say she should claim her spot among the Renegades.
Her teammates obviously value her, what other people have to say shouldn't matter at all. It's about dam time a female joined the LoL esports roster, one that has actually earned her spot as well. -
She has worked hard to become one of the best League of Legend players and its not right to step down because of harassment from sexist cowards. She is more than just an eSport champion but a role model to many women. Now comes the ultimate test of character in which will she allow the haters to force you out or will she stand her ground. Just remember that Jackie Robinson endured the same kind of hate when he tried to break the color barrier in professional sports, yet he stood his ground and now he is an American hero.
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I don't think it's right to judge her character based on if she's willing to stay or not. We shouldn't think of people less if they value their health instead of prestige. Jackie Robinson is an American hero whether he decided to stay or not and it's completely understandable if he quit out early considering people wanted him dead.
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Pretty sure she has confirmed her spot on the LCS. Let me go pull up the tweets.
https://twitter.com/RNGRemi/status/632275036007739392
https://twitter.com/RNGRemi/status/632317009729093632 -
She's a..riot when it comes to anime :^ )
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Harassment was an issue, but I think the main reason superseding that was the life style of the competitive gamer. She doesn't think it's financially viable and doesn't want to spend every hour playing League. But she was quoted to say (jokingly) that a reason she's staying at least until the split is because of her "fangirls." So, perhaps the finances were figured out or we really did give her enough fuzzies to stay at least a little longer <3 But no, it's not entirely because of harassment at all.
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At the end of the day, regardless of gender, sex, race, what have you... once you're in the spotlight you're going to get all sorts of publicity and attention. Some of it will be good, and a lot of it will be bad. What she needs to decide is what she is willing to put up with. It may be sad that someone will get extra attention on both ends of the spectrum for being considered a "stand-out" in the crowd, but that's show-biz. If it wasn't her, it'd be someone else... eventually.
In her position I'd stay. Prove a point. When it comes to the competitive sphere it's largely considered a "male" thing. Agree with me or not, this is nothing compared to first-wave feminism where women basically had to stick to their guns or surrender forever and never be taken seriously again. If she stays, congrats - we now have a female LoL player who can stand up with and against the "big boys". If she leaves, she made it this far and it's an accomplishment in of itself. Either way it's a win, in my opinion.
Unless things become a physical issue, words should be no problem. Sticks and stones as they say. In either case, the law's there for a reason, and I imagine that Riot Games (unless they're as bad as I believe them to be) will find a way to stop her from being harassed at tournaments or in-client.
EDIT: Also, shouldn't there be a way to prevent trolls and harassers in the game or elsewhere? I mean... this is the internet. There should be methods to prevent this. I know I've been able to do it in DotA 2 and other social media outlets... -
Si_WAugust 16, 2015, 11:41 amShe should do whatever makes her happy.
Sounds to me that this is not so much about abuse (didn't read about any in the article), but that she is uncomfortable with groups appropriating her and trying to use her as a role model, something she is clearly not comfortable with.
It's sad when someone, whichever sex, cannot just play without the extra attention. Well done anyway, Maria. You achieved your goal.
