Mauisnake on the new VRS region change rule: “Valve is angry that they were outmaneuvered.”

coolio: I don’t like what Valve is doing with the rule changes. I see it from a slightly different angle. I see that many people are blaming BC.Game Esports and Sashi Esport, and in my opinion, it really does look bad. It’s just an easy way to get stickers. I don’t like what they did either. But with BC.Game Esports, I’d say it’s not that bad: they already had two players, and they just added a third. That makes more sense.

But what I don’t like about these rules is that a lot of it is unclear, and you don’t know what’s going to happen next: Valve could change the rules, and to me, that’s crazy. Sashi Esport, to be honest, didn’t do anything wrong—they just took advantage of a loophole. She was allowed to do that, and then Valve came up with a solution saying it couldn’t be done that way anymore. But you don’t know how much money the organization spent on those two players or whether it bought out their contracts. And then they change the rule—that shouldn’t happen. I think it’s unfair. <...> They should have clarified whether this was allowed or not, rather than introducing a new rule after the two teams had already changed regions.

Mauisnake: <...> Valve released a set of rules with flaws, in which it was possible to find loopholes and cheat the system. If you’re not prepared to take this seriously by allocating the necessary resources and time to ensure no one can find such loopholes and abuse the rules, then just step aside and let someone else handle it—or hire someone who can. This sets a very dangerous precedent—retroactively banning a certain action or even allowing it in the future. It turns out Valve is upset that it was outmaneuvered.

Thorin: It seems BC.Game Esports wasn’t what upset Valve. The problem is that Sashi Esport saw what BC.Game Esports had done and decided: “Wait a minute, we don’t even need top Asian players. Let’s just take any players from that region and give it a shot too.” And, as Mauisnake said, that’s exactly what pissed Valve off. ...> I think BC.Game Esports just got caught in the crossfire because of the whole Sashi Esport situation, which is why they ended up getting an exception. ...> But BC.Game Esports deserves credit: unlike Sashi Esport, it didn’t just take literally anyone whose passport said they were from Asia. They already had two of the best Asian players, and to me, that makes the move half-legitimate.

Thorin: I have a solution that seems obvious to me, which I hope Valve will implement. Then signing players would become completely legitimate for both BC.Game Esports and anyone else. The team needs to be at least minimally connected to the region. For example, introduce a rule requiring teams to attend a couple of LAN tournaments each season in Asia, China, Australia, or somewhere else. While you’re there, you’ll obviously play practice matches against local teams, and they’ll have a chance to train with well-known players and a strong roster. I think that would make you almost an Asian team. ...> If you attend these tournaments, you become part of their scene. And then, I think, everything’s fine—I have no problem with that.

coolio: Yeah, I agree. I also see that BC.Game Esports isn’t trying to win a Major—they just want to get some stickers after such a long time. It’s not the best move, although Senzu and mzinho, to be honest, are very good players, and s1mple, I think, can still play well. But your idea isn’t bad. They should play a bit in Asia, because right now they’re just trying to abuse the region switch. But some kind of fix for cases like this is definitely needed: it’s an unhealthy situation.