Trash talking gains notoriety in esports

MANILA, Philippines — During last week's Mobile Legends: Bang Professional League Philippines (MPL PH) Season 10, RSG's Facebook page posted a meme showing John “H2wo” Salonga of Nexplay EVOS being captured by a Titan from the hit anime series Attack on Titan.

Fans of Nexplay EVOS quickly took to social media to criticize the meme, with the hashtag #MPLPHProtectYourPlayers making it to the top 10 trending topics in the country.

Based on the league’s Season 10 rulebook, "trash talk", or as defined by the Miriam-Webster dictionary, "disparaging, taunting, or boastful comments especially between opponents trying to intimidate each other", is allowed under section 12.1.2.2 under the Code of Conduct.

The section states: "Trashtalk is allowed provided that the above mentioned [rule] is strictly followed." The rule in question is not engaging in insulting behavior that "is disparaging to a person's race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or cognitive ability (or disability as to whatever is applicable)."

It's not the first time fans have been up in arms in defense of their favorite team or player.

In the Mobile Legends scene in Indonesia, team social media accounts are sometimes reported when they defeat a favored team, with teams and players sometimes taking a social media break just to avoid the onslaught.

During the first weekend of the current MPL PH season, the continuous head-to-head analyses between Blacklist International's Kiel "Oheb" Soriano and Smart Omega's Duane "Kelra" Pillas caused an outraged after Pillas' sister shouted "1v1" while host Mara Aquino was interviewing Soriano.

Fans took offense, saying it was a rude and offensive gesture. They also criticized the casters and analysts for their continued comparison of the two, arguing that this leads to toxicity between the two sides.

Aquino then took to social media to explain that in competitive sports, athletes or players will be compared to each other. She also mentioned that she had asked Soriano about the incident and that the player found it funny and not offensive at all. She called out the fans reaction as "violent and venomous", especially those who attacked Pillas' family and made things personal, with Pillas' sister being body-shamed online. Aquino also pointed out that had it been someone else who had shouted, there wouldn't have been an issue at all.

"Madadala ka talaga sa excitement ng crowd when you watch live sa venue; it's a whole different energy and it's electric. If I was not working at nanood kasama audience and yelled 1v1 myself or if this was done by someone else more famous, the audience would laugh and get that this is not a malicious intent," Aquino said in a Facebook post.

Aquino ended the post asking fans to stop brushing on players' personal lives.

BREN Esports coach Francis "Ducky" Glindro also sees the issue as mostly the fans being "hyper-sensitive" and that overall it's not something healthy for the esports industry as a whole.

"It seems like the majority of the fans are hyper-sensitive. I don't think that's actually a healthy thing to do. Let's put ourselves in the shoes of the editors. Paano kung na-fire sila? It was just a harmless meme. I don't think hashtagging everything they feel bad about is a good thing." said Glindro during their post-match interview after winning against Nexplay EVOS.

Players’ side

During a recent panel with esports managers organized by MPL PH, ONIC Philippines country manager Rafael Sanchez sees trash talking as a part of esports.

"The biggest paradox when it comes to esports is you need and you don't need trash talking. Kasi, to be honest, the essence of esports and what makes it so different from any traditional sport is the fact that you can be toxic," shared Sanchez.

He explains that within esports, pro-players understand that trash talking is situated in a spectrum: on the extreme right you can be completely silent, in the middle would be showing off your skills or relishing the idea of winning by boasting about your achievements, and the extreme left would be dragging things that are outside of the game, which is when trash talking crosses the line.

"[Pro-players] understand that they can be in the middle [of the spectrum]. The worst part is the people that watch it. [They] don't understand it. They're always [on the left side]. For example, you have Yawi or Kelra making fun of [how you played]. You know it's all part of the game. But the moment the fans start getting into it, they feel like they're entitled to do so. Everything comes down to the conditioning of the players. The people who really respect you, will respect you. People that don't know who you are, the people who see you as a player against [their favored] team, they will disrespect you, your family, and your entire kin." said Sanchez.

He adds, "At the end of the day, tropa pa rin [ang turing ng players sa isa't isa]." 

At the center of it all, these are players playing Mobile Legends and having fun with friends. Whether this is a classic match, a ranked game or onstage in one of the biggest esports leagues in the world, the purpose is to play and have fun, a message sometimes lost as we head to the Land of Dawn.