owlsbooks Chapter 34: How could someone cause such a huge disaster?
Chapter 34: How could someone cause such a huge disaster?
This all-star match, which was crucial for China's server rankings, ended abruptly in a way that left everyone speechless.
There were no thrilling comebacks from the brink of defeat, and no epic tug-of-war between evenly matched opponents.
What was presented was an almost absurd one-sided crushing defeat—the random player with the ID "Crush," witnessed by countless viewers in the live stream, was like a tireless war machine, utterly crushing Dopa, a legendary player in the Korean server who had long dominated the leaderboard.
Yes, nobody expected it. Including the millions of viewers in front of their screens.
That night, Huya platform spared no effort in promoting the "National Server Showdown at the Forbidden City" event, featuring it prominently on its homepage, through pop-up notifications, and even displaying banners across the platform.
But what was the result? This match, which was touted as an epic battle, ended so hastily, ridiculously, and like a farce.
There were no twists or turns, no major upheavals.
Dopa, who had held the top spot in the Chinese server for months and was revered as the "God of Rank" by countless ordinary players, was suddenly dragged off his throne and kicked to the ground.
The whole game felt like a speeding dump truck that ran right over your face without even honking its horn.
There is no reaction time, no buffer.
By the time you come to your senses, the game is over, and all that's left on the screen is a big "Fail".
Dopa himself was a bit stunned by the result, and the viewers in the live stream were all saying that even the smart players were a bit confused. The professional teams that were preparing to watch the game and recruit players were also a bit confused.
Huya, the platform that orchestrated all of this, was even more bewildered.
They originally planned to capitalize on the buzz surrounding the battle for the top spot in the Chinese server, but not only did they lose the top spot, they weren't even given any time to prepare or create hype afterward.
What they didn't expect was that on the very night the match ended, a media storm erupted in the esports community regarding this dominant ranked game.
LOL forum, stress relief forum, esports gossip forum... almost all the hot posts on various Tieba and forums were dominated by related topics.
The headlines are getting more and more sensational:
Shocking Domination! New ID Tops the Chinese Server Rankings, Completely Crushing Dopa – Who is This Person?
"Battle at the Forbidden City? Surrendered in less than 30 minutes! China's top solo queue player gets completely crushed by a newbie in 20 minutes. Did Huya's script backfire?"
"The most outrageous genius in history: solo kills in lane, jungle dominance, and overall command—Dopa was utterly helpless."
All-Star Match: Snake and EDG Engage in Live-Streamed Player Recruitment!
The top player in the Chinese server was kicked out of a secondary league team: Is this a sign of distorted humanity or moral decay?
Huya aggressively promoted an unknown streamer, resulting in Dopa being relegated to the background, leaving the operations team dumbfounded!
Huya is giving away free traffic! If this top streamer went to Douyu, Huya would be in serious trouble.
It's not just esports forums.
As time went on, and because this drama also involved Huya Live's high-profile promotion and marketing, a simple yet fierce business war quietly broke out.
The story escalated, eventually dominating Weibo's trending topics.
#First Player in Chinese Server Changes Hands##Dopa Gets Crushed#
#Huya script fiasco##LOL's greatest solo queue player ever#
#A Genius Streamer Emerges#
On the trending topics list, among the five discussions about Crush, there is inevitably one scathing commentary on Huya's platform decisions.
It's obvious to anyone with eyes to see that the driving force behind this is undoubtedly the enthusiastic support of several other competitors.
Guangzhou, Tianhe District.
Located in the Creative Industry Park at No. 309 Huangpu Avenue Central.
HJ Era Headquarters
Huya Games Live Streaming Division, Conference Room.
On either side of the long table, a group of men and women in suits sat upright, their faces ashen.
The atmosphere was incredibly heavy, and no one dared to speak first.
Finally, the person in charge, sitting at the second seat around the round table, spoke coldly, his tone suppressing a volcanic rage:
"Tell me. How could someone cause such a disaster?"
"Promoting an unsigned streamer and then unilaterally launching a platform-wide campaign?"
"Ultimately, this resulted in the commercial value of Dopa, the core asset of our League of Legends division, being halved!"
"Who will take responsibility for this now?"
"And who can bear the responsibility?"
Many people silently lowered their heads, preparing for the criticism session that the second-in-command would be holding for at least an hour today.
After all, this time the platform has really made a huge mess.
Huya previously signed Dopa exclusively for a hefty sum, promoting him as "the best player in the Korean server, the strongest random player in the world, and the ceiling of the Chinese server."
The goal was to carve out a niche in the competitive game live streaming market, and the results over the past year have indeed been quite good.
Although Dopa doesn't play professionally, his impressive performance in ranked games, where he defeats countless active professional players, has earned him the title of the strongest solo queue player.
It's a title that countless ordinary players and even professional players acknowledge.
Relying on Dopa's live streams, their own platform is also continuously attracting new users who like League of Legends.
However, just when things were looking very promising...
You're suddenly telling me that Dopa lost?
He was publicly crushed by an unsigned streamer, and then his own platform made a stupid mistake by actively promoting Dopa's "invincible" persona, which completely collapsed.
What?
Are you kidding me!
Without the title of the number one ranked solo queue player, what awaits Dopa and his platform is a complete collapse in GG value, traffic-driving value, fan loyalty, and paid gifts.
This isn't the most fatal blow. If Crush, the super rookie who crushed Dopa, is signed by a competitor, the resulting losses to the platform in the game streaming market are immeasurable.
After all, the gap between Crush and Dopa is now overwhelming and generationally superior in the eyes of the audience;
What started as a "battle of two giants" has turned into a "single-core downgrade".
Their operation on Huya this time will become the stupidest reverse operation in history.
"I……"
Just as Qin Weichuan, who was on the verge of death, was about to stand up and take all the blame upon himself.
The CEO of HJ Era, who had been sitting in the main seat and hadn't said much until now, finally spoke.
"Alright, Lao Qi!"
"Now that this has happened, the purpose of this meeting should be to solve the problem."
As he spoke, the CEO of HJ Era looked in Qin Weichuan's direction.
"Old Qin, tell me your thoughts. From the beginning of the promotion, I believe you should have anticipated that Dopa might lose the top spot in the Chinese server... The current situation is simply because none of us expected, or rather, underestimated, a new pub star who has emerged as a dark horse, and his strength is terrifying..."
"Thank you, Mr. Wu."
Upon hearing this, Qin Weichuan's expression improved considerably.
Of course, if his subsequent answer fails to satisfy the higher-ups and everyone present, his death won't be any better.
After all, in just one night, because of a decision made on a whim, Dopa's high-priced contract was still valid, but its value was gone;
All of Huya's promotional resources were wasted, and it even backfired, making it a laughing stock on the internet. No one could save themselves.