Since MSI 2022 was yet to officially kick off, the global League of Legends community has been buzzing about the “35 ping” issue imposed by Riot. This is an artificial ping level created by Riot using specific devices to facilitate Royal Never Give Up’s online remote competition.
For this reason, Riot has faced significant criticism from the global League of Legends community. Many believe that Riot is biased towards LPL simply because this publisher is part of Tencent – a corporation from China, and the viewership from the billion-people nation is also a factor that compelled Riot to ensure RNG’s participation in MSI 2022 at all costs.
However, among the opposing opinions regarding Riot’s actions that have turned MSI 2022 into what could be described as a “disaster” in League of Legends history, the President of G2 Esports – Carlos “Ocelote” Rodríguez expressed sympathy and agreement with Riot’s approach in the “35 ping” situation. Specifically, this president stated: “You know, I used to be a player. Yes, that time was terrible. But you know, you can feel a slight difference, but that’s not a reason for the tournament not to happen. We are willing to play at 35 ping to have the presence of LPL rather than playing normally without LPL and making the tournament meaningless.”
As noted, the “35 ping” issue has not only brought troubles to all teams and Riot before the MSI 2022 but has also caused further problems during the tournament, forcing Riot to rematch three of RNG’s group stage matches. This drew immediate frustration from even the RNG members themselves.
But the president of G2 also mentioned that while Riot has made many mistakes in organizing MSI 2022, this publisher has also shown “courage in making the rematch decision.” Because Riot could have simply fixed the errors and ignored the prior mistakes. However, according to the G2 president, this was an effort to ensure fairness for all teams.
Currently, in Riot’s latest announcement, this publisher affirmed that they have fixed the issues. However, no one can be sure that there will be no further problems for the remainder of MSI 2022.