© Copyright by Matthew Jungsuk Howard May, 2018 ESPORT: PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE OF LEGENDS AS CULTURAL HISTORY _______________ A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in History _______________ By Matthew Jungsuk Howard May, 2018 ESPORT: PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE OF LEGENDS AS CULTURAL HISTORY _______________ An Abstract of a Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in History _______________ By Matthew Jungsuk Howard May, 2018 Abstract This thesis offers a preliminary cultural-historical investigation of professional League of Legends using Tygielian sport history methodology. League’s massive popularity brought esports greater visibility, and laid bare cultural-historical currents that explain the current historical moment. The game’s global nature, enabled by Web 2.0’s globalizing effects and breakneck speed, makes it a powerful lens for cultural-historical analysis. First, League confirmed South Korea’s status as the center of the esport world, and the state of the game reflects certain Korean cultural and economic cultural currents. Second, League’s pros go by usernames that they choose. These names follow naming traditions that are established across esports through gaming subculture, enabling the mapping of cultural connections through their cultural weight. Thirdly, League sheds light on the roots of sexism in geek and gaming culture, which manifests in the form of assumptions about women’s roles and abilities in-game. Finally, League’s community illustrates the problem of censorship that Web 2.0’s convenient distribution platforms and sharing culture have created. Community centralization has made it easy for journalism and content creation to be compromised by corporate interest and community hostility. iv Acknowledgments I would first like to thank Dr. Sarah Fishman, Dr. Kairn Klieman, and Dr. Michael Gennaro for serving on the committee for this mad project. They have all shown tremendous understanding throughout what was, at times, a highly volatile thesis process. All three gave tremendous feedback and encouraged me to consider further pursuits in the field, effectively reigniting some of the intellectual fire that had been beaten down some over the course of this marathon. I certainly could not have done this without them. I would also like to thank Cyrus Saatsaz, who served on this committee previously. He provided excellent insight on sport journalism and the nature of gatekeeping, agenda-setting, and other elements that laid the foundation for Chapter 5. Next, I would like to thank Thomas Barrows, a former colleague at the University of Houston, who convinced me over mimosas that I needed to stop talking so much about esports and starting considering them historically. Without his advice, I would have remained a non- thesis track and likely passed into that good night with a whimper. Rammy Allouche, one of my colleagues at the University of Houston Writing Center, also deserves specific thanks, as he helped me greatly during my twelve month battle against Chapter 3. The basis for my theory of memetic gravity is partially shared by him and our numerous attempts to reconcile the concepts found in that chapter. My other coworkers at the Writing Center, including my supervisors, Mark Sursavage, Holly Prevost, Adrienne DeLeon, Johnathan Richards, and Lorinda Robb, who gave me the opportunity to work in a very supportive environment during this project, as well as coworkers Thomas Locke, and Mary Higdon, both of whom I consulted on portions of this work. v I must also thank my amazing friends and housemates who took me under their wing in more ways than I can explain, sent me my bibliography when I was preparing my final draft and realized I did not have it, and knocked on our neighbors’ door trying to track down my mis- mailed signature pages. Truly, Chris, Dana, Brent, and Alex, you are heroes. My gaming family also plays a role in this. Ben, Brian, Kevin, John Lee, Joss, Derrick, Edward, Eric, Bryan, Jobin, Michael, Chris, and Kyle, you all played a role in my enjoyment of League, which led my eventual decision to commit to it as historical study. Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank my family. My mother, Yeonheui encouraged me to follow my ridiculous dreams since I was very young, despite our clashes during my deplorable teenage years. My father, Paul, has also encouraged me to try and find my way in the world while providing the council I have needed during my lowest lows on this project and offering frequent anecdotes of his own grad school experiences bicycling uphill, through the snow, both ways, back at Northwestern. My step-mother was also very supportive, despite her own msigivings vis-à-vis video gaming, which I throroughly appreciate. Finally, my brother is probably the root of this entire document. In my attempts to find common ground after heading to undergrad in New York, I followed him to League of Legends, beginning that six-year chapter of my life that has culminated in my finding a way to make the game we loved academic…which is hopefully less boring than it sounds. vi Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 1 A Competition: The New Spectator Sports .......................................................................................... 1 A Brief Overview of League of Legends .............................................................................................. 13 Part I: South Korea, Esports Mecca ....................................................................................................... 17 Welcome to Esports Mecca: Cultural and Economic Ties Between Korea and League ................ 18 A License to Print Players ................................................................................................................ 24 Esports as Korean Culture ............................................................................................................... 35 Chasing Korea: Korean Dominance and Global League Culture .................................................... 44 Part II: League of Legends as Global Cultural History ......................................................................... 60 Guess Who: Usernames and Cultural Systems in Web 2.0 ............................................................... 61 Anything but Commonplace ............................................................................................................ 65 A Splendid, Coded Mural ................................................................................................................. 79 League, Gender, and the Geek Identity Crisis ................................................................................... 91 Geek Masculinity Writ Large .......................................................................................................... 94 Objectification and Gender Stereotyping in the League Community ........................................ 103 Hushed: Web 2.0, Corporate Interest, and Censorship in the League Community ..................... 119 Riot Police ........................................................................................................................................ 125 They Reddit Here First ................................................................................................................... 134 Journalists versus the World ......................................................................................................... 139 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 143 Symptom of Integration ......................................................................................................................... 146 Appendices ............................................................................................................................................... 151 Appendix A: Usernames of Professional Korean League of Legends Players ............................... 152 Appendix B: Usernames of Professional Chinese League of Legends Players ............................... 163 Appendix C: Usernames of Professional Taiwan/Macau/Hong Kong League of Legends Players .............................................................................................................................................................. 169 Appendix D: Usernames of Professional North American League of Legends Players ................ 173 Appendix E: Usernames of Professional European League of Legends Players ........................... 178 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................ 185 vi “You must understand, young Hobbit, it takes a long time to say anything in Old Entish. And we never say anything unless it is worth taking a long time to say.” -J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers vii Introduction A Competition: The New Spectator Sports “It’s not a sport – it’s a competition…Mostly, I’m interested in doing real sports. -John Skipper, CEO of ESPN on esports On October 13th, 2012, before the