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Another week of the Fortnite Championship Series, another week of cheaters. Let’s break it down
Where do I begin? Didn’t y’all learn from the first week of FNCS, when 4 of NA-East’s top pros were hit with a 60 day ban for “collusion”? Wounded in the crossfire were both Envy player Bucke and World Cup millionaire Kreo. But I digress, as it seems as though we have another round of ambitious pros seeking to gain an “advantage”
Two teams in the FNCS finals allegedly took advantage of other player’s livestreams to gain an unfair advantage. The incidents took place totally separate of one another, so let’s break both of these allegations individually
UnknownArmy and Ronaldo
NRG’s newest pickup, UnknownArmy, is taking heat for using his chat’s help to make an.. Interesting off spawn push. Take a look at this clip from his stream:
Just in case Unknown decides to delete the clip, here’s a backup
For those that can’t listen to the audio, I’ll break it down play-by-play style
00:05 - Unknown reads his Twitch chat (with little to no delay)
00:06 - Unknown proclaims that they need to push the other team contesting them off spawn since one person “died to fall damage”
00:18 - Unknown claims that Fatch, ex-Kungarna player, leaked the info and was a reliable source
Unknown and Ronaldo would go on to kill their opponents with the help of an illegal advantage. There is no evidence that Ronaldo was also taking advantage of stream snipers.directly, but blood is on everyone’s hands at this point
Blakeps and Assault
A rather new duo on the block would also resort to cheating - and didn’t even have the brains to cover it up… even slightly. Both of these teams streamed their nefarious acts. It’s like a bank robber vlogging his stick-up. How ridiculous
Take a look at this clip obtained by Sebby on Twitter
Heres the second team that gets banned for cheating pic.twitter.com/XTUuTzsZ9w
— Seb (@SebbyFN) March 29, 2020
Assault is clearly sifting between streams, calling out what loot and positioning their adversaries have. Some speculate that Assault didn’t know Blakeps was still streaming, giving him the figurative “Go ahead” to stream snipe
As of writing, Epic hasn’t handed out any punishments to either of the duos being accused of cheating in the FNCS finals. But that may change soon after their deliberation period ends
Community response and personal take
Let’s get the mockery out of the way first. A slew of pro players can’t resist but exclaim how absolutely -200 IQ it is for players to cheat on a live broadcast for the world to scrutinize
surprised people are dumb enough to cheat and then even dumber to do it on stream
— Liquid Cented (@Cented7) March 30, 2020
Liquid Cented was one of the most notable critics to clown on illegal advantage players
Now, let’s get to the real meat and potatoes: competitive integrity. Compared to Kreo, Bucke, Slackes, and Keys, these two duos didn’t collude - instead opting for external assistance. We’ll have to wait and see if Epic Games decides this to be a large enough infracture warranting a ban
This is the worst season for bait/drama/toxicity. The community has gone full troll and I don't know if we can come back from this level of ridiculousness.
— Ballatw (@Ballatw) March 30, 2020
Won't ever be taken seriously going forward if we don't.
Starting to feel like an idiot for ever believing in the potential
Balla stepped up to the plate with his sheer disappointment in the community. Among a few other dramas (unrelated to this scandal), a competitive plague in the form of cheaters doesn’t help either. The prominent analyst goes far as to say that he feels “like an idiot for ever believing in the potential” when pro players cannot keep themselves together
.. And I completely agree with this sentiment. Epic Games throws millions of dollars per month at a player base that, quite frankly, is majorly unappreciative. Not only unappreciative, but are actively promoting a toxic environment that throws away a few core principles of Esports: respect and integrity
As long as Epic continues to hand light sentences compared to their industry competitors Valve and Riot Games, the (generally) young stars will continue to push their limits. We saw it in Week 1, and we’re seeing it again in Week 2. If players were to behave this way under either of the aforementioned competitors, a year ban would be considered shorter than usual
I also want to dispel any inclination that stream sniping shouldn’t be considered an infraction of the rules by pointing to the official rule book
source: Epic Games
Don’t defend this behavior. It’s wrong. Don’t promote rule breaking. It’s. Wrong.
We’re capable of better - and most of us are. It’s just a small subsect of players that believe the rules don’t apply to them. Maybe it’s time for Epic to take harsher action to nip this issue at the bud? I guess we’re all strapped to this ride and will find out how it plays out
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