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League of Legends pro gamer on match fixing; attempts suicide

Einbroch

Banned
Link.

Because the full translation post that /u/harry921103 did got removed by the mods, here it is:

TRANSLATION Hello everyone, I am former LoL pro Pimir. I was on ahq Korea, also known as ahq K Promise. I also used names such as patience/AD Pimir etc. My death note is on my face book and i will be gone 5 minutes after i post this so proof that its really pimir will be on my kakaotalk and facebook.

I am writing on inven today to tell you about game fixing well since im gonna be gone soon. Conclusion first. Me and Actscene (another ahq korea player) were only ones who were actually involved in the game fixings and other teammates kenw about it after the games. Purpose of Game Fixing: Manager Noh's Toto -toto is korean illegal betting on sports games including LoL Timeframe: 2013 Lol Champs Spring Manager Noh told the teammates taht if we don't lose to big teams (KT, CJ etc), Ongamenet threatened the team that they would not be able to play in the playoffs. Obviously its a lie but we knew about it afterwrds. Manager Noh told all of us, and Hoon said he won't be a part of it.

Manager Noh called me and Actscene later that night, and we believed him so we would put game fixing to action. Game Fixing vs KTB game 1 and 2 vs CJF game 1 and 2 if you look at all four games you will see that we gave first blood in all of teh games. game against KT, we were losing then we came back. We knew we could win the game, but in my mind we had to lose. The calls over voice and Manager Noh's voices kept on coming into my mind and I was confused the fuck out of myself. I thought this is fucking mad and they won. Game 2 vs KT, was not fixed we couldnt win at all.

When we were playing CJ, manager Noh threatened that if you win a game here, AHQ will be DQd from LoLChamps. In game vs KT, as a professional player, obvsly I wanted to win and did so. However, in game vs CJ, the threat made me realize that all my effort in becoming a pro will be useless if I win this game. I purposely didnt deal damage in team fights, flashed and ezreal E'd forward to be killed etc. We beat CJ in the morning of the game day in a scrim as well, with the exact same team comp they used in the OGN game. Hoon and I carreid the scrim. after the game, I told Hoon about the whole thing and Hoon was already having conflicts with the Manager. He said there's something off about him and because he's had long career as a professional gamer already, I guess he had senses to realize werid things the manager was doing. Why Manager Noh told us to Fix Games When we first made the team, AHQ didnt actually sponsor us in cash. THey just gave us gaming gear and the team name. Manager Noh borrowed money for our living costs, housing, computer, our pay etc. Players didnt know about this and learned about it later. He was going to play illegal sports gambling by fixing games to pay back all the borrowed money + make profits. I will mention my skype convo with actual AHQ person later for proof.

When we told teammates that game fixing happend and how Noh reacted. Because every teammate knew, we talked to manager noh after our game against SKT. He told us that we should lose vs Najin 2:0 later that week, make shitton of money and GTFO from pro scene. We told him that we arent interested in Toto gambling and we wont do it. Even at this point we didnt know that AHQ didnt sponsor us and when we came back to the living quarters after the Najin game, 3 computers were sold and he was clearing the house. He said he couldnt pay the rent and the apt said we should leave. That we would lose gas, electricity and water (even though it was Manager Noh who tried to cut them off on his own unsuccessfully). We had Lg game coming up so we said we will stay at the living quarters until the LG game. We asked why he sold our practice omputters and Noh said AHQ is demanding money from the team. WHen i talked to actual management from AHQ in Taiwan later, none of this ever happened and they never gave them computers either. Also they never gave any of the gaming gear to manager Noh but the players themselves. I asked if we cuold keep rest of the gear for practice and he said for sure. Noh was selling our practice computers so he could pay off the deb and run.

So after our next game againt Najin, we told him we are going to leave the team. We are going to get paid for the months that he hasnt paid us. Noh told us taht I cant give you the money right now and that he will instead not take the 50% commission of the prize money if AHQ were to win. Entire team already knew from talking to management in Taiwan that Noh was lying, that AHQ never sponsored cash, and the computers hes selling are not AHQs so why is he trying to pay back money to AHQ?

Noh lied that AHQ had rights to prize moneys and that he has to pay them although we already kenw he was lying out of his ass. We gave him evidence that we knew he was lying but he woul just argue its not true. After 2~3 hours of arguing we agreed that Noh would pay back the pay we've missed over the months and tha the wouldnt touch the prize money from OGN. We couldnt practice for a week because of this and played vsLg IM game, and Najin eventaually won. We couldve done better and I knew I couldve done better but thanks to this my pro life was over and all i had left was feeling of emptiness after practicign to my best for a year.

3 line conclusion Im not in this world after 5 minutes AHQ korea was a team made by Noh to make money off illegal gambling, teammates didnt know and we had to fix games because of this. AHQ Taiwan never sponsored korean team and was a lie. I am sorry for all of this and I cant tell you everything but I am leaving now as I cant deal with this anymore.

"Update 2: Promise is no longer in a coma but “According to friends, Promise is in critical condition and on
a respirator now. Serious injuries to his head and back” – thanks to @insideklol"
"Update 1: It seems that Promise is in surgery, we wish him all the best, Korean progamer Reset has stated that he jumped off a building."

http://mundoverse.com/ahq-koreas-fo...pts-suicide-exposes-coerced-matchfix-manager/

UPDATE: I am Facebook friends with Hoon who has posted that Promise is in the hospital in Busan but is ok. That's a relief.

https://twitter.com/ggCMonteCristo/status/443902534067826688

The hunt for the old AHQ coach is on in Korea. I will let you know more as I talk to Korean reporters and the story develops.

https://twitter.com/ggCMonteCristo/status/443906948803485696

Now Promise woke up from coma and can hear what people say. But this doesn't mean he's okay. He's still in poor condition.

https://twitter.com/insideKLoL/status/443906707651964928

TLDR/(Personal) interpretation: Basically, Manager Noh forced the team he managed to throw so he could bet against them and make a lot of money. He threatened them with pulling their sponsorship (which never existed outside of a name and practice computers, not rent, food, etc, which were all by Noh). The team threw a few games, but eventually they stood up to him. When they came back home, their computers were gone and they had nothing. Promise, a player on the team who wrote the above, then attempted suicide by jumping from the 12th story of a building. He is in critical condition.

Scum are scum everywhere, in every field.
 
Posted this in the League OT, but worth reiterating:

As good an opportunity as any to remind people that if you're having a bad time of it, if you're going through anything, talk to someone about it.

There are plenty of organisations where you're from that can and will help you when you're going through tough times. Do speak to someone and seek out help. Don't suffer in silence, no matter the situation.
 
After all the fun I've had on League, it's sad to see that others are having a much different experience.
So sorry this man had to deal with that stress. Hope he recovers well.
 
That's really unfortunate... You'd think pro players have enough pressure trying to legally make a living let alone finding this out.
 

jabuseika

Member
I bet this is more common than we think...

eSports in general is still young and unstable, and people will want to take advantage where they can.
 
The fact that he survived a 12 story fall.... I'd never wish that or the depression that lead him to the attempt on anyone. It's a stark reminder that pro-gamers can have problems too, it's not just sitting around all day playing games and being care free.
 

Boken

Banned
SOCIAL CONTEXT
"The torture post; ... it is NOT UNCOMMON IN KOREA FOR MANAGEMENTS TO DO THAT TO CELEBRITIES. Many idols have been victims of physical , sexual abuse not to mention they had to to "favors" to get in a group. Some very well known actresses /models did commit suicide over things like this... To those who still don't believe things like this please google Eugene Park http://talk.collegeconfidential.com...ugene-park-tortured-and-abused-by-agency.html He was a very famous kid prodigy electric violinist who has suffered from torments of abuse , torture and much more by agents.

http://seoulbeats.com/2012/06/celebrity-suicides-an-unfortunate-trend/ This link shows some famous actresses who commited suicides Jang Ja Yeon Scandal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jang_Ja-yeon According to South Korean reports, Jang claimed that her agent Kim Sung-hoon had regularly beaten her and forced her to have sex with a string of VIPs, including directors, media executives and CEOs."
(stolen from reddit)

Additional context: There is a hugepressure on youths in Korea to be financially successful, to protect the family name etc. Young people in korea are under a lot of stress, and I cannot say whether the culture of suicide preceeded the growing pressures on youths or not - there have been a large number of well-known people commiting suicide.

Korea has the 3rd highest rate in OECD countries - with their suicide rate doubling in the past decade. However, in korea, culturally, suicide is seen as an individual problem and so far there is no organisational, private or non profit attempts at solving this problem. wiki:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_South_Korea

ESPORTS CONTEXT
While it might seem like an issue about match fixing - (which has rocked the korean scene in 2010 - ie: broodwar matchfixing) - this issue highlights the weaknesses of the current infrastructure to "protect the kids". This was basically exploitation - the entire team of "ahq" korea was exploited by manager noh, and while trace and actscene have gone off and are still in the pro-scene, it has left lasting damage on others.
 
Woah.....that's a damn shame. What has this world come too?

Exploiting the young for their own gain no matter what the cost to the people affected is a sad story that's been told over and over again.

What's really wild to me is that despite all this craziness this team almost actually made it to the round of eight that season of Champions.

Awful stuff about Promise though.
 

HORRORSHØW

Member
hoping for a speedy and full recovery. sad that korea is embroiled in such scandalous acts. also sad that i share the same last name as the manager. disgusting.
 

zkylon

zkylewd
SOCIAL CONTEXT
(stolen from reddit)

Additional context: There is a hugepressure on youths in Korea to be financially successful, to protect the family name etc. Young people in korea are under a lot of stress, and I cannot say whether the culture of suicide preceeded the growing pressures on youths or not - there have been a large number of well-known people commiting suicide.

Korea has the 3rd highest rate in OECD countries - with their suicide rate doubling in the past decade. However, in korea, culturally, suicide is seen as an individual problem and so far there is no organisational, private or non profit attempts at solving this problem. wiki:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_South_Korea

ESPORTS CONTEXT
While it might seem like an issue about match fixing - (which has rocked the korean scene in 2010 - ie: broodwar matchfixing) - this issue highlights the weaknesses of the current infrastructure to "protect the kids". This was basically exploitation - the entire team of "ahq" korea was exploited by manager noh, and while trace and actscene have gone off and are still in the pro-scene, it has left lasting damage on others.
this pretty much

this is all super tragic and seems like these kids are left completely alone

:( This is terrible.


Can't believe OGN is fixing games too.
probably not ogn's that's fixing these matches, tho wouldn't completely rule it out

i'd imagine it's most on that coach if all of this is true. sounds like a monster

i wonder if any other of the players confirmed any of this
 
Grimløck;104153946 said:
hoping for a speedy and full recovery. sad that korea is embroiled in such scandalous acts. also sad that i share the same last name as the manager. disgusting.
happened in EU also, clg.eu was caught twice smurfing a few years ago in amateur cash tournaments.
Sure match fixing is nothing new to other regions.
 

Omega

Banned
Why do people never listen to Herm Edwards when he said "You play to win the game"

I mean yeah he said that regarding football, but it applies to everything. Even if what this scumbag was saying was true, another person would have came and sponsored them.

It's LoL, the biggest competitive game ever. If you can win in this game and be successful, you'll get a sponsor.
 

jabuseika

Member
I wonder what the overall repercussions of this will be.

LoL is pretty big right now, I'd dare say the biggest eSports has ever been.

Back when the match-fixing scandal hit BW, many sponsors got scared and backed off, this shrunk the eSports scene back then.

Will sponsors get worried about this and stop taking chances? this is the kind of scandal that can ruin games.
 

Cyrano

Member
Analyzing the suicides up to 2003, Park and Lester note that unemployment was a major factor, and that "cultural tradition of filial obligation is not congruent with the increasingly competitive, specialized labor market of the modern era." In South Korea, it has been the traditional duty of children to take care of their parents. In the modern economy it is more difficult, so the elderly are sacrificing themselves by committing suicide so to lessen the burden on the children.
I would say that this along with the idea that depression and suicide are "individual" problems and not societal ones are probably a big part of the problem but also point out an endemic blind spot in the culture.

The fact that a dumb SAT score system is leading people to suicide is horrible and, at the same time, unsurprising.

(fuck capitalism for making a certain group of the population filthy rich and yet still utterly miserable; seriously, who could think of a system that more perfectly ascribes the misery of everyone collectively?)
 

Boken

Banned
I wonder what the overall repercussions of this will be.

LoL is pretty big right now, I'd dare say the biggest eSports has ever been.

Back when the match-fixing scandal hit BW, many sponsors got scared and backed off, this shrunk the eSports scene back then.

Will sponsors get worried about this and stop taking chances? this is the kind of scandal that can ruin games.

the title of the OP is a little misleading

this is a matchfixing problem SECOND - it is a worker exploitation issue FIRST

with that in reference, the impact on organisations will be minimal - it however, might make kids less likely to take risks in regard to esports

I would say that this along with the idea that depression and suicide are "individual" problems and not societal ones are probably a big part of the problem but also point out an endemic blind spot in the culture.

The fact that a dumb SAT score system is leading people to suicide is horrible and, at the same time, unsurprising.

(fuck capitalism for making a certain group of the population filthy rich and yet still utterly miserable; seriously, who could think of a system that more perfectly ascribes the misery of everyone collectively?)

i appreciate your comment, but imo it is not really a 'capitalism' issue - a lot of this stems from concepts of filial piety. Filial piety has very deep roots within asian culture and operates very strongly. the concept of 'face' (reputation), family honour and success are tied with each other. you dont get rich to be rich, you get rich to bring honour to your family. you dont suicide because your SAT score sucks, you suicide because youre useless to your family.
 

jabuseika

Member
the title of the OP is a little misleading

this is a matchfixing problem SECOND - it is a worker exploitation issue FIRST

with that in reference, the impact on organisations will be minimal - it however, might make kids less likely to take risks in regard to esports

Yeah, I did some more reading.

If what people are saying is true, what happened to this kid ruined his life, that's terrible. His eSports career was pretty much all he had, since his father ran away from his family at an early stage, and they were really poor.

Twitter tells me police are currently on the hunt for this manager person, I hope they catch him before he get's out of the country.
 

Tagyhag

Member
Exploitation stories like these really anger me, but I'm glad he's still alive. I'm hoping he takes that as a sign.

The entertainment industry of Korea has such a dark side, and you don't know who's involved.
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
A fucking shame.

KeSPA needs to get their ass into gear for player unions and protection. Hell, RIOT might even intervene since they actually micro manage everything.

It's easy to see the glamor of A-teams and big prize money and forget all the B and C teamers who earn $0-$300 a month and are giving up things in a society that pressures them much more.
 

Cyrano

Member
i appreciate your comment, but imo it is not really a 'capitalism' issue - a lot of this stems from concepts of filial piety. Filial piety has very deep roots within asian culture and operates very strongly. the concept of 'face' (reputation), family honour and success are tied with each other. you dont get rich to be rich, you get rich to bring honour to your family. you dont suicide because your SAT score sucks, you suicide because youre useless to your family.
Much as I'm aware this is an issue, it's also overstated for the younger generation particularly. I am not attempting to deny the importance of family for the younger generation, but I will argue that the younger generation are not committing suicide because they feel useless to their family. They may feel displaced, because a societal result of being "useless" to your family tends to mean that you get pushed out of the one place you should feel comfortable, your home. What's more, the schism also happens at the same time when a person is typically most vulnerable, that is the later teen years post-high school. College is treated almost like an exodus, with overly-high expectations about what results you come back with. The expectations of South Korean society tend to be towards everyone living a dream that the economy can't sustain which is based on a culture that can't possibly sustain it, given that the manner in which land ownership works has changed drastically from that of a hundred years ago (which is where much of the filial support for families-in-families originates for most South Koreans today).

The elders in family committing suicide is not unheard of exactly, but it's also quite a bit more rare than suicide in the younger generation though the "claimed" reasons for it are similar (being a financial burden). The actual reasons are far more diverse, but the increase in social anxiety for these countries really can't be understated when addressing how different of an issue it is from one generation to the next.
 

Bgamer90

Banned
Really screwed up. Watched a documentary on competitive gamers a while back and they have to put up with a lot of garbage.
 

SirCrush

Member
For pro gaming's sake, this story needs to hit mainstream media and blow UP on gaming outlets.

I hope the dude recovers.
 
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