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Earlier this week, TNC support player Tims ran into a spot of controversy when he made a few comments about the mobile esports game, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) on his livestream. These comments caused quite a backlash in subsequent streams with many from the Dota 2 community and the MLBB community engaging in a war of words in social media.
Some of the popular figures in the Filipino esports scene have also published their opinions on this matter.
Filipino Esports Personalities’ Thoughts On The Mobile Legends - Dota 2 Debate
Following Tims’ comments, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang personality Akosi Dogie (who has over 4.5 million followers on his Facebook Page), commented on this issue in a livestream which has since been deleted.
Akosi Dogie stated that he did not have an issue with Tims’ comments, but added that the pro-Dota 2 player would not have spoken like he did if the community was not toxic. “Ang masahol nun, nakisawsaw ang iba, guys. Yun ang pinakapanget dun,” he added.
He concluded by stating: “That is his opinion. What do you want me to do? That's Tim's opinion! Respect it.”
Akosi Dogie, however, also engaged in a heated conversation with Filipino esports commentator Sh1n Boo.
Nico "KuyaNic" Nazario from Wombo X Combo commented that even though it was just an opinion, he felt that Tims’ statement was a bit ‘wrong’. He felt that Tims and the rest of the influencers should set a good example to their followers and not trash talk other games even though there is thrill, hype and even excitement in it.
"Mga idol ko relax lang kuha ko punto nyo. May mali ung statement ni tims personal opinion nya yon pero malaki following nya, for Sh1nboo naman na generalize yung community hindi naten masisisi kahit na sarcasm lang yung aim.
Bugso lang ng damdamin yan mga idol! Isang industriya tayo. Alam ko may thrill, hype pati excitement sa trashtalk pero set example tayo mga lods. Tayo yung pinpapanuod nila araw2x sana maging good example tayo sa mga following naten.
For our Dota and ML community naman enjoy whatever game you play wala tayong dapat patunayan.
PS. Ancient ako sa Dota, Legend ako sa ML parehas ako bobo don. Ako nga underlords laro ko 30k nalang player e laro naren kayo."
Filipino Esports host, Eri Neeman also commented on the matter stating that he felt that the biggest backlash to Tims’ comments came because he stated: "Mobile Gamers are not gamers". He stated that he disagreed with that statement.
“Gamers are people who enjoy playing games. Period. There are many different kinds of gamers. But we are all part of one community.”
In a follow-up post, he urged other content creators and influencers to be more responsible with their content.
A lot more Filipino esports personalities from both sides of the fence have also spoken about the matter. However, one opinion that has been voiced out more often than not is that mobile gamers should also be considered as gamers.
