Aui_2000: “Don’t lose sight of why everyone plays Dota, look to be kind and thoughtful”

In a blog post, Aui_2000 disclosed his opinions regarding the broadcast talent at TI10, TORONTOTOKYO’s ‘ez game’ all-chat, and many more.

Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling posted a lengthy blog revealing his thoughts about recent events and especially his journey at TI10. Aui_2000 is known as a former TI champion in 2015 under Evil Geniuses’ banner. In 2021, he started becoming active as a broadcast talent and he was then invited as an analyst at TI10.

In his blog, he touched on many things including the broadcast talent and the hosts of TI10 that received immense backlash. He also broadly talked about toxicity in Dota 2, highlighting the Alexander "TORONTOTOKYO" Khertek all-chat, general toxicity in pubs, and the backlash against TI10 broadcast talents.

Aui_2000 talks about the broadcast talent

Pre-TI10, Valve announced 32 English broadcast talents that would attend the event, including Aui_2000. That would be his first-ever TI appearance as a broadcast talent and not a player or coach. He wrote down his thoughts on what he felt about the ‘casting scene’.

The thing I respect the most about the casting scene is that it is full of people who will go out of their way to help others succeed. I can honestly say that I enjoyed working with literally everyone in the talent crew, and I think that atmosphere makes the events better.

Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling

During the WePlay Animajor, Aui_2000 was a part of the broadcast talent. He reflected on what he learned throughout his short journey as a Dota talent.

Aui_2000 at the WePlay Animajor. Credit: WePlay Holding
Aui_2000 at the WePlay Animajor. Credit: WePlay Holding

I think I came into my first LAN at the AniMajor with a good understanding of the technical side of things (Dota knowledge, thinking processes for understanding the game, etc.), but I got incredibly lucky that the rest of the talent team taught me how to use that technical side to produce a good show. I learned a lot about how helping others look good will lead to a better result.

Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling

He equated the Dota talent synergy to an in-game scenario. “It’s like in Dota, where sometimes even the carry has to go in and bait that perfect epicentre to secure the teamfight.”

Aui_2000 then elaborated on the struggles of the broadcast talent work. “Something that I’ve mentally disrespected is the hours necessary to develop good talent synergy and what that requires at events. I think the hours for talent work are far less compared to playing or coaching, but they can still be demanding at events," he said.

Aui_2000 comments on Dota 2's toxicity

He praised the complexity of Dota 2 that makes the game loved by many. “ I think Dota 2 has the highest highs, an incredible skill ceiling with infinite things to improve on, and a level of complexity that makes it feel like a self-moderating ecosystem.“ He then touched on the underbelly of Dota 2 and how its competitive nature can also brew negativity. 

Oftentimes, I feel like people playing the game have lost sight of having fun in the game. Maybe it’s the desire to improve or to climb MMR, or frustration at being unable to climb towards Dota’s insane skill ceiling, but I think it brings out the worst in people.

It’s sad because I think the Dota community also has some of the kindest and most passionate people I’ve met, but there’s some weird toxic gatekeeping barrier you need to get past first.

Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling

The all-chat shenanigan at TI10

At TI10, in an elimination series between Team Spirit and OG, TORONTOTOKYO typed an ‘ez game’ all-chat to his opponent.

There were mixed reactions from the community regarding the bad-manner incident. Some feel that a pinch of BM spices up the scene, some have their own subjective judgment on where the line is drawn, and for another side of the community, even chat-wheeling shouldn’t be tolerated. Right after the all-chat incident, Aui_2000 posted a tweet on the issue.

“I’ve always seen all chat as pretty BM, and while admittedly committing some slippery slope fallacy, my mind jumped to future players straight flaming on the TI stage.” Aui_2000 said.

However, he acknowledged that it wasn’t a ‘great tweet’ for a couple of reasons.

I think the tweet comes off as being offended for OG, which simply isn’t true. I just thought that all chatting in a TI elimination game was not what I wanted to see.

Having experienced losing at TI multiple times, it just felt off that people were all chatting in those circumstances. That being said, TTY (TORONTOTOKYO) has never lost at TI, but that wasn’t something I considered at all.

Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling

TORONTOTOKYO was indeed a first-timer at TI stage, including 3 of his teammates from Team Spirit. Aui_2000 then disclosed that he also doesn’t want a squeaky clean, restricted scene in Dota 2 in fear that the competitive scene loses its personality.

“I don’t want an Overwatch or Kespa BW scene where I think the moderators detract from the game. I think Valve does a pretty good job at reading the community emotional line and moderating off that line.” said Aui_2000.

Personally, I don’t like offensive tips, and I think a lot of the chat wheels and tipping features are done with the understanding that there is nothing pure enough on the internet that cannot be turned negative. You can have a chat wheel saying “I love you”, and it would be used negatively.

I think having this moderating voice (Valve-added features) is better than all chatting, but to be honest, I think the community does most of the moderating with their feedback.

Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling

Aui_2000 touched on other BMs in pro scene

Before TI10, the all-chat incident that took the Dota 2 community by storm, was from Emo of Invictus Gaming, where he all-chatted a question mark. At TI10, TORONTOTOKYO wasn’t the first person to all-chat the opponent. Johan "N0tail" Sundstein from OG and Héctor Antonio "K1" Rodríguez from beastcoast also had their share of BM and Aui_2000 touched on these specific instances.

N0tail's question mark against Alliance.
N0tail's question mark against Alliance.

I found the “ez game” distasteful because it was all chat while eliminating a team from TI. That doesn’t mean I’m correct, and people will form their own opinion of it. I also didn’t like when N0tail wrote a “?” and really didn't like when Hector wrote “ctm gaa” in all chat  I did like when Emo wrote “?” after being stomped for two games then having a comeback after a rough Game 3, and I didn’t mind when N0tail wrote out Avo+’s voiceline. So maybe that’s hypocritical? I don’t really know.

Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling

Aui_2000 wishes to see players and streamers spread positivity

It is not a foreign issue that certain influential players and streamers in the community tend to display toxic behavior. For Aui_2000 he believes they don’t have a direct responsibility to spread an appropriate image, however, it would be for the greater good of the community.

I don’t think any streamer or pro should be forced to behave fake-positive, but I wish they wanted to, and I think the positivity would be beneficial for them personally as well as for the scene. I hope that there will be demand for additional systems to deal with game-ruiners and toxicity, and that public-facing individuals will be held to a higher standard.

Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling

Aui_2000 speaks out for the hosts at TI10

After the grand annual event ended, some excessive backlash and insensitive comments were thrown to the broadcast talent. Frankie Ward especially was under the spotlight amongst the chaos. The backlash from the community caused the broadcast talent to reciprocate. 

Aui_2000 also gave his thoughts on this issue in his blog post.

I’d also like to address how the community treated the three new hosts of this TI: Frankie, Sumi, and Avo+. I think there’s a huge difference between giving feedback and lashing out to push people down, and I think the vast majority of what I saw was the latter. It was so much so that it became impossible to differentiate feedback from indiscriminate hate, so any semblance of useful criticism got lost.

Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling
Frankie was one of the hosts at TI10.
Frankie was one of the hosts at TI10.

He explained that preference is completely acceptable, however, the way the community expresses their distaste can be better. “Reading some of the comments at some point, I felt like people were just channeling their most distasteful selves and throwing it at the hosts,” he said.

A closing message

Aui_2000 ended his lengthy post with appreciation towards the people around him and his wishes for Dota 2 to continuously grow.

To conclude, I’m thankful for the opportunity to work with so many talented people. I want this game to thrive forever because it’s the best game, and I hope everyone reading this feels the same way. Don’t lose sight of why everyone plays Dota, and look to be kind and thoughtful.

Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling

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