And here we are. Another annual The International event, only this time with thousands of flaws that took its participants and community on a rampage. This TI is the MOST SCUFFED TI event ever. It lacks a decent prize pool, and something that’s been hurting participants sharing the main stage is lousy soundproofing.
Valve’s The International is the most prestigious tournament for a reason where the organization masterminds gather around, smooth out, and tackle issues if any arise. This year has been different, and TI 2022 or TI 11is on its way to being remembered as one of the worst in history. Lousy broadcasts, echo, and, most importantly, missing soundproof booths. Yes, professionals have already come around and reported that they could hear the casters in the background, despite the soundproof headphones—a sort of treachery and betrayal.
Over on Reddit, there have been multiple reports that PROS have heard the casters revealing crucial information. Every Smoke, RUNES, Rosh, Ganks, etc. It all imposes grave danger for the tournament outcome, and the ones that can exploit this information will likely benefit in the long run.
First, XinQ, PSG LGD’s player, reported that they could hear casters talk but didn’t understand well enough. Shortly after, Gaimin Gladiators said in an interview that they listened to a SMOKE callout, which provided an increase in AWARENESS.
GG vs Fnatic winner: "You can hear everything. Smokes, runes, ganks, roshs" from DotA2
These occurrences are destroying Valve’s integrity, sincerity, and honesty. In this way, no one can accept the winner, no matter the outcome. What’s even more exciting is to see that PGL, the organization behind the tournament, is twisting this completely around by lowering the in-venue sound.
Mira and Collapse, two former TI champions from Team Spirit, have come out with a statement on the lousy soundproofing.
Mira and Collapse speak out about bad soundproofing on TI11 from DotA2
What do you think about this? Are Valve and PGL going to turn things around? I mean, who’s up to blame? Valve or PGL? There are so many questions lingering around, and not a single word by the organizers.
