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Viewership vs Competitiveness: Which gets slots?

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#1
queueK

With a year of unimpressive play from minor regions in SEA, Japan, and even Brazil for a large part of the year the discussion about slot allocation comes up. In this debate, there are two predominant perspectives - slots based on fanbase, views, and playerbase pitted against slots being attributed solely to the ability of the teams. So, which is correct? With a limited 16 possible teams and almost 16 possible regions of competition, the slot allocation is vital.

Viewership and Fanbase
Valorant has done what no other esport has done in its first year of competition: surpassing a million peak concurrent viewers. It is an incredible and entirely unexpected feat for the very first international LAN event. Consequently, there was a large amount of media coverage regarding this impressive number - sparking comparisons to cs, future predictions, and setting expectations for every following event. Berlin also had a similar discussion, regarding low final view counts and impressive group stage matches between Sen and G2.

This focus on viewcounts from the viewers and fans of the game did not exist in previous years, it was regarded by most as an interesting bit of trivia after the event. Only due to accessible sites like escharts, has it become a matter of importance in Valorant. It permits teams not only based on their ability but also by the number of people willing to watch them - leading to the continued participation of perhaps less skilled teams such as Crazy Raccoons. This has, on the positive side, resulting in an ever-increasing Japanese viewerbase, fueling big peak view counts for otherwise boring matches.

Competitiveness
This is a very straightforward argument: the most exciting games will be between the best teams. It is logically sound, and often criticized for its lack of underdog stories and more predictable nature. However, this type of tournament still garners excitement and view counts, just look at CS's most recent major.

So, which one do you think is more important in slot allocation? Why? What is your ideal slot allocation for 2022, with regions including: NA, LATAM North, LATAM South, Brazil, Turkey, CIS, TUKN, Middle East, SEA, Japan, South Asia, Korea, and finally OCE.

#2
Sanaki
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INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY.

#4
queueK
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Are you then okay with boring matches, like the recent Secret vs Raccoons match? What should be done to decrease the gap between teams participating due to diversity and those earning their spot with ability?

#3
JokesOver
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Represent more regions to LAN . just like FIFA world cup. its the only way a region can grow

#6
queueK
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What if a region consistently underperforms, is there a point wherein they no longer are given the benefit of the doubt?

#8
JokesOver
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every region should atleast get 1 slot in a major tournament. including play in stages would be the best thing

#12
queueK
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I also think a play-in stage would be a good idea, however, it may be logistically difficult.

Would this mean regions like Turkey, who currently must compete against all of EMEA to achieve a position in Masters events, get a slot in the tournament? Or will the group qualification stage continue?

#14
JokesOver
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turkey and cis should be separated from EU then . 2 EU 1 CIS 1 Turkey i guess

#5
ShadowisBAD
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Na and emea same slots and other regions idk

#9
jblancard
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ratio

#7
Hidden_Name
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5 NA
5 EMEA
3 BR + LATAM (merge them)
2 CHINA
2 SEA
2 SA
3 KR +JP
1 OCE
1 MENA

#10
JokesOver
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OCE, MENA??

#11
Hidden_Name
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oce combined with NA or rather wait lemme edit

#13
SETSUZA
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Obviously I want most/all regions to have representation on the world stage, but there are definitely better ways to go about doing this. I think it would be interesting if Riot considered a play-in stage as part of the main event, similar to lol worlds, where the lower seeded teams/regions can compete within a intermediate lan event almost. For example, it would be super interesting to see teams like Australs, Northeption, DWG, competing against Guild, Alliance, XSET, Rise etc. as a final qualifier into the main tournament. Unfortunately with the current setup these types of matchups are effectively never going to happen because the only international events are the absolute eschelon of the competition.

#15
queueK
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I think there still is a chance for such an event to occur once the virus is no longer as serious (hopefully soon). The idea of pitting the best of the minor regions against the "second-best" of the major regions is very interesting. It ensures inclusion and diversity, yet also attempts to permit only the best teams into the most prestigious stage of the event.

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