Wegen zu viel Hass: Pulse wechselt in die LPL

Wer den Riot Stream der EU LCS verfolgt, dem ist Richard ‚Pulse‘ Kam ein Begriff. Schon früh begann er als Caster und schaffte mit einem Zwischenhalt in der Challenger Series in relativ kurzer Zeit den Sprung in das Team der EU LCS. Dort war er neben dem Casting auch für Interviews zuständig. Nun wechselt der 21-Jährige in das Riot Oceania Office, um von dort die chinesische LPL zu casten. Der Grund: zu viel negative Rückmeldung seitens der Community.

Pulse gehört weder zum alten Eisen, wie beispielsweise David ‚Phreak‘ Turley oder Trevor ‚Quickshot‘ Henry, noch zu den inzwischen etablierten und durchaus beliebten ‚Nachzüglern‘ wie Martin ‚Deficio‘ Lynge. Kurz nach seinem LCS-Debüt handelte er sich viel Kritik ein. Während eines Interviews mit AD-Carry Konstantinos ‚FORG1VEN‘ Tzortziou, wo dieser einen emotionalen Gefühlsausbruch, als er verkündete, dass er zum Militärdienst berufen wurde und dadurch sein Team und die LCS frühzeitig verlassen müsse, wirkte der Caster wenig souverän. 

Pulse, der mit dem Gefühlsausbruch weder gerechnet hatte noch sich darauf vorbereiten konnte, führte das Interview planmäßig weiter ohne auf die Gegebenheiten einzugehen. Der Aufschrei der Community war riesig und Pulse erntete größtenteils Unverständnis oder sogar Hass. Sein Ruf in der Community sank im Verlaufe des Jahres immer weiter.

Nun, knapp ein Jahr nach dem Interview, zieht Pulse einen Schlussstrich und verlässt die EU LCS. Über Facebook meldete er sich mit einem ausführlichen Statement und erklärte, dass er den Druck aus der Community nicht mehr ertragen möchte und der Meinung sei, dass sowohl er als auch die Zuhörer einen Reset bräuchten. Er hofft, dass er, sobald er wieder auf die internationale Bühne tritt, positiver aufgenommen wird.

Statement Richard ‚Pulse‘ Kam

I will be leaving EU LCS and joining the casting lineup for LPL in 2017. …What?! You saw correctly, Reader. I came to the realization that I needed a reset and the audience in EU does too. This isn’t a speedrun for me, I plan to be in casting for the long haul. When people see me on screen, the automatic reaction is negative and regardless of whether that’s justified or not, that sentiment won’t change if viewers insta-mute the stream or have already decided that anything I say will be garbage. To that end, I decided that I want to cast for a different audience and give my current one a breather while I #GetGood.

This year was my most turbulent year in terms of progress. Spring was where I started to make real inroads and despite almost everyone remembering the infamous FORG1VEN interview (The funny thing is we’re on pretty good terms, even before) I got a lot better at casting and being comfortable on big stages. Summer wasn’t great, the community pressure was tough to deal with and if anyone knows me in    real life I’m REALLY bad at telling people when I’m going through a hard time until it’s too late. However, I picked it back up again thanks to my team and took a structured approach to the next few months which included Worlds and the off-season gauntlet of 5 events back to back. Internally at Riot and externally, surprisingly on platforms I’m usually bashed on, I was praised for a lot of my work which made it all worthwhile. This is a big step for me and my career and at the end of the day it’s to provide more and better entertainment to the fans and audiences that watch the shows I’m on. Therefore, I want you to be involved in the process too.

I already talk to a lot of viewers who reach out to me on Twitter and I will start being more vocal on other platforms. I’ve been a long-time lurker and I probably read more comments about myself than is necessary (or healthy in most cases) so I have a pretty good idea of what each subset of the audience thinks about me. So if you happen to be awake at some unholy   hour of the morning/evening, catch LPL and hear me cast, feel free to drop me some feedback- positive or negative! I know I still have a lot to learn, but I know I also have the ability to grow. I’ve been casting actively since 2011, professionally for almost two years and I just turned 21 in December. It goes without saying but I’m a young guy, I pretty much left high school and became a full time commentator. So a lot of the life lessons people pick up I’m still learning and truthfully things like being in the public eye and receiving thousands upon thousands of opinions on everything you do isn’t something you get trained for. My resolution for this year is going to be „ask for help” and if you’re around my age I would suggest trying it too. Not doing so was one of the biggest mistakes I made in 2016, often the people around you are more than happy to assist if you ask politely and timely BUT it can be hard, especially if you’re more introverted like I am.

Consider this my training  arc. Every half decent anime protag has to go through one and 2017 will be mine. I hope that with the time away and the experience I will acquire from the Aussies I’ll return to international screens better than I’ve ever been. If I had to pick some goals it would be that when you see me next, Pulse WutFaces will be Pulse PogChamps, and forum threads won’t read „I hate his hair, he’s the biggest Weeb imaginable and his casting sucks” and it’ll just be the first two. Seriously though, I want to be good enough to the point where it’s no longer a dispute as to whether my work is good or bad and instead, people choose to like or dislike me on other factors like my personality or the fact I am indeed a disgusting weeb (not going to change). Thanks for taking the time to read what I had to say. Stay awesome, friends. -Richard / Pulse El. Psy. Congroo.