Thread by @RLewisReports

Going to continue detailing my decade in esports but had a few people say "don't do it on Twitter... It's not the format for it. Write an article." Fuck that. This is a way to get content to my followers HERE. I'm already up to my neck in articles anyway. OWL fans gonna love me.

So around 2014 I was working on building up my own brand anyway. I was becoming a regular on podcasts and shows so I started my own, an esports phone-in called Trash Talk. Here's a clip from a very early show.

The show was originally broadcast on the @Streamgasm Twitch channel. I'd met the guys at a DreamHack and hit it off with them. One of their crew, Gareth, was the original co-host for Trash Talk. We didn't get too far before he got poached to go and do some stuff for ESL UK.

@Streamgasm I also did the Esports Heaven podcast with @JamesDuffield who went on to become a host and work for Twitch. He was always too good to be a cohost but he did all the tech shit as well. Here's an episode with Thorin and Slasher. No idea if it has aged well.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield Anyway because I was rep'd by GEM (which would go on to be bought by WME IMG) they suggested I start the shows up again as it was important to have a "presence" as well as the hosting gigs I was doing. I told them I needed a foil, someone to be Robin while I was Howard Stern.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield They told me they had some guy already on payroll who used to make their decks and record promo videos and stuff. Some kid from Wales. I said no shit, I'm a Welsh boy. They said he's from somewhere called Port Talbot. I said no shit, I used to live there. They connected us.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield That guy would turn out to be @lolbanelor (Sam to you lot) and we'd form a collaborative partnership that would last right up until now. Here's the first episode of the relaunch of Trash Talk with him making his debut.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor Trash Talk was always the show I enjoyed most. It connected me to my community and went far beyond just being a "call in" show. We did the Fiver stuff before Pewdiepie. We hired a psychic to make NiP win ESL One Cologne. It's a wild show.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor There was other content of course. Stuff that people forgot. The edgy League of Legends podcast First Blood I did with @brokenshard and @NintendudeX was cut short because of all the antics of the Reddit mods. We'll get to that.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX Worth adding I loved working with these guys. People memed on Ram but I always thought he was a good guy, a loyal friend and understood the game. Josh's time on the show was up and down due to health problems at the time but he soldiered on. Respect.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX Because of these shows GEM was able to get a deal with a company called Alphadraft to sponsor some podcasts about fantasy esports. The concept was "by the numbers," where we'd break down good fantasy picks, like sports fantasy podcasts.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX The original plan was to do a mega League of Legends show with Thorin, Montecristo and me all on it. However because of the stories I'd ran about Riot Games, along with endless Reddit drama, it was strongly intimated that the show would "run into problems" if I was involved.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX Alphadraft were also looking to do a Counter-Strike show too, with the original marquis talent being proposed was WarOwl. In the early pitches I think there was talk about it being him and me. I think he turned it down though and so it was me looking for a co-host.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX Thorin being Thorin he just said "fuck it I'll do both, give me that scrilla." By The Numbers was born. It was the first time I was ever sponsored for content. First few episodes were ropy as Alphadraft had given us a brief of making it "fantasy focused."

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX What was great about Alphadraft was that after a few episodes I told the guys that I didn't think the format was punchy and could we try just making it an irreverant podcast instead and play to our strengths. They agreed. It went on to become CS:GO's most popular podcast.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX Of course it wasn't all roses during this time. I'd really fucking pissed off Riot Games. Like they absolutely hated me with a passion to the point I went on to become an interview question, just like Montecristo. My work was a constant thorn in their side and they let me know.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX I eventually left Heaven Media and went to work over at The Daily Dot which had a much bigger circulation and got to work with the best editor I ever worked with @kmmokai . Kevin remains someone I admire immensely and someone I miss talking to and working with.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai Here, my remit was much bigger than before. Kevin helped me get away from news posts and the day to day of editing and instead let me focus on getting big stories. There was nothing bigger than the bullshit Riot Games would run on a daily basis.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai Yeah, it was me who was the first journalist to lay their hands on an LCS contract and run it by a lawyer for input into how fair it was.

dotesports.com/league-of-lege…

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai Yeah, it was me that revealed Riot Games had played down a security breach and told the full story of the extent of the hack.

dotesports.com/league-of-lege…

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai Yeah, it was me that revealed they were swooping in to fuck over the people that had lovingly dedicated their own time to the English LPL broadcast, casting aside some of the original team on the basis they didn't "fit in."

dotesports.com/league-of-lege…

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai Yeah, it was me who revealed they actively fucked over and suspended someone who is now one of their leading writers because he made fun of an LCS owner on Twitter.

dotesports.com/general/news/f…

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai The result of these stories were a lot of very unpleasant interactions. Riot staff warning me "I wasn't making any friends in this industry and should be careful." Suddenly I found press access to certain events and orgs drying up. It was confirmed privately Riot were the reason.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai As a lot of you guys know digital media was actually dying on its arse and clicks were important. The League of Legends subreddit was the busiest on the whole of Reddit when League was blowing up. It was essential to get on there. Unfortunately the mods were very deranged people.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai We'd already had an issue where they removed an article back when I was at Esports Heaven. It was about org Absolute Legends not paying out money to their players. The title was "Absolute Liars." The mods deleted the thread and demanded I changed the title as it was "too harsh."

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai I told them they weren't my editors and to go fuck themselves. One of the mods had done an NCTJ, an entry level training qualification for journalists in the UK, so thought he was the shit and could talk down to me. It wasn't pretty.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai During this time I told them "if you're suppressing my work then you are the story and I'll write that up. At that point you will be a public figure." The Gawker article outing the mod "violentacrez" was still fresh in the mind of many mods.

gawker.com/5950981/unmask…

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai The head mod at the time, who I liked as it happened, panicked and left the team, handing it over to someone else. This here, and none of the other bullshit, is the root of all the problems, a classic uncharitable interpretation of a disagreement that they started.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai And so I was on thin ice at The Daily Dot and the type of work I was doing was 1) despised by the community because it "attacked" the company that made their beloved game and 2) the type of content the mods had already censored and were going after again.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai I definitely feel this entire period would have gone differently if 1) I wasn't on a righteous indignation tip, 2) the community understood journalism and weren't kids (you'll notice they support it now they've grown up) and 3) the mods weren't aggressive towards journalists.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai They never seemed to get that while it was a space they curate, actively censoring reports so you could demand editorial input was never going to fly with any serious reporter or publication. They tried it anyway. Repeatedly.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai A forgotten casualty of this time was one of my proteges @WilliamTurton who was constantly fucked with by the mods. They demanded he revealed sources in one instance so they could "verify" a report to the community. The absolute nerve of this.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai @WilliamTurton I tell you all this for context ahead of the drama surrounding the ban from the subreddit and the many, many lies told about this time. There was an antagonistic relationship between journalists/content creators and the mods they have never tried to deescalate. FOR YEARS.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai @WilliamTurton They eventually decided to ban me from the subreddit and it would eventually lead to a "content ban." Even now, as 2020 starts, you can still be banned for typing my name, something they deny they do despite mountains of evidence that show it. It's not even the same mods anymore.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai @WilliamTurton Kevin and The Daily Dot did try and get me unbanned. It was in everyone's interests. The mods actually sent a list of demands to him. It always gives me a laugh. I am surprised they didn't ask for a helicopter to Cuba.

@Streamgasm @JamesDuffield @lolbanelor @brokenshard @NintendudeX @kmmokai @WilliamTurton There's a ways before the final chapter of that story anyway but this thread has been long enough and wraps up 2014 pretty well. 2015 was the big one. Started with the IBP story, ended with the DreamHack incident. You don't want to miss that one. See you next time.