VLR: A Dissection
On a small corner of the internet with only 11,000 total users, there is a website dedicated to the Valorant e-sport. It has information on games, matches, tournaments, vods, and statistics of all kinds relating to agents, maps, and teams across Valorant. It is just one of many user-made websites dedicated to furthering the e-sports community and the general informative side of it. But if you look closer, this specific website has developed its very own subculture in the forums page. A much smaller number of users lurk around the forums than there are users on the website (we only know it’s less than the 11,000 that use the site), and in that breeding ground of gamers something special and unique was born.
Created 4 years ago, VLR is dedicated to providing a simple platform that people from all levels of the game can use for a variety of reasons. It has many features, but we will be focusing on specifically the forum side because that is where you get direct interactions between users. The other features will only be reviewed in the context of the forums. To start off, the users of the site are all interested in Valorant in one way or another. It only attracts people who have been in the scene long enough to have heard about the website and who have taken some time to research. This is generalized and can be taken with a grain of salt, because showing an interest does not mean you actually know a lot about the game or are very knowledgeable about Valorant. What it does mean is that people are familiar with the topics at hand and can provide opinions on discussion. Now, there are 3 main types of people that branch off our main user type: the shitposters, the intellectuals, and the baiters. The shitposters are simple creatures. They never post their own opinions, but commonly regurgitate common lingo and internet trends. They will post things like “y0y” and “S0nt0n0ls”, simply replacing all vowels with a zero (a common way to make fun of somebody or a whole team). They may also post internet wide trends and shitposts that have nothing to do with Valorant in the “off topic” channel. The intellectuals are my personal favourite user, because they engage in discussions about Valorant e-sports, unlike the other two groups. These users will make posts, replies, and comments, using the app as originally intended. They may not have a lot of knowledge, and occasionally post bad takes, but they push through all of the usual internet filth to talk like human beings to each other. They may also voice their grievances on the other two groups from time to time.
I’ve reserved a whole paragraph for the baiters because they are what occupy the largest number of threads. The baiters are people who run rampant of VLR, posting bad takes in order to make people angry (rage bait). These people may use caps lock to emphasize their points, post many threads in a short amount of time, or affiliate themselves with one team and promote them no matter if they are good or bad. These people may be mistaken with users in the “intellectual” category who post bad takes and actually believe in them. Other users will think it is bait because of how outlandish their claims are, but in reality, they are just misinformed. Because of the prevalence of baiting, a system has been created to “rate” baits on how believable they are on a scale of 0/0-8/8. If a bait is too obvious, people will say 0/8, but if it is successful in baiting, users will rate it 8/8 (and anywhere in between). There is also a final, secret VLR user. They don’t show up often and lurk to avoid detection, but they’re there. I am of course talking about professional players who have accounts. They carry the verified tag and only appear once in a blue moon. There is no sign that they will show up, but as you scroll the forums pages their checkmark will appear before your eyes. That thread will then go absolutely crazy, because the objects of the countless discussions VLR users engage in has shown up in the flesh.
The last unique feature of VLR that isn’t immediately obvious is the size. The number of users who engage in forum discussion is so small that you can recognize many users on the site. Popular names start to rise, like n1cf, bulkylettuce, cloudberry, and Canadaman. These users begin to build personas on the site that will be recognized by most users. Some even gain notoriety and will be discussed by other users in threads. Some will even receive the “0” treatment if they are a known baiter. This fact reveals something that has an even greater impact on the community: it is very small. Most internet and online communities are so large that only prominent figures in the genre are recognized, but on VLR, average people can get there simply by being involved. It is possible for anybody to achieve a level of popularity that is significantly higher than anywhere else on the internet. Its why popular trends will come and go so quickly; there is only so many people that need to understand and replicate it to be considered mainstream of VLR. It also has the affect that everyone is on the same page. There is no isolation on VLR because VLR itself is the isolation. It is a community that is much more like a small town than a big city. This community is even smaller than our own town! It is remarkable to think that I have a better chance of knowing someone on this site than I do knowing someone in my own hometown.
In conclusion, VLR is a small community that has evolved to have its own unique culture. It takes inspiration off of gaming and e-sports culture and combines it with small town culture to create a place that is not like any other. Through whatever happens, the VLR community persists in its struggle to stay relevant to Valorant e-sports as a whole, and its not leaving anytime soon.
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