The news that Qiming Team (formerly Dawn Team) had changed its general at the last minute and secured new investment was not deliberately concealed, and quickly spread in the esports circle.
When the Star Sea Cup organizers, especially CEO Lin Haoming, learned that a team had its core members poached by other capital at such a critical moment, almost leading to the team's disbandment and affecting the integrity of the competition, an uncontrollable surge of anger instantly welled up in his heart.
In his opinion, this was not just an unethical act against one team, but also a contempt and destruction of the Star Sea Cup event brand he had painstakingly built!
He could not tolerate anyone stirring up trouble on his playing field with such underhanded tactics.
He immediately picked up the phone and dialed Qin Feng's number, his tone filled with barely suppressed indignation:
"Mr. Qin! Have you heard? The ADC of 'Dawn Team' was poached with money right before the offline tournament! This is absolutely outrageous! This completely disregards the rules and is destroying the competition environment we worked so hard to establish!
Shouldn't we do something? Like punishing the club that poached him? Or introducing temporary regulations to prohibit such transfers during critical periods?"
On the other end of the phone, Qin Feng listened to Lin Haoming's fiery narration, but his expression was unusually calm, as if he had long anticipated such an event.
He waited for Lin Haoming to finish before slowly speaking, his voice steady and showing no ripples:
"Mr. Lin, I understand your feelings.
It is indeed unpleasant to see such a setback in a competition you have meticulously prepared."
He changed the subject, his tone becoming calm, even somewhat cold:
"However, what is the basis for your demand for punishment now? Our official body currently has no written, clear regulations regarding player transfer windows, contract norms, or poaching behavior between clubs."
Lin Haoming was momentarily stumped.
Qin Feng continued his calm analysis: "A player accepting a higher offer from another club and choosing to leave, from a purely commercial logic perspective, is a market behavior where one is willing to offer and the other is willing to accept.
We cannot sanction them based on 'morality' or 'feelings'.
At this stage, our esports industry is like a newly discovered Western wilderness, full of gold but also full of swamps.
Everyone is staking their claims, rules have yet to be established, and this kind of disordered, even somewhat barbaric competition, is an inevitable growing pain."
"Are we just going to stand by and watch them mess things up? Is this fair to the teams that are seriously preparing for the competition?" Lin Haoming still felt somewhat indignant.
"Fairness?" Qin Feng chuckled softly, with a hint of detachment that comes from seeing through the ways of the world, "Absolute fairness has never existed.
What we need to do now is not rush to become referees and intervene in every specific transaction.
Our primary task is to ensure that the 'Star Sea Cup' itself can be held smoothly and spectacularly."
He gave instructions with a firm tone: "'Qiming Team' found a solution; this is their capability, and it also demonstrates the self-healing ability of this ecosystem.
What you need to do now is to focus all your energy on successfully organizing the upcoming offline finals.
The more successful the competition, the higher the attention it receives, the more weight our voice will carry when we formulate rules in the future."
He paused slightly, giving Lin Haoming time to digest, then offered a more long-term perspective:
"After this competition ends, we will systematically address these issues.
Establishing an alliance, formulating a unified player contract template, setting a standardized transfer window, establishing an arbitration mechanism... But all of this takes time and needs to be built on the foundation that our event brand is strong enough, and all participants cannot do without our platform."
"As for the players' own choices..." Qin Feng finally added, with a hint of subtle depth in his tone, "That is also part of the growth they need to experience.
Being tempted by money, or pursuing what they believe to be a better future, are all their freedoms, and they also need to bear the corresponding consequences themselves.
We cannot, and do not need to, be responsible for all players' life choices."
After listening to Qin Feng's insightful and extremely calm analysis, the anger in Lin Haoming's chest gradually subsided, replaced by a deeper contemplation.
He realized that he might still be looking at this emerging industry with a traditional business mindset, while Qin Feng saw the evolutionary laws and future landscape of the entire ecosystem.
"I understand, Mr. Qin." Lin Haoming took a deep breath, his tone returning to its usual composure, "I was a bit impatient.
Don't worry, I know what to do now, and the offline tournament will definitely be well-organized.
As for the rules... we will push for them in detail after the competition."
After hanging up the phone, Lin Haoming gathered the event team and issued instructions no longer about investigation or condemnation, but about going all out to ensure the perfect presentation of the offline tournament.
At the same time, he also secretly instructed the legal and operations teams to begin researching and drafting various regulations that a future professional league might need.
As for Qin Feng, he quietly made another note on his strategic map—the establishment of order after the competition was urgent.
This small disturbance behind the scenes of the Star Sea Cup, like a drop of ink falling into water, quickly diffused and then quietly settled, without affecting the spotlight on stage.
However, it clearly indicated that with the deep involvement of capital, China's league of legends esports, on its path to professionalization, is bound to experience more clashes and compromises between rules and desires, order and chaos.
The "Wild West Era" of esports is unfolding.
And Qin Feng is the pioneer holding the map, calmly guiding the direction, ready to erect boundary markers at the appropriate time.