Chicago Huntsmen’s Seth ‘Scump’ Abner has revealed what he thinks is the biggest difference between playing the Call of Duty League online versus when it was on LAN – and it’s not the connection.
Just like many other major esports leagues across the world, the Call of Duty League has had to make some serious changes due to the ongoing global health crisis, the biggest being a transition from LAN tournaments to online play.
While almost all professional esport players would much prefer LAN play to online – due to a lack of internet connectivity issues and putting opposing teams or players on a more level field – this just wasn’t possible for the CDL.
And, while internet connectivity can completely change how matches play out and certain things that happen in-game, Scump doesn’t believe it is the toughest part about their switch to online play.
Instead, Scump says, he has spoken with teammate, Alec ‘Arcitys’ Sanderson, and they believe the toughest factor in playing their CDL matches online is actually getting into the correct mindset.
“The biggest thing about moving to online, is just the sheer ability to get fully focused for a match,” he said. “It’s just so hard to go as hard in a match when you’re just sitting in the room that you play in every single day.”
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He wrapped up his thought process, saying “It’s hard to mentally be like ‘Okay, this is a match.’ It’s weird.”
While we’ve seen a number of professional CoD players, including the likes of OpTic Gaming’s Austin ‘SlasheR’ Liddicoat, complain about having to play online and how much they struggle, the complaints are usually based around connectivity issues.
What Scump says here does make sense, adding another layer to yet another complex dynamic that is playing online instead of LAN. The issue, however, doesn’t look like it will be rectified too soon — so players are going to have to make sure they can find a way to get in the zone when each Home Series rolls around.