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by Wu Lihua
Geneva, Switzerland - On the second morning of competition at the first Glory World Championships, the China Glory team arrived optimistic about the day ahead. After dominating the previous day’s competition going undefeated 3-0 and advancing to the quarterfinals, the national team was well-rested and well-prepared, ready for another day of intense battles in pursuit of the ultimate title: World Champions.
But what awaited players as they entered the competition venue Sunday morning was not the usual pre-game trash talk from their would-be opponents, but word that the Chinese team had been disqualified from participating due to illegal changes to their accounts. The changes were discovered during the check-in process, when players are required to go through a hack check before they enter the arena.
According to competition officials, changes made included alterations to account names and player classes, which are clear rules violations. Rulebooks state that all account-identifying information must match official team sheets submitted prior to the competition. Modifications to weapon names and guild affiliation were also reported, but these were not against the rules.
When I asked them about the sudden changes, the national team was happy to show me their team sheet and the accounts that had been tampered with. Strangely, some accounts seemed more altered than others. Some received changes in only the account name or class, while others only changed guilds. The account that received the most changes seems to be the account known as Lord Grim, famously used by the now retired Ye Xiu to sweep records in the tenth server and win season 10 of the Glory Pro League.
The infamous account — now dubbed “Stolord” for some unknown reason — was a member of “Guild Demeter.” He carried not the terrifyingly cool Myriad Manifestations Umbrella, but a weapon given the cutesy name “Kaleidoscope Parasol.” And his class was not blank, as most accounts that have not yet picked a class are, but was listed (in-game, officially) as a new class called “Omni.”
As an experienced reporter and Glory enthusiast who has reported on Lord Grim extensively ever since his tenth server mischief, I was completely blindsided by this whole experience — the account felt totally unrecognizable to me. In comparison to the Lord Grim who was the star and terror of season 10, “Stolord” felt like a shoddy parody. I instantly resented whoever was behind these poorly done reworks, but therein lies the mystery — no one knows who could have perpetrated the changes.
I asked the China Glory team if they had any idea who could have been the culprit, but the members were just as stumped as everyone else. The team has already put out an official statement on the matter: While they do not know who could have made the changes, they do know it could not have been one of the players.
“I can assure you that none of the members were aware of, let alone responsible for these changes. We do not have access to one another’s accounts and would not have been able to make such concerted changes all at once,” said Team Captain Yu Wenzhou. “Moreover, all of us know the weight of this competition and the risk that making such a mess would have caused for our continued participation. This whole situation is extremely upsetting, and as a player, I ask for your understanding and support as we investigate the matter.”
Captain Yu’s account, Swoksaar, was also a victim of the mysterious changes, having changed classes from Warlock to a new class called “Piercing Stabwarlock.”
I asked Zhang Jiale, whose account Dazzling Hundred Blossoms only experienced a guild affiliation change, how he felt about the situation. His response? “I feel like the unluckiest person in the world,” he said. “I didn’t come here to sightsee, or eat chocolate, or yodel into the f—ing alps. I came here to compete. I cannot believe this happened in the middle of the World Championship Series. I am devastated that we have lost this chance.”
At 27 years old, Zhang Jiale is one of the oldest on the China Glory team. Disqualification from this year’s tournament means that he will have to wait at least another year to compete at the world’s highest level, and by that time, it might be too late. He has already retired once before.
While disqualification may feel like an overly harsh penalty for something as superficial as a name or class change that can supposedly be changed back, competition officials tell me that while unfortunate, this is a necessary step to prevent cheating.
“We are not basing our decisions on purely the cosmetic,” said senior rules official Ben Daniels through an interpreter. “If the names have been changed, there’s good reason to believe other things in the code might have changed as well. We already know that some of the affected accounts have new classes that are not in the base games — in lay terms, that’s considered hacking.”
The Glory company, in conjunction with the Glory Pro Alliance, released a statement that they will be investigating whether the modifications were made due to hacking, and if applicable, will mete out appropriate punishment when the culprit is found.
My journalist colleagues back home are also investigating the mysterious changes made to the players’ accounts. Already, they found a clue about the guild affiliation changes — the players did not in fact join new guilds; the names of the guilds they were in simply changed. However, following this lead only seemed to bring more questions.
In an exclusive interview with Chen Guo, owner of Team Happy, which sent three players including the retired Ye Xiu to Geneva, Esports Home writer Zhang Yuchen asked Boss Chen if she was aware that the name of her guild had changed.
Boss Chen seemed to have no idea of the revision. “It definitely said Guild Happy when we were online last night. Guild Demeter? Where the heck did that come from?”
When Zhang Yuchen informed her that the sign outside read Demeter Cybercafe, she bolted outside to take a look.
As Zhang Yucheng caught up with her, Boss Chen was all but shaking with rage. “When I find the f—ing bastard who defaced my father’s internet cafe that he built from the ground up, they better be ready to hand me their entire f—ing bank account because I am going to make them pay a hundred times over for emotional damages!”
Going as far as to change the sign of Boss Chen’s internet cafe hints that this might go even further than the work of a single person. Some Glory fans have speculated that this whole situation was orchestrated by someone wanting to sabotage the Chinese team from progressing further in the competition.
“I came here all the way from Beijing to watch the Chinese team win,” said one fan, who heard about the team’s disqualification in the lobby as they were lined up to watch the Chinese team compete in the quarter-finals. “I would have accepted it if the team had gotten eliminated after losing, but being disqualified because of this? That’s b.s. This is clearly done by someone with a grudge,” they said.
Aside from anger on behalf of the players, the fan reaction to the changes seems to be utter bafflement.
I played a guessing game with some Chinese Glory fans as they hung around in the lobby of the World Championships venue. Guess which account had their name changed to “Ever-Stay,” I asked.
“Could it be Vaccaria since he’s so hard to get off the field?” mused fan Charlie Cheng, who came from the homeland with his two best friends to spectate the championships.
“I think it’s Dancing Rain, because she’s always staying by Lord Grim,” offered his female companion.
Their friend gave a third guess. “Maybe it’s Immovable Rock? The names are a bit similar.”
When I informed them “Ever-Stay” was One Autumn Leaf and that he was also now an Exorcist, the trio stared at me in confusion.
“But why?” asked Mr. Cheng.
I could not tell him.
One fan in particular seemed very upset about the changes and subsequent disqualification of the Chinese team.
“The changes are so disrespectful not only to the players who worked so hard to get to the quarter finals, but also to the fans, and even the game itself,” she said. “This is the biggest event Glory has ever had, and it’s been ruined because of the whims of one person [presumed]. Chinese fans flew out in droves to support the team. We paid for flights, hotels, and tickets — those aren’t cheap.” After a brief pause, she added, “And I especially hate that they touched my favorite. What the hell kind of class is a ‘Chargecleric’?”
Despite the strange circumstances though, the competition must go on. The North American team, who was set to fight the China Glory team in the quarterfinals, was given a bye round and advanced directly to the semifinals.
“While I can’t say I’m not glad my team gets to save their condition for the semifinals, I am disappointed. We were looking forward to fighting the Chinese team,” said North American Team Captain Michael Hyun. “We came up with some dope counters for them, you know?”
National team leader Ye Xiu had an unreadable expression on his face that morning when he had to relay to the team that they were no longer in the competition.
“Ye Xiu’s had his online identity stolen from him twice now,” said Su Mucheng sadly. “I’m just hoping we can change everything back soon.”