I don't think IceFrog is totally to blame - his Skype messages do tell James to be himself but I feel that was said in support and not necessarily as instructions.
Then again Valve (and Icefrog I can only imagine) knows exactly what James' "self" on camera is. If you're told to be yourself on camera, when your on-camera personality is somewhat of an asshole character, then that's probably what you will deliver. That Icefrog probably doesn't speak for Valve as a company in this case is another story though.
I think you're blowing the jokes James used out of proportion. I don't like 2GD you can find many clips of him being extremely disrespectful and using racist insults. However, while I and many people in this thread may not be a fan personally he does have a fanbase and he does appeal to some people. Dota is relatively tame in terms of drama in it's community. Just look at other Esports communities, CSGO, for example.
The porn joke was social commentary on the state of censorship in China. The cumming joke was 'But I still finished and here I am ready to host' ie: self-deprecating joke about his lack of preparedness. 'Demeaning' the player actually meant saying he wouldn't want that player in his team, based on real life examples of that player choking in various tournaments and infamously being kicked off a team that went on to win the biggest tournament of the year.
Yes, but my point is it's not like he was an eyesore bringing a prestigious tournament down. It was a house on fire and 2GD rode a unicycle in clown makeup to keep people engaged.
I'm really not. He wanted to appeal to the narrow community that likes the raunchy and demeaning, while at the same time appealing to the wider community (and the ones getting a first look at Dota in particular). He's priding himself on the work he did to service that latter community, but he's seemingly unaware of just how badly he's going to put off that same community by essentially inserting GDStudio atmosphere into a professional broadcast. That's the larger problem, not only his lack of self-awareness, but lack of awareness of the nature of the tournament itself. He's not stupid, and he should have known better than to think he was getting a 12,000 dollar paycheque, on a tournament with 3 million in prizes, and sponsors everywhere to host the GDStudio live.
Not excusing his lack of preparation, but he does mention he has been busy with his studio/game. That being said... no matter how great your improv and hosting skills are, who decides to go into an event like this knowing nothing of the current meta? Yes learning with the viewers as the panel answers his questions sounds great but one could do a much better job just pretending to be ignorant and leading the panel like he originally intended. It's so weird.
I am really hoping Gabe releases a second statement regarding their side of the story and then they [2gd/valve] take it to private.
Well said.
I think you're missing the point. James didn't say anything offensive especially not by his standards.
Maybe I'm just remembering wrong, but James did not make the same kinds of jokes when he was hosting past Valve events. Even Icefrog may have assumed that it was implied that "Be Your Self" would have been interpreted as "Put on the same kind of show you did at past TIs"
Aims, ends, those sorts of distinctions. Valve doesn't get it perfect. PerfectWorld comes so far from perfect it's funny. Still. He's a smart lad. You take the paycheque and you give the boss what they need.
Tobi Wan. Eugh.
Not a cast. Doesn't count.
He's made more ewww comments in casts than I care to count or even remember in detail. Maybe he's cleaned up his act? Can't say I know, I avoid his casts if it can be helped.
Okay then the conclusion we can draw is Valve aren't serious about ESports. With how toxic the CSGO community is, how shoddy the production quality is on the Shanghai Major and the fact that they paid the pundit panel for TI4 in signature sales; put on top of that they hired a host they knew would make jokes like this.
