Team BDS made the decision to include the bait ping in their custom emote for League of Legends. This feature, which had been intentionally removed by the developers, allows professional teams to generate revenue through the sale of their personalized emotes.
At the time of its release, the resemblance of the ping to a noose caused controversy because it was frequently used by players to make unsavory comments to others.
Riot developer Auberaun deemed the usage of the bait ping as “unacceptable” at the time, resulting in its removal from the game.
After nearly a year, Team BDS has reintroduced the in-game bait ping as an emote, featuring a playful penguin wearing the team’s logo on its hat.
Bait ping is back thanks to BDS pic.twitter.com/QblXquln2l
— Spideraxe (@Spideraxe30) August 13, 2024
If we compare this new emote to the previously removed bait ping, we can see that some adjustments were made to give it a stronger resemblance to a real fishing hook, rather than a closed loop.
Despite this, League players have not been deterred from recognizing the similarities and expressing their desire to obtain the emote, not solely because they are avid supporters of Team BDS.
In addition, the promotional video created by Team BDS for the emote featured the original version that was removed from the game, rather than the updated one. This further strengthens the connection between the organization and the removed emote.
While certain teams opted to create emotes that reflect their organization, numerous others have crafted cosmetics purely for the purpose of providing a enjoyable emote.
Team Liquid made the decision to use Teemo surrendering with a white flag, despite it not being a true representation of their team. However, the emote has the potential to appeal to a larger audience, even those who may not be interested in the esports aspect of LoL.
When you’re smashing your lane and need them to FF but don’t want to be toxic 👀 pic.twitter.com/M9P2SPjVNa
— Team Liquid Honda LoL (@TeamLiquidLoL) August 13, 2024
Despite the initial bait ping being removed for unknown reasons, it ultimately still functions as a fishing hook. It is possible that this attempt will be received more positively. However, some are cautious about the potential “consequences”of this decision, given the previous use of the bait ping.
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