Fans troll Valve for new rule that limits coaches from cheering

A new rule implemented by Valve restricts player-coach communication outside of timeouts, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive community isn’t happy with it.

The recent drama surrounding the coach spectating bug has led Valve to toughen its regulations on what goes inside player cabins on LAN events. A new rule restricts coaches from cheering, yelling, or touching players in the middle of all games during PGL Stockholm major.

CSGO community responds to Valve’s strict coaching rules

Astralis’ head coach Danny “zonic” Sørensen’s tweet regarding player-coach communication stirred a new drama in the CSGO community. While players were always aware of Valve’s feelings towards extended rosters, no one had expected it to go as far as restricting coaches from cheering for players. The Danish coach revealed that he wouldn’t be able to encourage his players outside of timeouts moving forward.

The tournament organizer had already communicated to the teams that coaches weren’t allowed to have physical contact with players. However, the latest update clarifies that any form of contact is prohibited, including shouting or even saying “nice.” Coaches who breach the rule must leave the tournament area immediately.

“Valve has instructed us to have stricter rules for coaches. NO touching the players except for timeout. NO shouting at all. Coaches can not even say ‘nice.’ They have to be quiet or we will have to tell coaches to leave the tournament area.” the ruling said.

Zonic’s tweet triggered a new conversation among the fans. While some were busy making memes, others supported Valve for this ruling considering the behavior of coaches in the past. Esports referee Michal Slowinski backed the verdict by saying the developer is likely trying to prevent the coaches from sharing nefarious information through “signature” gestures. The goal is most likely to maintain the integrity of the game by keeping player-coach contact in scrutiny.

“How are you supposed to determine if certain gestures, words or whatever are not some sort of strategy signals? How are referees supposed to know what nice is in every possible language?” Michal Slowinski said.

The esports referee further elaborated the involvement of language behind the ruling and how admins can only “control” English-speaking teams. Coaches who speak different languages can easily sneak in mid-round strat in the form of cheers and hand gestures without anyone knowing.

His argument made sense to a few, but most players are trolling Valve for creating rules that squeeze “emotions out of CS.” Following the new rule, many coaches were quietly seated at their chairs when players made insane plays. This has led CSGO players to question Valve’s way of tackling the after-match of coaching bug abuse.