OhMyV33nus felt sad but proud to see gaming community unite amid #WeWantEstes clamor

Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna admitted to having mixed emotions after seeing the clamor from the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang community in support of Blacklist International's choice of M3 exclusive skin, which was initially rejected.

The Blacklist captain felt both proud and sad about the response, partly because of how the community came together but also for needing to create a movement in the first place.

OhMyV33nus took the whole gaming community by storm on Wednesday when he revealed that Moonton had initially rejected their request for an exclusive skin for their trademark hero, Estes.

That came after Blacklist ruled the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang M3 World Championship last Sunday over compatriot Onic Philippines—a feat that would have allowed them to select their own skin like other champions in the past. In Blacklist's case, they unanimously selected Estes.

Moments after OhMyV33nus' comments, #WeWantEstes quickly topped the trending topics on Twitter as fans, fellow players, and officials appealed to Moonton to heed the world champions' wish.

"Nakakaloka, like mag-iisang araw nang trending 'yung #WeWantEstes. Nakakaloka na sobrang nakaka-sad at the same time," OhMyv33nus said in the stream on Thursday.

"Nakaka-sad siya in a way na hindi mo naman talaga dapat pinaglalaban 'yung bagay na...I mean in the first place, dapat bang pinaglalaban natin yung #WeWantEstes? 'Di ba?"

"Nakaka-proud kasi nakikita mo talaga 'yung community, not just the Blacklist fans, not just the VeeWise fans, kahit 'yung ibang community. May mga nakikita nga ako, even 'yung mga Brazilians na talagang sinu-support nila. Makikita mo talaga na gusto ng pagbabago ng community. Parang ganoon ko siya nakikita."

[It's crazy, it's been almost a whole day that #WeWantEstes has been trending. It's crazy but it also makes you sad at the same time.

It makes you sad in a way because this isn't something you need to be fighting for... I  mean, in the first place, is #WeWantEstes somehing that we need to fight for? Right?

But it also makes you proud because you can see the community - not just the Blacklist fans, not just the VeeWise fans, but even other members of the community. I've even seen some Brazilians showing their support. You can see the community wants change. That's how I see it.]

Aside from trending on social media, some had also taken to review bombing the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang app on Google Play. The game's rating had been dropping in the last few days sitting at 3.6 stars at around 5 p.m. on Thursday but dropping to 1.3 on Friday afternoon.

Many of the recent reviews mentioned the Estes skin as the reason for a low rating.

Request heard

Moonton, in social media posts by MPL Philippines, announced on Friday that it has heeded Blacklist's request.

"To our beloved gamers, Estes is the chosen champion M3 skin. We have heard your voices, and we will proceed with Blacklist International's choice."

Tier One Entertainment co-founders Alodia Gosiengfiao and Tryke Gutierrez, who are also co-owners of Blacklist International, expressed gratitude to Moonton for being willing to discuss the matter.

"Our wishes have been heard! In behalf of Blacklist International and Tier One Entertainment, we want to thank Moonton's management for the transparency and for opening a line of communication for the past 48 hours to discuss our choice of skin in M3," Gosiengfiao said in a post.

"To some this is just a digital item, but as owners of Blacklist International and being gamers ourselves, we know that this is more than just a skin, this is our legacy! Our players expressed what this meant to them and I knew that we had to communicate that in the best way possible," Gutierrez added in a separate post.

—With a report by John Edison Ubaldo/JMB, GMA News