To pee or not to pee: The great bathroom debate in esports right now

Within the past week, two League of Legends matches have been interrupted by bathroom breaks, and fans are torn about whether this should be allowed.

Redditor Sticky_Chicken pointed out the recent pauses in League of Legends matches, alleging that players are abusing the ability to pause the game for "bathroom breaks," giving them time to collect themselves and potentially disrupt opponents' momentum.

In one day, the post incited over 1,500 comments. Some fans say players should be able to take bathroom breaks when they need to. Others say it messes with the flow of a match, and that pauses should only be reserved for serious problems like game bugs or technical issues.

Pauses can have quite an effect on the flow of a game, just like with traditional sports. Getting a minute or two to collect your thoughts can be a huge game-changer whether it's in basketball or League. The difference here is that traditional sports are set up for pretty regular opportunities for timeouts or substitutions that both teams can take advantage of (fouls, injuries, media time outs, etc.).

League of Legends is not.

Although a typical League of Legends match is a best-of-three series with breaks between each game, individual games can last over an hour. That's a long time to be playing without a break, and mid-game player substitutions are not allowed. It could stand to reason that a player would need to use the bathroom after an hour's time.

But should a player be allowed to give themselves and their team a break whenever they feel the need to relieve themselves?

A referee for European League Championship Series (EULCS) -- League's premiere European esports league -- chimed in with their own knowledgeable (and first-hand) take on the situation, shining light on the fact that the official rules don't actually allow for bathroom breaks.

According to the EULCS rules, pauses are actually only allowed for three reasons: an unintentional disconnect, a hardware or software malfunction, and physical interference.

Referees have a bit of leeway within those rules in the case of odd situations like, for instance, when nature calls.

The ref, who goes by "aBhorsen," noted that the most recent players who requested pauses to use the bathroom -- G2 Esports' Kim "Trick" Kang Yoon and Luka "Perkz" Perkovic -- requested breaks multiple times during the game and were denied twice before they were finally allowed to go. The other players in the match were also given the opportunity to use the restroom in the interest of fairness.

To avoid situations like this, players are reminded between games to use the bathroom. But apparently that isn't enough for some players, who would rather risk a "messy situation."

A staff member of G2 Epsorts commented on the thread, saying that Trick and Perkz had used the restroom before their match against the team Splyce and the team was only granted a pause when "Trick's in-game play was actually being affected by physical state."

Yikes.

To make sure these pause requests are used as minimally as possible, G2 has changed its policy to force players to at least try to use the restroom before heading out on stage for a game. You know, like a parent forcing their young child to use the bathroom before a long car ride.

Of course, situations will still happen where players desperately need to get to a toilet. Fans will just have to trust referees to make the right call.