Acoustic assault between former teammates

An interesting ESEA forum post spilled over to Twitter after Thomas "FAME" Barbeau alleged that his now-former teammate on InControl, Cooper "Trucklover86" Phelps, deliberately voice called him over Steam with the intent to "ear rape" him and actually ruptured his eardrum with the auditory barrage, forcing him to seek specialty medical care. Trucklover86 then proceeded to kick FAME off of InControl after he was unable to play with the ruptured eardrum and removed him from their team Discord so that he couldn't tell the remaining players what had happened.

Drama aside, FAME has since posted a video to Twitter noting blood coming from his ear. Much of the discussion around this incident is centered around the feasibility of the allegations. Many users are commenting that the headset used by FAME, HyperX Cloud 2s, has a maximum sound pressure level of 105 decibels (dB). Typically, you would need to sustain that level for about 14 minutes to sustain hearing damage according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are however a couple of points that I think are relevant from a physician's perspective. The aural reflex is a muscle reflex that allows the ear to protect itself from short-term loud noises by decreasing the amount of "sound pressure" that would be transferred to the ear. The surprising nature of the incident would have negated FAME's ability to utilize that natural defense mechanism.

The second point is that FAME noted a history of ear problems in the aftermath of this issue gaining traction. If he has a history of needing ear tubes as a child or had recurrent eardrum perforations for another reason, it's possible that FAME only had a mono-membrane grow back, meaning that his eardrum is several layers thinner than the average person.

Without knowing the details of FAME's medical history and whether Trucklover86 was aware of it, it's difficult to cast judgement on him from an intent perspective. However, causing hearing damage to anyone is a dick move regardless of severity, so let's all agree to leave the "ear rape" stupidity behind us once and for all.

InControl are currently 4-6 in ESEA Advanced Season 41 with two matches remaining.