This thread hosts all comments related to the article originally posted at Riot addresses concerns about toxicity in League of Legends by Nate Searl
Riot addresses concerns about toxicity in League of Legends
- Thread starter Daily-Esports
- Start date
You know, I'm really glad to see Riot address this.
I haven't really played much League of Legends, myself. And part of that is for something that I know is a little silly and irrational. Basically, years ago, when I was in high school (that's how you know it's been a while), I remember visiting a friend. We sat down, played a bit of Halo for a while. And we suddenly start hearing someone scream some... really racist and homophobic remarks.
His younger brother was playing League of Legends, and getting quite angry over it.
For as irrational as it is, as it's been so long, I can't really separate League of Legends with that visual. As it turns out, you only ever get one first impression with a piece of media. If rampant toxicity's the first thing a new player experiences with this game, there's a higher likelihood that they'll associate that behaviour with the game as a whole. And that's why toxicity's such an insidious problem.
It drives out potential new players -- people who may otherwise legitimately put in the effort and get quite good at the game. And a game only survives for as long as its playerbase does. People inevitably leave to move on to other things, so you need to constantly be trying your best to bring in new folks.
Then again, I play Old School RuneScape. I play a heeeeck of a lot of that game. And there's some super toxic folks on that one, too. But at least I can play most of the game on my own. And when I do have to team up with people? Well, I've found a clan full of lovely folks to play with. So maybe I'm just an old person yelling at clouds.
I haven't really played much League of Legends, myself. And part of that is for something that I know is a little silly and irrational. Basically, years ago, when I was in high school (that's how you know it's been a while), I remember visiting a friend. We sat down, played a bit of Halo for a while. And we suddenly start hearing someone scream some... really racist and homophobic remarks.
His younger brother was playing League of Legends, and getting quite angry over it.
For as irrational as it is, as it's been so long, I can't really separate League of Legends with that visual. As it turns out, you only ever get one first impression with a piece of media. If rampant toxicity's the first thing a new player experiences with this game, there's a higher likelihood that they'll associate that behaviour with the game as a whole. And that's why toxicity's such an insidious problem.
It drives out potential new players -- people who may otherwise legitimately put in the effort and get quite good at the game. And a game only survives for as long as its playerbase does. People inevitably leave to move on to other things, so you need to constantly be trying your best to bring in new folks.
Then again, I play Old School RuneScape. I play a heeeeck of a lot of that game. And there's some super toxic folks on that one, too. But at least I can play most of the game on my own. And when I do have to team up with people? Well, I've found a clan full of lovely folks to play with. So maybe I'm just an old person yelling at clouds.
Disappointing as ever, no actual plan just empty words. It sounded like a 5 yo excuse instead of a thought out response ...
Toxicity isnt a big deal for me really. I mean you can just get popcorn and watch clowns go at it and have fun. The problem is people really get offended easily nowadays not realizing its a game and a stranger behind a keyboard. Lets be honest and accept that racists exist in our world. If you cant take the heat the just hit mute and get on with the game. If you really cant take it, just leave and go next game. Playing through a very toxic game actually tilts you more the next game when someone gets on your nerves. Yes it is bad leaving the game but lol its just a game and your mental health is more important. You play to enjoy and have a relaxing time. Unless you are streaming for livelihood then maybe you should just accept that the soup is very bitter but you still need to drink it. Any stranger can type harsh things since the status of anonymus cover them. I bet they wont be that brave irl. Consider it hazard risk of internet age. Chill and mute all. Though i really want a better punishment system. Like make it that if i report "bad teamate" then dont include him on my team for a certain duration of time. Two days should be fine or one day if its hard. It will save lots of hardfeelings.
Why even change anything if you wont change the real problem, toxicity is not the problem, the trollers, afkers, griefers and so on are... Riot never looks at context when banning a toxic player, they just see "Oh, he typed a bad word - BAN*" Fix the punishment system instead of this, you should'nt be able to get perma banned over saying a bad word, just ban the ability to type in chat instead. In that way people wont get as angry for losing an account they've spent alot of money on...
Back in the Season 6, the time as you could play with 3 people SoloQ, can u remember? There i was platinum 1, in the promo to diamond 5, i have played midlane LeBlanc, and i had 3 premades in my team who had bad start in early, and they wanted to ff all the time, they came on my lane, and started to troll me, casted all their ultis on me, placed 500 wards on mid, they have insult me hardcore, and they were tilted cuz i wont ff, it was winnable, i was like 7-0 with lb, so why should i ff, cuz i know i can carry.. they have done everything to piss me off, so i go for ff, and i wont at this point, anyway they wrote in public chat to enemies that they should report me because i wont open the mid lane..
Anyway, what happens, all 3 of them has writen to riot support,and they did fake report on me, so i got permanently banned for FUCKING "MMR Boosting".. After that i never again came back to play this stupid game anymore.. after that.. it was over for me, and imagine.. i have spend about 1700€ into this account for skins and gifts.. and i got banned actually for nothing at end, ye i was angry tho, called them 1-2 times bonobos, but thats it, it wasnt even hard insult, they did provoke me, wrote to me i should f*** my mother, posted fake report tickets in support area and such things.. this game is just shit
Anyway, what happens, all 3 of them has writen to riot support,and they did fake report on me, so i got permanently banned for FUCKING "MMR Boosting".. After that i never again came back to play this stupid game anymore.. after that.. it was over for me, and imagine.. i have spend about 1700€ into this account for skins and gifts.. and i got banned actually for nothing at end, ye i was angry tho, called them 1-2 times bonobos, but thats it, it wasnt even hard insult, they did provoke me, wrote to me i should f*** my mother, posted fake report tickets in support area and such things.. this game is just shit
Average games,
Support steals all the kills trolling the team. You ask Support to stealing the kills please. They tell you to be quiet and that's it. They continue to do it and you begin losing. If you say something you are reported and get a chat ban, Riot expects you to continue to waste 20-40 minutes of your life and be passive in this situation. They don't have a report or a mechanism to penalize that person support.
This game is really toxic and it's the developer fault. It's shown in the minor issues the client always have. They have an automated system that honestly just bans you based on how many people report you. If I get my whole 5 man to report someone they will get punished. It's a flawed system.
Alot of people who rage in chat are a response to someone trolling them in game. You are expected as player to shut up and deal with it per Riot. If you don't you'll get a ban for being unsportsman like. I never understood why my friends who've played for 10+ years don't talk at all. It's because they don't have any faith in Riot to control their community.
You make a competitive 5 man game and you make a roles. People don't follow those roles and when you call them out on it. "You're toxic" and suddenly you have a chat ban. Not the person who told you that "It's draft, you shouldn't care about winning".
Last time I checked LoL is a competitive game, since when does the word "Draft" mean that I shouldn't care to win? Look I am not saying its okay to curse someone out, but when a support is 10/4, and everyone has no kills and we are losing because we don't have money...when does Riot step in and say hey that support is causing a bad situation for the rest of the team they are "trolling and being selfish". They wont, riot is a trash company who can't simply fix their loading screens after a game completes.
Support steals all the kills trolling the team. You ask Support to stealing the kills please. They tell you to be quiet and that's it. They continue to do it and you begin losing. If you say something you are reported and get a chat ban, Riot expects you to continue to waste 20-40 minutes of your life and be passive in this situation. They don't have a report or a mechanism to penalize that person support.
This game is really toxic and it's the developer fault. It's shown in the minor issues the client always have. They have an automated system that honestly just bans you based on how many people report you. If I get my whole 5 man to report someone they will get punished. It's a flawed system.
Alot of people who rage in chat are a response to someone trolling them in game. You are expected as player to shut up and deal with it per Riot. If you don't you'll get a ban for being unsportsman like. I never understood why my friends who've played for 10+ years don't talk at all. It's because they don't have any faith in Riot to control their community.
You make a competitive 5 man game and you make a roles. People don't follow those roles and when you call them out on it. "You're toxic" and suddenly you have a chat ban. Not the person who told you that "It's draft, you shouldn't care about winning".
Last time I checked LoL is a competitive game, since when does the word "Draft" mean that I shouldn't care to win? Look I am not saying its okay to curse someone out, but when a support is 10/4, and everyone has no kills and we are losing because we don't have money...when does Riot step in and say hey that support is causing a bad situation for the rest of the team they are "trolling and being selfish". They wont, riot is a trash company who can't simply fix their loading screens after a game completes.
(GREEDKNIGHT)-Not named because of greedy play but more for the inverse. I highly value a team environment and syncing with my peers to complete a task or challenge.
There is alot of Toxicity in the online gaming community and the current Banning practices are only making it worse in my experience and I will tell you why but first I want to share. I am one of the League of Legends Perma-banned. I don’t quite know how I got there but 10 yrs of putting up with the negativity and standing up for my self and others I drew the short straw and the eye of the powers that be. Understand I was never at any time the instigator or initiated any confrontations. I would be the first to encourage team play give a thumbs up or stand up for a team mate that was struggling, but I would volley back to the taunters and that was my weakness. I cant say that my comments painted me in a very good light but I met napalm with napalm. I'm not saying Banning is an inappropriate action but I am saying that the Algorithm or key word policing employed is a failure.
The anonymity the online community provides is intoxicating for those looking to get under other players skin, and they seldom travel alone. They tend to "Pack Hunt” meaning if you chose wrong in their opinion, you don't play as they would play, or your struggling early you are their target. They will pick at you until you break and when you retaliate that is when you receive the dual report from your instigators, who to my knowledge never seem to suffer the consequences or there just never seems to be an end to them.
IMO Riot seems to go after the victims of the toxicity. Retaliation, again, isn’t the best approach but when you are stuck in a match with people are verbally attacking you because they don’t agree with your play or you are countered or they just didn't like your pick you cant just leave. Yes you can mute a player. So mute a player in a game that requires communication… seems like a handicap.
I cant state enough that the Policing of the gaming community fails to bring actions to the catalysts of the toxicity and typically only get those who volley back or stand up for team mates; all be it, not always in the most mature or ideal ways. Additionally the actions taken against them fail to take in their typical in game actions such as encouragement of players either written or emoted. There is no platform to dispute these short comings of the policing system or communicate or defend your actions. Especially when it seems those who incite the toxicity typically don’t do so alone. At least this has been my personal experience.
There is alot of Toxicity in the online gaming community and the current Banning practices are only making it worse in my experience and I will tell you why but first I want to share. I am one of the League of Legends Perma-banned. I don’t quite know how I got there but 10 yrs of putting up with the negativity and standing up for my self and others I drew the short straw and the eye of the powers that be. Understand I was never at any time the instigator or initiated any confrontations. I would be the first to encourage team play give a thumbs up or stand up for a team mate that was struggling, but I would volley back to the taunters and that was my weakness. I cant say that my comments painted me in a very good light but I met napalm with napalm. I'm not saying Banning is an inappropriate action but I am saying that the Algorithm or key word policing employed is a failure.
The anonymity the online community provides is intoxicating for those looking to get under other players skin, and they seldom travel alone. They tend to "Pack Hunt” meaning if you chose wrong in their opinion, you don't play as they would play, or your struggling early you are their target. They will pick at you until you break and when you retaliate that is when you receive the dual report from your instigators, who to my knowledge never seem to suffer the consequences or there just never seems to be an end to them.
IMO Riot seems to go after the victims of the toxicity. Retaliation, again, isn’t the best approach but when you are stuck in a match with people are verbally attacking you because they don’t agree with your play or you are countered or they just didn't like your pick you cant just leave. Yes you can mute a player. So mute a player in a game that requires communication… seems like a handicap.
I cant state enough that the Policing of the gaming community fails to bring actions to the catalysts of the toxicity and typically only get those who volley back or stand up for team mates; all be it, not always in the most mature or ideal ways. Additionally the actions taken against them fail to take in their typical in game actions such as encouragement of players either written or emoted. There is no platform to dispute these short comings of the policing system or communicate or defend your actions. Especially when it seems those who incite the toxicity typically don’t do so alone. At least this has been my personal experience.
YasuoPogChamp : d2
YasuoPogChamp : dogshit
YasuoPogChamp : nonames
YasuoPogChamp : l;egit
YasuoPogChamp : *******
YasuoPogChamp : kill urserlfs
YasuoPogChamp : dogshit
YasuoPogChamp : nonames
YasuoPogChamp : l;egit
YasuoPogChamp : *******
YasuoPogChamp : kill urserlfs
FKING TRASH RIOT CLIENT LAGS I LOST 10LP AND 30MINUTES YOU FKING TRASH RIOT YOU CANT YOUR FKING PROBLEMS 11SEASON NOW FKING DELUSIONAL TRASHES
I am not a new player, but I'm not very good. I don't have time to learn this game besides working, trying to get a bachelors and keeping house. I just want to relax. And while the gameplay is great, the players are awful. Lvl 500* players playing blind pick and then flaming and cussing at the newbies is just ridiculous. If they're that good, just go play ranked and leave the others alone?