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My brief thoughts on the RiotAugust "Controversy"

zeskgames·2/23/2019, 10:17:32 PM·72 votes·16,932 views

Here's the thing everyone is talking about if you missed it. https://media.lolusercontent.com/api/embedly/1/image/resize?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmy.mixtape.moe%2Fdzbcqp.png&key=a45e967db0914c7fb472fd4381e6c85b&width=425

RiotAugust: Calls boards useless Boards: How dare he insult us like that? This is an attack on the educated conversation that happens on this platform! The Boards every other day of the week: GOD THE BALANCE TEAM IS USELESS! THE REWORK TEAM SUCKS! I COULD DO A BETTER JOB MAKING LEAGUE THAN RIOT! IN THIS SPEEDILY MADE "ESSAY" I WILL GO OVER WHY RIOT SUCKS, WHY LEAGUE IS DYING, AND WHY I SHOULD BE UNBANNED!!!!

Seriously though, talk about irony, for a place that spends most of its time complaining about how useless Riot is you'd think they'd have thicker skin when their trademark insult is turned against them. I find it interesting how a place that has hundreds of posts about how "X should be fired" and "Y is killing league and Riot is stupid" and "I don't like how Z looks, let me make a ridiculously long post about how this insults me as a person" is so quick to turn around and say "HOW DARE YOU! YOUR TOXIC ATTITUDE ISN'T NEEDED HERE MISTER!" to RiotAugust for sharing his opinion. So before we all put on our big boy pants and go to war with Riot over a single sentence, lets ask ourselves a few questions.

  1. Is RiotAugust insulting each and every member of the boards on a personal level? No
  2. Is this part of an extended plan by Riot and those darn dirty mods to wipe the boards from existence? No
  3. Is this going to blow over in a few days so we can all go back to bitching about how much riot sucks at everything like normal? Yes

So calm yourself.

Poster's Note: Sorry if this post comes off as bitchy, and if you take personal offense to it I promise I wasn't meaning to call you out or anything. I'm just frustrated with how god damn Two-Faced this place can be sometimes.

79 Comments

GreenKnight2/23/2019, 10:24:28 PM26 votes

You and August are both regarding boards as one mind. That's simply not true. There's tons of people with different opinions, and not everyone is screeching at riot for doing something.

For example, i fucking hate reworks, and i believe they are the result of a stupid design. But, i don't call for anyone to be fired for them, and i don't insult individual devs for making something i hate.

I can give praise too. For example, when turret plating was introduced, and was balanced, i really liked that Riot added them to the game, and i voiced my positive view on them.

What i'm trying to say, is that people should stop treating boards as a whole, and rather like community with different thoughts and musings.

Dynikus2/23/2019, 10:24:06 PM21 votes

As someone who uses the boards a fair amount (I'm at like 14k upvotes or something?) I can attest to jinxylord's statement. The boards are pretty damn useless. [sg-miss-fortune]

ModAttysu The Poro2/23/2019, 11:26:29 PM7 votes

Is this part of an extended plan by Riot and those darn dirty mods to wipe the boards from existence? No

Just to clarify for others; moderators for the Boards are not Riot employees, and we manage the boards with Keyru's (a Rioter's) oversight. However, we are volunteers, and we try to make the Boards a better place simply because we love the community and want to foster it. I think this is a small part of why so many people got upset; a lot of the community wants the Boards to be better, but even us volunteers can do so much, y'know? The Boards aren't perfect, but it also isn't all bad.

TricolorStar2/24/2019, 5:31:32 AM6 votes

Y'all call for the firing and lynching of these designers every other week and then get offended when they don't want to visit the boards...

It's not his job to like the boards, and he can say whatever he wants. He's not insulting men or calling everyone stupid or causing a scene. This is just his opinion. There are tons of avenues where RiotAugust gets professional, constructive feedback, he does not need the boards.

Honestly, for how much y'all talk shit you're extremely sensitive to a guy saying... Wait for it... He doesn't really like the boards the... Stay with me... That much.

BobaFlautist2/23/2019, 11:37:01 PM6 votes

Yeah I read that tweet and was like

"... ...well, he's not wrong"

Midg3t2/24/2019, 12:04:59 PM5 votes

Let's stop pretending like Riot isn't at fault here shall we? There are a lot of reasons why Boards are harsh towards Riot and I'll just name a few:

Outside of the game

  • Sanjuro fiasco
  • Pax fiasco followed by DZK's tweets
  • The most recent one, Vaevictis situation
  • and if I remember correctly, some1 posted a lawsuit document here which, besides some "toxic masculitnity" enviroment bs, mentioned that some1 on the lead position at Riot ALLEGEDLY sexually assaulted female employees (don't take me for my word here, I'm not sure about this myself, all allegations)

This alone would be enough to give a bad rep to any other company and honestly deserves all the hate it got.

Inside of the game

  • balance issues
  • broken mechanics
  • something that was obviously broken and was adressed by the community before it even got relased on live servers (Akali W, Irelia, Zoe...) needed a long time and shitton of "bitching" before Riot actually took care of it

But the most important thing that's a problem here: LACK. OF. COMMUNICATION.

Lemme ask you something. When was the last time you saw any Rioter ACTIVELLY communicating on Gameplay/Gameplay+? Have you ever seen a Rioter coming on Boards and asking "Yo guys, how do you like recent balance changes/reworks? What do you dislike about them and how should we change it?"

And yes, i know there are ocassional Meddler's posts but imo, he only talks about what they're planning to change, but doesn't listen to player's feedback on those changes. It's okay form of communication, but not the one we need.

And the fact that they CHOOSE not to communicate on Boards, but instead go on Reddit/Twitter is honestly like a slap in the face. Why should I, or any1 else, make an account for a third party site to talk to developers of a game which already has it's own forum?

I agree there are a lot of toxic posts/comments against Rioters, but honestly can you blame the Boards for that? After being unsatisfied with the game, and despite all the feedback, they're being ignored for so long, I'm not suprised by the behaviour of Boards.

If Riot wants us to be "useful" then they need to start from themselves. Start talking to us. Be active on Boards, start disscussions about the game, and be involved in other player's disscussions. Encourage constructive feedback, and actually listen them and take criticizm, no matter how harsh it is, into consideration. And other Boards users will be inspired to do the same.

And sry if I made any typos, english is my 2nd language :P

Jennifer4202/24/2019, 4:48:10 AM4 votes

boards from season 1 - 5 gives good advice but gets ignored by riot boards from season 6 onwards is pissed at riot ignoring them and fucking up the game more and more

HM I WONDER WHY THE BOARDS ARE MAD

Makarakarn2/23/2019, 10:56:38 PM3 votes

As someone who also visits boards occassionaly (and usually regrets it) I can say I am 100% not surprised by this reaction. The boards as a whole isn't shit, and honestly not everyone who complains on the boards are shit, there's just this group of people who are extremely selfish and close-minded, and those people find the other people like them and suddenly it looks like the boards are shit.

Karfuss2/24/2019, 8:57:12 AM3 votes

Boards: Riot has no presence on the Boards and doesn't care. Riot August: The Boards are toxic and useless.

The cycle continues.

This would ALL be alleviated if Riot had more active engagement with the Boards. When a lot of issues stem from champion design, and a Senior Champ Designer doesn't want to chime in or even acknowledge feedback... What does he expect?

Riot should be accommodating the Board's users, their own forums. Not the other way around.

The true disservice here is to Riot Keyru and the boards team that have at least tried to make this place resemble a community. If Riot August doesn't want to engage or be an active part of that, that's his problem.

Sir Saltarin2/23/2019, 10:43:58 PM3 votes

I mean I like the Boards as everone can see for how active I'm here but I cant do anything but respect the rioters that call this place a shithole

But hey, it's our shithole

PaffWasTaken2/24/2019, 8:03:27 AM2 votes

People complain about balance because Riot voluntarily ignore the community. People complain about Riot because they voluntarily ignore the community.

When a Rioter declares the boards as "useless", its basically like saying "Oh god, I hate my childrens! They keep getting sick its annoying. I wouldn't want to be infected too, so I'll keep them outside sleeping on the snow at -20 C until they are cured"

There's this fun thing on the boards called the "Red Tracker", which basically lets you see every single acts from Rioters on the boards. Now, a very very quick look will let you discover that, in general, a rioter will discuss gameplay/balance with boards users pretty much once every 2 weeks or even less often. In fact, the most interactions you will see on gameplay between players and rioters will be on Meddler's "Gameplay thoughts" threads, which is pretty lame since most opinions about balance are actually either outside those threads of directly ignored within them. The boards were made to be a bridge between community and developpers. It worked for a while, but eventually more and more of those developpers just came to this bridge to chip parts out and split it, and now one of them is basically saying that this is reasonable since us, the community, are acting aggressive against them even if the biggest reason of this aggressivity is caused by the actual act of them cutting themselves from us and letting us rot on the other side.

Nobody is complaining about this situation because they feel personally attacked. Nobody is complaining because of a possible "removal" of the boards either since it would basically not change a single thing about the situation. The reason everybody is complaining is because of the very fact that someone is willingly fueling the fire that the boards became while complaining that its getting hotter.

Of course the boards are two faced, every single game communities are, but some are less than others because of the single fact that an healthy relation between developpers and community will result in healthy behavior from both. Riot should definitely learn from this and communities who are great examples for this like Warframe's who, once again, is not all butterfly and flowers, but is a goal that the boards or even the whole community should thrive for.

Naalith2/24/2019, 1:48:22 AM2 votes

I don't think that people should attack developers personally, and I really like August both as a designer and from what I've seen of him as a person, but the concentrated rage of the boards DOES show something about the game. The official League boards are, of course, the place where there will be the highest concentration of people who are passionate about the game. The people here don't only like the game and have a passing interest, they're invested in League of Legends and want it to be the best it can be. There's heated debates about -5 damage and shit like that which seems trivial but the fact there is a lively and sometimes hostile discussion shows how much people care here.

So what does the highest concentration of League enthusiasts always being mad about the game show? It shows the game isn't in a good place. I can't queue for a normal game in under 5 minutes ever, and I regularly go over the 10 minute mark. I feel like I'm wasting time playing the game I love because so many casual or even previously hardcore people have been driven away by the abyssal state this game has been left in for years now. My choice is to play ranked, which I absolutely despise, wait an eternity to play normals (and since it takes so long, it just randomly assembles various skills of people from silver to diamond and the game is super one sided and sucks ass), or simply... not play. Get an Apex, go play single player stuff, go rewatch a show I like or whatever. I don't like my go to hobby being a ghost town where the remaining people are angry and toxic all the time, but that's what it feels like.

What I'm trying to say is yes, August has a point and the vitriol against Rioters is insane, but people are only mad because they care. The reason lore Rioters show up to the forums all the time is because they are usually met with positive response, even if occasionally there is a big backlash over stuff like the recent Demacia timeline rewind and Kayle's personality. I imagine that balance Rioters get pissed because everyone is going berserk telling them how to balance the game when the finance department at Riot basically forces them to balance around pro play and leave a steaming shit show for the rest of us. Like obviously as individuals they shouldn't be harassed, but on a game-wide basis there is MAJOR work that needs to be done to make the game fun to play again, not just to watch.

Autrah Fang2/24/2019, 12:35:53 AM2 votes

I mean sure, they would have it correct that most of the boards are likely "useless," since most of the posts here are just filled with venting about the last champion that wrecked them in lane, or calling for the balance and rework teams to be fired etc. However, at the same time, there are a lot of actually constructive posts on this forum as well.

For example, the recent posts about how the Kayle VGU looks. Sure, a lot of the posts can be boiled down to "omg I don't like this the designers should be fired REEEE," but there are a lot of positive and constructive criticisms into what people liked about Kayle's old look. Then a lot of posts have edits (like this one for instance) that compromise between the old and new, giving her the sleeker, "squishier" appearance that Riot wants, while also giving her some more of her old design, and making her move away from the standard body suit look she has going at the moment.

Now here, we have the usual people who just shout toxicity at him, like "how could he say that! he should be fired!" But then we also have the people who prefer a more constructive argument hurt because their posts on the boards are also getting lumped in with the "useless" ones, with August just implying that the boards as a whole are useless, and not just the unconstructive posts :/

Just adding my two cents. Interpret it in any way you want I guess. However, I do agree that this really isn't that big of a deal, and people will forget about it in a few days, so is there even a point to this? XD

Sulghunter2/24/2019, 5:52:49 AM2 votes

The boards are only useless to the developers because they never think of it as a possible resource. As much as there are countless threads screeching over op this or unbalanced that, there still exists a hand full of well thought out posts discussing problems in the game and putting forward possible solutions. However, silence from the developers simply fuels speculation of Riot not paying any mind to the boards, and this post will no doubt be seized as irrefutable proof, only deepening this apparent devide.

By this rioter's post, it makes it seem like to all and sundry that Riot itself is perfectly willing to throw out the baby with the bath water and discount the entirety of the boards as useless. This obviously does nothing to help improve relations between players and developers, especially considering how reddit is coming under accusations of being nothing more than a choir to sing Riot its praises.

Now, the only way forward is for the developers to show face and flag on this forum, but the process will be long and painful, as years of bitterness will have to be overcome, and the rioters themselves would have to prove by both word and action that the the forum, and by extension the community, matters.

ZaFishbone2/25/2019, 8:43:27 AM1 votes

I sometimes think that Riot really should do away with the boards. I mean, of course, it would be a bad idea, ultimately, since it's the only place where you can report really egregious abuses by either Riot or other players; but on the other hand, they gave us a chance to make our cases, to complain in a civilized manner, and the boards have become worse than a bunch of screaming apes, because at least in that case, you can make out some sort of general attitude form all the cacophony.

ChaosReyn2/25/2019, 11:39:01 AM1 votes

He's completely right...with certain boards.

Obviously, stuff on this board discussing the boards is generally more civil and progressive, and it feels like people actually read more than 2 sentences into your post, contemplate it, and actually attempt to consider more than one view. Memes and Games operates as it should...most of the time. C&C is a beautiful place to be, and actually ask for criticism, as long as it's constructive, to help them better create.

But if anyone's first impression logging into the boards involves Player Behavior, they'll run from here screaming. Even the posts that aren't just raging, "I don't deserve ban, I deserve challenjour!" posts are ripped to shreds by excessively edgy people with a white-knight mentality. It's the definition of a useless echo chamber.