My brief thoughts on the RiotAugust "Controversy"

zeskgames·Feb 23, 2019·72 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.

Is RiotAugust insulting each and every member of the boards on a personal level? No
Is this part of an extended plan by Riot and those darn dirty mods to wipe the boards from existence? No
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

GreenKnightFeb 23, 201926 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.

zeskgamesFeb 23, 20192 votes

You do make a fair point, it is a little unfair of me to think of the boards as a hive mind. But you can see the irony of the same people who call Riot useless on the reg' getting offended by someone from Riot calling them useless right? That's the main point I was trying to make, I was trying to expose and poke fun at the irony of those toxic individuals on the boards getting mad over someone at Riot getting tired of their toxic bullshit and calling them out for it.

GreenKnightFeb 23, 20194 votes

{quoted}

You do make a fair point, it is a little unfair of me to think of the boards as a hive mind. But you can see the irony of the same people who call Riot useless on the reg' getting offended by someone from Riot calling them useless right? That's the main point I was trying to make, I was trying to expose and poke fun at the irony of those toxic individuals on the boards getting mad over someone at Riot getting tired of their toxic bullshit and calling them out for it.

Are some people like that? I'm sure you are right in this regard. But, i don't believe that those who hate Riot actually care about what reds think about this place. They drop once, or very rarely, cry about how Riot is bad, and then they either get moderated, or simply leave by themselves.

Besides, i will sound a bit harsh, but if you can't take some criticism and trolling, i don't think you should have a social media account.

zeskgamesFeb 23, 20192 votes

Besides, i will sound a bit harsh, but if you can't take some criticism and trolling, i don't think you should have a social media account.

You should tell that to the people getting in a fuss about this whole incident, if you can even call it one.

GreenKnightFeb 23, 20195 votes

{quoted}

You should tell that to the people getting in a fuss about this whole incident, if you can even call it one.

Well, can you really be surprised? He didn't state why he doesn't like boards, he just said we are "useless". Besides, he's one of the faces that the community recognizes. He cannot act like that, because he represents the whole company. Why do you think he deleted that tweet?

zeskgamesFeb 23, 20193 votes

Well I do agree he was a vague, and vague statements are very, very dangerous. (For example some vague bible passages where used to justify slavery, there's your not-so-fun fun fact of the day). However, I think he was just frustrated with the consistent negative attitude towards Riot shown on the boards. Now I don't think that everyone on the boards posts this way but there is a vast majority of posts made by a large group of different people (me included occasionally, unfortunately) on the boards that are all constantly saying some form of "FUCK RIOT" and that can be very disheartening and frustrating to someone who is a part of Riot. That's what I think August was getting it at. Could he have elaborated a little? Yeah probably. Was it the best way to vent off frustration? No. But it shows that some people at Riot are getting real tired of the Boards' attitude, which is something those toxic members of the community should really think about.

Tomoe GozenFeb 24, 20192 votes

He cannot act like that, because he represents the whole company.

Right, he absolutely can't have an opinion, even if it's a negative one. Because he's our bitch and he does what we say he does. We can insult Riot and people who work there because we're frustrated but the same doesn't apply in reverse. We're perfect and what we say is always correct. Riot should listen to us and only us because they clearly have no idea what they're doing. We however do. All the collective Bronze and SIlver players.

This is a classical case of superiority where the anonymous bunch of faceless players think they know more than the people who created the game they play on a daily basis. So you know, we can always criticize (justly or unjustly) when they make the changes but when the Boards come up with the changes, they're perfect by design. Riot should learn from our example.

GreenKnightFeb 24, 20191 votes

[{quoted}](name=Tomoe Gozen,realm=EUNE,application-id=6heBIhQc,discussion-id=EEn2XxOJ,comment-id=000100000000000000000001,timestamp=2019-02-24T02:49:04.817+0000)

Right, he absolutely can't have an opinion, even if it's a negative one. Because he's our bitch and he does what we say he does. We can insult Riot and people who work there because we're frustrated but the same doesn't apply in reverse. We're perfect and what we say is always correct. Riot should listen to us and only us because they clearly have no idea what they're doing. We however do. All the collective Bronze and SIlver players.

This is a classical case of superiority where the anonymous bunch of faceless players think they know more than the people who created the game they play on a daily basis. So you know, we can always criticize (justly or unjustly) when they make the changes but when the Boards come up with the changes, they're perfect by design. Riot should learn from our example.

/s

I'm not sure if you are being sarcastic throughout your whole rant, but whatever.

If you are a public persona, and you are publishing your work accomplishments on social media, and you gained a reputation of being the voice of a company, or at least part of it, you need to act the part. Fuck ups happen to everyone, but when they do, you need to implement damage control after that disaster. The best course of action for him would be to issue an apology, not delete this tweet and act like nothing happened.

Nothing personal, but you never worked for a big company, i take?

Tomoe GozenFeb 24, 20191 votes

Nothing personal, but you never worked for a big company, i take?

"The customer is always right" doesn't apply when the customer is a pissant. You don't get to throw shit at someone's face only for them to ask for more with a smile on their face because they work in a company and "depend on your interest and you buying their product".

If i was him, i wouldn't issue an apology. But that's just me. The Boards need to learn that it's Riot's hand that allows them to exist here and there are some ground rules. You don't get to piss on someone's good will and be an ass about it, only for you to act all offended when someone points out how useless such people are.

The problem with his statement was that he wasn't being specific which some people took as "maybe he thinks we're all useless". And to that i would clarify what i actually meant, but there would still be no apologies.

And you're correct as well. Sometimes you need to learn when to keep your mouth shut in order not to cause more harm than good but i don't believe this situation is the case in question. It's no secret that the Boards are toxic environment for Rioters. It stands to reason that after all the shit, they're not happy about the fact that sometimes, they have to make an appearance here.

And we have only ourselves to blame for that.

GreenKnightFeb 24, 20191 votes

[{quoted}](name=Tomoe Gozen,realm=EUNE,application-id=6heBIhQc,discussion-id=EEn2XxOJ,comment-id=00010000000000000000000100000000,timestamp=2019-02-24T03:10:12.378+0000)

Sure. One vile little man will surely break your spirit for a time. But, for one asshole, there's also a very nice customer who want to see his problems adressed, and he presents them with coherent thought and dedication. That one guy might piss you off, but that's no reason to treat your other, polite customers like they are one and the same.

If i was him, i wouldn't issue an apology.

Like i said, when you are the face of the company, certain public actions and words have a different weight to them. He's not a rando on the internet.

But that's just me. The Boards need to learn that it's Riot's hand that allows them to exist here and there are some ground rules. You don't get to piss on someone's good will and be an ass about it, only for you to act all offended when someone points out how useless such people are.

Riot exists because of it's playerbase and community. You think they would be half as successful if they never had the (original) boards? Oh, and don't throw everyone in the same bag, you know as well as i do, that people have different opinions on things.

It's no secret that the Boards are toxic environment for Rioters.

It wasn't always the case, as i was led to believe. But when the boards changed, and reds stopped showing up, everything went downhill. Not everything is caused by players.

Tomoe GozenFeb 24, 20191 votes

The only people who got offended by RiotAugust's statement were people who were actually looking for something to get offended by. I'm a part of the Boards too, whether i like it or not. And i don't care on bit about what he said. He didn't target me nor does his statement apply to me in particular.

Riot exists because of it's playerbase and community.

That's only partly true. This is a mutually benefitial relationship. Riot shipped out League 9+ years ago, which people really liked and they stayed because of that. Riot kept providing and meeting the demands of a growing player base and people liked that too.

It's not that the "goodwill" of the player base that Riot lasted this long being in the leading MOBA genre at the time. Players wouldn't have supported them this long if Riot never made anything for the community. Products that are not player centered never last that long.

It wasn't always the case, as i was led to believe. But when the boards changed, and reds stopped showing up, everything went downhill. Not everything is caused by players.

I don't know why Reds stopped showing up. I made barely 4 posts on the old forums and i have been a part of this one for a little over 3 years, i believe. So i don't know the golden glory days of laidback Reds.

GreenKnightFeb 24, 20191 votes

[{quoted}](name=Tomoe Gozen,realm=EUNE,application-id=6heBIhQc,discussion-id=EEn2XxOJ,comment-id=0001000000000000000000010000000000000000,timestamp=2019-02-24T03:38:17.304+0000)

The only people who got offended by RiotAugust's statement were people who were actually looking for something to get offended by. I'm a part of the Boards too, whether i like it or not. And i don't care on bit about what he said. He didn't target me nor does his statement apply to me in particular.

Everyone in the community has a right to be pissed off, if you say that all are useless.

It's not that the "goodwill" of the player base that Riot lasted this long being in the leading MOBA genre at the time. Players wouldn't have supported them this long if Riot never made anything for the community. Products that are not player centered never last that long.

Sure, because at first there was a great deal of communication, which declined massively, as you can see on here. I said what i thought about it, but i think a bit of an ego should be added to my list. Riot just went too big, too fast.

Tomoe GozenFeb 24, 20198 votes

The Boards are not a hive mind but isn't this hypocritical to say that when OUR OWN FOREFRONT HOT PAGE almost always exclusively has "Riot sucks, fire X, nerf Y, revert Z, fire W, etc." literally upvoted for everyone to see? It's amazing, isn't it?

How there's a claim that not everyone here is like that and yet, these are the kinds of opinions that almost exclusively hog the HOT page any day of the week and very rarely, we have actual threads that allow for proper discourse. And who is to blame? The mods? Or the community that claims we are reasonable and yet sits back when these threads are being made and upvoted? If these people tarnish our pure view of the boards, isn't it our job to keep an ever vigilant eye open and shut down any attempt to sidetrack actual discussions?

"All that is needed for evil to win is for good men to do nothing" is the saying. And we don't seem to be in a hurry to put a stop to this behavior one bit. Makes you wonder that if we let these "bad" people speak for us, maybe everyone else would think that we're all the same?

DrCyanideFeb 24, 20193 votes

How there's a claim that not everyone here is like that and yet, these are the kinds of opinions that almost exclusively hog the HOT page any day of the week and very rarely, we have actual threads that allow for proper discourse. And who is to blame?

You can pin blame on whoever you want, but I'd ask you to look at how few well thought out posts actually get Rioter replies. In the history of the Boards, more often than not the well thought out posts got completely ignored by Riot, while the snarky or negative posts got replies. Riot can't act too surprised when they only encouraged this behavior by their own actions.

mike in the boxFeb 24, 20191 votes

Really? I have been on these boards for all most as long as you and in my experience positive meemeish posts get the most riot responses. They tend to ignore substantial posts both positive and negative. Of course there are cycles, new rioters will hop on the boards for a few months then fade. Rioters in this camp don't tend to favor any kind of post but also usually don't have any real insight either.

DrCyanideFeb 24, 20191 votes

I should have clarified: regarding Gameplay matters it feels like Rioters only respond to the worst presented/most negative argument. You're absolutely right in that the Lore/Skins/Memes posts get a better feedback.

PaffWasTakenFeb 24, 20191 votes

The Boards are not a hive mind but isn't this hypocritical to say that when OUR OWN FOREFRONT HOT PAGE almost always exclusively has "Riot sucks, fire X, nerf Y, revert Z, fire W, etc." literally upvoted for everyone to see? It's amazing, isn't it?

A popular/common opinion doesn't necessarily means it comes from an hive-mind or set mentality, in fact in most cases it means there's a foundation and/or reason for this opinion to exist. What you are basically saying is like declaring "People in general are not hive-minded, but isn't this hypocritical to say that since basically everyone feels pain when they get punched in the face?"

Tomoe GozenFeb 25, 20191 votes

What you are basically saying is like declaring "People in general are not hive-minded, but isn't this hypocritical to say that since basically everyone feels pain when they get punched in the face?"

No, that's not the same thing. What i'm saying is how we can claim that we can have a proper discourse with Riot and claim how this is only the loud minority of us as a whole and yet, that's literally what's all the time on the forefront of the Boards, for everyone to see?

If there's a lot more of good guys than bad guys, i think it would be easy for us to bury those useless threads in a mountain of downvotes and leave only good ones upvoted. But the point being is that i guess that the good guys like to sit on their butts all day and do nothing while we let the bad guys get their voices across to Riot and then we blame Riot for thinking that we are useless and negative all the time?

We are letting the disgruntled minority speak for all of us and use our place for a discussion, as a place to have a siege against Riot's castle.

Emo TwinkFeb 24, 20191 votes

Obviously hes not talking about the whole boards, just majority, or what looks to be the majority because the worst parts are normally loudest. If what something said doesnt apply to you when youre in the community, obviously hes not referring to you?

GreenKnightFeb 24, 20191 votes

[{quoted}](name=YoRHa 9S,realm=OCE,application-id=6heBIhQc,discussion-id=EEn2XxOJ,comment-id=00010002,timestamp=2019-02-24T15:49:26.672+0000)

Obviously hes not talking about the whole boards, just majority, or what looks to be the majority because the worst parts are normally loudest. If what something said doesnt apply to you when youre in the community, obviously hes not referring to you?

Is it really that obvious to you? He did not specify what he meant by "useless".

Props for the name though

SMOKE THISFeb 25, 20192 votes

{quoted}

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.

Wow finally someone who shares my opinion on reworks. I thought I was the only one. Old champion reworks are clearly a result of Riot's game designs foolishly forgetting integral parts of the game. Why are they changing the game in a fashion that makes their own champion designs obsolete, when they could change the game and design new champions in a way that considers and incorporates the older designs, thus not creating such a huge rift in the game.

DynikusFeb 23, 201921 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 PoroFeb 23, 20197 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.

GreenKnightFeb 23, 20192 votes

[{quoted}](name=Attysu The Poro,realm=NA,application-id=6heBIhQc,discussion-id=EEn2XxOJ,comment-id=0005,timestamp=2019-02-23T23:26:29.745+0000)

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.

A quick question, while we are at it: Are you, my dearest mods, working on some updates to guidelines?

ModAttysu The PoroFeb 24, 20192 votes

Ah, we do have some things in the works in terms of guidelines for some sub-boards, namely Gameplay and Player Behavior. ^^ If you have feedback about those boards, it would be heavily appreciated.

zeskgamesFeb 24, 20191 votes

The "darn dirty" part was just a joke I swear! [zombie-nunu-tears]

I thought I kept the separation clear with the "Riot and" part, but I guess I should've done a better job. But seriously I really appreciate all the work y'all do to try and make the boards a better place, didn't mean to offend or confuse.

ModAttysu The PoroFeb 24, 20192 votes

I'm not offended! I knew it was a joke haha; I just wanted to clarify for anyone who may not have known that (as we're mistaken as Riot employees a lot). <3

No offended or confused Herald's here.

BobaFlautistFeb 23, 20196 votes

Yeah I read that tweet and was like

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

TricolorStarFeb 24, 20196 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.

zeskgamesFeb 24, 20192 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...

Ironic isn't it?

Midg3tFeb 24, 20195 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

Jennifer420Feb 24, 20194 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

GlaricionFeb 24, 20191 votes

Rito Game does listen, but can come off quite badly, and is slow to act.

Things we got that didn't look so good: Youmuu's Ghostblade kept Youmuu, Finales Funkeln was compromised to still have a pretty decent name, Shurelya back on Shurelya's Reverie

Supposedly on stream Riot August talked about how there's more tweaking to be had w/ Kayle's armour and there were hot debates for months on whether or not to salvage Akali's true stealth.

I've heard about the Ardent Censer meta though, oh god they should've reacted much sooner. Sounds like the whole season was down the toilet w/ issues much easier to resolve than S8's system-wide issues.

Jennifer420Feb 24, 20192 votes

wait so finales funkeln is kept in english? cause its german lol.

and yeah riot is VERY SLOW which is frustrating.

GlaricionFeb 25, 20191 votes

The compromise was doubling down on the Marissa Kirisame Touhou reference by having the name changed from 'Finales Funkeln' to 'Final Spark'.

Double points as Final Spark also sounds like an attack Vegeta or his kids would use (Dragon Ball).

Jennifer420Feb 25, 20191 votes

huh thats weird lol. oh well final flash hehe xD. considering i am german, i can tell that there are many things in the english language that are either full german or half translated german lol

GlaricionFeb 25, 20191 votes

{quoted}

huh thats weird lol. oh well final flash hehe xD. considering i am german, i can tell that there are many things in the english language that are either full german or half translated german lol

You're pretty much right.

English is a Germanic language with a huge amount of Romance (Italian, Spanish, etc...) thrown in due to the English being influenced by the continent and being conquered by the French (iirc).

Normal conversations will usually consist mostly of words of a Germanic origin whereas more academic or complex conversations will tend towards words of a Romance origin.

When we're about to say something a bit rude or vulgar we'll sarcastically tell the listener to 'excuse my French'.

Jennifer420Feb 25, 20192 votes

and yet when i dont know how to say something on german MY MOTHER TONGUE i say it in english lol. languages are weird

Sir SaltarinFeb 23, 20193 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

zeskgamesFeb 23, 20192 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k55FYtqtXXU

MakarakarnFeb 23, 20193 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.

KarfussFeb 24, 20193 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.

Autrah FangFeb 24, 20192 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

zeskgamesFeb 24, 20193 votes

As I've stated in some other responses, you are correct it's a little unfair for me to look at the boards as a hivemind that only think one thing. But I think that August (and me to some extent) has just gotten really frustrated with the majority of the boards negativity. I mean if you look at the main page you'll usually see one or two contrsuctive critisims pieces that are actually well thought out. But they'll be drowned in a sea of "I DON'T LIKE THIS CHANGE X SHOULD BE FIRED!" "THIS IS MY ESSAY ON WHY I'M QUITING AND WHY RIOT IS ACTUALLY SATAN!!!" "I SHOULD BE UNBANNED EVEN THOUGH I'M A TOXIC SHITBAG!!" I think August was just frustrated with that (Much Darker) side of the boards that rears is ugly head way more than it should in my opinion. Could he have been more precise with WHAT about the boards he thought was useless? Yeah probably. But I think the big message that everyone on the boards should take away from this is that some people at Riot are starting to get real tired of the some of these circle-jerky hate boner posts. And though I don't like to think this way, Riot might actually do something drastic with the boards if things don't change soon. Just my two cents, but that might be getting into fear-mongering accidentally there at the end.

NaalithFeb 24, 20192 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.

SulghunterFeb 24, 20192 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.

PaffWasTakenFeb 24, 20192 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.

ZaFishboneFeb 25, 20191 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.

ChaosReynFeb 25, 20191 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.