Moderators should remove Gameplay threads that lack evidence

The Ecdysiast·Jul 3, 2018·1 votes·1,716 views

If a player is making a complaint about a champion, item, etc., they should have sources and/or other evidence supporting their claims. If not, then they don't have the basic grounds to have a discussion on the topic and are simply spamming the boards with baseless opinions, which have no place on a forum intended to bring change to the game (since you can't message Riot directly with your thoughts).

Such nonsense is a major reason we don't see much change based on things from these official boards, and instead have Riot actively looking at Reddit. It should be culled.

Edit: It's important to recognize that I am not asking for unpopular opinions to be silenced. I'm asking for all complaints that lack evidence to be removed because they are nothing more than spam. If you think a champion should be deleted or needs buffs, then provide evidence from in game or league analytics sites, or keep it on your own tumblr blog. Baseless complaints have no place on a discussion forum, especially when it further bogs up the posts via the author simply responding to ever comment proving them wrong with, "I don't care," or blatant lies.

9 Comments

ModThe DjinnJul 3, 20183 votes

[{quoted}](name=Uber Deer,realm=NA,application-id=6heBIhQc,discussion-id=ng1l0U6q,comment-id=,timestamp=2018-07-03T08:40:14.184+0000)...which have no place on a forum intended to bring change to the game.

It's important to realize that the Gameplay forums exist to discuss the game, not necessarily bring changes to it. People's complaints, opinions, and -- yes -- even the occasional rant are part of discussing the game.

Now, we are looking into ways to allow both types of post to exist without either eclipsing the others, but we don't have anything ready to roll out immediately. So the problem is on our radar, but "cull anything without evidence" isn't a solution we're happy with.

The EcdysiastJul 3, 20181 votes

My point still stands that having no evidence to support your claims does not foster discussion. It's simply spam.

ModThe DjinnJul 3, 20181 votes

[{quoted}](name=Uber Deer,realm=NA,application-id=6heBIhQc,discussion-id=ng1l0U6q,comment-id=00000000,timestamp=2018-07-03T19:30:12.146+0000)

My point still stands that having no evidence to support your claims does not foster discussion. It's simply spam.

I do not believe I agree with this. Sharing your experience seems like something we should allow on the boards even if all you have is anecdotal evidence.

BLACK REALM GODJul 3, 20181 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Djinn,realm=NA,application-id=6heBIhQc,discussion-id=ng1l0U6q,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2018-07-03T15:37:31.439+0000)

It's important to realize that the Gameplay forums exist to discuss the game, not necessarily bring changes to it. People's complaints, opinions, and -- yes -- even the occasional rant are part of discussing the game.

Now, we are looking into ways to allow both types of post to exist without either eclipsing the others, but we don't have anything ready to roll out immediately. So the problem is on our radar, but "cull anything without evidence" isn't a solution we're happy with.

simple. make a "rant" section. call it "stress release" if you dont want to offend people when you move their posts. it will be hilarious.

ModThe DjinnJul 3, 20181 votes

[{quoted}](name=BLACK REALM GOD,realm=NA,application-id=6heBIhQc,discussion-id=ng1l0U6q,comment-id=00000001,timestamp=2018-07-03T19:33:10.074+0000)

simple. make a "rant" section. call it "stress release" if you dont want to offend people when you move their posts. it will be hilarious.

Reconsider that, but I believe the current plan is that we would rather have a serious discussion than a rant section. It may seem like a silly distinction, but I believe encouraging serious discussion will lead to better conversations in both locations than encouraging rants in one.

BLACK REALM GODJul 3, 20181 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Djinn,realm=NA,application-id=6heBIhQc,discussion-id=ng1l0U6q,comment-id=000000010000,timestamp=2018-07-03T21:38:51.841+0000)

Reconsider that, but I believe the current plan is that we would rather have a serious discussion than a rant section. It may seem like a silly distinction, but I believe encouraging serious discussion will lead to better conversations in both locations than encouraging rants in one.

...never in life has encouraging good behavior over bad behavior ever worked. if it did the argument for the existent of violent videogames and "excessive" anime would be mute.

ModKnightsKemplarJul 3, 20182 votes

In addition to Djinn's comments, we don't want to appear to be censoring opinions. You're always going to attract a certain number of "mod favoritism" complaints, but we are careful about that issue. And I certainly don't want anyone to feel like certain opinions about the game aren't allowed.

If you think Zed should be deleted because he's a toxic champ, there should be a place to express that. You may not have any evidence. But there's sort of a grey area there between "this is just promoting toxic discussion" and "this is censoring player opinions."

The EcdysiastJul 3, 20181 votes

You can use facebook to rant about that. It isn't a discussion to simply state your opinion and expect people to agree with you without anything to back it up, and then proceed to say their facts don't matter and your thread was just for complaint.

It's a discussion board, not complaint board.

And it's extremely important for you to recognize that I am not asking for certain opinions to be removed. I'm asking that anything, popular or unpopular, be removed if it lacks any kind of factual support. And especially if it makes claims that are outright false.

If you think Zed is a toxic champ, then provide a fitting explanation as for why with evidence from the game and/or statistics when you post, or don't bother spamming the forums. You can write it in your own blog.

ModKnightsKemplarJul 3, 20181 votes

I share your frustrations about it, but I it isn't a realistic solution to remove those threads. Even if you were 100% correct, the moderation burden that would add would be tremendous; not only would we have to remove those threads constantly, we'd also have the deal with the blowback from that, including spillover of those threads into other sub-boards like GD.

I realize that isn't going to be a satisfying answer to you, but that's the truth. It's not just about you and me; it's also about what the rest of the community wants. And the community clearly wants to support that type of thread. If they didn't, downvotes would be sufficient to keep them buried.