Boards›Gameplay

'Shit-talking' your enemies is not toxic.

The Bearded Bard··11 votes·6,244 views

As a pretext, I'ma go ahead and say this has nothing to do with Dunkey.

Alright, back to what we came here for. Shit-talking your enemies isn't toxic, it's pretty much been a part of competition since competition was created. Y'all just need to stop taking it so seriously, because it's not a serious thing at all. If someone on the enemy team says to you at the beginning of the game 'Better just afk til you can surrender, we're gonna scrub you guys' are you really gonna report him at the end of the game for some harmless banter? Are you that fragile? If so, competition isn't for you.

All that being said, 'shit-talking' and 'being an asshole' are not the same thing. The difference is one is friendly in nature, the other is malicious. That's where people get confused, and I don't blame them. It's not easy to determine tone over text, but just give them the benefit of the doubt. Now if it's an ally saying bad things towards you, they're an asshole, report them. You can't and shouldn't shit-talk an ally.

Glad we cleared that up. Peace.

EDIT: ALL THESE PEOPLE WITH READING DISABILITIES. ^^^Right up there, read the second paragraph, literally the first sentence. "All that being said, shit-talking and being an asshole are not the same thing." For real, all of you naysayers preaching that sports players don't call each other dumb fucks or whatever, that falls under the 'being an asshole' category.

44 Comments

Sniper 03 votes

There is a difference between shit talking and harassment however. Like I said this earlier "Sona wins" "Fatality" after bursting down the enemy Lux. xD Flat out being like "ohh yeah I kicked your ass, you're bad, you're a piece of shit." is toxic. z.z

JustMyBassCannon5 votes

Verbal sparring is a lost art, damaged by the voices of thousands of 12-year-old COD players.

Bronzoid4 votes

[{quoted}](name=Holy Arts,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=29TsG9O6,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2015-09-13T20:22:01.623+0000)

There is a difference between shit talking and harassment however. Like I said this earlier "Sona wins" "Fatality" after bursting down the enemy Lux. xD Flat out being like "ohh yeah I kicked your ass, you're bad, you're a piece of shit." is toxic. z.z

You can get banned for "gg ez", guess that's on the same level kek.

Sniper 01 votes

{quoted}

You can get banned for "gg ez", guess that's on the same level kek.

Well when you're exchanging banter with the opponent you're probably not gonna get reported for it. GG EZ isn't remotely clever nor is it polite.... Good banter is funny and playful. I said that to the lux and they laughed their asses off because I just 100-0'd her. xD She was like "Sona does damage" then I threw that gem their way.

If you're flat out stomping someone and you tell them that after the game it's extremely rude and insensitive. Pretty toxic. It's funny when people say that after a 40 minute game.... Ohh yeah it was ez. I mean I'll say stuff like "Ez lane ez life" to my team but that's purely for encouragement. I don't let that fall over into all chat.

Unless the enemy bm's me and even then I just say things like "ok." "Lol". Those are just as potent and generally not seen as toxic. With the added bonus of tilting your enemy.

EDIT: the best one is when they tower dive and you get a double kill. All you type in all chat is "Ok."

The Bearded Bard1 votes

Thank you for reiterating what I said in the first sentence of the second paragraph.

Sniper 01 votes

[{quoted}](name=I am Maokai,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=29TsG9O6,comment-id=00000002,timestamp=2015-09-16T17:09:29.102+0000)

Thank you for reiterating what I said in the first sentence of the second paragraph.

No problem... ;) Had a bit of a tldr situation there. Your initial paragraph probably kept people from reading your second paragraph! Plus you didn't actually provide any examples of what banter vs harass looks like. So again, no problem.

2Lucians1Trap1 votes

No it isnt moron its toxic if you use a racist term if I tell someone there trash and tell them to uninstall after I kill them its clearly to fuck with them not to be toxic most of the time I even add them and message them saying "nothing personal just trying to tilt you so I can win sorry man."

owenstarkiller2 votes

To the folks that voted this down, why the negativity? Evidently SJW's only can decide what is good and bad?

Bulletproof Car2 votes

shit talking is poor sportsmanship

Blade of Justic1 votes

Ever wonder why it's hard to tell the difference between sincerity and sarcasm on the internet?

It's the same reason that it's hard to tell jest from sincerity.

Because people don't put /jk at the end of their sentences.

Context is important.

BluePolarizer1 votes

there is also market competition in the real world yet how many CEOs say shit like "lol dumbass mac users we're gonna scrub your apples so hard they'll be edible even with all those pesticides"

Spicy Rice3 votes

I worked at a movie theater once. My first day on the job, i was randomly picked to join in on a meeting with the head of that particular theater, the gm, and some other employees. The head said this about the new rival theater. "My hope, is that we will destroy them. Not just put them out of business, no, but to make them fail so badly, that no one even rents that building again, and that its left as an empty husk, as a warning to anyone that tries to mess with us.

BluePolarizer1 votes

lol damn.

Spicy Rice1 votes

yep XD. Needless to say, he was the best boss ever

SaltyToplaneGoat1 votes

So in short: being agressive at enemy team: ok. Being agressive at own team: not ok.

Personally this logic makes sense to me. After all when I'm a tank I always try to get people mad and focus me instead of the carry. That's psychological warfare - a normale tactic.

The Ancient Sage1 votes

what a lot of people have seemed to forget is that it takes about a second to press tab and mute someone. theres also a mature language filter, so if you dont want to hear someone "Shit talk" you have 100% power not to. riot doesnt even NEED to ban people for "Toxicity" because they made their game so the PLAYER has the power to press 1 button to make someone "STFU NOOB"

Jbels2 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Ancient Sage,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=29TsG9O6,comment-id=0004,timestamp=2015-09-13T20:33:50.882+0000)

what a lot of people have seemed to forget is that it takes about a second to press tab and mute someone. theres also a mature language filter, so if you dont want to hear someone "Shit talk" you have 100% power not to. riot doesnt even NEED to ban people for "Toxicity" because they made their game so the PLAYER has the power to press 1 button to make someone "STFU NOOB"

There are levels of toxicity that need to be removed from the game's community. Such as racism, Homophobia, extreme hate...those are never good to let run around...

Mecha MaIphite1 votes

It can be though.

If I say "Git outplayed" when I get a kill as someone like Tryndamere or Xin, it's good-natured shit-talking and pretty obvious I'm joking. However, if I say something like "Lmao did I pick bots" after a game, it's just plain rude.

Lugg1 votes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportsmanship

You need to read this.

The Queen Viper1 votes

Yes it is ... and you will get #REKT if you do that shit.

Ixoziel1 votes

It doesn't really bother me, as long as it's directed at the enemy team. I've been playing online games for more than 18 years though so I probably have a thicker skin than most. Lots of politically correct people hate trashtalk and want to censor all negativity, which is why "Satan" is censored in game (completely ridiculous).

Dr Poro1 votes

Are people actually playing with the chat filter on?

bad manner kid1 votes

Back in the Rallos Zek days... oh dear.

Kill someone, loot an item off their corpse that could have taken them weeks to acquire, all the gold they were carrying, talk shit til they ignore you. Camp them, they come back to corpse defenseless after running for 15 minutes, kill them again and tea bag their new corpse.

Zero repercussions. If you complained, the GMs replied: "You're playing on a PvP server."

People are so sensitive these days. The problem is you are stuck in a short term game and forced to play with people. If you flame teammates, they troll you. Personally, I don't believe in harassing my own team; it's unproductive and it's usually half my fault anyways. However, being afraid to flame the enemy is ridiculous. "Waah this player called me trash and told me to uninstall!!" :''''( It's the fucking internet WHO CARES what people say!

I agree the whole "get cancer" "get aids" "kill yourself" is new stuff that is a bit over the top, but honestly you shouldn't take anything personally (enemy vs enemy)

BeatzBoyFTW1 votes

This is like saying Tiger Woods should be able to give the middle finger & shout words like "Fk you! You suck d'ck! Go back to ur momma, fkin homeboy!" to his opponent in a friendly quiet golf match. Either that, or you have just received chat restriction yourself & made this thread thinking it could lift the ban away.

bad manner kid2 votes

{quoted}

This is like saying Tiger Woods should be able to give the middle finger & shout words like "Fk you! You suck d'ck! Go back to ur momma, fkin homeboy!" to his opponent in a friendly quiet golf match. Either that, or you have just received chat restriction yourself & made this thread thinking it could lift the ban away.

The internet isn't face to face and random players aren't celebrities. There is no real impact on burnt bridges.

Do you think Basketball/Football players don't say nasty things? Hockey?

People have just turned into soft shelled crybabies that get sad and stop trying to play because someone said something mean on the internet.

BeatzBoyFTW1 votes

The internet isn't face to face and random players aren't celebrities. There is no real impact on burnt bridges.

It still applies the same concept, as if every pros & non-pros should deserve to show off their 3 year old tantrum on enemies to make them think they're the highest of the highest.

Do you think Basketball/Football players don't say nasty things? Hockey?

And this is where Technical Foul was granted to players such as these.

People have just turned into soft shelled crybabies that get sad and stop trying to play because someone said something mean on the internet.

You do know that not all League players are playing at the same age? There are always chances that even a 10 year old was being insulted on by a 26 years old who still lives under his mom's garage.

bad manner kid1 votes

{quoted} You do know that not all League players are playing at the same age? There are always chances that even a 10 year old was being insulted on by a 26 years old who still lives under his mom's garage.

I'm more of a believer in free speech. I rarely insult my teammates but if I call a 10 year old on the enemy team a dad blowing fast food worker because his last red buff tick kills me, I expect him to laugh and not report me. If he/she is not mature enough to laugh it off, their parents are to blame. ** Exposing your children to profanity and adults is an option. **

I've never received any form of punishment in this game except for leaving here and there over the years. Maybe I'm just a professional trash talker in that I don't paint myself as a spiteful angry teenager. Oh well, just sick of seeing people quit playing seriously because of "hate speech."

The Bearded Bard1 votes

This game is T for Teen, not T for Ten. They shouldn't be playing. Parents' responsibility, not mine.

The Bearded Bard1 votes

Nope. Never been banned or chat restricted. I just think people should recognize the strategic advantage of shit-talking.

The Bearded Bard1 votes

Nope. Never been banned or chat restricted. I just think people should recognize the strategic advantage of shit-talking.

Also, notice I said 'shit-talking the enemy is not toxic.' Saying fuck you and suck a dick is not shit-talking. That's being an asshole. I even explained the difference.

Razgriz9901 votes

We live in a society of victims where "bullying" isn't properly dealt with anymore, so everyone is a "tattle tale" now. I remember in grade school I got in trouble for tattling on other kids. Punch that fker in the face though and sure you get a little detention, but who cares? You don't get messed with after that, report someone and it only gets worse.

SnakDatSmilesBak1 votes

Aww man when i punched my bully i got the shit kicked out of me by him and his friends. You're lucky you only got detention, I got a suspension.

Trylobyte1 votes

Here's the irony I notice.

People say that when you get verbally harassed you need to suck it up and deal with it. But these same people are often the ones who will explode when someone, say, trolls them in their promos. Apparently it's okay to say whatever you want, but the minute that translates into action that affects them all those 'be a man' tough-guy phrases go out the window and they begin posting about how the guy needs to be banned.

Apparently we simply need to define what sorts of harassment are acceptable.

NxnOoRGyTh1 votes

[{quoted}](name=I am Maokai,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=29TsG9O6,comment-id=,timestamp=2015-09-13T20:20:49.400+0000)

As a pretext, I'ma go ahead and say this has nothing to do with Dunkey.

Alright, back to what we came here for. Shit-talking your enemies isn't toxic, it's pretty much been a part of competition since competition was created. Y'all just need to stop taking it so seriously, because it's not a serious thing at all. If someone on the enemy team says to you at the beginning of the game 'Better just afk til you can surrender, we're gonna scrub you guys' are you really gonna report him at the end of the game for some harmless banter? Are you that fragile? If so, competition isn't for you.

All that being said, 'shit-talking' and 'being an asshole' are not the same thing. The difference is one is friendly in nature, the other is malicious. That's where people get confused, and I don't blame them. It's not easy to determine tone over text, but just give them the benefit of the doubt. Now if it's an ally saying bad things towards you, they're an asshole, report them. You can't and shouldn't shit-talk an ally.

Glad we cleared that up. Peace.

I have to agree a SHIT TON with you on this. So many fragile little morons on this game like seriously, LEARN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN being toxic, and being competitive. I've seen countless streams before of pro LoL players where people are talking trash but in a funny kind of way to them and they just either ignore it or write something funny back. Like Aphromoo for ex. He would write something somewhat funny like.. "You ok?" haha or so. And even then in lower elo's/ranks people take offense to that like... Seriously? If you get upset about something like that, please... Gtfo online playing. You're going to ALWAYS encounter these types of people and player and you have to learn the difference between them. Thank you for your post here. I hope A LOT of people would see and read it AND understand it!

EDIT: I sometimes talk a lot of trash but in my eyes it's kind of like a strategy. Cause I'm a very fast typer and I trash talk to get the enemy team to tilt in a way but of course if I get reported that's on my own fault lmao.

Tehlawlfirm1 votes

You are never going to convince our sensitive society with common sense because they have none. They are promoting censorship and denying freedom of speech and don't even know it.

I wonder how many people would be for censorship if their country made a law to where every time you said something that offended someone you would spend a week 2 weeks in jail like a two week suspension. Also I'd like to point out even if you don't think it is offensive people will get offended over EVERYTHING so basically everyone would constantly be in jail.

But in League sensitive people LOVE reporting because it gets them off.. so they promote censorship.

Society is full of idiots and so is this game.

SnakDatSmilesBak1 votes

You're right, idiots that compare a ban in league to two weeks in jail. Don't worry though, I'm just trash-talking you.

Magic Mo1 votes

Don't use logic on Gameplay forums. It's like poking food at a caged animal. You'd be lucky if they could get the heads out of their asses long enough to read your second paragraph, let alone your entire post.

"OH, ANTI-TRIBUNAL POST? DOWNVOTE AND MOVE ON!" ensuing sheep noises

WarlockLaw1 votes

Shit-talking is extremely, emphasis on extremely, unsportsmanlike. It doesn't matter how it was intended, it simply is. Most professional sports will kick a player out for such conduct if the referees notice it, usually giving them a warning first. Unsportsmanlike behavior is "toxic."

Also, don't say that shit-talking between strangers can be friendly. It can't and isn't. A stranger doesn't know if you are being an asshole or joking around. They don't know you, they don't know what you're like. Most people will assume the worst if they aren't like you.

The Bearded Bard1 votes

I disagree. Growing up I played soccer every year, and living in a smallish area, I played with and against a lot of the same people. The amount of shit-talking was unbelievable. Needless to say, every one of us would have been banned from this game, easily. But at the end of the game, we all still respected each other regardless of who won or lost. At the end of the day, we all knew it was just a game.

'But that was so long ago, and you all knew each other!' True, but here's a more recent example. A lot of people play ping pong at my college so I got into it too. First day walking onto the table, the first thing all of these strangers said to me wasn't 'hey what's up? have fun' it was shit-talking. Did I react negatively and tell the nearest teacher? No, because I knew it was all in good fun. Because ping pong is a game.

That's what I think people have trouble realizing. League of Legends is a game. It's meant to be fun. Chill out, join your enemy in shit-talking, or don't, but don't report him for trying to have some fun interaction with other players.

WarlockLaw1 votes

See but what about people that don't enjoy shit talking, I don't and likely never will so when other players start shit talking, even when it's not directed at me, it takes away from my enjoyment of the game.

Had I walked into that same group of people playing ping pong I would have attempted to beat them without saying shit back, and then depending on the result either walk away pissed or walked away satisfied. Then I would proceed to never associate with them again.

Also, please don't justify anything you say or do with the line "it's just a game." I don't feel that line justifies anything as clearly the other person isn't have fun, mostly likely due to a disconnect between the way you enjoy things and the way they do.

The Bearded Bard1 votes

Life has no mute button, but fortunately for you, this game does. If other people having fun takes away from your fun, feel free to mute them. It's even defaulted that you can't see what the enemy team says in all chat.

Colgate Gator1 votes

[{quoted}](name=I am Maokai,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=29TsG9O6,comment-id=0011000000000000,timestamp=2015-09-17T08:00:11.273+0000)

Life has no mute button, but fortunately for you, this game does. If other people having fun takes away from your fun, feel free to mute them. It's even defaulted that you can't see what the enemy team says in all chat.

I raise you the following question. How conceited can someone be to assume that the people affected by your shit talking needs to mute you out instead of you not spewing shit at all in the first place?

If spewing shit is fun to you, that's fine, but if your concept of fun takes other people's enjoyement of the same game you're playing, you're at fault. You aren't a special snowflake, we literally have no reason to put up with people's rudeness.

briskcity1 votes

Yes, but if its a game and you're a meant to have with it, then why encourage the trash talking. Trash talking is not fun at all. It gets people riled up and frustrated whether you're the first to start it or not both sides get agitated at the back and forth confrontation. Some people get home from work and just want to relax and play a game but come into a game of toxicity by someone trash talking. Yes, you can mute all chat and individual players, however, I do not like to do that. For reasons that someone is deserving of a ban on their team, I would like to know about it so that I can report it with a description of what transpired, or they could just be really cool people. I would like for the people that get reported often but nothing happens to ban them for trash talk to be muted upon entering the game so you do not have to. Thus allowing those who do not which to see it still have all chat open to make friends with the people they are playing against. Also, trash talking in sports results in fines and suspensions to say it is encouraged is a blatant lie. Also to say that each person respects each other after trash talking is also up for debate. I grew up in a small city where we played baseball these kids knew what they were doing they were trying to get under my skin. This never has a positive intention. The people want to see you get riled up. I also knew they had no respect for me. In the end, it ended up with them getting the daylights kicked out of them by me. They never messed with me again. The reason is because of face to face altercations. Because these players hide behind a screen and the match ends and the players move from game to game never playing with the same people again allows these trash talking players to act however they want. Where in real life you have to look the guy in the face and even then you don't know what they will do. Another thing to keep in mind even if you think trash talking is still fine and I did not make a good point. These players you have never met in real life, you do not know who they are or how they act you may think it's a joke and trash talk and it's in sport and fun. However, I have come across some stories of people using games to cope with depression or they have bipolar disorder. Know tell me how much of a jerk it is to trash talk unnecessarily to a person coping with these illnesses. It's because of this I do not like trash talking in games because I have no idea who I will be matched with. I just want to have fun in a game with as little negativity as possible. Now if only the community saw the same through my eyes. But that's most likely never going to happen.

Colgate Gator1 votes

You really have to reconsider your argument if what you're defending is called "shit-talking", if that doesn't turn on any red light then I don't know what to tell you.

More from Gameplay

3 Refunds per season, upvote if you want 3 refunds per season.
Gameplay764 comments
7,167
votes
3 Refunds per season, upvote if you want 3 refunds per season.
Gameplay156 comments
3,510
votes
UPVOTE FOR URF
Gameplay606 comments
2,440
votes
Yes plz.
Gameplay456 comments
1,721
votes
3 Refunds per season, up vote if you want 3 refunds per season.
Gameplay114 comments
1,716
votes
When is ANYONE at riot going to address the awful new player experience?
Gameplay634 comments
1,383
votes

More by The Bearded Bard

Fiora's Grand Challenge should end when Fiora dies
Gameplay72 comments
254
votes
Feels pretty bad to get a champion shard out of chests
Gameplay215 comments
194
votes
Why is Lissandra punished so hard for her passive?
Gameplay233 comments
144
votes
PSA: If you forget smite, you are no longer a jungler
Gameplay125 comments
132
votes
Pls let mages have better autoattacks for minions
Gameplay97 comments
126
votes
Just wanna thank the mid laners for ruining a support item again
Gameplay177 comments
94
votes