Boards›Gameplay

Are the Negative Effects of Trash Talking Exaggerated?

Addyboy·3/22/2015, 6:13:27 AM·4 votes·1,659 views

My friend has been chat restricted and ranked banned. He has been reported an upwards of 47 times. He thinks that everyone who plays league is thin skinned and overreacts when he tells people they're doing poorly. I have been talking to him for an hour trying to tell him that pointing out that somebody is doing poorly really doesn't accomplish anything and only draws attention to something they don't want attention drawn to. He thinks that verbally harassing someone doesn't increase your chances of winning, and that if someone is 0 - 6 in lane then you're probably going to lose the game anyway so it's better to tell them they're doing bad. I think he's a dick, but he thinks everyone else is just a wuss.

Can anybody support either side of this argument. We're trying to resolve this but I don't think I have enough ranked experience to support any of the points I'm making. It would probably take someone who's Diamond 1, Master tier, or Challenger tier to convince him otherwise. He thinks that skill is the only indicator of where you're positioned in the ranked ladder is purely from skill. He also believes that Riot makes up the statistics before games just to prevent people from trash talking so that people are more inclined to play the game. I didn't make a poll because he thinks the majority of league players don't know what the hell they're talking about and most definitely wouldn't be convinced through that

TL;DR Is the negative effect of trash talking your own team exaggerated?

13 Comments

Volt Cruelerz3/22/2015, 6:29:11 AM5 votes

There's nothing wrong with telling people how to improve, but if he's getting reported that much, he's not doing that or if he is, he's being rude about it. The fact of the matter is that people respond to calm suggestions a lot better than rage. You can look up the psychological studies if you want.

PrinceOfStorms3/22/2015, 6:19:26 AM3 votes

It all depends on how you phrase it.

If you say "Stop feeding, noob uninstall" that's toxic. Whereas if you say something like "next time, please don't play so aggressively," it's more constructive. Just telling someone they're bad doesn't help them get better. Also, your friend is in a situation of the pot calling the kettle black, because unless he is in diamond+, chances are he's bad as well.

The Paulrus3/22/2015, 9:34:02 AM3 votes

So let me get this straight:

Your buddy, a dickhead by all accounts, is calling people trash, telling them to uninstall, and just generally being toxic.

He believes he's justified for doing it, because, well, they're doing badly.

Solution: If he's so good and god's gift to the world (as most of the entitled 12 year old brats playing league are), he should be able to carry. If not, he's clearly not that good and should uninstall because he is trash. Flawless logic is flawless.

KING ATTILA3/22/2015, 7:30:46 AM3 votes

He sounds like a weak bitch that doesn't even lift.

If he reads this and he gets upset, then he is a hypocrite about his attitude of "everyone is a wuss"

YOU WILL HAVE GAMES THAT YOU WILL LOSE. Teach someone something or shut your fucking mouth. Nobody needs to be told "you're playing loke shit"

Dickheads like your buddy need to have a better team attitude to increase his chances of winning. Berating teammates in any way decreases his chances of winning.

If he fails to understand this, then he is the bigger wuss and fool. Suck it up, buttercup. Truth hurts. Quit being an ashhole.

Kotex3/22/2015, 6:21:37 AM1 votes

Amicably telling someone theyre doing something wrong is acceptable and isn't trash talking. It's wrong if you do it in a negative way I.E. Calling them names, sounding aggressive and rude--that doesn't help at all, thats for certain. It adds pressure, its distracting, and if anything it just exacerbates the situation. Flaming someone for being bad, never made anyone magically play better, and it certainly isn't helping you either.

Passionlip3/22/2015, 6:23:09 AM1 votes

About the negative effect, i can't say. About your friend being a large, enormous dick? Yes, i can say. Winning the game or losing it isn't the point, the point is to respect the other people who're playing, even the ones doing poorly °_° Also, you can lose the lane and win the game - think about a champ like Jax, who can farm a bit after the lane phase and come back into the game, or Kennen - even if you're behind of 2-3 kills a well placed ulti can put you again on top

Husk503/22/2015, 6:18:53 AM1 votes

oh, you can do a lot of trash talking. like, A LOT. Also, the first thing that happens is that you are limited to a number of times you can chat per game for about 30 games, then maybe 50, then it goes up to 100.

LoRdJeSuS69694203/22/2015, 6:29:19 AM1 votes

Skill and rank is irrelevant; being a dick is a worse crime than being bad at the game. Ultimately it isn't rank that matters, it's being a good person....

Maybe telling people they are bad doesn't make you any more likely to lose, but it makes you less happy.

67chrome3/22/2015, 7:07:31 AM1 votes

TL;DR Is the negative effect of trash talking your own team exaggerated?

Yes and no?

The wrong effects are mostly brought up in the argument. Some people do need to grow thick skin, but that doesn't really have anything to do with trash talking.

What's the main problem is atmosphere and teamwork.

Being a dick doesn't create a good atmosphere. LoL's champion pool, item pool, and even summoner-based modifications in runes and masteries require a solid amount of experimentation (and thus failure) to explore as well. Nobody is born a master at something, the best of the best just trained a lot to get where they are. And making people feel more comfortable is often the best way to encourage learning.

The other main issue with trash-talk is this: LoL is a team game. One that clearly rewards teamwork.

If you crush your teammate's spirits, they have no team spirit, no motivation to work as a team, and you've just obliterated whatever advantage teamwork could offer your team.

With all the crazy situations my Skype buddies have been able to pull out of out of massive gold/exp/KDA deficits - I'm pretty sure yelling at your teammates is often going to be as harmful as intentionally feeding. You don't win a game with every lane loosing, getting Aced 3 times, and giving up every Baron by screaming at your teammates. You get there by creating an atmosphere where you really want to pull together and work as a group.

Ariaflux3/22/2015, 7:10:47 AM1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Krypta Knight,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=GfssGehi,comment-id=,timestamp=2015-03-22T06:13:27.597+0000)

He thinks that verbally harassing someone doesn't increase your chances of winning, and that if someone is 0 - 6 in lane then you're probably going to lose the game anyway so it's better to tell them they're doing bad. I think he's a dick, but he thinks everyone else is just a wuss.

I assume you mean decrease?

TL;DR Is the negative effect of trash talking your own team exaggerated?

I don't know if what Riot claims is true, but I don't think people should only not be an ass to others because it somehow benefits themselves. You should just convince him not be an ass on general principles, not that he'll win more if he doesn't act that way.

Crett3/22/2015, 6:16:33 AM1 votes

No, it's not. I stop thinking about teamwork and wanting to win the game and having fun, and I start thinking about how much I want to stop playing with the complete JERKWAD THAT'S CALLING ME A BRONZELORD

AM I RIGHT FOLKS

Jamaree3/22/2015, 6:20:20 AM1 votes

Who can say really? Though, it is just common sense, telling your allies off doesn't do anything. There is a difference between saying "Hey, XXX, you should look at the map a bit more, they walked through wards." and "OMG, piece of shit blind motherfucker, did you REALLY not see them through all those wards?" Sure, people need to learn to take a bit of punishment, but insulting them is utterly uncalled for and unnecessary.

Now as for ranking, yeah, skill goes into it sure, but luck is another factor that can't be ignored. Case in point, no matter what you do, no matter how good you are, you can always improve, that is the skill part, but there are 9 other factors in the game that 99% of the time, you aren't going to be able to factor, and that is your four allies and the five opponents. Sometimes you get AFKs, other times your opponent does and while it seems that you always get AFKs and your opponent never gets any, it is more or less an even ratio but you likely won't notice opponent afks, who cares right, you won your game so why should you?

All and all, don't be a dick, don't tell your allies off, tell them mistakes, but don't do it out of spite or hate, do it because you want to improve but make sure to phrase it properly.