Can we talk about Toxicity in ranked?

I want to start off by saying that this is not a rant post. I'm posting this because I love playing league, and i enjoy the competitive aspect of ranked. This isn't me bitching about having a bad game, or a string of bad games. This post is about a problem that many (Many) players are aware of, but ignore. That problem, is

Toxicity in games.

League, by it's very nature, is a game of cooperation. When you click on that ranked queue and the game matches you with 4 other players on a team, you are exactly that: a team. (At least for the next 20 minutes). Like it or not, the Gods of League have placed you on this team with these players, on this side of the map. And that's just how it is. The problem with that is, the players themselves. In a perfect world, every time you queued up for a game of league you'd be matched with positive players who understand that even if they're fed like a fat princess, if the TEAM is not doing well, then the TEAM will inevitably loose. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule, but anyone who's played League enough knows: One champ (Usually) can't win a game by themselves. But, what do you do if you get put on a team with a toxic player? What if he bans your champ? or what if he feeds? or (God forbid) What if he's a NOOB?!?!!? REPORT REPORT REPORT!!! 1st of all, NONE OF THESE ARE EXAMPLES OF TOXIC BEHAVIOR! The sooner that the community realizes that EVERYONE HAS BAD GAMES, the sooner we can eliminate toxic players for good. The fact that you can even report someone for being an "Unskilled player" is stupid. "Unskilled" by who's standards? Should we be reporting the worst player in each game we play because they're "Unskilled?" or maybe the worst player on each team. Or the player who died the most. Or the one who never went for objectives, only kills. REPORT ALL OF THEM FOR BEING "UNSKILLED PLAYERS". RIOT, if you want to get rid of toxic players, step one is to get rid of the "Report for being an unskilled player" button. Being unskilled inst toxic. Everyone has bad games. AND, it should be the in-game matchmaker's job to match together players of similar skill level anyway.

----------------------Just because a player isn't as skilled as you are, doesn't mean they are "Unskilled". If you think that way, then you are a toxic player and hopefully Riot will ban you like you deserve.---------------------

However, sometimes the league gods don't smile on you, and sometimes you get stuck with a troll. Maybe it's a player who jumps in the ranked lobby and ignores pick order. Maybe its someone who immediately antagonizes someone else on the team.

You know, the trolls who don't even try to hide their toxic nature. What do you do now? Can't Dodge, because the game punishes dodgers, no matter what the reason. DODGING BAD! NO DODGING! And trying to reason with an internet troll is...like trying to reason with an internet troll. So what do you do?

My suggestion is to implement some sort of "kick" system in the pregame lobby. If you're put on a team with a toxic player, the team can vote to kick him off of the team. (just like surrendering). 3 out of 4 teammates have to agree to ban the other, and if they agree, then it kicks the troll out of the game AND the queue for 5 minutes, to think about what they've done. Meanwhile, the other players will get put back into a cleaner, safer, more troll-free matchmaking queue. In order to stop the real assholes who will get some kind of sick pleasure out of going into ranked queues and banning innocent players, if you START a vote to kick a player off of a team more than __ times, then you sit out for 5 minutes. If you have to kick that many players, then you're probably the problem. Also, if a kick vote fails and the majority of the team votes to keep the player, then whoever started the kick vote in the first place CANNOT start another vote regarding that player. No banning people because they're ahead of you in pick order.

However, some trolls try to hide their true nature until the game begins. And at that point you're stuck with them! The bot lane duo who swore they would carry and ended up trolling all game. The Jungler who refuses to gank your lane after you questioned his build. The Top laner who keeps stealing your Blue. The Mid laner who demands someone swap with them because of the match up. The players who AFK because of an argument. The players who feel like "If i'm not having any fun, NO ONE WILL HAVE ANY FUN!!"

Yeah, you assholes. I'm talking about you.

The suggestion that i have is drastic, but i feel like it's also effective. If one player reports another, then a record of both players summoner names are taken, as well as the chat history of the pregame lobby, In-game chat, and post game chats. Also the little notes that you can write when you report someone, those should be taken into account too. Basically, the tribunal would do its thing (Hopefully well) and if the accused was actually guilty for being a dick or otherwise ruining someone's game experience, then the next time they log in, they're account should be locked for 24 hours. The next time they get reported AND actually did whatever they were reported for, make it 48 hours from the next time they log in. And so on, and so forth. It is very important that they be reported AND the tribunal finds them guilty. Because as a countermeasure, if you report a player for something and it turns out they DIDN'T do whatever you say they did, then your account gets marked, and you would receive a message telling you to be more careful about who you report. Only the trolls. IF your account gets three marks, then you are banned for 24 hours from the next time you log in. Yes it's drastic, but drastic problems call for drastic solutions.

Humans rationalize bad behavior based on the punishment. If the punishment isn't threatening enough, then players think there's no risk in being toxic. By giving players a reason to be decent human beings (as if they needed a reason) and giving them a larger punishment in case they do decide to be trolls, then the trolls will eventually realize that League isn't a game worth trolling because there's a 0 tolerance policy. No 1, 2, 3 strike bullshit. By giving trolls 3 strikes, you're really just giving them 2 free times to ruin games before anything is done about it.

I'm posting this because I love playing league, and i enjoy the competitive aspect of ranked. But when so many toxic players are out there, it really makes me want to pass on playing, or find a new MOBA altogether. I hope that other players see this and up-vote this or get someone important at Riot to see this. I'm not saying it's perfect, but it's a start to what hopefully can be a better, brighter future for ranked games in LOL.

Now if only we could get rid of those pesky Smurf accounts...