The Truth Will Set You Free (Maybe?)

It's been a long time coming but it has to be said. I've been playing this game for roughly a few years now on and off. I often made multiple accounts because it's easier to play at the lower level tier without backlash from players (since no one is expected to be good). The reality of the situation is that league of legend community isn't perfect by a long shot. In fact, all to often people are banned left and right without explanation, rhyme or reason. The overuse and abhorrent feature of reporting someone has gone beyond normal functions. People are constantly being reported left and right for the slightest reasons and all to often for the wrong ones. The game itself for some people has become more about monitoring people rather than having fun and enjoying the game. It's almost as if the reporting system has become a meta game itself on how to use its feature to the best of someone's abilities.

Let's backtrack a little bit here. If you take a look at professional game play in other words, people and teams who compete in tournaments and the like; what you will find from the objective onlooker P.O.V. (point of view) is that teams are working together, using effective communication, making amazing plays, completing objectives, and overall making the game that we all signed up to play look really fun. In fact, after viewing players on the professional level a lot of people would get excited to play the game after or even during a match of their favorite team. The reality, what you signed up to play and what you may watch over a live stream may not meet expectations or even come close to that level of entertainment.

I have often used many tactics and skills at my deployment to build team communication, avoid heavy and/or toxic chat, and try to be open minded about each situation. However, at the end of the day after all is said and done and being a veteran myself it's very hard to avoid these situations. Let's begin with the start of every great game, the champion select screen. There is in no way any fundamental rules about the proceedings of this event. In fact, after reviewing the summoner's codes agreement I can safely say it's a free for all. This is the start to a chaotic situation. So, if there aren't any rules and unlike ranked matches which allow players to choose their roles ahead of time, what exactly does happen in here you might wonder? Well, it's simple really, those with the fastest connections (ISP) [internet service provider] and latest and greatest computers connect first to the severs and gain access to the chat the quickest allowing and securing their favorite positions first. How you might ask? By simply typing their desired role into the small box on the bottom of the champion select screen first before anyone else. This is by no means in the rules or regulations of league of legend however it seems to be the unspoken rule that is understood by those who commit to such M.O.B.A. games. The reality of the situation is that this isn't fair to a lot of users out there nor is it justifiable. Calling a position first doesn't secure anyone anything but unfortunately this isn't the case. In fact, someone may even report you for choosing a position of similar decent for example, two A.D.C's (attack damage carry) in a composition. Which bring me to the next point, the official META of this game that again is just understood and unspoken rule among players. If I am not mistaken it goes as follows, one top lane, one mid lane, one support, attack damage carry, and one jungle. This is the official META that is forced unto players whether they like it or not. However, last I checked when did it matter what position someone wanted to play, so long as they had fun and enjoyed the match it shouldn't have mattered. Here in lies the reason, what is fun for one player may not be fun for another player thus imposing the slandered META allowing everyone to fit into a "boxed" idea of fun. Let's get one thing clear here, there is again no rules for choosing multiple positions of similar decent. According to the summoner's code of agreement,

"If you're the last one to pick, try to fill a niche in your team that hasn't already been filled. If everyone's picked and something stands out as s deficiency in your team composition, try asking for another player to fill the gap, or change roles to embrace that responsibility yourself. Remember, that by taking on a role you don't normally play, you'll learn more about unfamiliar champions and increase your own skill level."

So, what this means is that it suggests, I repeat, it SUGGESTS that players work together and choose solid team foundation. One, forcing the official unspoken META standard to all un-ranked players and suggesting that "last to pick" in other words, means you're screwed so pick a champion you dislike or have no desire to play. I mean come on guys, if you do this you will become a more skilled and versatile player, am I right? It goes without saying that if you choose to learn multiple champions in this game you become a more "well-rounded" person but not necessarily better. If I go to school and learn multiple subjects I will be considered pretty smart among my peers however it doesn't grantee that I'm a genius. The idea that the more you learn equates to becoming smarter or better isn't the truth. I can learn all sorts of things about rocks (geology) and music but that won't means I'm all of a sudden smarter than someone else. There is a giant misconception about intelligence and learning and the reality of the matter without getting into the philosophical, sociological, and political aspects of this argument is that specializations is the key to success in life. A variety of learning all sorts of things is quite appealing and definitely good for anyone interested in the pursuit of knowledge but not a requirement nor necessary for survival depending on the context of the situation. In other words, for the majority of people having a specialization is fine unless the world goes into zombie apocalypse and you have to learn all new skill sets because the conditions of living have changed (context). So, going back to my original point, RIOT wants players to become well rounded rather than specialize because it helps the game business strive. If everyone went support all the time then it wouldn't be much of a game but then again counterpoint is who defines what is fun and not fun, the players do, so if all support battle is what people want to do then why not? This type of thinking breaks the model conception of M.O.B.A. games and is often frowned upon because it fails to support the overall hierarchy of accepted unspoken rules already pre-established.

Ugh... I was going somewhere with this but I just really don't give a fuck to finish my thoughts on this subject. I was banned and I wanted to open a discussion on the subject matter pertaining level 30 and under non ranked players and the situation surround this. Sorry, if anyone was actually interested in this read.

Later