@Riot - Abandoning comrades in battle - Leading cause of game losses & toxicity in solo queue ranked
I wrote an extensive and thorough introduction for this discussion, getting to the end of a 2.5 hour long written post, to have my anti-virus bug up, harness all my computer's energy, and go kaput. Yep, I have that kind of fortune.
Summarized, through experience I have come to the conclusion that people in ranked are not playing it for the right reasons. Some are casual gamers with no inspiration for playing the game competitively, some are down-right trolls - and refuse to actually play the game to the best of their ability, because it's more entertaining for them to grief other people than to play against people who are more skilled than they are, and last but not least people who are trying to play the game competitively, and learning how to do so.
No offense to the casual gamer, they shouldn't be playing ranked. The game is like a sport, and if you're going to play the game recreational, you shouldn't be playing with others who are trying to play competitively. Offense intended to the obvious trolls, they should be reprimanded from being able to play with other people, let alone exempt from a smack upside the head.
Abandoning your allies in fights, in my honest opinion, is the leading cause of game losses at the competitive level. It creates a strong imbalance throughout the match. It is also, the predominant reason behind 'toxicity' at the competitive level.
Now what i've concluded is:
1: Some players don't understand that without their share of effort, their allies have to carry more weight, and the odds of winning the match decreases heavily. They may or may not be saved by individuals coaching them to gain this experience. (I've been trying for the better part of the last decade, this one's in your court.)
2: Some players understand completely that their refusal to participate as a team is the leading cause of a game loss, and it's the entire reason that they do it. They're much more interested in stirring the pot, so they can gain satisfaction by reporting other individuals, eventually resulting in the suspension of their account.
3: Some players are trying to climb the ranks of the ladder system and get themselves through the ELO Hells to a bracket where they belong. These individuals have most likely already figured out that they need their team to participate equally in order to achieve victory.
I can't possibly stress this enough, anyone above the age of 5 can probably understand that the more people working for a common goal, will achieve it faster. It takes one person to irritate this for the team, and each and every single time the issue occurs, it sets the team back farther and farther from their common goal.
My issue is handling this, and having to deal with the different individuals whom I have discerned above. The vast majority of the community refuses to adhere to ANY advice, primarily because I believe that each person believes that what they are doing is what they should be doing, and they naturally refuse to listen to anyone else but themselves. It's a psychological problem, that is extremely common among the vast majority of the population of the people living on this planet.
I basically have my account chat-restricted and suspended 24/7 because after every single time my allies abandon me in combat, I inform them, that it is the least successful strategy - and they continue to do it, and continue to do it, and continue to do it. And after dealing with it for several times in a single match, I tell them I'm going to start doing it to them, so that they can realize what the consequences behind abandoning your comrades in combat really is. Using myself as an example, I generally carry more weight than is expected of me. If "I" was to abandon my allies for an entire duration of a match, there's about a 0.013% chance of winning the match. For other individuals less skilled, I reckon there's a 10-15% chance of winning the match.
Yet, when I abandon my allies in combat after repeatedly requesting that they refrain from doing so, they believe I am intentionally throwing the match, and report me for misconduct. The fact of the matter is, they're being completely hypocritical about the situation, and they're reporting individuals for the exact same thing that they've been doing throughout the match. Why does it stick though?
There isn't any way of reviewing a match, except for what is verbally written in the chat documents. Yet there is a reportable option for assisting the enemy team (what I am writing about). You have to judge the report based on the score of the individual and what they or their allies have written. Now 9 times out of 10 these guys don't say anything, Lord knows if they're bots, speak different languages, or are the #2 type of player. The leading cause of reports in the RAP system is due to verbal abuse, and I strongly believe at the competitive level, verbal abuse is primarily due to competitive players versus non-competitive players. Well, back to square one - why are there non-competitive players playing at the competitive level? I'm not a kill-joy, but this shouldn't be allowed. Individuals SHOULD be able to play to their heart's content, but following the summoner's code of conduct, NOT at the expense of other players. (You guys wrote it, not me)
What I am suggesting, is creating a pre-requisite for participating in ranked. For example:
1: Players must be willing to play the game to the best of their ability. 2: Players must be willing to adhere to the advice of others. 3: Players must be willing to participate with their teammates at all stages of the match, as well as realize the consequences of their decisions for refusing to do so.
I am willing to put all my credibility on the line, that says refusing to participate with your teammates and verbal abuse in competitive gaming is directly linked, and can be shattered with your assistance of addressing the issue to the community.
I am guaranteeing the progression of individual skill, ability to play as a team, behavior and attitude of the community, which I believe will improve the competitiveness of the game, thus generating more competition (tournaments), thus generating more revenue.