Honor level - why should I care?
Let me start off with pleading guilty of being a quite toxic player in the past. I've lost three accounts to permabans throughout years 2013-2017, two of which were ranked Diamond 5 back then. I hadn't played at all in 2018 so I have only just returned to the League this year - exactly 2 months ago.
Why did I return?
Well, to have fun - as strange as this may sound coming from someone charged with intense flaming and tilting. I believe I've come a long way since then; I've played over 100 matches this year thus far and I haven't lost my cool even once. I've learned to laugh, to shrug, to joke around, to focus on myself more.
I have decided to rebuild my tarnished honor - not because I care about the badge, but due to the benefits that being recognized as honorable carries with it. I have unlocked my honor level 0 in about 4 days and I have played over a hundred games since - I receive honor on a regular basis, at least 8 times out of 10, so I can safely wager to have received at least a hundred honors.
Now, I said I had reformed. Be that as it may, though, the one thing that often keeps my mind clear and emotions balanced is my desire to begin acquiring honor rewards anew. Really, I would go so far as to say that the revamp of honor system was one of the best ideas Riot has ever made.
But... but. It's been two months, over a hundred games played, and I still haven't reached the first checkpoint. I'm nowhere near closer to leveling my honor out of 0. It's been a loooot of honest work, trying to keep it as sportsmanlike as feasible, but those efforts have yet to be acknowledged.
Why should I care, then? Sometimes, when frustration just takes over, why shouldn't I vent, let it all out on other players, get punished again? What is the difference here, assuming I don't care about my account?
I don't really have time to play more than 2 games a day these days, I'm not so young anymore, you see. I'd like the game to recognize my efforts, but I see it may take a few good years to even get anywhere near honor level 2. It's a system that seems to be designed not to reward honorable players, but to reward only those of them who can invest some mind-boggling hours into the game. And especially, it doesn't seem to favor reformed players at all. To me, sadly, honor level progression feels just as frustrating as the matches that led to my previous punishments.
So why should I even care?