How to Rid the Trolls (from Champ Select to the Rift) That Ruin Leagueof Legends
I have a solution to this problem.
Is it mad? Yes. Is it practical? Mmmm, maybe not 100%. Is it completely outside of the box? Maybe not entirely; I'd say it's close. But could it work? ABSOLUTELY.
Now, I may be able to build my own computer but I have no skill to speak of when it comes to network connectivity outside of, "The router is blinking; That's good, right?" but I have a solution that could potentially (and permanently, if it can work) change the negative experiences in League of Legends for the better for the untold myriads of players who wish they could find a way to make that miserable troll disappear.
And we start by doing exactly that. We make them gasp disappear!
Imagine if during champ select, when inevitably the person with last pick freaks out about how he'll feed if he's not going Top, the rest of the team had an option to vote them out? If all they had to do to salvage their shot at the rare positive Ranked experience (coming from a Bronzie that plays on a potato, so take that with a mound of salt ;D) and NOT having to endure 20 minutes of amateur, immature bickering before finally throwing up the white flag and smashing their keyboard over their monitor, was to vote them out and start the queue again, don't you think they would do it? And upon doing it, do you think their experience in the game would improve?
I DEFINITELY think so, 100%.
Now, lets bring it to that worst case scenario where the troll just wore a mask during champ select (or didn't say anything) and all of the sudden, after 5 minutes of gameplay removed it only to reveal not a normal face, but a toxic, useless, vulgar, raging, boneheaded, douche-bagged, pus-monkey that is destroying team morale and viciously assaulting anyone who plays the game outside of the pre-conceived idea they have in their head. How about instead of voting to end the game you just.... wait for it...... VOTED TO REPLACE THEM??? THUNDERCLAP HORSES WHINNY Yes I said it! Bring someone in who's currently waiting for their queue to start, give them the same level, items and gold as the pus-monkey, let them pick their champion (after they see the team's composition) and then KICK THE TROLL OUT!
I know, I know, that might be a tad crazy but hear me out! I've thought of some answers to what I imagine the FAQ's would be.
Q: Won't the troll get worse once they realize they're just going to get kicked out? A: In champ-select, this doesn't even matter because the only way they could make the experience worse is by flapping their gums, which, if you voted to kick them, would cease almost instantly. During gameplay, however, it would be an option to secretly vote to kick a player that would only appear on the screens of everyone EXCEPT the indicted player. They would only know about their kicking once their champ dies automatically and are booted from the server. Or, unless one of your teammates brags about it, in which case, they aren't too interested in winning the game as they are returning flames for flames.
Q: Bringing in someone new doesn't mean that they'll be any better! Why go to the trouble of making this solution anyway? A: Certainly, there's no way to guarantee absolutely everything all the time, but what CAN be done is cover as many bases as possible. Limit the pool of "Savior" Players to those with a super good streak of "Honorable Opponent" honors (as that, in my opinion, is the post-game honor that tells the most about a player's in-game tendencies) in order to help ensure that ONLY someone who could contribute positively to the game gets the summons. The way it works? Let's say one of these players is waiting for a ranked queue; instead of the typical GONG sound that tells them other summoners are ready to queue up, instead there could be a majestic brass BOOM that tells them "These Summoners need a Savior! Will you help them take the Rift!?" (or something like that, I dunno xD) at which point they could click "yes" or "no".
Q: Dude, seriously? This system is going to be super abused, people will just vote out Summoners they think suck. That's not fair to players who are nice but maybe unskilled. A: Stopping abuse in any system is nearly impossible but here are some limits that I think could go a long way to preventing players from booting without impunity. --------- Set a time limit that players get to boot to 10 minutes ---------- You can know who the toxic player is going to be by that time in almost every scenario. Rarely does that player hold their nastiness in for that long. In addition to this, that player can replaced with enough time for the team to have a chance to bounce back. Remember; the "Savior" coming in would get the same gold, items, and level of the person who got voted out. --------- Don't allow the booting team the ability to pick who they get ------------ In doing this, you avoid people who just want to get one of their buddies into the game that missed the queue or something. That way, the good, non-toxic players have a chance to play and gain experience even if their game is not going the greatest. ---------- Limit 1 boot per game and make it a 4-1 vote ------------ As hard as it is to find a game without at least 1 person you would maybe want to do away with, you would be hard pressed to find a game without 3 or 4 people who would wish that 1 pus-monkey would just go away! A unanimous decision (obviously without the troll's opinion factored in) to boot someone must happen in order to avoid rampant use/abuse of the system. And, you only get one chance per game, BEFORE 10 minutes. Boot wisely. ----------- Limit booting to Ranked games only ----------- Look, no ojne likes it when your Normals game has a butthole present, BUT it's just a Normals game. Chill. Relaaaaax. Normals is a time for just having fun! Take a deep breath and give Attack Speed Nautilus a try; let your teammate take Vayne into the Jungle! Normals is SUPPOSED to be more relaxed and by limiting to boot option to Ranked matches where most every player really wants their best games to happen, we can avoid abuse of the system.
Q: Why would anyone want to try and be a "Savior"? Who would ever want to come into a game late, sight unseen, and risk losing still? A: Give the "Savior" players an IP boost at the end of the game (win or lose), lowered LP impact for a lost game and an icon for helping the team to an unlikely victory (like a glowing crown, or an impaled Teemo or some other universal sign of good will to a League player)! Maybe after 20 "Savior" games, you unlock a mystery skin or something. There are dozens of ways to incentivize being a "Savior", but one thing I know for sure is that in order to keep a good player good, incentive is always a good place to start.
Q: Look, what if we want to boot the person who keeps disconnecting? They aren't intentionally trolling, but it impacts the game just as badly. A: Well that's fine. I'll admit, I've left a couple of games before due to bad connectivity and a RAM stick that I didn't know was messing up on me and I always felt horrible about it. I got caught by the LeavrBustr (or however you spell it) and had to do my time. But you know what? I didn't feel for one second that it was unjust; I negatively impacted gameplay for the League community and I had to be punished. I'm okay with that. What I wish my teams' could have done, though, was call in someone else to take my place! This booting system could also help improve the game experience for people who have a summoner who is gaming on a gourd or who's cable connection was severed by a wild goat. Don't remove punishment for the leavers or the trolls (because it drove me to fix my connectivity problems) but help find a way to restore a good game experience to those who have no choice but to deal with a disconnected player.
TL;DR - By booting the toxic players and rewarding the "Savior" players who come in and help their team have a positive experience, we can really start cracking down on players who have sadly made a habit of ruining one of the most enjoyable games that I've ever played. We can ensure that the game that's beloved by MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of players remains that way: beloved.
Here's hoping this falls on listening ears ;)
