Is LoL being taken over by teenagers? SERIOUS TOPIC

Zathamos··54 votes·8,145 views

I mean for this to be a serious topic discussion about young new players with very negative attitudes becoming more frequent.

I have been playing League of Legends consistently since November 2013, and by consistently I mean every day :D. I may be totally wrong in my observations of the past but the community seemed a lot different, a lot older and more mature. I was picturing my team mates as 20-40+ year old gamers who took the game somewhat seriously, at least to the point of trying to win and enjoying the camaraderie of a team PVP game.

Over the last few months, I have noticed more and more 'trolls', bad language, and very unskilled players. When I talk to them in chat, I end up finding out they are 14, 12, or even 8 years old. And that's cool, but their attitudes are not most of the time, and skills often much worse. When I added the majority of my 'friends' to my friends list, it was probably a year ago and then through the summer. All of them are between the ages of 26 and 38, I am 30. However, it seems as though over the past few months it has been a much younger and more immature group of players in queue.

New players are great, but why is there a report option for 'Unskilled' if this isn't a possible issue worth addressing when it arises. I cant hardly explain the confusion and frustration I have honestly felt more and more while playing League of Legends. Watching a Jinx build all attack speed and no damage and never using abilities (all game), to a Udyr jungle that ended the game 0/3/1, his one assist I got him as he ran from my 1v3 battle, that I lost. AFK used to be the main problem to come up. Now it is immature players trolling around League.

When I first started playing this game I thought it was really complicated and complex. Even once I got used to it and I realized I needed to truly know every champion and their abilities whether I own them or not so I know what to expect, the game took time to get reasonable at. At least in comparison to everyone I was playing with and for the most part against. Now I feel confident and although I don't play enough ranked for gold, I play all the time in my free time, my girlfriend would attest to that. I am getting to the point that I can truly hold my own, and soon will be able to carry multiple lanes. And to just be clear this is not my first PC game, I started playing PC in 1996. The difference is the games back then weren't nearly as complex as a game like League of Legends. And I can easily see where frustration and poor sportsmanship would come up in younger players.

But like I said, 'Unskilled' is an option in the report menu and I don't know how much riot even cares about unskilled reports. But maybe that should be looked into. Not a ban, but maybe a 5 game AI restriction or something. I also don't know how seriously riot takes language and negative attitude reports, both tend to snowball and end games faster than URF mode, usually resulting in a loss. I understand as most people do that this is just a game, a free game at that, but it is a game I really enjoy playing, and I play it daily with friends.

What do you gamers think? Has anyone else noticed this negative trend in the in-game community? Riot, any ideas on dealing with attitude issues (chat bans maybe) or for unskilled (restrictions on PVP). Obviously it would take more than one report to call for disciplinary action. But the reports are becoming more and more common, while the honorable opponents are becoming less and less.

115 Comments

GaleWinUnleashed38 votes

It's almost as though the COD players are hearing about League of Legends from their older siblings and trying it out.

More seriously, though, much of the toxicity in League seems to stem from the fact that many players have different ideas of what type of behavior is acceptable in an online community. Anything ranging from "It's the Internet, get over it," to colorfully worded banter that gets misinterpreted, to forgetting that there's a real person on the other side of the screen; all of this contributes to making a community that slowly spirals in on itself until the whole thing is rotten.

Neclord19 votes

It's a common thing to happen when a game surges in popularity. It's also to do with the fact that league became less about strategy (in terms of how it was advertised, and arguably in the game too) and more about "big plays", when you say a game is flashy and cool and hype shit occurs frequently, you're going to attract an audience of kids with lofty egos. You don't see Dota littered with kids that say stuff like "wow thresh ur 0/4 stfu" and ignoring the fact he's support and has 93 assists; being more interested in getting "epic" kills with his 100-0 assassin "this champ is so fucking mechanical cogs and gears are falling out of my pockets" cancer (Zed Katarina Leblanc Riven - and generally anyone with dashes and the ability to snowball off of one kill), regardless of whether it screws his team over, and generally being obnoxious; and I'm not sucking Dota's dick here, you can just replace the little kids with angry Russians which are just as bad (if not, worse), and that's the bad lot in Dota.

But Dota didn't aim at a "big plays wow sikc epurx skeehlz" demographic. It was always advertised as a MOBA about STRATEGY! Do you know what kind of people hate boring old strategy games? Kids. "Why the fuck should I consider more than myself" is their mentality. "Strategy? I'm not a fucking nerd! I want to have a good k/d for my montage!" is their mentality. Why do you think CoD got so popular for young kids? Not because it's a very fleshed out game with great gameplay; because of quickscoping and montages. It's "cool". Dota has significantly less annoying kids as a result.

People bitching about the tank meta? Kids. The fucking "mechanix skillz" assassins have to fucking think before diving someone now, because if there's a tank nearby they're gonna get fucked and their shitty montage with some stupid ear-raping dubstep is gonna be ruined.

"Kids" is a generalizing term of course; I'm bound to offend people, mostly the "mature" 12-15 year olds I'm guessing. If you're 12-15 and not like the above descriptions then good on you sir. You're in a great minority and you should be proud. I bet this minority started playing this game for the strategic elements too.

Apologies in advance for any other generalizations. Try to look at the bigger picture of what I'm saying and don't nitpick anything that isn't politically correct.

Ab5o1uteZer05 votes

I think I may just quit LoL for Dota after reading this.

Alf Winchester4 votes

dota sux lel go hots

AKAiSuperKiller3 votes

^ talking of immature teens....

DrProfVibeCheck8 votes

As a teen, I can contest the idea that all kids want "big plays". There are some nerdy kids still out there, using their brains. I personally like going Jungle. In the jungle, all the time you think "Can I gank this lane? Can I get a kill or assist? Can I burn their flash?". Then you have to plan your route. Tank through river? No, they warded. How about through tribush? Sure, they over extended way too far.

Point is, not all children in league are stupid, adrenaline craving, monsters.

MrBuffington3 votes

I might be wrong, but I've heard Dota has a lot of toxic players too (and apparently they all speak Russian?)

Sammystorm6 votes

your entire post is filled to the brim with over generalizations to the point that it ruins what might have been a good post.

The game is less about strategy more about "big plays" This is just bias on your end. Basically it boils down to the fact that you think the game is less skillful now then it use to be. However their are not facts to back up your claim. So we have to put that claim solely into the realm of bias.

when you say a game is flashy and cool and hype shit occurs frequently, you're going to attract an audience of kids with lofty egos. Although you are partly correct her your argument is still flawed. Yes you will attract kids but you will also attract adults with egos. People in general tend to have egos when it comes to something they care about.

You don't see Dota littered with kids that say stuff like "wow thresh ur 0/4 stfu" and ignoring the fact he's support and has 93 assists; being more interested in getting "epic" kills with his 100-0 assassin "this champ is so fucking mechanical cogs and gears are falling out of my pockets" cancer ( - and generally anyone with dashes and the ability to snowball off of one kill), regardless of whether it screws his team over, and generally being obnoxious; and I'm not sucking Dota's dick here, you can just replace the little kids with angry Russians which are just as bad (if not, worse), and that's the bad lot in Dota. You do see horrible behavior in Dota and you admit it. Yet you bring up this point? The reason you see a lot more toxic behavior in lol then dota is rooted in the fact that league is more popular. The larger a population gets the larger the minority on the fringe grows. Meaning that as the player base grows we will get more and more toxic players simple because we have more people playing.

But Dota didn't aim at a "big plays wow sikc epurx skeehlz" demographic. It was always advertised as a MOBA about STRATEGY! Do you know what kind of people hate boring old strategy games? Kids. "Why the fuck should I consider more than myself" is their mentality. "Strategy? I'm not a fucking nerd! I want to have a good k/d for my montage!" is their mentality. Why do you think CoD got so popular for young kids? Not because it's a very fleshed out game with great gameplay; because of quickscoping and montages. It's "cool". Dota has significantly less annoying kids as a result. You just overgeneralized in entire population which made your point not valid. Many many kids love strategy games. It is almost like you lumping all college students into the party crowd and making an argument based on the assumption that everyone at college parties.

If Dota could develop a professional scene like the one league has they would. Riot is simpleing making the game last longer then it otherwise would. Like it or not lol is around for the foreseeable future and that is largely due to the impressive business model that riot has made. If Dota could develop their brand in the same way they would.

"Kids" is a generalizing term of course; I'm bound to offend people, mostly the "mature" 12-15 year olds I'm guessing. If you're 12-15 and not like the above descriptions then good on you sir. You're in a great minority and you should be proud. I bet this minority started playing this game for the strategic elements too. How do you know this? Personal experience is not adequate evidence to be able to make a claim like this. You are lumping a very large demographic into something that does not fit simple from you very minuscule sample group that you have encountered in your life.

Apologies in advance for any other generalizations. Try to look at the bigger picture of what I'm saying and don't nitpick anything that isn't politically correct. Unfortunately your big picture boils down to 2 things.

  1. Riots game is water downed because of "big plays" and lcs
  2. Kids all behave and act the same way.

The first one is largely bias and impossible to prove. The second one is speculation and since no adequate data has been gathered too support your claim we must throw it out because it is very very unlikely that it will be even remotely close to what the actual demographic is like.

PKnowledge1 votes

You just overgeneralized in entire population which made your point not valid. Many many kids love strategy games. It is almost like you lumping all college students into the party crowd and making an argument based on the assumption that everyone at college parties. How do you know this? The first one is largely bias and impossible to prove.

You're so cute. If teenagers really are more about strategy, care to explain why CoD/GTA/... sells better than any strategic game ? Just try talking about bravely default or fire emblem to a teen, and see how many played it.

The point is that a huge majority of kids won't play a strategic game if they can play a no brain FPS with nice graphics. And just looking at those games popularity will prove this point.

Sammystorm1 votes

You missed my point entirely. I am not claiming that teens like strategy more. My point is that the op and coincidentally you have made claims about an entire population with no support except for your personal experience which is woefully lacking in regards to what the actual population would look like.

Basically. Their are a lot of kids that play action games and a lot of kids that play strategy games. However neither you not the original poster have any sort of reasonable data to support how much of the population plays either.

PKnowledge1 votes

Are you trolling ? I answered exactly what you were saying. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games

Strange how the only strategic game in 2010+ that is 1st on a platform is Pokemon for 3DS. And where are Bravely Default, Fire Emblem and Zelda ? At the bottom.

Wanna talk about Final Fantasy XIII ? Outside Japan, nothing to compare to other best sellers.

Across all platforms, where are the strategic games after 2010+ ? All I can see is GTA and CoD.

You can find a lot of data about video games on the web. Just go ahead and browse gaming sites, you will see what threads are popular. Or you can stay here and tell me how wrong of me to generalize, when you obviously don't know anything about the current video game market.

Sammystorm1 votes

What is your definition of a strategy game? If you really want to go that route basically every game in that entire list requires strategy. Very few games require no strategy.

Also that wikipedia page is basically unusable for comparing what types of people play what. It includes people of all ages it also includes people that bought multiple types of games. You are making an assumption that with the data you provided is impossible to prove. Simple as that. If the data that proves that kids do not like strategy games exists I have yet to find it. So if you would humor me please show me.

PKnowledge1 votes

Sorry, but I'm not interested in educating you, and I have nothing to gain answering such nonsense. If you want to prove me that I'm wrong, show me your data. But if you're just here to bitch at everything we can say, no need to answer.

Sammystorm1 votes

Well that would be fine if your data actually made sense. Your data literally does not support a single claim you are making. Your data is overall copies sold. it doesn't break it down into who is buying what game nor does it account for people buying multiple copies of the same game or for people buying games in multiple genres. Basically the data you provided show which games are the most popular for the entire gamer population. It does nothing to show what age group is buying what games. So stop your condescending bull shit and actually learn how to interpret statistics.

Neclord1 votes

{quoted}

your entire post is filled to the brim with over generalizations to the point that it ruins what might have been a good post.

The game is less about strategy more about "big plays" This is just bias on your end. Basically it boils down to the fact that you think the game is less skillful now then it use to be. However their are not facts to back up your claim. So we have to put that claim solely into the realm of bias.

when you say a game is flashy and cool and hype shit occurs frequently, you're going to attract an audience of kids with lofty egos. Although you are partly correct her your argument is still flawed. Yes you will attract kids but you will also attract adults with egos. People in general tend to have egos when it comes to something they care about.

You don't see Dota littered with kids that say stuff like "wow thresh ur 0/4 stfu" and ignoring the fact he's support and has 93 assists; being more interested in getting "epic" kills with his 100-0 assassin "this champ is so fucking mechanical cogs and gears are falling out of my pockets" cancer ( - and generally anyone with dashes and the ability to snowball off of one kill), regardless of whether it screws his team over, and generally being obnoxious; and I'm not sucking Dota's dick here, you can just replace the little kids with angry Russians which are just as bad (if not, worse), and that's the bad lot in Dota. You do see horrible behavior in Dota and you admit it. Yet you bring up this point? The reason you see a lot more toxic behavior in lol then dota is rooted in the fact that league is more popular. The larger a population gets the larger the minority on the fringe grows. Meaning that as the player base grows we will get more and more toxic players simple because we have more people playing.

But Dota didn't aim at a "big plays wow sikc epurx skeehlz" demographic. It was always advertised as a MOBA about STRATEGY! Do you know what kind of people hate boring old strategy games? Kids. "Why the fuck should I consider more than myself" is their mentality. "Strategy? I'm not a fucking nerd! I want to have a good k/d for my montage!" is their mentality. Why do you think CoD got so popular for young kids? Not because it's a very fleshed out game with great gameplay; because of quickscoping and montages. It's "cool". Dota has significantly less annoying kids as a result. You just overgeneralized in entire population which made your point not valid. Many many kids love strategy games. It is almost like you lumping all college students into the party crowd and making an argument based on the assumption that everyone at college parties.

If Dota could develop a professional scene like the one league has they would. Riot is simpleing making the game last longer then it otherwise would. Like it or not lol is around for the foreseeable future and that is largely due to the impressive business model that riot has made. If Dota could develop their brand in the same way they would.

"Kids" is a generalizing term of course; I'm bound to offend people, mostly the "mature" 12-15 year olds I'm guessing. If you're 12-15 and not like the above descriptions then good on you sir. You're in a great minority and you should be proud. I bet this minority started playing this game for the strategic elements too. How do you know this? Personal experience is not adequate evidence to be able to make a claim like this. You are lumping a very large demographic into something that does not fit simple from you very minuscule sample group that you have encountered in your life.

Apologies in advance for any other generalizations. Try to look at the bigger picture of what I'm saying and don't nitpick anything that isn't politically correct. Unfortunately your big picture boils down to 2 things.

  1. Riots game is water downed because of "big plays" and lcs
  2. Kids all behave and act the same way.

The first one is largely bias and impossible to prove. The second one is speculation and since no adequate data has been gathered too support your claim we must throw it out because it is very very unlikely that it will be even remotely close to what the actual demographic is like.

When I referred to "big plays" I'm talking about how the game was marketed rather than what the game actually is. Yes, League still has strategy and whatnot, but when you have riot openly advertising the hastag #LCSBIGPLAYS, you know straight up that's not the strategy they're talking about. It's the shit like mid laner 1 On 1 duels with "outplays" and "sick mechanics" that don't effect the overall game that much. So apologies for any misunderstanding you had with that.

And yes, I have oversimplified a fuck ton in my post. It's obviously not that simple and there are flaws to what I'm saying, I'm only really bringing out extreme examples but the point itself still stands.

A smaller example would be the lack of consideration for a team comp in champ select. Last picking Zed when your team is all AD because you want to make "big plays" when a heavy magic damage dealer like Viktor fits the comp better is also part of the problem of how Riot markets this game.

Dota has bad behaviour but in fairness to the Russians they actually attempt to win the game regardless of what is said to and by them [most of the time anyway]. In League it is incredibly common for someone to AFK when they start doing bad and/or get flak.

I'm not saying my post is infallible or factually concrete with hard evidence so please do not treat it as that. But thanks for the reply anyhow.

Sammystorm1 votes

Is the sport industry any different? You see ESPN putting out highlights all day. Alot of kids want to make the diving catch or TD pass. However the main difference here is the community. The community collectively knows that those type of plays are unrealistic most of the time. So kids are taught to play smart and not necessarily play flashy.

On a similar note how come #bigplays is treated any differently from sports highlights. That is exactly what they are highlights. So I personally feel like the misunderstanding is coming from how you are viewing Riot's highlight system. It isn't used to promote those plays it is used to highlight the cool play that was made. It isn't predominantly marketing it is mainly for the pleasure of the viewer. The reason I can safely claim that is because not many people who don't play the game are going to watch those highlights. So it would be a bad way to reach new customers which by the way is the primary purpose of Marketing.

How does the point still stand? You have yet to make a good answer to how kids and LCSbigplays are related. You aren't even bringing out extreme examples you are bringing out generalizations. Examples can make a good post generalizations ruin them.

Picking zed into an all ad team can be an example of emulating pros but more often then not it is an example of someone wanting to play zed and not thinking/caring about the consequences which is a community problem not a problem with the highlights of the LCS.

Not everyone in Dota trys to win games. Same with league. another over-generalization that just assumes things and doesn't back them up.

The problem is that to make claims like the ones you are making you have to have solid evidence. You can't make specific claims like you have done with out evidence. Basically generalizations although interesting are not factually based so any claim you make off of generalization has to at the very best doubted and at the worse completely thrown out because of lack of support.

Neclord1 votes

{quoted}

Is the sport industry any different? You see ESPN putting out highlights all day. Alot of kids want to make the diving catch or TD pass. However the main difference here is the community. The community collectively knows that those type of plays are unrealistic most of the time. So kids are taught to play smart and not necessarily play flashy.

On a similar note how come #bigplays is treated any differently from sports highlights. That is exactly what they are highlights. So I personally feel like the misunderstanding is coming from how you are viewing Riot's highlight system. It isn't used to promote those plays it is used to highlight the cool play that was made. It isn't predominantly marketing it is mainly for the pleasure of the viewer. The reason I can safely claim that is because not many people who don't play the game are going to watch those highlights. So it would be a bad way to reach new customers which by the way is the primary purpose of Marketing.

How does the point still stand? You have yet to make a good answer to how kids and LCSbigplays are related. You aren't even bringing out extreme examples you are bringing out generalizations. Examples can make a good post generalizations ruin them.

Picking zed into an all ad team can be an example of emulating pros but more often then not it is an example of someone wanting to play zed and not thinking/caring about the consequences which is a community problem not a problem with the highlights of the LCS.

Not everyone in Dota trys to win games. Same with league. another over-generalization that just assumes things and doesn't back them up.

The problem is that to make claims like the ones you are making you have to have solid evidence. You can't make specific claims like you have done with out evidence. Basically generalizations although interesting are not factually based so any claim you make off of generalization has to at the very best doubted and at the worse completely thrown out because of lack of support.

I would go out of my way to provide hard evidence for claims based mostly on my limited experience (and the experience of others considering the upvotes it has received), and I would branch off and make comparisons to actual sports highlights; however, I'm not writing professional documentation or an examined piece of work for university or anything of the sort, I'm just throwing my experience and opinions out there to further the discussion. Therefore hard evidence is not required of me in any way shape or form. I'll gladly discuss with you, but we're not going to get anywhere if you just demand evidence for any conclusion I make in, quite frankly, a highly opinion based topic of discussion.

"The community collectively knows that those type of plays are unrealistic most of the time." - From your perspective it seems that way, yes? From my experience I see my teammates give away needless deaths attempting to go above and beyond for that kill that doesn't really matter. You appear to be putting too much faith in the community outside the forums. Perhaps you've had a sheltered time playing this game and ran into few people like that.

Kids and LCSBIGPLAYS are related because this is a Teen rated game. The target demographic of League Of Legends is TEENS between 12-15. These teens love Ninjas and fast dashes and cool flashy shit. Evidence? If you remember a while back there was a nice opportunity to vote what champs were played for an LCS game. The result? Thresh, Lucian mirror lane, mirror Lee Sin jungle, a Zed in mid (against anivia). You know, the playmakers? The forums moaned that these champs were voted for the most. But the forums are outnumbered by the vast amounts of teens that are captivated by big plays and flashy assassins. It's obvious that they're related. It's common sense. Their market is teens, so they wouldn't advertise that way if it didn't work.

Sammystorm1 votes

Well the problem is that when all of your post is entirely opinion based then no one can disagree with you. I mean I can say I disagree and list off a million different reasons based off of opinion but that isn't productive because then we both are right. Opinion can't be wrong which is part of the problem. To have any sort of reasonable discussion that doesn't end up in a statement like "I agree to disagree" we need to have solid facts and data that can be proven. Opinion is always true 100% of the time. However your opinion might not be true for me. So yes you might get upvotes but that just means that some people agree with you. Anyways. I don't really see the point of talking about this further so have a good day.

Arch Mage Magnus11 votes

Like the op i am older than most of the league demographic (30s). I dont have a ton of time to play with work and all the responsibilities that come with being an adult, so when i get trolled or AFKed it really does suck. Soon as someone comes into a ranked game with feeding in mind or just AFKs and says better luck next game, yes it agitates me. Sorry im not 14 anymore, and i dont have the time to just throw away a game because top gave first blood so you decide to put gg and simply wait for the next game which happens go be your 13th of the day.

I feel the whole ranked atmosphere is geared towards players with an abundance of time i.e, young 10-20 year olds. I dont forsee Riot doing anything about it nor have i spent my own time brainstorming one for Riot. It needs to be addressed though, as does the awful first play experience for newcomers

junglerboy164 votes

Not 10-20 year olds, high school falls right in the middle of that and is hardly a portion of life where one has lots of time. I'd say middle schoolers and people just out of college seem to have the most time on their hands, because their work load is lighter in school, or they don't have a full on job just yet.

Kairya4 votes

schooling differs a lot in other countries...

I had a LOT of time during all of my school years.

TNHA Baritone10 votes

I'm 15 but I don't act like one. I actually cannot stand teenagers (which is why most of my friends are older). It's those teenagers who want to be trolls and stuff who give people like me a bad reputation. Please find out about a person and don't judge. Not all teenagers are unskilled noobs or teemoing trolls.

Only Play Darius9 votes

This is what happened to call of duty, a gigantic influx of children started playing the game and now i can't deal with it anymore. Part of the reason I switched to LOL. At least i don't have to hear their whiny voices in order to communicate.

BluePolarizer9 votes

Sorry to say, but theres some 20-30 year olds that act like immature manbabies who care too much about this game and thus troll if they get FB'ed, even in gold and plat. Also the infamous "anything but support" then they feed like hell with jungle or top, the other 2 roles that aren't about pure damage. Its safe to say that teenagers are obnoxious, manbabies are equally bad. I'm in my 20's, and to me the behavior of manbabies and teenagers are equivalent.

oddeyeoval6 votes

A big part of the problem that you are seeing might not be the playerbase, but the tribunal or lack thereof. With the Tribunal rework coming soon(tm), reports are being handled by automated systems that are not adequately analyzing player trends and language properly. When, or indeed if the new Tribunal is implemented (a lot of players would be willing to hop on it for rewards and such), the game will probably revert to pre-removal behavior levels. I know that I saw a lot less trolls, even in Bronze, back in the days of the Tribunal, and I feel that its absence is probably allowing the kind of intolerable behavior that you're seeing back into the game. Sadly, nothing we can do about this except keep reporting people and hope that the automated system kicks in.

Sammystorm2 votes

this is the million dollar answer. The tribunal has been down for too long.

Pucking Purrfect4 votes

Last few months? Are you serious? I've been playing LoL for almost 8 months and the first week I already figured out that ''at least'' half of the community is under 16.

Just take a look at the board that's all I'm gonna say.

ZGM Dazzling4 votes

I have noticed more and more 'trolls', bad language, and very unskilled players

There are 20 - 40 year olds like that too.

junglerboy164 votes

"Young new player" here (currently a high school Junior).

I've been playing for just over a year and a half now, semi regularly (can't get on much during the school year). I have never been restricted or banned, I get honored after 2/3rds of my games by teammates and opponents, and I have garnered a reputation among at least a few of the other board users for my polite and thoughtful discussion. I am not amazingly skilled when I play, but I play with other equally unskilled players that my MMR should have me play with, so I don't ever get complaints about being a n00b or whatnot, because I am almost always right in the middle of the skill level in a given match (because eloboosting is for wimps who just want to brag about rank rather than play for personal enjoyment). I have actually been berated by my parents for being too polite to the other players in a match and not quitting for the sake of not ruining their experience.

That said, the first thing I would ask is that you not assume that the increase in negative behavior is entirely linked to the age of newer players. I don't doubt there is some correlation, but I have seen more than my fair share of obviously adult players who act with less dignity than my little brother (and he isn't even all that nice :P).

Some of the toxicity stems from younger players who just don't respect that the people on the other side of the screen are humans, rather than "really good bots". They treat the game like it is PvE with a supporting cast of allied units, which is entirely inaccurate. On the other side of things though, I run into many players that obviously know that the people on the other side of the screen are human and take advantage of internet anonymity to be the worst kind of person they can be, at no cost to them except the chance of being reported every now and then. Those aren't all just 10 year old kids who spew profanities and treat other players like trash, because they are very obviously aware of the import of their words on the situation.

Because I don't have the time to play very often, I respect the fact that other players often have the same time restriction and can't play all the time, which forces me to assume most of the people who act so selfishly are the people who sit around with free time on their hands, usually meaning the guys who aren't in college, don't have a job, and live at home, or the little kids who are spoiled with little homework and a lot of free time to do whatever they want.

I guess in conclusion I would argue that you cannot simply say because you as a representative of an older demographic are a nice player, that almost all players in your age group are nice, in the same way that I cannot say the same about my age group, or younger age groups entirely. League may be getting younger, but that is not the direct or only cause of the steady increase in player toxicity in the past year or so. If anything, I would say it is likely related to the fact that the Tribunal rework has been delayed so long, meaning that players only get banned by leaverbuster or massive amounts of reports. This has allowed the average "toxicity acceptance" level to increase amongst players (meaning fewer players bother to report toxicity and fewer players care about being toxic to other players), because they know their one report has little impact, and getting reported has little impact now that they don't review chat logs and other similar reports except when Riot support gets sent the most extreme cases. That is why to us players, it feels like toxicity is at an all time high, where according to Riot's numbers, toxicity is at an all time low.

I hope this was helpful for the discussion.

CheckMyDoubles4 votes

I've said before I wished there was an age verification and separate queues for those who are older, say 21+.

That's not to say there aren't toxic players at all ages, but there is clearly a maturity difference between teenagers and adults. I'm in my thirties and I'm a very different person from when I was a teenager, as I'm sure we all are.

I can tell immediately when I'm playing League and school is out in my time zone, or holidays and weekends, as they can be unbearable. Volibear

If we had separate queues it would go a long way to separate us older players from the kids and teenagers that tend to be the largest offenders of toxic behavior. I wouldn't want to play games with that age group in real life, why would I want to in an online game?

Small Tiddies1 votes

{quoted}

I've said before I wished there was an age verification and separate queues for those who are older, say 21+.

That's not to say there aren't toxic players at all ages, but there is clearly a maturity difference between teenagers and adults. I'm in my thirties and I'm a very different person from when I was a teenager, as I'm sure we all are.

I can tell immediately when I'm playing League and school is out in my time zone, or holidays and weekends, as they can be unbearable. Volibear

If we had separate queues it would go a long way to separate us older players from the kids and teenagers that tend to be the largest offenders of toxic behavior. I wouldn't want to play games with that age group in real life, why would I want to in an online game?

Or it could have toxic players be put into a different q so they can be toxic with each other, btw that joke was unbearable.Annie Volibear Sejuani

FirstSergeantBim3 votes

Assuming you aren't joking yourself, it wouldn't solve the problem. The problem is inherent to being that age and cannot be easily fixed. A person must literally and figuratively "grow up" before they can begin to identify the different levels of social structure and learn to fit in and remain happy. The only way to make it better for everyone is to remove age as a factor. I say we do what that guy said.

Put the kids at the little table so the grown-ups can actually have fun. Yeah. It sucks for that one kid who is in transition at an awkward age, but that kid is stuck with them in real life and he probably couldn't identify the source of his frustration anyway. Furthermore, it builds character.

mvargus1 votes

I am part of a teamspeak community and some of the better/nicer players I play with are still in high school. Its true that the majority of the better ones are older, but not all of the best ones are.

Seperating queues by age isn't a perfect solution. Especially as the only way to "reform" and of the trolls is going to be having them play with more mature players. Yes, some will be so toxic you can't stand them, but in my experience that's a very small minority.

Honestly, I find that I wonder if I've just been lucky because I have run into very few truly toxic players so far. It might be my attitude though. I've played online games longer than some people playing LoL have been alive, and most "toxic" comments vented towards me are going to be ignored. I consider it a waste of time and energy to pay attention to the toxic players.

SmknWdl3 votes

Well I'm 15 years old and I'm not really disrespectful at all... i agree the community is full of toxic players. So I've found just being nice and positive usually helps delay flaming in teams long enough to get them to pull it together and win. I try never to flame people, even if i feel like smacking them in the face for whatever dumb play they did. I just tell them to laugh it off, and we continue to play. Unfortunately, a lot of other league players cant see my viewpoint, or just dont have patience (i find this incredible cause I've usually got like no patience myself lol) Point is yeah the league community is really toxic right now, even more than a Teemo Cassiopeia Twitch Singed Gangplank team comp, and they flame more than a Brand Annie Shyvana Lux Leona team comp who all built item 3151. Haha seriously tho it kinda is a bit of a downer when we're just trying to have fun. I mean yeah i get it some people really care about winning and ranked and stuff but flaming in a normal game is just... come on. I think the only real fix is to bring the tribunal back. And at this rate half life 3 will come out before we get any kind of change in the player reform system.

Small Tiddies2 votes

Toxic players have always been a part of league and you can't make them go away. It has nothing to do with age, someone can be salty no matter how old they are. Why do you have the need to talk in all chat about how (ENTER ANY ASSASSIN) is a broken no skills champ and that you should go **** yourself? Older players can be just as mature as a child.

Ps - Not all teens are salty, just the majority are imature.

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Kapparoth3 votes

I logged in just to say that I'm a teenager (confused about life, raging hormones, etc) and I don't act like this. I think it's less more "teenagers" playing this and more people who weren't told how to act by their parents.

DanofDemacia2 votes

How about you grow up and get a life? Teenagers play video games get over it. If you cant deal with annoying brats and laugh them off your the real child.

CheckMyDoubles16 votes

You're a great example as to the type of players we want to avoid.

DanofDemacia2 votes

{quoted}

You're a great example as to the type of players we want to avoid.

Alright mr. 300 lbs sleeps with a waifu pillow. Whatever u say

CheckMyDoubles12 votes

Tips Fedora

Keep it classy.

Kaipop2 votes

It's just bad parenting. They aren't looking out for what their children are doing online. As a 13 year old LoL Player that has been playing since 2012, I'm very mature in all my games and encourage positive behavior. Age honestly has nothing to do with it. There are plenty of ragers no matter what age.

Stillname2 votes

This game has been famous for its trolls for years now I'm not sure where you are getting that this is a recent development.

SnackieCakes2 votes

I'll never understand why there isn't an age-gated queue. Maybe even just an extra normal queue. It could require a license or something, Idc.

Nucleophilic atk2 votes

I completely agree. I honestly think if Riot would address the trolls, they would cut down the "toxicity" by a shit ton. Trolls in this game are the cause of the rise in toxicity, and you aren't going to fix it by trying to put a band-aid (chat restriction) over it. Instead, address the cause and you will fix the problem. It's always the 0/6/0 top laner that is all about the "lolz jus a game nuub get a lyfe" that is the one being "harassed".

Bottom line is we now play a game where you get punished for calling a troll a troll, but not for trolling.

Also, another reason is the #LC$BIGPLAY$. That stupid kind of shit tends to attract the immature players, and that is what rito is balancing their game around.

Empress Mousie2 votes

I mostly see 20+ year Olds and often I find younger players to be nicer. 30 plus year Olds generally suck but are nice and 20 year Olds are on an ego trip cuz they get 11 kills but die 9 times. I'm mid teens and all of my friends that are my age behave well and play their best.

I think your dealing with a human problem not an age one. 11 or 61 I see few differences in terms of quality in behaviour in game or out of game.

Spacesuit Spiff2 votes

It's really noticeable on the weekends and during weekday evenings. I just had this adc that demanded all the blue buffs (as Graves, no idea why he thinks he needs it), which I gave to him out of fear of him going afk. Later on our mid takes a wave he was moving toward, and he cries for a bit before feeding, and then when he noticed we got a dragon while the enemy team was gangbanging him he went afk, at which point we had all concluded that he was probably 10. This is in diamond, too. I may be biased, but I NEVER see this sort of thing happen during school hours, even though it's totally unsurprising otherwise.

MrBuffington2 votes

Friend, stupidity does not discriminate based on age. It afflicts people of all demographics :P

Devourer2 votes

I joined the game around the same time as you, I also noticed the same thing. I am 14 years old though and began playing this game when I was 12 but I have never had a period of time in which I rage a lot over multiple games or act like a troll for multiple games in a row. I will admit though people my age and around my age need a serious attitude adjustment and you can see it everywhere, online and offline. My solution to not raging it typing out the message I have in mind but instead of pressing enter I delete the message, allows for quick and easy venting and for anyone who rages I do suggest trying it.

thePandev2 votes

Been playing since first season, and am 15.

Skill =/= age

Unless you are under 12, skill and age don't really mean anything together. Flaming and trolling does .

As you can see by my icon, I don't really flame though.

I got gold 3 as a 13 year old in season 3, then stopped playing because it just got boring. My friend last season, same age as me got plat 1

I don't think it has much to do with age as goddamn base intelligence. Most people just don't understand how the game works, and don't seem to understand the meaning of the word ''team'', and just overall refuse to communicate.

I just don't like playing with uptight douchebags who don't know how to play the game. I agree that age definitely plays part in flaming and trolling, but skill nah.

But please, just don't be the type of person to use age as an insult, because it doesn't mean much.

Hellioning2 votes

You're funny if you think that the trolls are all kids. I've seen more rage and hate in my college clubs than anything in high school.

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