This whole "It's only a normal" mindset needs to stop

Look, I can understand if you get outplayed once or twice in lane. It happens to me all the time, and I get it. I can understand trying something new before taking it into ranked. I play weird shit like Teemo support and tank Zilean top sometimes too. That is what normal are for. Chilling out, playing just for the sake of enjoying the game.

However...............one thing I cannot, and probably will NEVER understand, are people who play normals and think that just because it's a normal it gives them the right to intentionally troll, feed, or (and this is a contentious point) not put in any effort to accomplish the goal of the game.

I think the first two are self-explanatory, so I'll just focus on the third one here. When I say not put in any effort, I mean the types of people who go full retard and assume that everyone else on the team is playing the game with the same mindset as they are. "Oh, I don't need to group, that's too tryhard, I just wanna split push all game". "Oh, I don't want to bother with objectives like towers and dragon, I just want to see how many kills I can rack up proceeds to die 10 times in lane trying to get kills". "Yeah, I know that whole area of the map is dark and the enemy team could be there waiting for me, but so what, it's a normal! YOLO!".

Statements like these, and others of their kind, are what drive me nuts about the normals community. "It's only a normal" works for some things; the above statements are NOT those things. Statements like those can be used when you're playing in a 5-man with friends, and that is the ONLY times you can go as full retard as you want.

Here's the thing though: the majority of the time you won't be playing with friends. The majority of the time you will be playing with 4 randomly selected individuals who all have different conceptions about the seriousness of the match. Usually (i.e. in 90% of cases) people will be more laid back about it.

But while they may be laid back, they are also well aware of what is required of them when it comes to playing the game. They don't simply shut off their frontal lobes and derp around like a braindead monkey. Just because it's a normal doesn't mean all the knowledge you have about the game should be thrown out the window. There's a big difference between tryharding (trying your absolute best to win the game at any cost) and trying to win (performing with the goal of winning the game).

**Please understand this: tryharding is often frowned upon in normals, but trying to win is EXPECTED. No matter what mode you're playing. **

And I know you all think it's just a game, and it doesn't matter, and blah blah blah, but if it really doesn't matter, why are you all so serious when you play ranked? Because I've got news for you: unless you're planning to get into the LCS or become a full-time content creator, your League of Legends rank does NOT MATTER IN ANY WAY IN THE SLIGHTEST. Your boss at work doesn't give a rat's ass that you're a Challenger-level League player. He'll fire you for skipping work just like any other employee. Your teachers at school don't give a flying fuck about you getting to Masters this season. They expect you to hand your assignments in on time, and will be happy to give you a zero if you don't.

So when it comes to normals and you want to take a break from how shitty your real life is, please remember that tryharding and trying to win are two very distinct entities. Be the later, not the former, and we'll get along just fine.