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League doesnt welcome new players

420 grams·6/29/2016, 6:52:02 PM·111 votes·5,259 views

So on my main account I'm unranked level 30, and play with mostly silvers. I have a friend who wanted to start playing, so I made a new account to play with him so they didn't get put against people my level. My plan was to play champs I've never played before, and to make my friend do most of the work in lane and only jump in when they needed me. However, it became quickly evident that there were other smurfs playing, and a lot of them. Unfortunately, they weren't there to help friends learn, and only were there to go all out and stomp the new players. In my game, it ended up being me and another smurf on our team vs the 3 on theirs, while the other 5 players were just there trying (but not doing much). Also, in the bot games they make you play, people would get very mad very quickly for any mistake anyone made. Even for taking garen down bot lane. Like, these are literally brand new players and people would cuss them out and say how bad they are. So my friend no longer wants to play because they think they're bad and it's not fun, which is really sad because they never even had a chance to learn.

74 Comments

xBushx6/29/2016, 6:56:20 PM28 votes

This would be solved BIG TIME by allowing us to link accounts.

This would allow Actual New players. Even if by a fraction...because don't get me wrong there are douches out there that all they want to do it stomp people worse than them.

There is literally no reason NOT to do this aside from the fact that smurfs inflate Riots numbers and makes it appear as the most played game because of those additional accounts.

Saevum6/29/2016, 6:57:32 PM20 votes

At least your friend had a chance to flee from league.

You should start worring about us... geez. We still here...

Johr Dinh6/29/2016, 11:33:51 PM12 votes

I stopped playing my new account cuz the games are all bots and no one knows how to do anything...they're just expected to figure it all out. Understandable for FPS games maybe, but this one is complex and requires alot of skill and thinking, or just researching cuz all the damn items.

Also I find it odd that Riot basically said they're giving up on growing the fanbase because they think it's got as big as it can get and most already know about League and have tried it at best already. Meanwhile I know alot of people who still don't know what League is, and frankly if you're not concerned with growing your fan base, you should be concerned with keeping your fan base. There's nowhere to go but down if you don't care about growing it, and with Overwatch out now, its sliding one way much faster than it would of without that outside factor.

Kaioko6/29/2016, 7:00:02 PM10 votes

I agree completely but my issue is how do you actually fix that? It would require people to be honest about who is smurfing and who isn't, which let's face it - no one is going to be.

GodblessAtheism6/30/2016, 7:30:44 AM6 votes

Riot doesn't understand that everytime they ban a toxic player, he makes a new account and probably drives at least 3 new players away from the game before he gets banned again. Not the best way to keep the game healthy.

Blanchimont6/30/2016, 11:49:19 AM5 votes

There's just too many barriers to entry for new players. You have to get to level 30. You have to buy runes. You have to buy rune pages. You have to buy champions. They literally have to play a thousand games just to "prepare" for ranked.

Eunson6/30/2016, 6:00:52 PM4 votes

League doesn't welcome Veteran players either...

Eevee In A Jar6/30/2016, 2:13:21 AM3 votes

It's not League taht doesn't welcome new players. This is all a universal problem. The issue is majority of players are basically in the silver-bronze tier lowest brackets. Because of these people, Riot is going towards directions no one wants. Now when new players join, you either go against asshole smurfs who think you should play like pro's or people equally as bad as you but they think for some weird reason they are much better than you. Riot doesn't see that it's mostly this bracket range (the lowest tiers in the game in terms of proven skill) is where a lot of problems lay.

Basically scrubs thinking they're the shit and ruining it for everyone. Then when balance issues or game system changes arise, these scrubs have the most say because they make up so much in numbers. I remember back in the day when Riot had balls and didn't bend just because people complained about things being too OP or something was wrong. Like back in the day, we had solved a problem to ending toxicity. Ignore every damn person. We really don't need chat. If Riot doesn't find a need to implement voice chat in fear of toxicity, why is type chat any different? We've proven on consistent basis you don't need anything but pings. We had a society that was accepting that you can't forcibly stop people from being %%%%s. If they act like dbags who can't control their temper, there's a reason for that and what some random guy online says won't change that. So this was why you muted. There were a large group of players (primarily vets when I joined) who said people who used to word "toxic" were the real toxic ones. EVERYONE is prone to getting angry in this game. It's just how it is. If you are an extremely happy and positive person, then good for you but for average people there's a physical chemistry that goes on in your brain that causes that same "tilt" or toxicity. EVERY player can get salty and toxic. If you can't get salty or toxic, then you should seriously be worried because you might lack the function that makes your brain "fight/flight" aka survival instincts.

The issue was resolving this and we had the answer. Everyone who muted most people or could ignore chat never seemed to have problems with trolling or raging teammates. I understand "hiding the problem" doesn't fix it but this isn't hiding. Again like I said, you're not that special that what you say would forcibly change how some arrogant prick online feels. The best you can do is to contain and limit as much collateral damage as possible aka not spreading toxicity. Best way to not let toxicity spread is to just ignore it. And @people who can't let things go... you can be one of those tough guys who go "I'm not letting some kid talk trash to me and walk away," LOL this is a video game. I don't care if you're Mike Tyson, cut that tough guy shit. You realize you're probably going to end up arguing till you have a full blown aneurysm because a little kid or grown person who would rather act like a 5 year old is nagging you.

Elikain6/30/2016, 9:19:12 AM3 votes

You needed to teach your friend the value of the mute button, first and foremost. I doubt he didn't want to play anymore thanks to toxic people as every corner of the internet is littered with it. Hell, you can't even go to YouTube and not read about it in the comment section in your favorite video.

The game is no fun when you're getting stomped hard and that's why bot games exist. And since losing is a part of every game, you need to have the right mindset to mute out the shit coming your way.

420 grams6/29/2016, 6:58:19 PM3 votes

They already ask at the beginning how familiar with the game, but let's be honest, how many people click the right one? I clicked the middle option since I'm not new, but I'm not ranked.

Noblewind6/30/2016, 1:34:50 PM3 votes

Sub level 30 League of Legends might honestly be the most toxic environment in video game history

Aldapsayar6/30/2016, 2:50:01 PM3 votes

Yeah, at one of my first games enemy was wrecking our team, and didn't even hide they are smurfs (that's how i learned this word). They had flash and Thunderlords and other masteries against people with two spells available. Someone even said "Welcome to League" during game... Later I found out that matchmaking actually sucks in LOL. As a new player, I don't actually enjoy most of the games. Like 3-4 out of 5 games are either against people much more experienced than me or with some toxic passive-aggressive kids. And most of the games I enjoy are the ones with minimum communication. Yesterday I had game when we barely used chat. Only pinging. That was the best game in the week despite we lost.

JESUSSAYSNO7/1/2016, 2:30:52 AM2 votes

Issue is how long it takes to unlock champions, runes, and rune pages. I've been playing for almost 2 years and I still don't have all the champs bought, and I've been buying some for real money when they're on sale. Still only have 4 rune pages because I bought a 2 pack on sale for real money.

Sidestep7/1/2016, 11:55:50 AM2 votes

I've been playing with my friend who is level 15 at the moment, however, I queue up with her on my main account (this one).

From what I've seen ingame is just somewhat unbearable to be honest for new players. The amount of verbal abuse, harassment, and overall toxicity levels are higher than anything I could have imagined.

I had a gank plank go rage mode at her for not going in on an Aram once as yasuo, and I'm just like.... "You expect a new player to know how to engage/play as yasuo?"

Monsieur Kast6/30/2016, 2:31:27 PM2 votes

[deleted]

Hellen Keller6/30/2016, 3:22:16 PM2 votes

Hell, League doesn't welcome its vets.

Moneymonster76/29/2016, 7:02:37 PM2 votes

There is still MMR involved in matching low-level games, so if you played particularly well on your smurf in bot games or in normals, it will inflate your buddy's MMR as well and result in you getting matched against players supposedly at a similar skill to yours. I made a brand new smurf and intentionally sucked in my early level up games to play with a newcomer friend, and had no problems with running into smurfs until I started playing at a level above the average new player.

bulldoggamer6/30/2016, 6:49:06 PM2 votes

I imagine this will be improved when the release the new client. They are going to have a much expanded tutorial section. And probably more.

Meta Phyton6/30/2016, 10:15:31 AM2 votes

Tell them to add me - I'll offer them some initial guidance in bot matches, now and then, if they really feel that they can't make it by themselves.

It's definitely possible to learn the ropes going solo in bot matches. In my opinion and experience, learning to play initially is not a matter of playing against evenly skilled opponents; it just takes learning how to swing your sword or fling your spells or fire your arrow, so to speak - even if it's at a stationary target. Even against a dummy in Fable can a new initiate learn how to become basically competent with a sword, spell, or bow. Translated into LoL terminology, this sword, spell, and bow analogy is respectively describing 'Garen', 'Ryze', and 'Ashe' - all the 3 fundamental champs that any new player needs to learn how to swing a melee attack ('Garen'), fling spells ('Ryze'), or fire from a distance ('Ashe').

After they know how to swing their sword at a dummy (or fling off spells or fire their arrow), then they can go in against a moving target with more confidence.

And there's 1 bot match setting that was essentially made with null champ ability in mind. In addition there's 'Tutorial' mode, which is what I played until I felt ready to pick 'bow' as my initial weapon. That means picking 'Ashe' by the way.

Spôôked6/30/2016, 5:01:21 PM1 votes

I dont smurf (although I have made a few more accounts but got bored of that), but Id be happy to help your friend out in games. I`m not a League god, but I can share my knowledge of the game :P

AninLegions7776/30/2016, 8:55:01 AM1 votes

This is why Riot should give the one level 30 smurf to those that reach level 30 OR give the ability to link smurfs so they play within their MMR. This way, level 30 players won't have to grind from level 1 giving new players the chance to learn with other new players. This is basic but you know Riot. Takes them ages to carry out.

Godhri7/1/2016, 6:11:30 PM1 votes

Well, I think part of the issue for smurfing is that players feel stuck in their ELO so they might feel the need to smurf in order to make themselves feel better. If they weren't stuck and were climbing consistently, it would not make sense for them to smurf at a low rank/elo. It would make more sense to keep climbing. For a MOBA game, picking on new players is something that is much harder to deal with than in games like WoW where you can create a safe zone for new players.

A bad community is always going to be prevalent, but in a MOBA, there is much more opportunity for player to player interaction than in games such as WoW so the effects of a bad community are much more deeply felt. Again, another issue of MOBAs that may never be solved. People, especially newer players, will just have to be resilient if they want to continue.

General Esdeath 6/30/2016, 8:51:18 AM1 votes

I hope your friend gives it another try, and I hope you guys run into less toxic people. When I started I played for 2 days then took a month long break before picking it up again and getting into it. Once you hit level 15 or so you stop running into the toxic people because they give up.

Hrkk Ptoo6/30/2016, 3:42:40 PM1 votes

Its been awhile since I was pre 30 but my experience was probably very similar. I didn't play with high level friends tho so maybe that limited the amount of smurfs we played against / They just weren't as prevalent early on in the game. I don't really understand making a new account unless you get banned. Leveling pup sucks and you have to rebuy all your runes and champions is just a hassle just to 'reset' your mmr.

Ztoka6/30/2016, 4:18:13 PM1 votes

While I totally hear you w/ the smurfs in normals etc, I have never had the issue in bot games. Well, out of the hundreds of bot games I have played, I think one or two guys out of all those games were toxic. I tried to balance it by telling the new player just have fun, it's only a game, then gave them hints, tips, info etc to understand the game, build etc better.