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Stop telling me to "just play bots!"

Lilin Cat··58 votes·6,730 views

Wasn't quite sure where to post this but here it goes.

I've had LoL for 4 years and I'm only level 27. The first few months I got to level 23, after that I would go months without playing, pick it up for a little bit then rinse and repeat.

Why?

Well, I would obviously want to play PvP, I would practice in bot games, get 20 kills and no deaths and then go into PvP and get slaughtered. Every time I would I would get verbally harassed by my teammates, making it extremely stressful for me and eventually I'd quit for a while.

This time around I said "Screw it" and just started playing PvP with champs that I knew I was the best with. I found myself holding my own for the most part and doing decent. Every once and a while though, I would just feed (unintentionally, obviously) and anytime that happens the harassment comes back and I tell these people that I'm still practicing, that's when they say:

"Just play bots!"

I've been playing bots for 4 years to avoid these type of people, and let me ask, am I delusional when I say that Bots and PvP are wildly different? Because even in intermediate bots are predictable, they stay in their lane and you might get ganked once or twice, you know when their going to stop chasing you and jungling isn't something you need to do to win.

Practicing in Bots does not prepare you for PvP.

So my question is this, what should I do? I've obviously googled how to play PvP, how to play certain roles, positions, and champs. Is there any general read or video I should look into to help? Or is it all trial and error and learning through practice and I should just ignore the ragers?

(I'm sorry part of this turned into a rant but I would really appreciate the input)

166 Comments

AJStarhiker43 votes

Your best way to really learn to play is to keep playing. You'll make mistakes. Everyone does. Those people telling you to go play bots? That's harassment. Mute 'em and report 'em after the game is over. Watching streams, checking builds and guides help to an extent, but you won't learn how to read the game and react to it without playing yourself.

A guide is just a starting point. You might discover your playstyle doesn't quite fit the guide your read, but it can help you figure that out.

A litte while back, I played a support champion I don't use much after a period of not playing. Turns out the enemy I laned against mained that champion and took every opportunity to slam my prefered build and play. I mostly ignored his "advice" because his playstyle clearly differed from mine (he seemed to prefer poke, I prefered heals/sustain). It was still annoying, though.

brad4 votes

{quoted}

Your best way to really learn to play is to keep playing. You'll make mistakes. Everyone does. Those people telling you to go play bots? That's harassment. Mute 'em and report 'em after the game is over. Watching streams, checking builds and guides help to an extent, but you won't learn how to read the game and react to it without playing yourself.

A guide is just a starting point. You might discover your playstyle doesn't quite fit the guide your read, but it can help you figure that out.

A litte while back, I played a support champion I don't use much after a period of not playing. Turns out the enemy I laned against mained that champion and took every opportunity to slam my prefered build and play. I mostly ignored his "advice" because his playstyle clearly differed from mine (he seemed to prefer poke, I prefered heals/sustain). It was still annoying, though.

this this this this this

blujadajhdja6 votes

I don't understand why people face harassment in normals though. Seriously, is that one normal blind pick game worth so much to you that you have to make someone else feel like shit?

Mylon Requiem2 votes

Usually when/if I harass someone in a particular game, it's because they are ruining MY OWN experience just as much as I'm probably ruining theirs. The fact that I have to mute people in 8/10 games just for refusing to cooperate and communicate properly about the game (being willing to strategize with the team, accept criticism, and in general give a shit) is truly pathetic.

Toxicity is a two-way street just like conflict itself: it's the fault of both parties, and more than likely most of the blame largely can be attributed to one of them specifically. People should be prepared to accept the fact that their performance or attitude in a game can poorly impact someone else and put them off enough to merit a response, much like the law of equal, opposite force.

It Hertz When IP2 votes

Yeah, and the way that girl was dressed? She was totally asking for it. /sarcasm

Mylon Requiem2 votes

What the actual fuck does rape have to do with toxicity in a computer game?

It Hertz When IP2 votes

It's a much stronger example, to be sure, but the same theme: blame the victim. "You were asking for it", "he built item 3074 on Nasus, he deserves to be yelled at", etc. No one forced the toxic player to start typing, no one asked for his/her opinion on that build. At no point does poor game skills justify toxic behavior. If they did, there wouldn't be rules against it.

tl;dr If someone isn't behaving like you'd like... act with some semblance of maturity. Mute and move on. Even if maturity is entirely beyond your reach, use the logical justification: the odds that someone will hear you call them an ignorant twat and respond by saying "wow, I really am an ignorant twat, I'd better change my behavior, thank God this random guy I don't know pointed that out for me" are so astronomically slim that you'd have better odds of winning the lottery. While being struck by lightning.

injourn35 votes

Just play bots Blitzcrank Orianna

Lilin Cat7 votes

charming

Doom Brownies14 votes

You could try ARAM. It's all I do anymore. Everyone's super friendly, just playing for fun, weird builds are usually okay, and it's pretty quick.

Lilin Cat2 votes

Interesting.. Thats something I'll have to try! Thanks!

a rabid cupcake1 votes

ARAM is where it's at. As with all matches, though, you may run into some jerks. Just mute them and report them post game and move on. Also, ARAM is one of the few places you can do things like AS Ori and AP Varus without people giving you a weird look.

Anidan2 votes

I'd play ARAM with friends more but for some reason I run into even more try-hards that complain about anything non-optimal there than in normal SR games :\ I don't get it. I'm just assuming my luck is awful but still, it's enough to keep me the hell away.

a rabid cupcake2 votes

Well, if you ever feel courageous again, hit me up for a game. No profanity, no belittling, no raging (well, I rage at myself, which is totally fine right?) and no picking on over builds... aside from full-boots and mana on manaless champions.

Zirzon3 votes

Mana on manaless champions? That's silly... Everyone knows that what you want to build on them is mana regen!

freeformline1 votes

This is true, and is a large part of why I play ARAM when I don't have buddies to queue with on SR. Off-builds can often be perfectly legitimate on HA, and the people there are generally less toxic than on the Rift. Just keep in mind that many people do consider ARAM to be a serious game mode and play it because they like its unique strategic elements, so weird builds and goofy moves that do not actually help your team may rub some people the wrong way. You should learn to like it well enough if you just stay friendly and optimistic.

Doom Brownies2 votes

ARAM is fun to try new things IF they are sensible things to try.

AD TF? Well if the rest of your team is Cho'Gath, Lux, LeBlanc and Karma, yeah you actually probably SHOULD be AD TF since just another mage wouldn't benefit the team quite as much.

AD TF? Well, if the rest of your team is Caitlyn, Jinx, Fiora, Tryndamere and Sivir... probably not a good choice since they'll need your AP.

Tolfor2 votes

[{quoted}](name=Doom Brownies,realm=NA,application-id=cIfEodbz,discussion-id=5ssVdluG,comment-id=0010,timestamp=2015-06-20T01:28:26.297+0000)

You could try ARAM Everyone's super friendly, just playing for fun

This is a blatant lie. I despise ARAM specifically because of how quick people are to start talking shit.

Yazzy8146 votes

Here's a suggestion! Feel free to add me and play with me, I will most likely have a full team and no harassment for sure and you'll be able to reach lvl 30 in no time :D

MarhsallLee676 votes

Step 1: Hold tab

Step 2: Mute all the players on your team (and the enemy team if necessary) by clicking the chat bubbles on the far right that correspond with them

Step 3: ???

Step 4: Profit

Lilin Cat2 votes

I like step 4. lol. thanks

stealthfox944 votes

Well I'm not great at this game, but I see you rushed shiv on Jinx, don't do that you should always start with a damage item first. IE or bloodthister. I'd also recommend opening up a custom game with no bots ( just you ) and practice last hitting. It will help more than you think it will.

stealthfox943 votes

Just to clarify you should start with a damage item first on an ADC, not every champion.

Lilin Cat2 votes

OK, I was told to get Bloodthirst first and sometimes I can just get the shiv sooner so I get it. But I get that thats jumping the gun and Ill remember that. Thank you for the advice very specific for myself!

Bemapon2 votes

Normally IE is what adc's build first

CrankyChipmonk7 votes

I see a lot of players give advice about this sort of thing but I do not see people give a lot of explanation as to why.

There are a few reasons it's usually best to rush a damage item on an adc.

First, for many adcs, your main source of damage for trading in lane is your auto attacks combined with your spells. However, unless you are going all in, poking is one or two auto attacks and a spellcast, and then both players return to farming. It's better to get AD so that one or two autos you fire off do the most damage possible. ALSO, many adcs have ADscaling spells so more AD = more damage on your poking spells.

Second, having more AD early makes it a lot easier to last hit minions, this way you can get more gold faster, and in the end buy more items sooner. While attack speed DOES help in last hitting because of a faster auto attack animation, having more AD helps more.

Finally, many/most adc have some form of attack speed already built into their kits. Ashe's Q, Miss Fortune's W, Ezreal's Passive, Twitch's Q, Sivir W after lvl 6, Tristana's Q, Grave's E, Lucian's Passive kinda-ish, Varus' Passive, Draven's W, and maybe others that I can't think of.

Vayne has an AD steroid on her ult, and that's part of the reason building BoTRK on her first works, because she already has ad built into her kit, and her W spell scale with attack speed.

In particular Jinx, the adc we are talking about here, has one of the best attack speed steroids of all adc's on her Q, and it doesn't cost mana.

As for Bloodthirster vs Infinity Edge, IE is better to rush in MOST cases, however if you are losing lane it's often better to rush bloodthirster because the lifesteal and shield will allow you to stay in lane and continue farming rather than being pushed out by your opponent.

Also, the highest dps 3-item combo an adc can have is Infinity Edge, Phantom Dancer, and Last Whisper. The highest dps single item is actually BoTRK, but it doesnt have much synergy with criticals because the on-hit damage can't critically strike.

Therefore with most adc's its better to rush infinity edge as you will get to your damage spike sooner.

Downfall3 votes

Good guy Crank, actually explaining things.

Emperor Time4 votes

Here is what you should do.

Step 1: Go to Probuilds and look at champions that you play and see what runes and masteries you should be using for those champions. You can also see item builds for those champions that pro players use.

Step 2: Don't play bots. You will literally be babied playing bots the only way you will get better is by making mistakes so that you can learn from them.

Step 3: Spam one/Two champions in one role until you master them. There is no point in playing a lot of different champions if you're bad at all of them. (PRO TIP: You can mute players if you press TAB in game and click the chat bubble symbol next to their name at the end of the row. This way you won't see the mean things people tell you and this way you can hate yourself for making mistakes instead of people hating on you and then starting a huge argument that will get you no where.)

Step 4: Watch pro players on twitch.tv play the game. You can learn a lot about match ups/where to ward/what you should be doing after laning phase.

Step 5: Don't play high skill cap champions. Don't even think about playing Azir or Yasuo, don't even do it. You may think that playing harder champions will benefit you more, but it will not. You will just get frustrated and then go on tilt. Save yourself some time and effort and learn easy champions first and then once your gold/plat you can start playing decently skill capped champions. (P.S: DON'T YOU DARE PLAY LEE SIN EVER!!!!!!! ONLY DIAMONDS CAN PLAY THAT CHAMP TRUST ME) There is no shame in playing Evelynn/Hecarim jungle as long as you are good with those champions then who cares. (P.S.S: i mentioned those champs because their my main jungle champions.)

Now if you want to play ranked you need to at least perfect one role, but have 1 champion that you are good at in all the other roles, because always assume you will be last pick.

By no means am I a good player i'm only gold 2 right now, but doing all this has helped me immensely.

The only other thing i can say is to play a lot. If you genuinely want to be better at the game then spam the shit out of this game.

ChaosThief4 votes

It just takes a lot of practice. And they need to improve the AI if they ever want to teach people using bots. They are so hilariously bad.

Desmond Law4 votes

Put yourself in the shoes of the enemy. If I were do make a move, would myself be able to kill me?

Lilin Cat3 votes

Thats a fun flip. I like that, thanks

Downfall4 votes

If you're really motivated to get better you've just gotta keep playing PvP, you'll get better and the more PvP you play the more accurately it will place you with people of your skill level. Due to how many people play now and how competitive the game has become the learning curve is definitely a lot higher than it was four years ago, and it's only going up from here, so there's a lot of work to do. But just persevere and try not to mind rude players (which is also becoming an increasing problem)

Sammystorm1 votes

I remember when i started playing pvp. I almost quit because I felt so useless but I stuck it out and am now in Gold.

Downfall2 votes

I feel bad for those who have started playing within the past year or two, it was much easier to learn how to play in season one because the majority of low level players were actually new, and most of them including myself had never played a moba before haha :P

Left Hook Larry4 votes

Just mute them and ignore. Trust me, it will work. Who cares if they rage at you? It's just normal games and if you're really bothered by it report them after the match. Everyone has to start somehow. No one is immediately good with every champion they play. That's what normals are for.

nerak234 votes

Its quite obvious u have no talent. U can also try out other games like World of Warcraft or Tetris

OP The best advice I can offer is: Ignore things like these comments...;)

nerak234 votes

I sincerely hope you continue to play bot games for the sake of not making this already man-child infested community any worse.

And Sir I sincerely hope you realize that you just put a few posts up that can be accessed from everywhere at anytime forever more ...that show what a immature jerk you really are !!

Young Man :) I'd take OP in game Every time over you ..your age is showing !!

ZenBudS3 votes

I became a much better player after I started watching pros play matches on youtube. look up the lane and champ your trying to play and emulate the pros. thats the best advice i can give ya on that front. gl

Angry Monster2 votes

The problem is that you are saying your practicing. People take that as you A) you have no clue what you are doing or B) you you are pushing your limits to see what happens.

Either way you are making an excuse for a bad play. Just own up and say you make a mistake if that is what is happening.

Kuroi862 votes

Stick with playing pvp, if people give you a hard time, just say everyone has a bad game and keep doing your best.

Bot games are typically used for getting mechanics down before you swap to pvp matches.

Stick with champs you are good with, learn a few champs for each possible role and focus on getting decent with them.

If someone keeps giving you a hard time, mute them.

Vincent Lucius2 votes

You don't play a lot of PvP, or at least not until now, so the game is probably still trying to place you somewhere with your skill level. If you keep playing chances are you'll improve but you'll also find that you'll be put up against people who are going to stomp you throughout the game much less often.

nerak232 votes

This is a good thread, as for advice I will tell you my story and some advice I got. Keep in mind Nerak23 is a Lee main who almost never plays PVP however I have another account I never make public here, in which I do more serious game play .

Best advice I ever got was 2 words that at the time hurt my feelings.."Get Better !!" After talking to that person who I added as a friend I found the advice was sound.

I asked someone to watch me play and tell me what I was doing wrong...I really wasn't ready for what they told me however I wrote down a list of things I needed to improve on I made goals (such as 100cs or more )

I wrote up the list and put it over my pc and then said when I hit all the goals I would buy a skin I really wanted...this encouraged me to improve. You can watch people and ask questions and just Do Your Best..ignore the Jerks in the game.

Important things are learn from your mistakes, understand bots and real people play different and react accordingly, practice and try new things ..Ward no matter who or where you are playing, never take for granted someone is going to do anything ...The most important advice I or Anyone can give you is :

HAVE FUN !!!!

GL to you and anyone else facing the same things going into LOL :)

Lilin Cat2 votes

Hey, thanks for all the great messages, I was trying to respond to all of them but there was too many of you, lol. Save for maybe 2 or 3 bitter users, everything was either extremely helpful or at the very least, encouraging. Thank you!

nerak232 votes

But, you should probably play bots.

Really ?!? Did you just put this up hahahaha ......You got to be kidding here right ?

Kei1432 votes

I know how you feel, back in the days I used to play bots just to stay away from douches like them. But bots would get boring fast. But then again, I did suck, and granted, I still do suck, just less of it now.

I actually improved alot through watching LCS. The casters actually helped me pick up things I never thought of before, they break it down pretty well for the beginners. It helps that they make LCS games real hyped up as well, so its lesser of a chore and more of entertainment.

DragonDelgar2 votes

Every game is a chance to meet jerks, but don't forget it's also a chance to meet friendly people. You can add swell teammates to your friends and then have them on your team again in the future. So I suggest maybe adding people you come across who were friendly and made the game more enjoyable.

Even just having one friend in the team with you, instead of you alone, is a huge difference in my opinion.

A little warning though. Sometimes people are nice just because they're winning. If you find people who are fun and supportive even when the team is losing, I think that's a good sign.

KittyKatK4t2 votes

season 5 Platinum I/season 4 diamond mid main here

Practicing in Bots does not prepare you for PvP.

yes it does. Practice your CS, practice your positioning, practice your ability to CS under turrets and how to effectively keep yourself sustaining decent CS while still grouping via clearing side lanes, etc. It doesn't help you with objective control, but it will help you with the most basic aspects.

So my question is this, what should I do? I've obviously googled how to play PvP, how to play certain roles, positions, and champs. Is there any general read or video I should look into to help? Or is it all trial and error and learning through practice and I should just ignore the ragers?

There's a few things you can do. You can start with some videos, coaching, etc. A lot of it is very practicable in bots, as listed above. A lot of play is based on the little things. The less little mistakes you make, the less you can be punished for them. Think of every death as a mistake, for one reason or another and figure out what that mistake was. Practice building correctly - I cannot stress this enough. Building the right items at the right times based on your situation is 100% crucial to being effective. This means don't follow a build guide you checked out on the internet word for word - they are meant to be a generic outline.

I feel like you could learn a lot from watching streams, taking information from them (Ie what's strong on what champions? Why did they pick a certain champion into another? What's the best item to build into if the person is behind in their game? What's the best item to build if they're ahead in that game?) Notice the small things they do, like constantly moving behind the minion wave to adjust their micropositioning.

A few really good streams from diamond - challenger to watch to learn things from: jungle - Nightblue3/c9 meteos ADC - Doublelift/C9sneaky mid - dmitriy a support - aphromoo

Lilin Cat2 votes

Thank you for the streams I can watch! I do get what your saying about bots preparing you for PvP.. I still disagree in some ways, just in the fact that you can play bots for years and still have very little clue how to navigate PvP.

But for the things you mention, yes, bots can prepare you for those aspects of the game

Thank you

HighH11 votes

I'm sorry but if you have had league for 4 years and still level 27 you deserve to be harassed

Mindworm Jim4 votes

{quoted}

I'm sorry but if you have had league for 4 years and still level 27 you deserve to be harassed

No, Lilin Cat most certainly does not deserved to be harassed. The frequency of which a player chooses to play League is entirely up to them. If a player is inexperienced against human opponents you should be trying to help them adjust, not drive them out.

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