inability to progress and deep depression/anger

Rueian·3/25/2015, 12:59:19 AM·5 votes·2,976 views

I am in most cases a stereotypical rager. I have generally low morale and little trust in the random people I end up with. I find it hard to learn much concretely from each match, both in gameplay and emotionally. I have few friends and none that I play with.

I can not help but snap at people or give up once a large margin of lead is gained by the enemy, I can't hold my cool in losing situations as I feel helpless and with the lack of trust I feel the game is lost if I am not doing well.

I have other outside of game personal problems with self-esteem and such but generally have it under control except when in league. I've been playing since beta, dropped lots of money on this game, and do not want to quit or be banned. But I have no progress and can't enjoy or focus on the game with all this emotional stress that comes with playing. I want to be good, but 4 years and barely gold is embarrassing and ultimately disappointing. I don't know what to do with my self.

After pouring so much time into this game I find no happiness not only here, but everywhere now. I'm just disappointed in every aspect of my life. I know this post will be kinda rambling, scattered, and incoherent, but I am at wits end with my life.

League makes me question everything about myself, and being constantly punished has convinced me I am a terrible person, when all I have is a bit of rage or pessimistic view.

I don't know... Why am I even here.

85 Comments

Karcist3/25/2015, 4:58:02 AM4 votes

You've allowed league to become your primary means of maintaining your self esteem. That's why your emotions regarding your performance are pervading into other areas in your life. You mentioned that you self esteem issues, you probably rely on league to maintain most of the self esteem that you do have. My suggestion is to try out new hobbies to root your self esteem into like: art, weightlifting, sports, or even another game. You'll find that your league performance will mean less to you as you develop skills in other areas.

Sarutobi3/25/2015, 2:09:19 AM3 votes

I think you should seek professional help if a game is making you like this! So you arent Gold. i dont see how its disappointing, or embarrassing unless you need that rank for something in your life! If thats the case try getting better at the game? just because you are playing the game doesnt matter how long, you need to learn how to improve. Everyone does! Not only that but if you cannot be civilized in an environment of randoms (eg SoloQ) i would think you should try to find friends to play with, or at least make a group of people to play with since it seems you cannot work with random people.

EL HAMSTERO3/25/2015, 6:08:43 AM2 votes

you should try trolling friend. its a huge stress reliever. plus if you troll it lowers your mmr which means the games you actually play get easier. totally serious I recommend it greatly.

IndianHippie3/25/2015, 6:14:17 AM2 votes

You wont get any solutions here. Go seek a therapist. I am not joking. If you're looking for catharsis then internet forums are the least ideal place.

CrankyChipmonk3/25/2015, 4:31:57 AM2 votes

First of all barely gold is still pretty good compared the the total population that plays this game. Sure you'll never be pro but were you trying to be pro?

Fuck it man just have fun. It's not like your future spouse will be like "well i WOULD love you but you aren't really amazing at the video game, just decent."

Honestly no one gives a shit but youngsters who don't have anything else to strive for in life.

If "youngsters who don't have anything else to strive for in life" describes you, then just think about things you'd like to try and just try. I made maple syrup once because I didnt know what else to do with myself. It came out awful but it was something to work at for the time I was doing it.

I whittled a small wooden penis while smoking pot for about 2 months of severe depression and that helped me to keep my mind occupied and just have a goal. (to finish the penis)

You can say you have no talent or something like that but I don't either. It's not about being the best at something, it's about having a reasonable goal and a direction to move your efforts.

If you wanna apply this to league (but it really sounds like you'd be happier trying other things as well as league) then pick some small aspect of your play and set a goal and just focus on that. So figure out your average cs and make it a goal to average about 20 more cs per game, while not hurting any of your other stats. Or if you're a jungler try to get better at drag control, or timing your buff spawns so you are always right where you need to be when they spawn.

If you improve some small piece of your play, even if you don't see your MMR rise, you'll still be making progress, have feelings of success instead of failure, and eventually you'll be much better and move up. Make your success case not be for a given game, but for a trend. "I want to average 10 more cs per game than I do now". Your success should be based off of yourself, not others.

If everyone based their success off others, no one would succeed. If a physics major compared himself to degrasse tyson, he would feel like a failure as he is only just learning physics.

In the immortal words of Jake from Adventure time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN43sCyEanA

Tsugaga3/25/2015, 1:44:26 AM2 votes

You need to relax and realize that things like games aren't worth the least bit of stress, it's seriously just a video game. You lose a game and what happens, you lose some LP, get less IP, and gain a loss? Some stupid stats in a video game are meaningless. Yeah it's nice to win and gain LP and rise through tiers, and that's the goal of the game, but the purpose of the game is for fun and enjoyment.

The best way to rage less in game is to relax yourself before the game and think about how you want to act. Think "I'm going to focus on my own mistakes, ignore negative comments, and try to have a supportive attitude", then follow through with that. If you're not reminding yourself this before every game then you're going to act how you usually do without thinking. After so many games your behavior will start to improve, and your gameplay. Say "GJ" when your team makes good plays, and don't say anything negative on bad plays, a player knows if he messes up so there's no need to say it in chat. Stay focused on the game, not the chat, ongoing conversations and arguing is worse than an AFK/feeder, it seriously is.

If you want to get better, the first step is to relax and follow what I said above. Once relaxed, focus 100% on every little thing that you're doing wrong and what you could be doing better. Maybe you're not last hitting good enough, maybe you didn't use your trinket enough while off cooldown, maybe you didn't pay attention to the minimap while you got ganked or your jungler got invaded, maybe you could watch the minimap and use pings to help your unaware teammates see the incoming gank, etc. It doesn't matter if your 4 teammates fed all game, you probably couldn't have changed the outcome, but you surely could have done something better, and when you realize what you can do better you can apply it to the next game. You're playing to make yourself a better player, not your teammates, so don't focus on what they're doing wrong.

As for your general attitude outside of League, I can understand you. The first thing you need to is realize what's important in life and what's not. Are games worth any stress? No. Is what immature people have to say worth any stress? No. Important things are your health, family, and friends. Nothing will change in your life or get better if you don't make it happen, don't sit around expecting your life to just change automatically.

This is something that helped me out, and I repeat it daily, regardless if you're religious or not, the main point is to understand and change your attitude and perspective of life. "May God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can't change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Basically you have to understand what is out of your control and have peace of mind that it is what it is, and you have to understand that nothing in your life will change unless you take action and do what you have to in order to get where you want to be.

Relax, enjoy League, enjoy life.

spikcraft6/18/2015, 11:52:41 PM1 votes

man, if you lose in ARAM there is no problem you dont have to blame yourself or the others for that no one can be genuinly better at ARAM is a luck game there is no better players just better champs and the luck factor kicks the competitivity and hopens more space for FUN!

spikcraft6/19/2015, 12:02:56 AM1 votes

well, i will try to leave the league of legends life and just play ARAM, i will tell you how it went after some time to see the results or you can try it for yourself, remember competitive aspect is only good if it doesnt affects your out-game world, but if it does you should just take some time off of it and try to be more happy that way =)

spikcraft6/19/2015, 1:42:58 AM1 votes

i dont know then, it looks like you are in a depression spiral, i am not a specialist or anything but i would suggest you to try to find something that you like and dont feel bad about it and just do it, i am sure you can find something you like and dont make you feel anyway other than good

Chimewlan6/19/2015, 4:24:45 AM1 votes

Don't worry bro, there's always light at the end of the tunnel, you just have to explore more then you can get to the end

Godhri3/25/2015, 3:25:57 AM1 votes

I am the same way man, but I have since learned to control it to a certain degree. What you have to consider is that gold is a commendable rank despite what anyone says. If you want to get better, you'll have to work at it more than simply playing the game since that has clearly stopped working.

Do a little research. Look up videos of pro league plays/coaching. They are extremely helpful and have helped me improve on my play a significant amount.

Like you, I also used gaming as an escape. Heck, I still do, but you have to remember that emotion is no excuse for erratic behaviors as evidenced by our current laws. You can't commit a crime and then go to court and say "oh i was just angry". It is the same basic concept here. What I can tell you is that I have found myself enjoying the game a lot more simply by being nice and positive (at least in text) to others when they irritate me. I am certain that you will see it the same way as well once you put it to practice. This is not to say that I haven't slipped up and gone overboard on someone. I have, but I keep in mind that I can never justify my actions. This is something you should keep in mind as well.

Here's a little trick I do for myself when I get angry; I ask myself just before I think of doing something out of anger "What am I doing? Is this the right thing to do? Will it solve anything?". You need to constantly question your actions if you are angry otherwise you will lose it and just do whatever.

Hang in there man. Life gets better. :) You just have to hang around to discover the other good things.

Rueian3/27/2015, 4:04:17 AM1 votes

And... Chat/ranked restricted again... hate my life. why cant i just be someone else.

I wish i had control... i wish i was happy, but its just too much to ask for.

Rueian3/27/2015, 7:07:05 AM1 votes

.... I don't know what to do.... I see the advice, but how i can start, I obviously can't hold myself accountable or the punishments I've been getting would have helped me reform. I need help... But that literally is too much to ask for.

Its not like I can expect anyone to care about me.... I barely care about me. I've wished day in and day out that I didn't exist because all I have are messages telling me I'm a bad person, and a life proving I'm worthless. Why do I even try to live?

Karcist4/17/2015, 5:35:52 AM1 votes

Try moving to another city or state, even if it means moving in with relatives. A change of scenery goes a long way.

spikcraft6/18/2015, 11:42:40 PM1 votes

man, i got also depressed by this game and i think i will quit the competition aspect of the game, i wont play ranked/draft/blind/tb anymore, i will just sometimes play ARAM now, ARAM is fun there is no fault if you lose, forget about all the competitive aspect, you will get a more happyer league of legends life if you just play ARAM for fun and meet new people ;D