Boards›[ARCHIVED] Miscellaneous

Thoughts on current player integration? MainStream vs. Team mentality

F8 TECH·7/15/2014, 9:00:32 PM·2 votes·466 views

What I am writing about is a difficult topic, but I believe it is something that is actively crippling the new player base.

What I want to talk about, is the current player integration into the game of League.

What are you even talking about? - I am talking about how current League of Legends players learn how to play, and how they act because of it. I think that the current system to teach new players, and the new one that is coming, still lacks certain elements that new players need to learn about this game. I see the current problems with the community as MainStream Vs. Team mentality.

What does mentality have to do with it? - Well the whole basis of this post, and my argument, is that most newer players I have seen (and even myself at a certain point) all seem to share the mainstream mentality I mentioned earlier. To best explain it, think of it in terms of how most current mainstream games work. For example, Call of Duty. When playing in a multiplayer environment, Call of Duty has little to do with actual teamwork, and more to do with the skill of the singular person (you). In Call of Duty, kills are king, and most of the players play with that single fact in mind. That is what I dub, the MainStream mentality. On the other hand team mentality is exactly what it sounds like, and to keep my argument simple I dub it the Team mentality. This is how League works, and should work. Everyone on the team works together to maximize their gold income, and take objectives in order to win, and while kills still clearly have worth to them, they are not the priority of the game. Where this starts to become a problem, is when people with a MainStream mentality, start playing a game that requires a Team mentality. Think about when you started playing League, were you a team player or one simply after kills? This is where my main point begins.

Why League should do more to train a Team mentality - To argue my point, I will use myself as an example. I tend to main jungle, and for me it's a thrill, and as of late I have been using alot of tankier utility jungle champs. When I get into games, people seem to be more focused on the MainStream mentality in regards to themselves, rather than the Team mentality in regards to everyone. So when I get matched with randoms, it's more about forcing a gank out of me (the jungler) to get the kill, than it is to them to farm and allow me to come in for a gank when the moment is right. This I believe is where alot of the toxicity comes from. Imagine the person wanting me to gank a bad situation, and I refuse simply because I know it will end in both of our deaths. The type of person I am talking about, literally becomes so angry that they throw their situation, and then it's the traditional (jungler's fault) situation, which just builds more toxicity within the team environment.

What should be done about it? - This is the biggest issue. I haven't seen the new intro bot system, and it would be up to a Rioter to elaborate, but I think the main issue lies outside of it. I think the more new people are taught about the champs themselves and how to win using them, the more they tend to think they can win it themselves. I think that besides in game tutorials, there should be a Riot approved "Way to Play the Game". Where people are taught more about how to work together, and to leave certain decisions to your fellow teammate, rather than screaming at them to do something, and only getting more mad when they don't want to. Currently in the tutorials, I think there is not enough being taught about team mechanics, and that there should be more being done about it. Teaching a new player to play on their own is one thing, but teaching them to play as a part of a team where other players have their own thoughts and skills is another.

1 Comments

F8 Tensei7/16/2014, 4:36:39 AM1 votes

I agree with literally every statement. People in the game aren't taught well enough how to play the game with synergy.

These are quotes from one of my games:

ADC Before: "Jung come bot I want we can get kill" ADC After: "WTF Why'd you not kill him"

The ADC died in this game solely because he/she tried to trade with the ADC and Support, though they had been doing better in lane, and was angry when the Jungler didn't get the kill on the enemy ADC. The support based to buy items prior to the engage. The ADC believed that the role of the Jungler was to get the kills so they could carry the game

  • FALSE. The role of Junglers isn't to help laners get kills, or even to carry the games themselves (Though it's a great thing to have when the chips are down). The goal of a Jungler is to be aware of what's going on in the map, not to be a deus ex machina for laners. Essentially, Junglers make sure you don't feed like an idiot. If a kill presents itself, then solely trying to kill the enemy champ is acceptable, however it isn't a requirement. A jungler not getting a kill but bullying an enemy out of lane causes them to lose farm and your ally to gain the upper hand temporarily. If someone gets the kill and survives, it's good, but if the jungler has to push the lane out to save the ally's lane, he/she is just wasting time. It's because of people like the ADC above that I don't like to play as a jungler in games.

If people would just learn how to be team players rather than try to expect something out of everyone else or trying to be a loose cannon and killing (though actually feeding) machine, games would go way better for everyone and they would be more based on skill rather than who isn't a complete fool.