Boards›[ARCHIVED] Miscellaneous

The LoL Saga: Entitlement v. Financials

OriginalJobe·2/19/2014, 9:07:05 PM·2 votes·529 views

I began playing LoL 5 months ago. I really enjoyed the great game design, I never got bored playing the same mode and maps, and it was free.

I went so far as to request RP for my birthday, setup a smurf, and began hosting team games at my house (paying out of pocket for concessions and equipment.)Point being, I enjoyed the game so much I was all in and advocating it to friends.

Then I started diving into the community a bit more, and noticed an unexpected number of toxic comments. Fa##ot, s#ck my d#ick, and F#ck that... it made me embarrassed to play... I don't want to be associated with people who think and speak in this manner. As I paid closer attention I noticed an upswing in like behavior in games. It finally got to the point where I stopped playing for a while, stopped hosting team games, and stopped buying RP.

So when I saw the latest 'us v. them' discussion I asked myself why RIOT would make such an effort to 'clean up' the GD forum, via this beta, but do nothing about individuals who still blast toxic content here and in game...

I think it's a financial decision. RIOT, as many companies do, set a threshold for tolerating a certain level of toxic behavior in order to sell their products. There is nothing wrong with this, every company does this. I just happen to believe RIOT's threshold is off, and as a result, the player community knows that they can get away with a certain level of behavior, and have 0 concerns about being banned. This has lead to the established feeling of entitlement and acceptance of toxic behavior amongst the player base.

While I applaud RIOT's effort to do 'something' about toxic levels getting out of hand I question what their long term-strategy is to address the monster that has been created. I'm not convinced that the beta forums will really do anything to remove toxic behavior in the long run, nor will it address in game issues.

Is RIOT concerned about the financial impacts to banning toxic players?

What do you think RIOTs threshold is - what would cause them to take heavier measures to address toxic behavior?

Would love to hear from RIOT, let them have a chance to clear up their plans.

3 Comments

Sir ArmaMalum2/19/2014, 11:53:34 PM2 votes

I think everyone can agree toxic behavior is something that should be dealt with, but I can at the very least explain the most likely reason why toxic behavior has gotten a foothold in the CB. It's still a Beta and the initial idea has been to have the community be self-moderating with a report function, which isn't a bad idea, but there still needs to be some management and the problem of correct moderation now is the sheer number of people to be dealt with.

My best advice for you personally is to largely avoid General Discussion. There are still good post there don't get me wrong, but what are more likely to hear loudly over forums? "OMG ****THIS I'M DONE SCREW EVERYTHING" or "I've had a nice day today".

As for the CB's usefulness I completely agree as of right now there is very little more it will do about toxic behavior than the older forum, but as it's still a Beta we as a community need to shout out ideas to make it better in every way, including this one.

On behalf of the League community I'm sorry for the toxic behavior and I hope it does not throw you off the game. A majority of players are simply neutral and silent, but the other end (vocally positive player) is so much smaller than the toxic side it may seem the positive side doesn't exist. I hope this will someday change but right now I will simply say I respect your post and the civil manner you displayed. Thank you