Stop the rage. Please...
Another ranked game, another rage-filled waste of time, despite a win. I'm writing this up because I love League of Legends, and though Riot has done everything they could to stem the raging problem, the community still has issues. What I have here is a list of excuses and reasons to WHY people rage, and my response to them.
Guys, by now I could write a book on the rage I see in League. I've been playing since beta, so I have a bit of experience in the matter. My latest game certainly doesn't take the cake for the rage-iest of rages, but it illustrates a few points I'd like to discuss. It's the same line of thought I've heard from many different ragers.
FYI, SMITH here is our jungler, and I am the support. The ryze mentioned is our top laner, who was having an argument with SMITH all game. And I do mean ALL. GAME. ((no, his username was not really SMITH... I just replaced the name for anonimity.))
POINT 1: IT DOES NOT MATTER IF SOMEONE BLAMES YOU, OR IF YOU'RE RIGHT/WRONG. SMITH: while its a free kill SMITH: [Ryze] blames me for dying King Ramoose: you don't have to answer him you know SMITH: while he last hits a minion wiuth grgas fre kil King Ramoose: ya'll kept yelling at each other King Ramoose: it doesn't help SMITH: dont matter SMITH: i was right SMITH: he blamed me for doing well King Ramoose: that doesn't matter SMITH: i was 7-0 at the point he was blaming me for us losing King Ramoose: what matters is how you manage to come back from it SMITH: it does matter SMITH: i dont let a little 13 yr old kid SMITH: blame me SMITH: for losing
Here, SMITH's pride gets in the way of common sense. Even in physical sports, you are taught to always be the bigger man and let it go. Let your actions speak louder than your words. It's called "sportsmanlike conduct." Unfortunately, there seems to be a large number of people in the League community that feel like they are OBLIGATED to defend themselves when a finger gets pointed at them.
The truth is, you are HURTING THE TEAM when you argue. In this particular example, Ryze ended up afk farming for 15 minutes. 15 minutes! He refused to participate in teamfights. It took me begging him before he finally joined us, and we won the game. So you see, had SMITH just let it go, just let Ryze act like a child and rage at strangers over the internet, then we most likely would have won that game MUCH sooner. SMITH's pride and words almost cost us the game, despite how well we were doing.
POINT 2: RAGING IS FLAMING King Ramoose: why does it matter if he rages at you SMITH: when im the only person doing well King Ramoose: let him rage King Ramoose: raging back only hurts the team SMITH: because he wasnt raging King Ramoose: you saw what happened SMITH: raging and flaming is 2 different things King Ramoose: ryze left for like 15 minutes SMITH: raging is at the game/himself King Ramoose: could have won that a lot early SMITH: flaming is blaming a teammate SMITH: if he didnt flame i wouldnt care SMITH: but he was doing bad SMITH: and flaming me for doing well
This is easily the dumbest argument I've heard a lot of people try to argue. You know what? Nobody cares what the actual definition is of one or the other. If you're getting angry at someone and you feel the need to take it out on them, then you're probably raging AND flaming.
Note: If you start telling someone what to do (we're talking, "stop feeding; stay by your turret; dude ward more",) then you do not get to use the excuse, "but I'm not flaming him." People do not like to be told what to do, regardless of how right or wrong you are. I will offer suggestions myself, but it's always in a nice manner. "Hey man, can we get a ward over in that bush?; Do you need some help mid? You're not doing so hot.; Yo, he's outplaying you pretty bad. No worries, try to stick to that turret and we'll get him later." These are all examples of safe conversation that gets your point across without pissing your ally off.
But, won't a coach be brutal in the way they talk to their players? See point 3.
POINT 3: IRL TEAMMATES ARE DIFFERENT THAN RANDOM SOLO-QUE TEAMMATES SMITH: i rage irl at my teammates in hockey if they dont pass King Ramoose: that's irl, and it can work SMITH: i rage irl at my teammates in soccer if they let a penalty kick be given up King Ramoose: you have teamwork, and you know the people involved SMITH: you realize King Ramoose: you establish a relationshipp with them SMITH: legue of legends is considered a sport King Ramoose: you have a connection with them SMITH: therefore should be treated like one
NO. NO NO NO NO NO.
I played a lot of sports growing up; soccer, tennis, cross-country, and baseball to name a few. The collaboration and relationship you have with those people is one that you simply cannot understand unless you've played a team sport. Sure, the coach gets on you when you make a mistake. Sure, I'll get on my teammate when they do something wrong. But there's a distinct difference between those team games, and solo-que team games.
The people you're playing with in League are strangers. You have no idea what's going on in their life, or how they're going to play/react with you. League of Legends is a sport, yes, but unless you've established some sort of a relationship with the people you're playing with, you have ZERO (and I do mean ZERO) right to throw insults at them, regardless of how they're doing.
It doesn't even matter if they're trolling! You get picked with a guy who runs down mid lane all game and gives up 40 deaths? Does that mean you have the right to yell at him? NO. NO YOU DON'T. Why? Because it's a video game. They're having fun not playing the game as it's supposed to be played. The only thing you can do that will actually be productive is report him after the game. League has a reporting system in place to ban players for many different reasons, including compromising the integrity of the game. Trust the system instead of getting pissed off over that one player.
POINT 4: YOUR RANK IN OTHER ACCOUNTS DOES NOT MATTER SMITH: i have d1 mains SMITH: its the game SMITH: i play hard SMITH: i wanna win SMITH: and get better SMITH: yes King Ramoose: you wanna win, then don't rage at people SMITH: i have challenger mains banned right now SMITH: dont care
Oh, so SMITH is challenger tier? My goodness, my mistake. I never should have argued with SMITH. He is clearly a much better player than I, and therefore he has all the right in the world to flame people.
/sarcasm.
We aren't going to get anywhere if you believe a higher rank = allowed to be a jerk. This doesn't even deserve a discussion. Your behavior does not have to change based on your rank.
POINT 5: JUST BECAUSE PROS RAGE DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD TOO SMITH: raging doesnt affect shit SMITH: wait til u get higher elo SMITH: everyone rages SMITH: or flames SMITH: lol SMITH: trust me King Ramoose: it did in our game just now! SMITH: even pros on stream rage SMITH: LOL
I've heard this one a lot too: "Every tier rages! Everyone rages! Therefore raging obviously does not affect games!" The problem with this argument? SMITH here is completely oblivious to the fact that his raging almost cost us the game. We won, sure, but we came darn close to losing.
We've all had plenty of games where people were screaming at each other, and your team still dominated. We've also all had games where the opposite happened. I don't know the odds, but I'd be willing to bet my entire life savings that games involving two people raging at each other will statistically end up as a loss for their team.
The truth is, if you're someone like SMITH who not only believes that raging doesn't affect the outcome of the game, AND you're doing the raging, odds are you're probably not realizing that there was a problem in the game... and that problem was you, regardless of how the game ended. Again, SMITH here had no idea he almost cost us that game.
POINT 6: SAYING THAT YOUR ALLIES "CAN'T HANDLE THE RAGE" IS NOT AN EXCUSE TO RAGE SMITH: cant handle rage or flame this game isnt for u SMITH: stick to pokemon SMITH: or tetris King Ramoose: I obviously handle it fine King Ramoose: because I brought us back together King Ramoose: you on the other hand SMITH: no not rly SMITH: the kids still an idiot
How many times have we all heard the "umad" argument? Player "A" flames, and player "B" gets mad... and thus, player "A" starts taunting player "B" for getting upset. Like they're suddenly redeemed for flaming, just because player "B" is upset for the flame.
I'll just put it like this: If you rage at someone, and claim that they're not supposed to be upset, then you're an idiot. EVERYONE gets a little peeved when you talk smack to them, especially if it's about a mistake they made/didn't make. Just not everyone responds (like me.) What you're doing is purposely trying to bring the team down. If you succeed in angering the person you are flaming, you are not suddenly justified for having been a jerk towards them. You still hurt the team. In fact, you've actually taken what was just a mistake in the game, and made it worse. YOU are now the problem, not the mistake your ally made.
In conclusion... clean up your act, and the gaming community will follow. In fact, here's a challenge for you: Play for one month (yes, one whole month) where you do not say a word to anyone. Sure, you can still say stuff like, "Lets get baron," or other simple things. But do NOT say anything to anyone about how they're playing. Not even nice things. Don't tell anyone else off for flaming. Nothing. Don't read chat after games, just move on.
If you're still getting blood-faced ragey during games, then you need to either stop, or get help. You need to understand that if you're still getting legitimately upset at people in the game, and you feel the only way to take out your frustration is through the keyboard, then you may have a problem.
My thanks to anyone who actually read this whole thing. I hope this helps in the future. Don't be a SMITH, please. :P
EDIT: I'm bumping this because it's an important read.
