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Inside the head of a rager

ULTRA OFTEN·11/4/2013, 3:54:47 PM·13 votes·2,014 views

So, I hope someone finds this useful, but really I think I'm just posting this for me so we'll see...

People hear the term 'toxic' players, and the image that comes to mind is the caps lock holding summoner who just can't seem to grow up and get a handle on himself. We tend to think these players are simply problems to be removed from the community, but it's never that simple. We tend to forget that the person yelling at everyone on their team is still a person.

I was playing on the Twisted Treeline this morning, and I played a couple of games with a guy who played Heimerdinger both games. I played Yi the first game, and let me tell you, it was simply unfair. This Heimerdinger had perfect engages, every time. We were working so well together, I felt bad for our opponents. I suppose that's why they say teamwork OP.

So that game was great. We didn't queue up together but ended up on the same team next game by chance. I pick Malzahar this game. And as the game progresses, I notice a change in our Heimerdinger. We're starting to loose, and suddenly the positive team player I was meshing with so well is blaming me for every single poorly made play, every lost teamfight suddenly becomes my fault and mine alone.

I try to keep a cool head in games, I really do, because I believe cool heads win games. But if you've ever had a teammate like this, you know how it feels to be blamed for everything. It sucks. And it started to get under my skin, causing me to make worse plays, bringing on more blame from this Heimerdinger.

The real problem we have in this community is we simply do not understand how to consistently treat each other with respect. When the game's going well, it's easy to clap each other on the backs and work together to capitalize on our great success. When the game's taking a turn for the worse, everyone involved starts feeling the pressure, and people handle it in different ways. Some people play better under stress, but I think this is rare. Most people just clear it out of their heads so they can keep playing their best. But some people don't handle the pressure as well. They feel that admitting to their mistakes will bring the blame to them, so their answer is to lash out and put it somewhere else before it can fall on them. From there, it becomes a blaming match that only drives the pressure higher.

Now, in theory, it seems fair to say that those who can't keep their temper under control shouldn't be a part of this game. After all, this is a highly strategically complex game, it's not for your average run-and-gun COD player. But you simply can't categorize people like that. Because the truth is, it can happen to anyone. People can be viciously creative when they become spiteful, and you never know what words are going to set your teammates over the edge. In truth, you likely aren't entirely aware of what words would set you off the edge.

I think the best solution to all of league of legends community issues would be the removal of the chatbox. But obviously, Riot wouldn't be willing to be that drastic. So what can we do when presented with the paradox of trying to help a teammate who's falling behind without making his situation worse? For starters, you can remove negative vocabulary from anything you type into the in game chatbox. Call someone a noob, and they'll likely get pissed off enough to start acting like one. Secondly, if someone start throwing the blame on you, don't let them get away with it, but don't be condescending about it. It's hard to take criticism in a game like this, where everyone is expected to be a pro no matter what level you play at.

You know, maybe I really just honestly blow at this game and that's the reason why I seem to encounter so many awful people while playing this wonderful game. Maybe they're all right, and I truly just do not have the capacity to play this game correctly. Maybe I should just uninstall this game with it's terrible players and never look back. And I'd love to, I really would. But I can't, because I freaking love this game. I want to get better, to be the best every time. But maybe it's not possible, at least not for me. So the only answer I guess I have for myself is just grit your teeth and pray that someday I'll be able to make a difference in improving this community, so I don't have to run the risk of crossing paths with someone who's going to end up making me feel like the pathetic looser I really am. Every time I log into league of legends I run that risk.

If you've read this far, thanks I guess. Play on summoners, and please, for gods sake... play nice for a change.

26 Comments

Eraddicus11/4/2013, 7:34:43 PM6 votes

My advice to people is to use the mute button. Sometimes you come across people who just can't be objective about an issue and removing them from the conversation is the best option. If they're incapable of adding something constructive to the team's conversation, then nothing is lost by removing their voice from it.

ULTRA OFTEN11/5/2013, 4:27:55 AM5 votes

Thank you all for the perspective. It's people like you that remind me this community isn't all bad and there are actually people who care about making this a great gaming experience for all.

Thank you for the advice, and thank you for being awesome people. I might just be a nameless voice on the internet to you, but it really does mean a lot to me to read what you've written here. :)

JVK2711/4/2013, 5:19:27 PM1 votes

Amen

SUAVEx10111/4/2013, 7:15:17 PM1 votes

we need voice chat in this game so we can engage better as a team solo que that is

Pineman11/4/2013, 8:40:49 PM1 votes

Ragers are going to be a part of LoL. Accept it. The way you deal with them, if they're being absolutely ridiculous and don't want to work with anyone is to mute them. Don't feed into their insults.

Marasenna11/4/2013, 9:25:07 PM1 votes

I think that the problem with the 'just mute them' suggestion is the prospect that yes they may be raging and they may be being rude, etc -- but what about when and if they try to in between that communicate with you. Pings are not always enough to give people a heads up even with the 'Smart Pings' of signaling to be careful or that you're on your way and so on.

To be honest, the best way is to not mute, but ignore. Don't reply to them, don't fuel their behavior. Play the game, keep an eye on the map and pings, peek in on the chat here and there. But most of all: do your best with what you have be it the team as a whole, what you can provide, etc. And I highly believe in the 'cool heads with teamwork win the game' mantra.

Saint Sloth11/5/2013, 2:06:24 AM1 votes

Hey there OP,

I used to be a lot like that Heimer. I would play jungle a lot, and when everyone was asking for ganks, I would get flustered and fall behind. I know that it seems like he was just pissed because of a bad game, but in all seriousness, when you start to get mad, just look at your screen. Its a game. It is a digital game in which people want to win. A lot of emotion goes into these games, because if a person loses after an hour long match, it is easy to try to blame someone else. It is a lot easier to say, "F*ck this. Trash team BG" than it is to say, "Sorry guys, I had a rough game. Good luck in the future!" and I know that that is taking it to a bit of an extreme extent, but it is still a legitimate concern. As a lot of youtubers say, the first step to getting out of elo hell is to admit that you are making it hell for yourself.

Best wishes, -Drag

IcOnRaendor11/5/2013, 3:20:51 AM1 votes

one time this guy was raging because he, and no one else, didn't leash me so I fell WAY behind, and their Jax got fed, and then I just stayed in jungle and when I did die he would harass me, calling me a fag, telling me to kill myself, and then telling everyone to report me. Then he encouraged my death more. At the end we lost and he said he recorded it and was gonna post it here to see if anyone else wanted to report me. I said PLEASE DO. All this happened because no one bothered to leash.

Nightimarez11/5/2013, 11:52:37 AM1 votes

Yo.. I was reading this, and I was almost done. It was 1.55, I helped our amumu with our blue, then boom, a nidalee spear takes his blue. this guy starts dissing me. I apologize for not guarding. He still kept insulting. I avoided fighting with him. I often try to avoid it, and some times I just cant and end up fighting back. Well, this nidalee got so far ahead, and they were doing baron. I'm playing morgana, so I ult them all, hourglass, and flipped the whole game. Then the amumu said, well that was actually good! Fuck that guy.. But yeah, just gotta kiss their ass a little bit and hope for the best. I don't play as much as I use to, but now that I look back, league of legends could be depressing. Not to mention how hard games are when playing with friends. Usually turns you against them. But you know what, emotions are what keeps us playing. Like sports.

LilYonsan11/5/2013, 7:32:58 PM1 votes

Okay, I have to say that I don't agree with your post here.

First and foremost, when you play this game, you need to have a thicker skin. You're going to have those people that, despite doing very well are going to knock you for your mistakes. In truth, the amount of toxic players are very low, most summoner's only turn mean based on the events of the game (in which your assumption is correct).

Let me tell you a story, when I was newer at this game, about three months ago or so, I was having a very rough month. I was trying to play nunu jungle, and if you know how nunu as a champ works, you realize that there's really only one move that he can do in the heat of the moment, that's his snowball. Sure his other moves of his kit are useful to minor degrees, but once you've used that snowball, you're really out of luck.

This was during a streak of bad games, I had a nice green ribbon and I considered myself above the hostility. But during these games, I was getting a lot of flack for "allowing my teammates to die". This was simply not true, I did everything I could, and yet I would be the person blamed for a bad game. In a fit of rage, I often argued with my teammates, explaining what they had done wrong in detail and how there was nothing I could do. After all, I had to set the record straight that they were the person in the wrong, not me!

Anywhoo, I imagined I got reported quite a bit. Not only did they report me for "allowing them to die" but on the tribunal, it showed that I was just as equally hostile and toxic back towards them. I lost my ribbon during that time, and no matter how hard I've tried I can never get it back.

Regardless of that though, I learned something very important, if you mute people, you will have a better time at this game.

Think of it like this, if you have one person in your game just pitching a fit, if everyone mutes him, the only person he can yell at is himself (and the enemy team, who likely won't be having any part of his shit).

You may think that because you're not communicating with this person that you are going to lose, after all it's basically a four v five without communication. But I've found that when I do this, the team as a whole performs better, nobody gets reported and I actually WIN more than I lose.

It's very hard not to encounter someone who will be very angry in this game. That's a very sad thing, but you have to take the good in with the bad, and just don't let them get to you. If that means muting the entire team, then so be it, I'm sure the tribunal will see you as innocent. And another secret, the more you win, the better player you become, you run into many less people that are willing to yell and scream at everybody else.

Sure you'll have that one or two matches that are just awful, but at least your experience will be a pleasant one for the most part.

LFG11/9/2013, 12:31:09 AM1 votes

I study psychology, well Im not really psychologist, but going to be even though Im in high school, using general information that I have learned so far, I tried to make consumption of what kind of psycho logic thinking they might have.

First LoL is very well known game that is addictive

We all know that, and probably 70% are addicted to LoL even without knowing it, when you are addicted to something, it means your pleasure center in your brain is releasing the hormone that makes you happy constantly when your doing that activity. when you dont constantly get that amount of hormone, thats when you get mad easily. So when your addictive, when something doesnt go well during the game, you dont get that much of hormone, thats the point you easily get mad.

Second, this is Internet

People who makes bad comment during the game, they are usually using the fact your Anonymous in the game, so there is no way others will no who you exactly is, so you can easily make comments on others. People who feels weak outside of LoL feels the power when they are in LoL, so they act like they can do whatever they want to do in the game, doesn't care of how others feel.

Third, People who usually make comments are generally under 16.

Population of LoL is 80% Male I believe, and only few females. Females develop maturely earlier then the males do, so stage that frontal lobe that gets fully develop is early for females, frontal lobe is a part of brain that takes care of decision making, thinking and many more, so premature males wouldnt necessarily think twice before they type, so I'm thinking that is why they are making bad comments so easily

Im sure there are may more but I want to end it here. Cause since I'm not really a psychologist, I do not want to make it look like a fact, Im just trying to make a consumption.

TaintedTaint11/4/2013, 4:13:01 PM1 votes

I was shedding item 3070 's reading this =P But no really, very well said! I hope this gets upvoted very high, or Riot takes it and puts it in a news post.

Invisible Man11/12/2013, 4:02:39 AM1 votes

I feel that in other games, the community is more structured. League is so big that everybody is a stranger. You solo queue and can't hope to even see those guys again in the future unless you're in the higher ELOs. The lack of familiarity makes it easier for people to lose their cool and just blow up.

Sir ArmaMalum11/4/2013, 4:39:05 PM1 votes

We've all had those games where we're singled out and blamed, and unfortunately as you said, that just makes people play worse and continue a vicious cycle. Stuff like this post and the Teamwork OP video are things I always hope get seen and taken seriously by as many people as possible. I can't say I've been a saint, I've raged on occasion and I've also just plain lost the game for my team with poor skill before as well. But in the majority of games I always try to be a positive influence, because in the end its just an easy way out when you blame someone else. Given the choice I will always step up to the higher challenge of not only helping a teammate out but be a good sport while doing it. And you know what? Time and again that "toxic" person or shut down player has a better time. We may not win, and it doesn't work all the time, but in the end I will consider the attempt worth it. XD