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Why I HATE this game.

Re LaXd·12/12/2014, 5:29:35 PM·2 votes·2,708 views

Introduction: I started playing LOL roughly 3 months ago. I did it on a whim just to fill some time in my life. My brother has been obsessed with the game for years, so I figured it was worth trying out. We both played WOW (World of Warcraft) back in the golden days, and I trusted his judgement...I just knew it would be fun. So, I played for a few months, and everything has been...decent. However, I'm sad to say that I've come to realize that I really hate this game. Think you know why? Read on.

Body: When I started playing, I really enjoyed playing LOL even though I wasn't the best at it. For starters, I was just a starter. So, on my climb to level 30, I was a complete noob, and people seemed to love to call me out for it. No biggie. "Everyone likes to talk trash," I thought.

At level 30, I was told I needed to play a few matches in order to be ranked. Okay...sounds great. So, I played, and I was ranked at Silver II. Sweet! Silver is better than bronze, so "I'll take that," I thought.

Well, I won a few matches and lost many. And, it turns out that I lost many matches because I "threw" them. Actually, wait a second...I was "trolling." Or no...I was a "noob." I sucked. I needed to "uninstall." I needed to "please never play this game ever again..."

People were so serious about their "series" and the "ELO." Their constant verbal punishment even led me to wanting to care about those things myself. If I didn't care about these things, was a really a serious player? No, according to them, if I didn't care about my series or the ELO, I was just a noob. So, I had to care or else I didn't fit in.

So, nonetheless, I was introduced into the League of Legends community (aka one of the saddest and worst communities I have ever seen).

Good sportsmanship is few and far between in a game that has world championships. League of Legends seems to try and curb these problems, but it fails epicly. Why? None other than the fact that it's an online game and people can hide their identities online. Get banned, and you can create another account to play on. As the community says, you can "uninstall" and just start all over. This is just one of the many problems that plagues this community and game.

Here are some of the others -

  • Connectivity issues / Lag Spikes - League of Legends is notorious for lag and especially after patches. If you are disconnected from a ranked game, be prepared to pay the consequences. Not only will you suffer verbal abuse from your team but may be suspended from the game by Riot. Your "blame Suddenlink" excuse will find no validation. It's frustrating.

  • Trolls - No matter what you do in this game, you will inevitably be faced with trolls. Trolls are people that intentionally hurt your team in some way and usually find enjoyment in it. They may "feed" the other team by giving them free kills. They may ask you to assist them in a team fight and then run from it to let you die. So, you do your best in a game only to lose because a troll intentionally tries to make you lose. Trolls are rampant in this game, and it makes playing it frustrating.

  • AFKers - Just like trolls, you will also deal with AFKers. They could care less about the game, so they casually play it and casually show up to games. Sometimes, their internet does suffer, and they are gone for long periods of time during a game. Or, they need to wash the dishes and sit there in a match until they are finished doing their house chores. Either way, it puts your team at a disadvantage and is very frustrating.

  • Toxic Players - These are players that ruin the game for others via their discouragement and trash talk (much like the players I originally dealt with in Silver II). They have no patience and talk trash about you for even the simplest mistakes. For the most part, they expect you to act like a robot when playing the game. If they die, they blame you. If you die, they blame you. If you lose the game, they blame you. If they quit playing, they blame you. Playing with a toxic player is none other than frustrating.

  • Ragers - These are people that get angry and disrupt the game in some way. Many trolls and afkers start off as ragers. They get mad at their teammates, the enemy team, and even themselves. In frustration, they usually quit playing the game to the best of their ability and put their team at a disadvantage. A toxic player will really set a rager off. If a toxic player says anything bad to a rager, you can almost expect to lose the game.

  • Gambling - If you do not follow the LOL rules, expect to be banned from the game. Personally, I have never been banned but have lived in fear of it. I put down money to buy skins and whatnot, and if I'm banned, it's all gone. Be careful what you say or do, because that $100 you put into the game can be made obsolete just like that.

  • No Reward - People who play this game are led to believe that they can "climb to the top." It seems that everyone who plays ranked games is trying to get to a high ranking (platinum or diamond). But, what does that even mean? What does ELO mean? Why is it so important to get to the top? If I get to diamond, what does that mean for me? Am I the best? Beginners will be led to believe that there is something to gain from playing this game. Maybe if they play long enough, they will achieve something. The fact is that there is no reward in playing this game. At best, you will receive some personal satisfaction that you won a video game. The idea of "climbing to the top" is bogus and meaningless. Let's face it. Most of us will never "climb to the top" and become a sponsored player or whatever else there is. We will never make money from playing this game. If anything we will spend both time and money to play and get nothing -back from it. For me, the 5 minutes of feel-goodness I get after winning a match and waiting for the next is not enough to justify continuing playing.

  • Luck - This is a factor that so many players do not consider, yet I think it's one of the core game mechanics. Matchmaking is all about luck. You do not get to pick who you are paired with if you are in ranked solo or duo. So, let's say you qualify for a series. Will you get lucky and have good teammates or bad teammates? I have seen it go both ways. Sometimes you will be paired with a team that is great. They are good on their own and their abilities create a synergetic effect with yours. Then other times, you will be paired with a team that is so bad its almost impossible to make a difference even though you are carrying. You might as well flip a coin before you start playing.

  • ELO Hell - This is the most controversial issue of anything I've mentioned. Some claim ELO hell does not exist, and others say it doesn't. Since I've only been playing for a few months, it's hard to say. But...I do think it exists. Do the research yourself. I was a psychology major in college and worked with statistics, so let me just tell you this. These guys who say that ELO is perfect and the ranking system is justified are full of it. No matter how hard you try to carry, you simply cannot help some of the worst teams.

Now, aside form the game's obvious downfalls which I have listed above, the game has its own inherent flaws which do not accommodate the user experience. For example, most people play ranked games on one map. ONE MAP. It's called "Summoner's Rift." It's a great map. I have learned to enjoy it; however, when you are playing one map over and over again, it gets old. This means that there are only a handful of strategies that can be played in the game. The game almost hinders creativity by forcing you to play a certain way. If it's not in the "meta," then it's not acceptable.

Conclusion: This game is frustrating. I'm fortunate enough to have the will power to quit, as I have not played video games seriously in a year or two. It's fun to play from time to time, but I advise you to not get sucked into it. There are too many problems that will leave you disappointed and unfulfilled in the long run. NEVER play this game trying to climb the ELO. ELO is a myth. And even if it isn't, it has no point.

These guys trying to climb ELO and get to the top basically have no life outside of League of Legends. The game is what they do and who they are. I had to ask myself - am I the same as them? The answer is "no." League of Legends makes me happy for the five minutes after I win a match and frustrates me the rest of the time. It's not worth it.

The other day, I realized that I'm not really a League of Legends gamer. I am a musician and have music to work on. Why am I so worried about LOL? Why am I so angry about losing matches when I know I will never reach Diamond? I started playing the game on a whim and it made me an angrier person, and then I realized that being angry about this stupid game isn't worth it. I have better things to do with my time.

Even if you are good at the game and confident in your skills, it's a team game. The team mechanics are broken. The champions are broken. At the very core, everything about this game is broken.

Riot seriously needs to consider some things if they are planning on bringing this game to a new generation. Otherwise, they will fade away like World of Warcraft. I have a hard time understanding how anyone can find this game appealing given the harsh community and negative attitudes shown by players and forum members alike.

I'm sure I will get lots of hate comments for posting this, but that is just further justification for me as to why I hate this community and could care less about being a part of it. If you have a problem with what I said, then good luck playing LOL in your future years. You keep on trucking in your pursuit to Diamond while I live life in reality. Thanks for reading.

  • Holden Harris

13 Comments

Grizzley11712/12/2014, 6:26:49 PM5 votes

All these issues are very well put and presented, so well done. But there are some holes in your reasoning. I will gladly go over them.

  1. Connectivity: It's true that lag exists. I would be lying if I said there wasn't any. However, with a game that has millions of users around the planet, lag will happen. There is not a system or a program or a game around today that does not have some connectivity issues. It's just something you have to get used to in a MOBA.

  2. Troll/AFK/Rage/Toxic Players: You say you have played WoW before, correct? Well you probably have met a troll [not the race:)], rager, afker, and overall toxic person in that game too. They exist everywhere just like connectivity issues. Even in MMOs, they are everywhere. You just have to learn how to deal with them such as reporting them after game, ignoring them and asking the other team to ignore them.

  3. Gambling: This one is not a very valid point. If you follow the rules, you have nothing to fear. I have been playing since Season 2 and I have never been banned or anything like that. Just try to be a positive influence in your games and a nice person when you communicate with your fellow teammates. You will never be banned if you are like that.

  4. No reward: This is simply not true. If you achieve any rank, you will receive a gift at the end of the season based on what rank you become. The higher rank you are the better and more rewards you gain. Plus some people are competitive in their nature and enjoy the fight to the top. For myself, I set goals and find that fun. For example, my first goal was to own every champion in the game. It was fun gaining the IP (but the struggle is real) and testing out the champion to see if I liked him/her/it.

  5. Luck: Luck is a factor in games. Sometimes you get stuck with a terrible team yet you can still win them with skill. Skill is more important than luck. If you have skill, you rely on luck less and less until you don't need it.

  6. ELO Hell: I believe it exists, but the player is the one that creates it. If you are just a bad player, you will continue to fail and fail if you don't get better. They then blame it on their teammates, and proceed to the forums to ask for a raise to Plat because they think that they deserve it. If you are good enough, you can get out of the tier you are in. You just have to try harder and "get good".

In Conclusion, things are not perfect. I highly doubt any game will reach perfection. And concerning the community, they are terrible. It's true League has some of the worst people in gaming history, but every game has its good apples as well. You just have to learn how to spot them. I love learning and mastering champs. That is what keeps me in the game. MOBA's aren't for everyone, but they are extremely satisfying when you make a cool play, win a close game, and make good friends. Ranked isn't for everyone too. I'm a big fan of Team Builder because I like to learn specific champs. I will leave you with this song that displays what League is about IMO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuYeHPFR3f0

OhBoyItsaMegaman12/12/2014, 5:38:33 PM3 votes

tl;dr if you don't like a video game, stop playing

durr Jinx

Xx420n0sc0p3sxX12/12/2014, 8:05:47 PM2 votes

Ranked is for serious play, hence it's called ranked. That's 100% your fault, people play ranked to win, play normals if you just play League casually.

Zen Fury12/12/2014, 6:51:55 PM2 votes

You brought a lot of these issues onto yourself by assuming that ranked play was still "casual", which it isn't. And while people can create new accounts if they get permabanned, they lose everything in the permabanned account which can represents years of play and hundreds of dollars. Most people are keen to not get permabanned, and you have to be extremely toxic to earn one.

As for worst community, I guess you don't get around the competitive gaming scene much. LoL isn't a paragon of sainthood by any stretch, but it is a far cry from the worst.

And what's the point of playing any game really? You don't get any special rewards for maxing out in WoW. You don't get anything for playing a pick up game of basketball on the weekend, yet you still play to beat the other team. Or more existentially, what is the point of life? We all wind up dead anyway so why bother trying to succeed? You can't take it with you after all.

People play to have fun. If you aren't competitive then you aren't going to have fun in ranked and should stick to normals.

Everything else in your post is nothing specific to LoL. Any competitive team game will have ragers/trolls/AFKs/etc. Harsh punishments can help mitigate that but there really is nothing you can do about it. It's the demographic.

Oh, there was one salient point: pings times. That I will give you credit for. North America has a large player base but they still refuse to have more than one server, even though they have multiple servers elsewhere. But we've been complaining about that for years so I don't think anything will ever be done about it.

AJStarhiker12/12/2014, 8:05:16 PM2 votes

Connection: Yes, this can be an issue. Sometimes the power goes out or the computer crashes or a family member decides to stream Lord of the Rings while you're trying to play. It's not your fault and it sucks that it feels like you're the one getting punished. Unfortunately, there are people who intentionally quit or knowingly play on a computer that doesn't meet the minimum system requirements. Riot has no way to tell if a connection loss is due to power failure or an angry player unplugging their machine. They can only be responsible for what happens in their own servers. As such, they've chosen to treat all dc's and afk the same.

Trolls: Unfortunately, some people just want to cause trouble. And unless you can come up with a Minority Report solution to preemptively stop them from playing, the only way to handle them is to remove them after the fact.

AFK: See Connection response

Toxic/Rage players: I'm putting these together because, more often than not, they overlap and I deal with both the same way. Mute, Report, and Move On. This also isn't caused by people intentionally ruining games. The vast majority is triggered by frustration of something beyond that player's control. A teammate getting outplayed in lane, an unexpected DC, or just a bad matchup. If a player has a quick temper, they lash out. It puts everyone into a bad mood and, if the abused player goes on to another game afterward, they're already sensitized to criticism and might try to overcompensate only to have another bad game.

Gambling: I started playing right around when they first started Tribunal and I'll admit to feeling a bit nervous about how it would work. Almost four years later, I've never been suspended, banned, or otherwise sanctioned. I don't actually change my behavior much between ARAM's, Normals, Ranked (on the rare occasions I play those) or the boards. I might turn a bit sarcastic at times, but not vicious and it seems to work for staying out of trouble.

Rewards: Like another poster said, there are end-of-season rewards. But, I'm guessing that's not what you're talking about, is it? The rank system is set up so the best players rise to the top. Put a Platinum or Diamond player on a Bronze smurf account, and they'll still grind back up. Not everyone has the time to grind out the skills they need and some people just don't have the right mindset for high-end gaming. It's not an intelligence issue: I can write multiple variations of the same story and years later still remember which details I changed between them, but I can't jungle for beans.

Luck: Yeah, there is a bit of that. Sometimes it's on your side, sometimes not so much. But if you do everything in your power to play your best and don't harass other players, you'll skew that luck in your favor.

ELO hell/Bronze hell: I can't tell you how many times I hear about this... mostly rage postings that leave me with little sympathy for those players. They complain about unskilled players, OP champions, trolls, ragers, etc. and brag about their 21/9 Yasuo game. They complain about enemy jungler camping mid and their own jungler never ganking, but never mention the wards they didn't place (because they really wanted to save up for their BF Sword) that would have warned them about the ganks and made it a safer option for their own side. They don't talk about getting caught out because they wanted to solo Baron. An allied DC is a troll while their own is always ISP or server issues. And please don't accuse me of not knowing what I'm talking about. I'm down in Bronze V. I just don't see nearly as many genuine trolls as the complaints make out.

Maps: There are four maps available, but two of them are not available for ranked games, and TT doesn't have a ranked solo q. My question, though, is how would more maps improve the game? Yes, having Summoner's Rift as the primary format encourages metagaming, but how is that any different from games like Basketball or Hockey? Everything has counters. If one basketball team drives in for a lot of layups, the other team starts to guard closer to the basket and the first team responds by taking shots from further out. On the Rift, if a team has a squishy, long ranged champion, you respond with gap closers and burst damage. Highly mobile, go with stuns, roots, and slows.

Android Cowboy12/12/2014, 6:26:28 PM2 votes

Well said..... players should look up "Stockholm Syndrome" and/or listen to some Nine Inch Nails, :D

Robot Beat Rally12/12/2014, 6:31:10 PM2 votes

[deleted]

Oliver The Fiend12/12/2014, 6:50:01 PM2 votes

You claim to be "living your life in reality", but for some people competitive gaming is reality. Maybe you can't rise to the top, but the evidence of pro teams that they have now is clearly an indicator that one can indeed rise to the top, they just have to work hard enough.

It sounds like you'd rather be more of a musician and less of a gamer, if that is the path that you want in life then take it, but before you start bad mouthing gamers as not living a real life consider how dumb you sound saying that. I don't bash and criticize musicians just cause I personally don't see it as a real job. we have thousands of musicians and bands all over the globe, what makes you any more than a copycat to someone else?

See? It's so easy to criticize another persons profession or hobby, but it's hard to just admit you aren't very good at the game and don't like it. You could have simply said that you were done playing and a little farewell to the community and left it at that, but you had to drag yourself down to the level of a troll by insulting gamers.

So I'm really not at all sad to see you go, and if video games in general bother you, don't come back.

alaskaneagle12/12/2014, 6:12:55 PM1 votes

54367

I remember a couple years ago when people would claim LoL has the worst community. It would have a lot of people trying to defend the community and say it is no worse than any other... I haven't seen that happen in over a year. The community keeps getting worse and now there is no doubt it's the worst gaming community on-line.

pretty much everything you say is true, and good luck with the music.

Alljoy12/12/2014, 5:52:44 PM1 votes

Sour Grape Syndrome at its finest.