Boards›Player Behavior

Being Non-Toxic THE GUIDE!

ModKagenoOu·6/16/2018, 6:42:48 PM·17 votes·10,607 views

#Disclaimer ######although I am a forum moderator this is in no ways an official riot guide or anything, if you have any complaints about it or anything please direct them to me and not to riot lol. #What is this guide?

One of the things I've seen a lot (and talked to people a lot on The Discord about) is that people have a lot of trouble not just with not being toxic (which will of course be addressed) but in recognizing what IS toxic... This guide is in no way intended to be a way to shame people, or preach morality at you or anything of the sort, but is rather (largely) a case by case look at scenarios in which one may find themselves being toxic (unintentionally) and how to avoid that, as well as general tips and tricks to help one gain honor (Honestly). In addition one may find that following this guide may help them increase their win rate to some degree, as toxicity can directly impact the playing of both the toxic member, and their team.

Also i recognize that most of you dont sit down and read computer manuals for fun, so I will try and make this as painless as possible. I tend to be a bit dry so I'll try and insert the occasional joke so its not too summoner 3 ing a read :D.

TL:DR This guide is for you if you want to -stop losing your honor -increase your win rate -stop getting banned for toxicity -help make league a less toxic place

(BTW if you find this guide useful or if you want to bring up a specific kind of moment to talk about here feel free to respond! Itll help motivate me to finish it xD Im also always open to clarify things) Expect heavy edits as I work on this

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#The Golden Rules

When someone does well, congratulate them! It sounds silly or goofy, but it really makes a big difference when you take a moment in game to say "gj!" or "nice one!" or "wp!" when your teammates follow through on a play, or get a kill, or just generally show they are competent xD. Firstly you are helping give your team a "morale bonus", i.e. they will play better because they will feel good about themselves. Secondly you build up a sort of "good feels" score with your team, meaning it makes them less likely to be mad at you when you DO mess up/do something toxic. Finally saying nice things in chat will help you subconsciously feel less toxic, itll help you reduce your toxicity whether you originally mean it or not (its just "a thing")

Lets see an example of when it could be useful (not just non-toxic) to congratulate your team mates.

Say you are Teemo vs Singed in top lane, you expected an easy game since you read that Teemo counters Singed, but you got overconfident and went 0/2 in lane and now Singed can tower dive you while laughing like a maniac. You see that LeeSin the blind jungle, since hes not ganking top (what a scrub) has just gotten ANOTHER double kill in bot lane, the lane that doesnt matter because Singed is gonna carry this game like the maniac he is. You wanna yell at your jungler about how hes blind, but then you realize hes playing LeeSin so its not really his fault.

Instead you say "Wow Nice Lee!!!" (now wait a few seconds) "Btw im getting violated in top D: could I get some help here? i underestimated this singed and now hes destroying my face D: hes diving me underturret and it really sucks"

theres a few things here that we will come back to in later sections (well if ive written those sections at the time you are reading this xD) but for this section notice that even though you are mad at the jungler, you still congratulate him. The reason is simple if you think about the point of view of the jungler. Right now LeeSin is congratulating himself on his double kill and feeling like he is winning the game, and whether that is true or not DOESNT ACTUALLY MATTER! (this is the part where you go "whaaaaaaat?") what matters is that you say something that goes well with his perception of the game, then guide him towards doing what will actually win the game without undermining his feelings of superiority.

That is, if you compliment him he is more likely to help you in top lane than if you say "Wtf you doing in bot again lee, nice double but that isnt gonna win the game, this singed is gonna carry so get your bronze ass top bro" (i had way too much fun writing that btw)

Remember the second Golden Rule that i haven't told you yet (wait what), thats right, Its more important to win than to be right!

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It's More Important to Win than to be Right

We all get in arguments in league, well those of us who haven't broken our keyboards. Personally im a really competitive guy, I keep my eyes on gold and work for it, fighting every inch for that LP, and inevitably people get mad at me (because honestly im not that good xD) or I get mad at other people (because they ruin my highlight reel level play D:) and its tempting to argue about how totally awesome that play shoulda been if only Zac hadnt been such a pussy about going in when he had his passive... but the thing is its really not that important to be right... its easy to fall into the trap of thinking that if you just yell at your team enough they can be persuaded to do things your way and you can carry them to gold, but you gotta remember a few things.

  1. league games are SUPER SHORT! we are talking like 30 min or less most of the time, you dont have time to dominate your entire team and bend them to your will, even assuming you COULD do that.
  2. your team wants to win too (usually) so they are just as frustrated as you are, its much better to give them time to cool off after a bad play than to try and discuss strategy right after when tensions and emotions are high. You get a decent respawn timer, use that time to chill for a bit
  3. You've learned something from this experience its not a total loss, you now know that you need to confirm with zac that hes ready to go in and not just going to bail on you. Think of it as a learning experience, not a failure (although theyre really just one and the same) and plan accordingly going forward.

remember you want to WIN THE GAME (and not lose honor) not convince this one guy you are never going to talk to again (probably) that hes wrong. If it helps think about all the games going forward that Zac is going to lose because he doesnt understand his champ, and just remember that at worst you are going to have to deal with this one game. Sometimes its just not worth being right, and while its easier said than done, its better to just let it go.

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Saying You're Sorry

I cannot even begin to emphasize this enough, this is like the ultimate technique that will blow your mind.

When you do something wrong, especially if you say something toxic... apologize for it in chat. Dont rationalize in a way that blames your party members, dont open up an old argument, just say "Sorry its been a frustrating game, I really didnt mean to be toxic. I'm sorry".

This is the kinda thing that can turn what would have been a 5 man report into an honorable game (within reason) as long as you dont just go right back at it. But seriously, its really easy after you have said something toxic or stupid to feel trapped, like you dont have a choice now but to defend yourself or your actions, but THATS NOT TRUE! you can say you are sorry, and it will move mountains. Some of you reading this will probably be unhappy that I'm not demanding that you also be sincere about it, but frankly the thing about toxicity is that its more about what others perceive than about what you intend, if they THINK you are sorry, and if you act like you are sorry, then honestly you have improved the atmosphere of the game, and increased your team morale, and its one and the same. Everyone is toxic from time to time, we dont intend to be, but it DOES happen, and its important that when you say something or do something toxic you are willing to "man up" (Pantheon ) and take responsibility, and i think thats a huge step towards non-toxicity.

Ill give some examples later because this is just so important, but for now I think we will move on.

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TO BE CONTINUED

50 Comments

Pandemic Punch6/16/2018, 9:15:51 PM3 votes

Lol you bring up the discord... You need to teach the mods how to not be toxic in that discord first. I was having conversation with people and asking questions while doing nothing repestitive or offensive. I was making people laugh and having a good time.... Then I get perma banned out of no where for "spam" because one of the mods was triggered. They might have just been having a bad day and got mad because they couldn't contest one of my points. I tried contacting other mods about it who didn't see it but never got a response.

That discord and riot support need some reformation if anything will ever change for the better. It is a circus.

Gear Jammer6/17/2018, 7:46:44 PM3 votes

Rawr I eat your brains.... Silly thing to say in game instead of insults.

Manaburn6/16/2018, 10:11:55 PM3 votes

You guys have some funny double-standards going on.

Saibbo6/16/2018, 8:55:31 PM3 votes

No, we don't do that we're too cool

50CaliberHecate6/16/2018, 11:57:58 PM3 votes

Or you could just delete the fucking chat system in this game lol. That would improve the game at this point in time with how toxic this meta is.

Bijeesny6/16/2018, 10:11:17 PM2 votes

So basically if I don't want to lose my honor by being banned I need to bend over and be a little obedient bitch every game?

ApheIios6/17/2018, 5:09:41 PM2 votes

I feel like this is a parenting guide, and I like it! [slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

BLIGHTBRINGER6/16/2018, 6:48:56 PM2 votes

I'm not really a toxic individual but I stopped by anyway to upvote this post, due to the amazing structure of this guide, as well as the mentioned points.

Good work OP.

[slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

crispy666/18/2018, 10:12:14 AM2 votes

here's a funny fact, not being toxic doesn't really increase your win rate whatsoever

rayzo6/23/2018, 3:54:30 AM1 votes

me: apologizes for being toxic.

also me: gets 9 reports after the game, a chat restriction, and honor level 0.

aw beans6/16/2018, 6:52:46 PM1 votes

I think the thing that helped me improve in one of the biggest areas of toxicity, was gaining an understanding of the value of ganks.

Ganking a lane that is 0/3 is a waste of time compared to ganking a lane that is 3/0 (usually)

Essentially it comes down to gold differences, even with a kill to the 0/3, they are still quite far behind, whereas getting another kill onto the lane that is ahead, only makes it harder for the other laner (And the team as a whole) to catch up in gold. And more gold means more advantages.

For me, something as simple as that helped my biggest issue (getting toxic when losing lane and not getting help)

Although I can't speak for others. I hope to see this guide grow and develop so much more, good work for making it!

TheMinionLeader6/16/2018, 6:55:21 PM1 votes

Feel like you're trying to tell me how to live my life. I don't like it, but your points are all very sunny with lots of rainbows so they make me happy. Although I seriously doubt this attitude is compatible with climbing in a competitive environment.

Cyber Rogue6/16/2018, 11:23:10 PM1 votes

the only you need to win is "/muteall" command.

Troll for Trump6/17/2018, 12:56:08 AM1 votes

Do all the nice things, and people don't listen, you have every right to flame them at that point. They deserve it. Ofc, you get banned for it.

Just in 3 out of 3 games I've had today: Yes, I'll just keep complementing the AFK zed in base spamming "lol" for 5 minutes. Yes, I'll just keep being nice to the 6 stopwatch graves Nami that DCs but after the remake period, only to come back when it's too late

Getting pissed off at stuff like that shouldn't be bannable at all.

I'll be nice once the game actually is fun. AFKs and inting for 3 games in a row is just bullshit.

MYSTlCFLOW6/17/2018, 6:33:14 AM1 votes

{quoted}

if only Zac hadnt been such a pussy about going in when he had his passive... but the thing is its really not that important to be right... its easy to fall into the trap of thinking that if you just yell at your team enough they can be persuaded to do things your way and you can carry them to gold, but you gotta remember a few things.

yeah if only zac got a revert and wasn't so team reliant and had nightmares about his team not following up with him :( old zac could've solo carried 1v5 under an enemy turret