Player Behavior is the problem, though not in the way that you think.

_edit:

I'm going to ask would-be readers to upvote this post, on the sheer merit alone of avoiding groupthink. I think if we could agree on one thing, it would be that thinking independently as an individual is healthier than thinking as a group, and that the right to say something should be equally viewed whether or not one should agree or disagree, and should warn you that removing the right for your opinions to be heard or viewed on the notion that some would disagree is a damaging and dangerous trend, both as a community and a culture. Thank you. _

Riot white knights aside, I'm here to address the real concern: player behavior, though, not in the way that you think.

I've been permanently banned. In fact, everyone that I've ever met has lost an account. Riot claims that it is in the aspirations that the community will evolve as a whole and that toxicity (a term developed from this community) will diminish in return. Except, we don't see that.

I'm still playing. I'm sure I've been chat restricted. In fact, I've been playing since 2010 or so, on multiple accounts, over the course of years. And you know what? So has everyone else I've met.

In fact, you can level from 1 to 30 and not meet a single new player in this game. I'm doing it right now. Why is that? Well, everyone there has lost an account. And yet, Riot claims that only a very microscopic percentage of the community is actually losing their accounts. So where's all the new people? Don't believe me? Na.op.gg my account and check the average cs/min of the people in my games. 150-200 cs in under 20 minutes is a new player? lol?

Not here, I promise you. Sure, maybe there's some sprawled about every nook and cranny. And Riot will be eager to release numbers that are never supported by any independent organization - all the statistics for Riot are supplied by Riot and Riot only. Tai Lopez says he has a Lamborghini in his garage so you should by his book. You believe him too?

What I do think is that there is a very fortunate minority of players over the years have been called newb, bad, etc. who takes great pleasure in the system that Riot has orchestrated. In fact, Riot's founders insisted that this is the reason the system exists, from their own experiences. So what we have lads is a bunch of kids who were tired of being teased on the internet and couldn't take it anymore, so that they created a system to be bullies to the would-be bullies.

The passive aggressive nature of the League of Legends community spews hate. People int, grief, feed, throw, and afk more in this game than in any other. Can I prove it? No, but where there's smoke there's fires - and this community is above and beyond the most maliciously spoken about community to ever exist in gaming (trust me, i've been around for a few). It takes Barrens chat to a whole new level, or it would, should people be allowed to talk.

You know what else I find funny? Every single post in this discussion, every single one, has been reaffirmed by the community suchas "burn the witch". Not once did you forgive or forsake an accusation or a loss of account, suspension, etc. Not once did you pardon the individual and say 'shit happens' or 'hey why can I only see one side of the coin?' No. You said burn them every chance you got. You're not toxic? Turn the other cheek much?

If you're not toxic why do you suggest that you want everyone to lose an account. If you're not toxic why are you more passive aggressive and/or plain aggressive to a larger extent here than is allowed in game. If you're not toxic why do you seem to take joy in every single time a person makes an appeal in this forum. If this company isn't toxic why did it spew hatred to Tyler1 when the 1 million people was enough cash to lose to unban him.

Do you know what I think? I think this culture's a fad. I think it hasn't been repeated ever since for good reason - I don't think any other company wants to deal with this. You created a monster far worse than any other you would've ever had. Now instead of getting harmlessly flamed by a person you can mute, you risk losing hundreds of dollars for a word you typed.

I think what we clearly have here is a bunch of self-proclaimed victims that instead of passing mercy and happiness they pass around punishment and guilt. I think you're exactly what you hate.

I'm here to tell you I'm not spending another dime on this company, and I'm eagerly urging other to do the same. I'll be here while the ship sinks, smiling and laughing at you, waving your precious culture goodbye. Onto the next game where you break your keyboards every time somebody is mean to you on the internet. What a bunch of meanies. Too bad so sad.

So keep passing judgement, burning every would-be player until they refuse to spend money and you sink with the ship. I've never seen a community be the cause of their own downfall so eagerly.

Enjoy.

p.s.

I'm going to list, in no specific order, similar games in the competitive industry over the last decade or two, that are/were considered incredibly relevant, self-sustained by the community, and did not encounter the same problems that Riot seems to face. You can take from this what you will, though I'd assume nothing at all.

World of Warcraft04-18 Counterstrike1.6 CounterstrikeGO Hearthstone MTG Dota1 Dota2 Guild Wars1 Guild Wars2 Starcraft1 Starcraft2 PlayerUnknownBG Overwatch Destiny1 Destiny2 Call of DutyFranchise HaloFranchise FIFA Madden SSMB/SF/Tekken

So why didn't anyone else copy Riot's behavioral system? Well, simply put, there was no incentive to do so. If there was, you indeed would see a multitude of imitation, as we do everywhere else in games from FPS to MOBA's to MMO's. You see, companies don't imitate failure in business, it just makes no sense. What I'm sure they did do/are doing is taking a look or repeating some of Riot's successes, but what we clearly see is no attempt to recreate their department of toxicity - and we won't. Because it was exactly that: a failure.

So what is the message from the other organizations to you, and to Riot? Well, the message is clear. They certainly didn't think you lot were capable of being judge and jury - that much is obvious. Nor do they think a systematic version of word tags resulting in punishment is a good idea, either. So whereas you'd like to tell yourselves, Riot, and anyone who opposes you that what you've done has been a successful attempt to reinvent the gaming community, what we see is actually quite the opposite, that you've failed. Miserably, actually.

You've come up so shorthanded that while having the arguably most influence in gaming at one point and time, not a single company, studio, etc. imitated your work. None. Zero. You know what's so crazy about that? I can't think of a single company that that's not true for given the same circumstances. Ouch. Yikes. Your passive aggressive buzz words. See what I did there?

;)

So go ahead and respond. Downvote me (most likely, rather than counterpoint, as most snowflakes dread real argument) in the manner to which is your custom when any piece of information or statement that is not apart of your groupthink is made available. Show me all those statistics provided by Riot at www.imright.com, it's hilarious. Be more condescending, snarly, scheming and dismissive than anything that would be actually allowed by your own system. Be more hypocritical. It makes me smile. It makes me laugh. I look forward to it.