How does riot 'treat' people with mental disabilities?

CPU Lyrica·Jan 5, 2018·1 votes·738 views

Soo, this question has nagged me for a while. ive always wondered, how does riot treat 'special' customers? do they treat them like the everyday person, despite being medically recognized as needing special treatment?

and how about people, like myself (Adhd/autism) who just.. give up. i know league is all about "oooh dont give up you got this" But no. in today's snoball meta, you lose one tower before 15 mins? it's over. the enemy adc has 4 kills by 10 mins? it's over.

Soo why give a damn, when i can put in minimal effort, have the game end sooner, and go play a match where, mayybe i'll win.

In short, how does riot treat these people? those who're much less able to controll their impulses, those who really, lose interest fast in a lost cause?

13 Comments

RaeyxxJan 5, 20189 votes

They treat us like anyone else - as they should.

As someone with anxiety issues (particularly Panic Disorder and Social Anxiety), I am prone to freaking out when under a significant amount of stress relating to dealing with others. A good example of this: the jungler tries to gank my lane and I don't follow up (either because I didn't want to the gank or because I'm not prepared for that fight. Before the jungler even says anything, I'm already stressing as if they're flaming me. It makes me want to quit or to tell him to never come to my lane again. It makes me want to mute everyone in the game. It makes me want to Alt-F4 and say fuck it.

But you know what? I do whatever is necessary to keep that fear/stress from splashing onto the rest of my team and I keep playing. Because these issues are mine. Not theirs. I was born with them. I've grown up with them. Therefore, they are my responsibility to keep them under control.

I don't expect special treatment, nor do I even want it. Patronizing such things is a dangerous habit to get into, as it teaches us that it's okay to let our issues control us, rather than the other way around. It's not okay. Not in the least.

fatherdariusJan 6, 20181 votes

Consuming ethanol in moderation does wonders of the anxiety (well, at least short term).

I recommend a shot or two before a match. It seriously takes the edge off, and makes it more enjoyable (for me at least). I'm not saying get hammered/drunk and play league. Just relax.

You know. Like bowling.

Totally Not JinxJan 5, 20185 votes

Hey, autistic person here.

What exactly is the point you're trying to make? I'm having a hard time making sense of it, because it seems like you're wondering if there's an exception to punishments for things like inting or having a negative attitude, which is reportable.

Hate to break it to you, but there are many autistic people out there, and even neurotypical people, who can develop some semblance of adherence to or understanding of the rules.

Why give a damn? Because it's a team game, and ruining games for your teammates is a rude thing to do, regardless of neurodivergence.

MysterQJan 5, 20184 votes

I think you are blaming your personal problems on a mental disease that is not related at all.

scribbles782Jan 5, 20184 votes

Riot treats people with mental disabilties all the same as everyone else.

I actually remember a post someone made around Thanksgiving where someone gave their autistic nephew (something like that) their account to play one game because he really wanted to play. The dude logs on the next day with (I think) a 14 day ban. Riot didn't give a shit.

But I don't think they should. If you know that you have something going on with you that will hinder another 4-9 people's experiences and you still play, then fuck you. You're an asshole for playing the game and ruining it for other people and you should be banned for toxicity simply for this fact.

If you can get help and get better, by all means play the game. Until then stop ruining games. Thanks.

EDIT: I know you're not an extreme case of this, but still, you're ruining the game for your team by giving up so easily. What I meant up there was for people who are really autistic or have something really serious. THEY will ruin games and should be banned, more deserving than other people TBH.

FalkentyneJan 5, 20181 votes

{quoted}

Riot treats people with mental disabilties all the same as everyone else.

I actually remember a post someone made around Thanksgiving where someone gave their autistic nephew (something like that) their account to play one game because he really wanted to play. The dude logs on the next day with (I think) a 14 day ban. Riot didn't give a shit.

But I don't think they should. If you know that you have something going on with you that will hinder another 4-9 people's experiences and you still play, then fuck you. You're an asshole for playing the game and ruining it for other people and you should be banned for toxicity simply for this fact.

If you can get help and get better, by all means play the game. Until then stop ruining games. Thanks.

EDIT: I know you're not an extreme case of this, but still, you're ruining the game for your team by giving up so easily. What I meant up there was for people who are really autistic or have something really serious. THEY will ruin games and should be banned, more deserving than other people TBH.

this is borderline hate speech on people with disabilities, if not completely over the top.

scribbles782Jan 5, 20182 votes

{quoted}

this is borderline hate speech on people with disabilities, if not completely over the top.

No. I'm just pissed at the idea of people going into games, KNOWING they're probably going to ruin it for 4-9 other people. That's why I said if you can get help in your current situation then good for you, go for it and play the game when you're better. But if you know you have a problem then DO NOT RUIN THE GAME.

It's not hate speech. It's purely speaking negatively towards people with mental diabilities in terms of a certain issue that negatively affects other people. That's like if someone flamed me for feeding in a game and I said "That's hate speech against people who are bad!" That's stupid.

Jo0oJan 5, 20181 votes

I don't have a lot of interaction with folks on the spectrum personally, so it's hard for me to say what is or is not a fair way to discuss it.

OP, however, is using his autism and/or adhd to excuse rage-quitting matches. That's either a bullshit excuse to explain bad behavior, or a legitimate problem that makes them unable to play League, which they should recognize and quit the game over. Either way, there's no real room for "special treatment" to excuse rage-quitting.

ModUlanopoJan 6, 20181 votes

{quoted}

this is borderline hate speech on people with disabilities, if not completely over the top.

I don't think this is a fair characterization of what he's saying. The OP is suggesting an accommodation of his/her autism/ADHD. That's a question for Riot, but it's not unfair in the meantime to feel some effort on the part of the OP is reasonable.

Jo0oJan 5, 20184 votes

There's no change in treatment.

Look, Riot's not an employer making allowances of their employees, or an educator, or a medical institution. It's a company running a game. They're not under any obligation to tip the scales in somebody's favor due to mental illness or other similar factors. Not that there's any mechanism for them to even find that out about you in the first place.

I think it's incredibly selfish of you to suggest that your diagnosis of autism/adhd should allow you to quit games early. There are nine other players that you've committed your time to.

Umbral RegentJan 5, 20183 votes

Soo, this question has nagged me for a while. ive always wondered, how does riot treat 'special' customers? do they treat them like the everyday person, despite being medically recognized as needing special treatment?

Well, there's no part of the sign-up process or anywhere on your profile where you can jot down things like "suffers ADHD" or "has Tourette Syndrome", so I think the logical conclusion would be those with mental disabilities/disorders are treated just like everyone else.

and how about people, like myself (Adhd/autism) who just.. give up. i know league is all about "oooh dont give up you got this" But no. in today's snoball meta, you lose one tower before 15 mins? it's over. the enemy adc has 4 kills by 10 mins? it's over.

Well, ADHD sounds closest to that mark (Here's a Wikipedia article - if any information in there is wrong, feel free to tell me), but even then it's not really "giving up", it's losing attention - and it's also possible that those with ADHD can hyperfocus with League. All said, though, I have no real experience with ADHD, so, take what I say here and what I borrow from the Wikipedia page with a grain of salt.

As for Autism - (again, Wikipedia page - ) I don't see anywhere in the symptoms that look like they'd involve "giving up". There's social difficulty and hampered communication skills, repetitive behavior, but, I don't see anything about giving up. (Again, I myself don't suffer Autism and I don't really know anyone who does, so I've no experience with the matter.)

Now - the second line - that's no longer talking about mental disorders. That's talking about the game and defeatist tendencies. The game isn't over until one of four things happen:

Your Nexus breaks.
The enemy Nexus breaks.
Your team surrenders.
The enemy team surrenders.

Until one of those four criteria have been met, you are to keep playing the game at your fullest.

Soo why give a damn, when i can put in minimal effort, have the game end sooner, and go play a match where, mayybe i'll win.

If you're not going to play at your best, or at least give real effort into winning, why play at all? More than that - if you have that defeatist mindset where the slightest setback in a match has you calling the game, how many matches after the first are you going to half-ass for the sake of the next?

And I mean no disrespect, nor do I mean to assume if you're neurotypical or not, but, at the end of the day, you're still playing with other people who want to win just as much as you - though they want to win that match, instead of giving up and going on to the next one. You got into the match, you have to play it through to its bitter end.

In other words - "why give a damn?" - because you're ruining the match for four other people if you intentionally half-ass it. And that's something that very well could lead up to a punishment on your account.

In short, how does riot treat these people? those who're much less able to controll their impulses, those who really, lose interest fast in a lost cause?

The same as they treat everyone else. You may not be able to control your interest in a given match, but you can control how much effort you give to it. Riot expects everybody to give their all to a match, win or lose.