Boards›Player Behavior

A New Breed of Toxicity?

Naedox·2/10/2018, 12:37:26 AM·8 votes·828 views

So the other day, I submitted a ticket to Riot Games regarding toxicity on the Rift (which is about as redundant as a pickle in a pickle barrel at this point). OnlyMordeNA from Riot Games Player Support generously responded with his apologies and suggested that I write to the board to express my thoughts and concerns to to a broader array of people (and maybe hear from a Rioter). So here I am with this to say:

You think that verbal harassment and racial slurs are toxic? Well compared to what people are brewing now, those may as well feel like mercy. To make a long story short, because some people just can't function properly in society without having it 100% their way, they would throw away all meaning a game would have to offer (eg. Intentionally feeding, denying other people's xp/gold incomes and not making any use of it, pretty much taking away their teammate's chances of winning the game) and would constantly say no to a surrender vote just for the sole purpose of wasting their time. In a sense, it feels like it's a passive aggressive way to encourage someone to leave the game and get busted by Riot, and the sadist getting a reward for being competitive friendly therefore produing a Karma Houdini.

This, I find to be the ultimate form of toxicity in the sense of wasting other people's time and being a sadistic asswat. I don't wanna have to spend 10-15 extra minutes of my time being in a game there's no way I can pull a comeback out of my rear end from. This just deters the sheer grace of defeat and it feels as though it condemns people who much rather accept their loss and move on like a man. Rank is something one can get back. Time? Not so much...

Going a bit more personal, I hate being held hostage and being stripped of being anything/everything I can do. I've been mentally abused and neglected by my father when I was a child and I just cannot tolerate being bullied and put in chains like that. Being locked can seriously f*** you up inside. I would know so; I've been there before.

But I digress. It rings my mind as to why and how this is seen as good sportsmanship because it involves not giving up. So much so, that at the time of writing this, my process of thought is completely fragmented and cannot express my issue proper. This type of behavior I'm experiencing just feels like a method to deceive people into doing something worth a report (like leaving a game).

i'm not talking about a game itself. I'm talking about how people are constantly finding new ways to be toxic and the only way Riot sees it is the victim being the bad guy and the person at fault is the commended. It's pure injustice and I think it's one of the contributing factors as to why League of Legends is declining.

But I suppose because I'm obliged to, I have to listen to player feed and at this point, you might as well start spamming my inbox with white knight acts, trying to defend the equivalent of a person snorting Drano off the back of an enraged lioness.

18 Comments

Chermorg2/10/2018, 12:44:52 AM10 votes

So, the issue here isn't that "the victim being the bad guy". The issue here is people claim to be victims when they in fact have become perpetrators of toxicity. I'm sorry that you've been losing games, but it is extremely hard to prove someone is intentionally trolling when they do the things you describe. Are they taking the CS because they want the gold, or because they're trying to fuck with you? Are they split pushing because they legitimately think that's how your team can win? It's impossible to prove either way. Trolling is very hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, and things that may look like trolling/griefing in the heat of the moment in game may in fact look innocuous when looked at by a third party with an open mind.

People vastly overestimate the number of legitimate intentional feeders and trolls in League. In the heat of the moment, it's hard to say "wow, I fucked up this game" or "well, our team just got outplayed". People naturally look for someone else to blame - and their minds will concoct stories about people in order to blame them for things. I'm not saying you never experience trolling, and when you do I'm certainly not suggesting you not report it. In fact, I think you should report every instance you think someone is trolling in. That being said, you cannot reasonably expect every single report you file to result in a punishment.

This Is Your Dad2/10/2018, 5:20:08 PM2 votes

One of the major flaws of online gaming is that you hide behind a veil. Your intentions are your own and are subject to the interpretation of others. When someone steals my farm and then flashes his mastery I know he did it on purpose. When someone shoots my jungle camp I almost finished from lane randomly and takes it, I know he did it on purpose. But they cannot and will not ever be caught. Thus this kind of toxicity is unbeatable.