Dear Riot: From a Returning Player, Thank You

Dear Riot,

I was an avid player for several years - loved buying skins, loved playing ranked (almost hit Plat once...almost). Unfortunately after a while I got really worn out from all the toxicity in the game - people calling me names, harassing me, etc. You get the gist. So I stopped playing because it was just really tiring having these people in every game, and in a team game, it's hard to just mute everyone. That was about 2 years ago.

Well my friends that I've met on League, who I've gotten to know really well over the last 5+ years, outside of League, finally had time in their busy adult lives to play a game! So we get together and queue up. I get assigned to Jungle (not exactly my best role - I used to play a lot of support and some top). With my luck, I get matched against a Shaco, and being so rusty, I got merked pretty early (even when expecting the invade). One of my teammates jumps on the opportunity and chastises me for poor play, which was upsetting, not to mention that it continued consistently for the next hour in a very close game.

I told myself - hey, this is why I quit League. I was all excited about the new runes and stuff, it all looked fun, and then this happens on my first game back after 2 years of not playing. I, of course, reported the guy, and figured, eh, maybe I'll just stop playing again. After I exit the lobby it tells me that a player has been punished for the reports, and well, having only played 1 game in the last 6+ months, I knew who it was.

I don't know what the punishment was or how severe it was, but when I received a message about that, I felt some solace in the whole situation. So I just want to thank you, Riot, for that, because it made those rare games coming back still feel worth it. I played a few ARAMs after, and I totally suck still, so I lost, but I still had fun! I'm glad to see the game has been continuing and the crackdown on negative player behavior (which totally affects what games I play) was a welcome sight.

I don't know why, but I also got Arcade Hecarim from Riot right after? I don't know if it was related, but thank you for that as well.

Just wanted to share the story and show my appreciation! You deserve it.

Sincerely,

visceralsimplex