Boards›Player Behavior

Riot and the regulation of language.

x3ARCx·12/19/2017, 10:57:22 PM·2 votes·1,099 views

Restricting and regulating the words and language used in League of Legends is hurtful for the community and for the actual people oppressed by matters of which the words are meant to represent. Words like n**** are not used for establishing or labeling people of African American descent in League of legends. Nor is anyone in League of Legends (Of my knowledge) oppressed by this. Words do not have the meaning of which the media has labeled it. same goes for words like fk. It has nothing to do with sexual intercourse of any sort. And nobody believes it has. This is why, when the general public says "FC" out loud, nobody pretends to take the literal meaning of the word serious. Same goes with words like NR. If one player was to say to another: "Hey my N*R, how are you holding up in your lane". If the context of which the word is used in is nonmalicious then it should under NO circumstance be treated as such. The impact of taboo words highly depends on the context of which it is used.

The riot language system should of course under no circumstance accept continuous malicious talk. Especially not when the game is played in addition to adults, also by children of whom are to be protected from harassment and verbal abuse. Even so, the language of which is spoken is based on the community of which is playing the game. Even if words like NR, FT etc. are regulated, absurdities will be taken to circumvent the restrictions. This is seen as people baiting the ban system by spelling the taboo words differently. NR becomes NUgger / Nagger / %%%%%% etc. FT becomes %%%get/Facts etc. If Children are playing this game, they always have the option to blur out foul language. A very good initiative from Riot Games. Yet, when the words become taboo or to some degree Illegal/dangerous to your account, people will find ways to use the language desired without the punishment of using such words. This is done regularly by misspelling bad words so that the automated system has no way of detecting it.

Additionally, riot has a way of banning the player from using words they allowed to be used in the first place. You are "Allowed" to say N*R, but are banned of such a word regardless of the context if you where to be reported that game, regardless of the circumstances. Either ban the word completely (Which I would argue is doing no good) or do not punish people for using the word.

Bottom line. The restriction of taboo words is of no actually good to the community. If they ought to ban words they should additionally not allow players to be banned on grounds of using a word alone with disregard of the context of the word. Thirdly, if they are to protect the minor community then disable chat completely for accounts with owners under a certain age. Or as a minimum restrict communication between the toddler-account and the well-behaving player base. If a player has a bad game / bad day / generally speaking is a douchebag, leave it up to the individual himself to decide what he will do. Players are handed the gift of the mute-button and are capable of disabling/enabling taboo words.

43 Comments

ModUlanopo12/19/2017, 11:53:20 PM17 votes

No. Just no.

This argument simply doesn't fly. It never has and it never will.

There are many reasons for this, but foremost among them is the fact that context cannot live solely in the heart of the speaker. What you are saying is that simply mouthing a platitude like "I meant it as a joke" or "It's not intended as an insult" excuses pretty much anything.

That's not the way this works. The burden is on you as the speaker to limit (or ideally eliminate) the offense you give to others in a particular space. If you don't like what people consider offensive - and League players are, as a whole, more than clear about what they find offensive - then you can go someplace more amenable to your particular method of expressing yourself.

Eedat12/19/2017, 11:35:26 PM7 votes

Words like n** are not used for establishing or labeling people of African American descent in League of legends.

Well I'm black and disagree. I don't have a problem if you're using it among your friends in a friendly way (like 'my ###ga Shaco' when you're duoed with him) but dont use that word with me when I dont know you. We're not cool like that and your ass is getting reported. Also worth noting, this is my opinion NOT Riot's rules

As far as the other stuff goes, you don't get punished at all for cursing. You get banned for cursing at someone. Like if you say "wow I'm fucking bad" after messing up a play you dont get punished but "our jungler fucking sucks" will get you banned. You get it?

Koiyaki12/20/2017, 12:59:42 AM6 votes

As an african american myself i never use the n word, it is decriminating, i personally dont like it, and although there are some trying to push the negtive feeling s from thw word and make it thrir own, thats isnt how it used on league i can tell u that.

Most of the time i see that word used, its used to insult and opress those its targeting. Also i find no reason to have the nword as a club tag either.

But opinion may be ur opinion and I'm not gonna ask u to change it but for a large company, taking the possibility of something being construed as negative is better than assuming only a few or soone will get offended. Assumptions are never a better option that eliminating a potential problem in an environment ment as grand scale as league.

(Just my 87 cents)

Jo0o12/19/2017, 11:07:11 PM5 votes

Context and intent in the case of slurs like the n-word doesn't matter, because it's unreasonable to expect people to understand intent and context through written word. Furthermore, even in cases where the word isn't used in a hateful fashion, it's still extremely likely that it is seen as disrespectful and inappropriate.

Is it crazy to disallow hate speech? I mean, it's comparable to any sort of public function. You wouldn't greet a coworker or client with "What's up, my (n-word)?", would you? Doing so would get you fired, and folks would generally agree that it was the appropriate action to take.

ISOzHell12/19/2017, 11:15:19 PM4 votes

I would have to agree with blocking such words, they are not needed in a conversation anyway!

And the media was not the ones who labeled the N**** word. People should educate themselves on the meaning of the word, as it was used in regards to slavery.

And besides that it's just an awful sounding word to begin with with, a very uneducated sound coming out of someones mouth, when it is spoken.

Thank you Riot for blocking words that really never make a person look good while saying them.

Sir Ticklesword12/19/2017, 11:55:02 PM2 votes

Whether you agree or not, the n word is labeled as hate speech here. It is not tolerated and is severely punished if used under any context. Riot simply said don't be a dick. The community decided what being a dick means, Riot placed systems to enforce what the community wants. We want an environment where we can play a game and not have to read stupid crap that had no place in the game to begin with. It's really that simple.

SKRRRRRRAT12/19/2017, 11:01:53 PM1 votes

disable chat filter in client options