Boards›Player Behavior

League of legends mindset spreading.

StickyOctopi·5/11/2016, 6:38:46 PM·8 votes·1,312 views
Free Speech Under Attack

Just read the first paragraph and the last few sentences of the article, it should say enough.

The mindset that seems to be quite popular in league of legends appears to be slowly spreading, and that is not a good thing. In league of legends, boards in particular, players hold the mindset that you shouldn't be able to use your words as you like. They believe that even though free speech is a respected concept, that players should be banned and punished for using their words.

League of legends has a free chat system, no words are blocked, you can type anything you want. There is even a filter and a mute button if you don't want to see what someone else is typing. I'm not sure why they have these features in place if they don't matter in the long run.

Imagine walking into the real world, being forced to have one single mindset. To follow the crowd. If you speak your opinion on things, you get fined thousands of dollars. Or even worse, you get imprisoned for words. That would be insane, and not somewhere where I want to live.

Imagine going outside, you walk up to a group of people. Your classmates to be exact. They're all discussing something controversial, and you decide to add your opinion. Except, your opinion was different from the hivemind. They instantly turn towards you, begin berating you. All chanting that someone needs to call the cops for your speechcrime against the higher ups. They chant in unison "These are our rules, if you don't like them leave" "get out of our community" And that they wanted to purge your kind from existence. They want to create a utopia in their "community" Even though it is an impossible task. All that ends up happening is large numbers of the "community" are punished for not sharing the same singular opinion, people are fined and imprisoned, and the trend continues until only those who support the hivemind are left in "freedom" while anyone with an opposing opinion has been imprisoned or killed.

So instead of creating a community in which differences are respected, any opinion is welcome, words being used with freedom, etc...

The league community fosters the mindset of "If you're different, you should be punished" and "Fuck free speech, I want my words to be contained!"

Boards/and the game work like that of a dictatorship. Riot sets up some rules, they are enforced ruthlessly, and anyone who isn't the perfect riot specimen is contained. Boards throws up the Hitler salute on every post, defending riots every move "hail RITO" they scream at the top of their lungs in unison. Any one who was different ideas from the glorious Nazi Games is removed. The perfect mindset has been created.

Rito games prepares it's perfect army of thoughtless drones, and positions themselves in front of computer screens. It has it's army play countless hours on the game and it makes sure each player spends money to drive the billion dollar industry forward as one of the leading companies in the nationwide "safe space" movement. Where anyone who feels their safe mental state has been violated can call the police and have their attacker imprisoned (within 5 minutes)

Imagine going to a basketball game, no one is cheering. They are all scared of losing their privileges of being in their country. Someone yells "x player sucks" they are immediately singled out by their peers chanting "arrest him, arrest him" Then he is instantly taken into custody and thrown out of the country. He can't get his $250k in the bank that he earned. Because it isn't his, it's his countries.

Free speech should never be imposed on. Whether it be in real life, or a game. Because once it starts in a game, and garners support. Then the mentality is allowed to move into the real world. Then once it's in the real world it cannot be stopped. Because you can't speak against it, or you get fined. Your only real option would be to start a revolution or be a mindless slave at that point.

But knowing boards, they'd all unanimously support free speech being limited. And would endorse the fines and deportations of anyone who didn't follow.

And if you're going to sit here and tell me that you guys wouldn't support the limitation of free speech, why the fuck do you support it in an online game?

So you're telling me you're all for free speech in real life, but in a game words are too much to handle? I really don't get it at all.

38 Comments

AeroWaffle5/11/2016, 6:46:49 PM7 votes

You do realize that "free speech" never prevented people and companies from treating you differently?

Freedom of speech is the right to communicate one's opinions and ideas without fear of government retaliation or censorship. (directly taken from wikipedia)

If you're going to act like a jerk in games, it's completely within Riot's right to throw you out. It's their game.

Best Ekko NA5/11/2016, 7:00:12 PM4 votes

Honestly he brings up a good point when he talks about how the game has filters in place. Why give players the said ability to disable the filter if you can be punished for saying things that would have been stopped by the filter? You can be reported for offensive language and yet the only way for another player to see said offensive language would have required them to remove the safeguard that Riot has put in place. There's many points like this on how communication standards are that are not consistent.

Atlas The Bird5/11/2016, 10:05:57 PM3 votes

Interesting post. The degree free speech in games is something to look at.

Unfortunately, an majority of the community feels that while free speech has value and its place, it doesn't override a player's individual 'right' to having a safe space to play a game. A term I use very loosely.

At the end of the day, League of Legends is a game. Therefore I don't think it's all that appropriate or fair to compare Riot, who oversees the game and as a company wants to ensure its longevity, to say, a government overseeing its people.

I want to address some of your points.

{quoted}

players hold the mindset that you shouldn't be able to use your words as you like. They believe that even though free speech is a respected concept, that players should be banned and punished for using their words.

To be more specific, players should be banned for using their words in a way that is meant to offend others. This is something I agree with, exclusively in regards to hate speech and toxicity.

League of legends has a free chat system, no words are blocked, you can type anything you want. There is even a filter and a mute button if you don't want to see what someone else is typing. I'm not sure why they have these features in place if they don't matter in the long run.

They do matter, they just aren't meant for the purpose you're implying. The mute button is to prevent say, a toxic person from further ruining your game. It's not a solution to anything outright.

Imagine walking into the real world, being forced to have one single mindset. To follow the crowd. If you speak your opinion on things, you get fined thousands of dollars. Or even worse, you get imprisoned for words. That would be insane, and not somewhere where I want to live.

You don't banned just for expressing different opinions. I could make posts about champion imbalance, comment on the new patch, or express ideas about the hideousness of the client. Riot isn't exactly forcing everyone to have one set mindset. But they are identifying types of behavior that is unacceptable in League of Legends, and they are holding players accountable for going against it. There's a difference.

Imagine going outside, you walk up to a group of people. Your classmates to be exact. They're all discussing something controversial, and you decide to add your opinion. Except, your opinion was different from the hivemind. They instantly turn towards you, begin berating you. All chanting that someone needs to call the cops for your speechcrime against the higher ups. They chant in unison "These are our rules, if you don't like them leave" "get out of our community" And that they wanted to purge your kind from existence. They want to create a utopia in their "community" Even though it is an impossible task. All that ends up happening is large numbers of the "community" are punished for not sharing the same singular opinion, people are fined and imprisoned, and the trend continues until only those who support the hivemind are left in "freedom" while anyone with an opposing opinion has been imprisoned or killed.

What an interesting dystopian society you've created.

So instead of creating a community in which differences are respected, any opinion is welcome, words being used with freedom, etc...

Part of the restrictions on what's acceptable to say in chat come from respecting differences in people, especially with hate speech. Even in the real world you're free to express opinions but doing so can have consequences. Actions have consequences, that's how it works.

Boards/and the game work like that of a dictatorship. Riot sets up some rules, they are enforced ruthlessly, and anyone who isn't the perfect riot specimen is contained. Boards throws up the Hitler salute on every post, defending riots every move "hail RITO" they scream at the top of their lungs in unison. Any one who was different ideas from the glorious Nazi Games is removed. The perfect mindset has been created.

Except it's a dictatorship you're not required to take part in. Oh, and they actually listen to the community, lets not forget that their standards for what is acceptable behavior in games is largely based on what the community finds offensive. What a brutal dictatorship.

Skipping down.

And if you're going to sit here and tell me that you guys wouldn't support the limitation of free speech, why the fuck do you support it in an online game?

It's funny, because even in the real world there are actually a lot of limitations on free speech. Most notable freedom of speech does not protect hate speech, obscenity, defamation (in most cases) and it doesn't apply to private entities not acting in the government sphere.

To say that Riot's regulation on player behavior is "Attacking free speech" is a leap. Especially considering the limitations we already have on free speech in the real world, which you're trying to compare it to.

It's not Riot's job as a company to protect free speech. It's in their best interest to do right by their players, and that's what most of us feel they are doing in SOME capacity or another. In case they aren't though, people like you have enough free speech to voice your opinions on the boards like the rest of us so we can all weigh in.

Astôlfo5/11/2016, 9:56:25 PM3 votes

I'm laughing so hard right now.

First of all, freedom of speech does not even apply to this. Freedom of speech is nothing more than SOLELY the government being unable to punish you for speaking out against the government in ways that do not include slander or other defamatory means of provocation/etc. Dismissed.

Second of all, it's not even being close to being forced to have one mindset. You can have whatever mindset you want. But don't shove it down others' throats. Dismissed.

Third, muting and blocking exists only as an emergency last-resort measure to people who don't have the intelligence to stop talking. See, that's not an excuse to say whatever you want. The very fact they had to use that means there's a problem already. Dismissed.

Fourth, your classmate analogy is an utter failure and misrepresents the argument entirely. Refer to the "Second of all," point. Dismissed.

Fifth, once again, your idea about what this community fosters a mindset of is entirely incorrect, biased, and slanted. Dismissed.

Sixth, Godwin's Law, your entire argument is hereby dismissed. But I'll continue for the humor of it.

Seventh, hyperboles and completely misrepresented, flawed arguments. Dismissed.

Eighth, once again, your analogy is a complete failure. No one gets banned for saying "X sucks" once, or heck, even a couple of times. They get banned after repeatedly committing offensive behavior that was deemed intolerable. In addition, the analogy about the money is also a complete failure, because as far as I know (legality-wise), that money is his. A better analogy would be a car or such he was still paying off the debt on being seized by the government as a result of illegal actions. Dismissed.

Ninth, once again, incorrect statements, incorrect understandings, and generalizations/overexaggerations. Dismissed.

Tenth, generalizations and assumptions about a large populace. Dismissed.

Eleventh, flawed analogies. Dismissed.

And with this, it is over. Although technically, it really had been from the start. I'd ask you to give me back the few minutes I spent reading your post and writing mine, if I could.

XxMLG420NoScopeX5/11/2016, 6:43:29 PM2 votes

Free speech

He did it. He said the thing.

BlueThingamajig5/11/2016, 10:47:52 PM2 votes

I think it is...misguided, at best, to think that Riot is trying to make a safe space or restrict free speech.

Riot is trying to make money. Nothing more. Toxic players drive away potential customers, who could be giving Riot money but aren't because they aren't playing anymore, because they were driven away by toxic players.

There's nothing free speech about it, and if there is such a place where yelling "X player sucks" at a basketball game causes jail time, somehow I don't think basketball is played there. You can have free speech and not be a dick about it, too.

EndGamer115/12/2016, 4:57:30 AM2 votes

Free Speech only applies to the Government, because it is in the Govt's "ToS", the Constitution.

Riot isn't trying to force mindsets, but rather mold behavior from rudeness to politeness.

Icestar11865/16/2016, 1:50:18 AM2 votes

Relevant XKCD:

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/free_speech.png

ModPrandine5/13/2016, 9:34:30 AM1 votes

Like others have said Freedom of speech doesn't apply here. From Ulanopo's Knowledge Base:

Freedom of Speech!!!!!”

Doesn’t apply. No really. If we’re talking about American law, the First Amendment only applies to the government making laws that prohibit speech and, even then, freedom of speech isn’t absolute. For example, you can’t incite a riot, plan to kill the president or yell fire in a crowded theater.

Also, there’s nothing in the First Amendment that protects you from the consequences of your speech. People are fired all the time for making derogatory comments about their employer. My workplace, for example, has a social media policy that says that I can be terminated for badmouthing the company. They don’t ask for passwords and access as some companies have been known to do, but it wouldn’t be all that difficult to find me on the internet, knowing my real name, phone number and address.

Also, Riot's goal is to reform or get rid of jerks who like to ruin games for other people via gameplay and/or verbal toxicity, not police the internet.

EvilDustMan5/13/2016, 9:47:01 AM1 votes

I missed the Godwin's law!? Yep. You are officially a non-entity in regards to arguments.

BudgetMessiah5/15/2016, 12:12:39 PM1 votes

The exceptional individuals who are spam-downvoting this don't even realize that they are proving the OP's point.

KVbqbFsC8e5/15/2016, 11:37:27 PM1 votes

League is the only game I have ever played that does this. I don't think its spreading at all. In fact in most games you would just be laughed at if you thought calling someone "bad" should be ban worthy. Its a very silly mentality Lyte instilled on this game and its community, but I don't see it anywhere else.

As far as real life goes, thats been going on forever.

Strawberrycocoa5/15/2016, 11:40:32 PM1 votes

Why is it always the mouthy insulting jackasses who cry the loudest about "free speech" when people tell them to stop acting like jerks?

Sadistic Cheese5/16/2016, 1:48:17 AM1 votes

.....I will now point out for what is probably the six hundred and eighty seven thousandth time between myself and other people, the following:

being PUNISHED for saying something IS NOT impinging on freedom of speech. That's a truth that has existed for DECADES. You've always been able to SAY what you want. The question is: are you willing to live with the consequences of doing so?

Let's take an example: I am....well, I'm a lot of blended heritages because genetics are a thing, but I'm what's usually known as 'White'. It's what most people would label me as if they saw me, it's on my ID, etc.

Unfortunately, I live in a place that is.....semi-segregated in that people of certain ethnicities tend to live in certain areas. They are certainly ALLOWED to move anywhere they like, and many do. But it's honestly probably just something left over from more contemptible times in this country's history that we'd simultaneously like to forget, and yet we shouldn't forget it lest history repeat itself and awful things happen. Anyway....

Let's say I wander on into one of these areas predominantly populated by the african american population. To the point that there may be a chance I'm the only white guy for a few miles in any given direction. Now let's say I am utterly STUPID enough to start yelling a certain word starting with the letter N.

Am I free to do this? Yes.

Is that freedom going to stop me from potentially having a bad time due to my own brain-dead behavior? NOPE.

I could very well get yelled at, smacked upside the head, get the shit kicked out of me, possibly even get killed. On the flip-side I could also just be ignored, or looked at weirdly. Regardless of outcome, Freedom of Speech doesn't save me from the consequences of me doing something stupid, whatever those consequences may be.

Look....ultimately in League, which is where we're discussing this, no one comes out of this a hero from a neutral perspective.

Rager A is being a jerk and taking this game WAY too seriously when he tells Crybaby B to hang themselves. I mean c'mon....I know you're 'wasting' 20 minutes or so of your time, but if the WORST that happens in my day is I lose a League of Legends match? That's a pretty damn good day. "I lost my Ranked game" is probably the epitome of #FirstWorldProblems.

Crybaby B isn't much better, since.....c'mon. He's an idiot raging over a VIDEO GAME. We have mute buttons, reporting system, all that good stuff. It's THEORETICALLY only words. Dunno about anyone else but I can shake off a guy cursing at me about stuff no problem for the most part. He is not the first and likely won't be the last. No one is literally dead because you lost lane and fed a few kills. Chill out.

But as anyone who's ever lived through mentally abusive family members (including this guy!) can tell you: Yeah, eventually words do hurt. They hurt when that's all you ever seem to hear.

And anyone who's ever dealt with someone with Special Snowflake Syndrome (including this guy!) can tell you: sometimes yes, you really ARE just being entitled and you need to chill. Life doesn't ALWAYS go your way, no matter how much you try to A-type Personality it to do so.

Ultimately, this is nothing new. It's also not as big a problem as you think. If everyone just stepped back, chilled out, and reminded themselves that no, they are NOT CLG. We are NOT playing for $20K and a good seed spot at Worlds. That guy telling you to drink Bleach really IS just being butthurt and annoying. There's literally NO reason to care about what he says and you CAN report and move on.....

.....if we all just did that....just chilled out.....maybe things would be better.

peaches7715/13/2016, 8:05:02 AM1 votes

First you say meteos should be banned for toxicity, now you're saying people shouldn't be banned for being toxic. Which one is it?