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Elaboration: Sportsmanship Is Necessary

Zero Shingetsu·12/4/2018, 7:59:53 AM·1 votes·1,908 views

In a recent post, I was ripped by most every comment because I suggested that surrendering is generally tantamount to unsportsmanlike conduct and should be reportable. I'm here to explain this in more detail, because the other thread is getting a little unreadable for edits.

League of Legends is a competitive game. There will be a winner, and by necessity, there will be a loser. You know this going in. Everyone knows this going in. When you pick up a game in which you will be competing against other players, you know there is a chance that you well be the half that has to lose. It's give and take, and there's no reason to play otherwise. You don't enjoy the thrill of victory if you don't taste the sour tinge of defeat.

Competitive games require sportsmanship, and a massive part of that is playing the game through. If 80% of a team is just going to give up the second things look shaky, there is no point in playing the game. Can you imagine watching basketball knowing that the teams will play for four quarters... unless one team pulls ahead by 30, in which case the game immediately ends? Or baseball, knowing that the game will go nine innings... unless a team scores four unanswered runs, at which point the game ends?

Premeditated surrender is unsportsmanlike. Period. You do a disservice to the teammate who knows you still have a chance by giving up on him until you can get your four surrender votes. You do a disservice to your opponent by cheapening their victory and not allowing them to earn the right to celebrate. You do a disservice to Riot by not experiencing the game from both extremes to guide your feedback. You do a disservice to gaming as a hobby by telling every proud player who's ever swallowed a hard loss in the tournament circuit by telling them they were wasting their time and should've just thrown their controller and left like an cranky toddler. By surrendering just because the game isn't currently in your favor, you are basically saying you're immune to the competitive ebb and flow. That you're above experiencing losses, and that your opponents don't deserve to beat you.

I don't care that you're not leaving mid open. I don't care that you're not soft inting. I don't care that you're not running for touchdowns. If you actively give up on your team's goal and let everyone know you have no intention of even trying anymore, you are behaving in an unsportsmanlike manner and should receive some form of punishment. Even if it's just a loss of a couple LP or a 4-hour ban. There should be consequences for giving up on your team and insulting your opponents by refusing them the right to overcome you and claim victory.

No, I'm not saying there is never a reason to surrender. I'm merely saying that in most cases I see, winnable games are lost because teammates give up way too early (heaven forbid anyone should have to suffer a game where they're not gonna stomp 50-10) and in those several cases, it should be reportable under the "giving up" clause. You can disagree if you like, but, well, "machigaitteru ka ga kuru". (Is it against TOS if it's not in Japanese...? I mean surely that would make even the name of most anime series in General Discussion bannable, right?)

13 Comments

ez mental boom12/5/2018, 12:44:42 AM2 votes

It's a video game lol

SonicAF12/4/2018, 11:22:37 AM2 votes

"No, I'm not saying there is never a reason to surrender."

I'll help you out. There are two situations when surrender is desirable:

  1. The enemy team has created a stalemate, where you can only surrender, like it was on Ascension. Riot is supposed to fix these.
  2. The enemy team intentionally drags out a game to stack their Nasus and Veigar, it's 1.5 hours in and they have all night.

It is still not necessary, because you are able to leave the game.

In other situations it is either harmful for the game or harmful for the game.

LowkeyDog12/4/2018, 10:41:45 AM1 votes

[deleted]

mlm olo mlm12/5/2018, 12:40:59 AM1 votes

Let's use baseball analogy.

Your pitcher has decided to intentionally walk 4 people in a row. Keep playing or surrender? Your pitcher has decided to intentionally walk 4 additional people in a row. Keep playing or surrender?

We are playing League though, so, let's add some League context.

We can't say anything negative to or about the pitcher intentionally walking players. We are "allowed" to leave the game, but will be punished in multiple ways. There is no way to replace the pitcher. AKA you can't stop the pitcher from intentionally walking players.

So yea, game doesn't sound very fun at that point. Win or lose. Surrender or stay.

Telephone Booth12/5/2018, 6:24:39 AM1 votes

So lets say someone has to leave unexpectedly... First surrender vote fails, they stay and play to the best of their ability. Second fails, they still keep playing, and playing well at that. Third vote goes up and the rest of your team decides the match is getting stale, or maybe its turning into a losing game, reason actually doesnt matter, but everyone except you agrees to jjust end the match now. You want people to be punished for that? Just making sure I know what you mean. Like is it just trying to surrender, or do they have to stop trying to win?

Kei14312/4/2018, 12:37:41 PM1 votes

I just won a 4v5 cos we had sion, jax, vayne, velkoz.

Vayne was complaining a tonne (cos he was 1v2 bot) and wanted to surrender,we denied it, and won the game.

SanKakU12/4/2018, 11:32:45 AM1 votes

You do a disservice to the teammate who knows you still have a chance by giving up on him until you can get your four surrender votes.

Not everyone that starts a surrender vote does this. Offering to concede is not the same thing as ending teamwork or whatever this 'giving up on him' means since you're just allowing your teammates to have their way if they vote in favor.