Boards›Player Behavior

I Cried While Playing League

Shirvallah·8/1/2016, 11:50:30 PM·143 votes·13,926 views

I am so tired of the toxicity in this sad excuse of a "community." Out of all the games I've played in my life, the people here are the absolute worst. I started playing League a few years ago, but I ended up leaving the game briefly after I began because I was flamed too often for "sucking" or "feeding." I've been back for not even a month, and I've experienced this tenfold. I already want to quit again, and I hate it because I absolutely enjoy the gameplay. I've been told to kill myself, commit suicide, uninstall League, never play said champ again, and endless colorful insults that I wish to not think about.

I've had two or three games (one of which happened today) so far this past month (which is the amount of time I've been back) where the abuse was so bad to the point where I actually cried. I was trying out Syndra today in a non-ranked game, and I was laning against someone who clearly REALLY knew how to play Yasuo (quite aggressively at that). I attempted to play passively and farm under turret. The guy doesn't care and still dives. Ended up dying a few times and then was focused by the enemy jungler and mid laner because I was so far behind. I made it clear as day to my teammates that I was learning the champ. I also explained that I'd practiced the champ in bot games, read guides, and wanted to try her out in PVP. But this didn't stop people from acting like complete jerks. I was bashed so often and so early to the point where I was considering leaving the game, because at that point, I would have rather been reported and banned for leaving the game than be bullied anymore. I didn't discover the mute button until after that game, but that's beside the point.

I do everything I know to do deal with toxicity — report, (now) mute, not adding fuel to the fire, taking breaks, finding other games, or all of those. I don't know how exactly how many players I've reported for bad behavior — maybe ~50 so far. Only 2 have been banned.

I am aggravated. And sick of this. I don't know how else to deal with it, other than what I'm doing now.

Side note: I do not play ranked games.

405 Comments

SeekerofSilence8/2/2016, 1:08:27 AM30 votes

My sister recently started the game and is experiencing some harassment also. She's fortunate enough to almost always have a full team of friends though.

So yeah, that's my suggestion: Play with friends. Fill the team with people you know, they won't flame you.

DREADN0UGHT8/2/2016, 12:30:14 AM18 votes

Mute and report.

No way to go around the toxicity, it will always be there. Just mute and report fam.

EndlessSorcerer8/2/2016, 3:29:55 AM14 votes

First, I'd recommend you don't bother telling people you are new to a champion. While there is nothing wrong with that, most people won't really mind that and it won't dissuade those who want to be jerks.

Second, you should know that the notification that a player you have reported has been punished will only occur if your report was the final one to trigger the punishment. If they were punished the game after the one they played with you due to another report, you won't get that notification.

In addition, the system generally looks for patterns of behaviour. They will likely not be punished if that were a sole or very rare occurrence, but reports will accumulate until they are punished if they continue.

Third, standard procedure when dealing with harassment is generally:

  1. Mute (to spare yourself)
  2. Report (to spare others)
  3. Move on

Their opinion shouldn't really matter to you; they are just anonymous players you were in a single game with and will likely never see again.

Fourth, you have to develop a thicker skin.

While I am aware that this may sound somewhat callous, you will encounter those types of players in almost any game you play. The combination of anonymity and reliance on allies in online games tends to bring out the worst in some people.

Personally, I tend to derive amusement from the stupidity of ragers. Finding amusement at their impotent rage is how I shield myself from toxic players and prevent them from tilting me.

FizzChummedINami8/2/2016, 12:18:11 AM14 votes

First day on the internet?

Laughing Fish8/2/2016, 5:29:15 PM10 votes

Yeah, this community can really suck sometimes. You need to find some good people to play with. The game is far more enjoyable if you are playing with some friends. Send me a friend invite, and we can play sometimes!

http://comrom.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Draco-Voldie-hug.gif

Tyler 420 8/2/2016, 9:41:07 PM8 votes

someone flames you? **Solution=run straight down mid ** (jk I dont do that im refomed xd)

Rio Risotto8/2/2016, 12:46:27 AM6 votes

How about you play a less toxic game? All the other mobas with much better communities are just a couple of clicks away. Or you can stay in Coop Vs Bots.

GoodHotFreshFly8/2/2016, 5:27:29 PM6 votes

I'm sorry you had to go through all of this. I have too, and so have many others. :'(

I HATE so much how there are those who say "get thicker skin" or "it's the internet, people are gonna be mean." All you're doing by saying those things is blaming the wrongdoings of those "mean" people on the fact that the internet exists, in which there's very little logic. Sure, people being mean when you go on the internet is a fact, but it's not an excuse. They're still the ones at fault at the end of the day.

I am also so aggravated. The report system is shit, and nothing happens to those who deserve punishment. Like you, I have also quit and come back and I am experiencing the same problem. I've tried my hardest to not lash out, and so far I've been successful, but keeping cool when everyone around you is heated up is too hard to accomplish to be worth it. Humans may be the logical creature, but we are also the emotional creature, and I feel like people forget that sometimes, and as much as we want to focus on logic and reason, emotion always has a way of creeping to the surface. I don't really know what I'm saying anymore, I'm just kinda rambling... xD

oSEXYPLATYPUSo8/1/2016, 11:58:14 PM5 votes

that is horrible and no one deserves that kind of harassment. people need to stop being jerks. its a video game people, get over it. every one plays bad. every one goes through learning curves on new champs. this a game to be enjoyed and have fun with. that is the purpose of the game. the fact that you are in a normal game makes it worst. im sorry you have dealt with this. i have came across this just as many others and in the situations where i deal with it , i just either afk in base, dont care if im reported because i refuse to play with people like that. or i afk farm til end of game. i wont feed. but i wont play with team. i know these suggestions dont fix the problem of the toxicity. its just a guess a way to cope.

Aids cuz League8/2/2016, 3:19:26 AM5 votes

No but seriously, if this game is making you cry, take a break and play an MMO or something. Something that doesn't heavily involve PvP. This game makes me so mad that I want to cry so I go to play Tera/Archeage etc,. It's much less stress relieving cause this game never gets better. The people don't want to improve, they don't want to take criticism, they just want to play it like they don't have a team. And ultimately, that is what causes all the toxicity, trolls are something else that's just them being d**ks.

DraegonthePagan8/6/2016, 4:27:02 PM3 votes

It's so hilarious beyond reason how Riot has the most Third Reich Nazi reporting system to exist in any online game yet they have created THE MOST TOXIC community in all of video games. It's like a hilariously morbid joke about how this is just like alcohol prohibition in the 20s, it doesn't fix the problem it just helps make it worse.

Ginger9768/2/2016, 10:24:02 AM3 votes

{quoted}

I am so tired of the toxicity in this sad excuse of a "community." Out of all the games I've played in my life, the people here are the absolute worst. I started playing League a few years ago, but I ended up leaving the game briefly after I began because I was flamed too often for "sucking" or "feeding." I've been back for not even a month, and I've experienced this tenfold. I already want to quit again, and I hate it because I absolutely enjoy the gameplay. I've been told to kill myself, commit suicide, uninstall League, never play said champ again, and endless colorful insults that I wish to not think about.

I've had two or three games (one of which happened today) so far this past month (which is the amount of time I've been back) where the abuse was so bad to the point where I actually cried. I was trying out Syndra today in a non-ranked game, and I was laning against someone who clearly REALLY knew how to play Yasuo (quite aggressively at that). I attempted to play passively and farm under turret. The guy doesn't care and still dives. Ended up dying a few times and then was focused by the enemy jungler and mid laner because I was so far behind. I made it clear as day to my teammates that I was learning the champ. I also explained that I'd practiced the champ in bot games, read guides, and wanted to try her out in PVP. But this didn't stop people from acting like complete jerks. I was bashed so often and so early to the point where I was considering leaving the game, because at that point, I would have rather been reported and banned for leaving the game than be bullied anymore. I didn't discover the mute button until after that game, but that's beside the point.

I do everything I know to do deal with toxicity — report, (now) mute, not adding fuel to the fire, taking breaks, finding other games, or all of those. I don't know how exactly how many players I've reported for bad behavior — maybe ~50 so far. Only 2 have been banned.

I am aggravated. And sick of this. I don't know how else to deal with it, other than what I'm doing now.

Side note: I do not play ranked games.

There's one piece about your situation I don't understand: mute. If you are getting flamed because you're playing poorly, why not mute? Also, I am assuming you are younger since if getting flamed in an online video game is enough to break you and make you cry, I have some bad news for you about real life. I would almost suggest that you actually keep getting exposed to this kind of abuse because hopefully it will toughen you up.

Why? Because life. Lifes. Not. Fair. Read that again, make it your mantra, and embrace it. Your entire life you will be put into situations where you will be given the short stick, or get blamed for something, or somebody is going to be a dick. And guess what? Crying when exposed to these things isn't a reaction that is going to help you come out on top.

I'm not saying that the people who acted like this in game are right; in fact, quite the opposite. I don't believe that anybody should have to be exposed to this type of stuff. But again, Riot gives you a way of dealing with it with a mute button. Stop looking for places where you can be cared about and given a "safe space" and start developing resiliency and the ability to solve your own problems. The latter will result in a much more positive outcome for you, both in League and in general.

xRéquiem8/2/2016, 8:11:54 AM3 votes

Just mute,there is no point of getting sad,it's the internet.You can't expect kind people and people who are calm and not toxic.Also 90% of the time people say nothing useful in the chat so there is no point in not muting them.

TASTE MY DUST8/3/2016, 4:25:47 AM3 votes

just keep playing. some of the stuff people said bothered me at first, but you get used to it pretty fast. now it just makes me laugh if anything.

these days i wouldnt feel right if i didnt get cancer wished on my entire family at least once a week.

Harvey Rabbit8/3/2016, 7:09:16 AM3 votes

People always talk about the "community" being toxic, but am I the only one who think it is the mechanics of this game that kindle toxic behavior? Snowballing for example, or the fact that last hitting monsters and champions gives you a big extra bonus (a feature traditionally abused by griefers in MMOs and hence uncommon in MMOs today), also the concept of 'meta' and its encouragement or enforcement by the developer which leads to people feeling justified to attack others for not playing the game "right" (because there is perceived to be a "right" way that people are supposed to play, even if every individual has a different idea about what exactly that is). This game is filled with mechanics that may as well have been designed to frustrate people and make them rage.

Obviously the game is also a lot of fun in various ways, otherwise people wouldn't play it. But those dynamics (frustrating + genuinely fun) are a toxic combo in themselves, because people get doubly raged when they are trying to have fun and expecting fun and then find their quest for fun frustrated and unsuccessful.

I just don't buy that somehow this game is a magnet for bad apples. Mechanics within the game itself are what drives the pervasive toxicity.

Imagine if champions and teams didn't snowball hard, for example. Would that make pro matches more or less interesting? I'm pretty sure it would make them more interesting, because there would be a lot more opportunities for players to outplay each other and show what they are really capable of, rather than who can get ahead first and then they have a huge advantage with every exchange being unequal and requiring a big mistake for someone to lose once they are ahead. Because of the snowball factor, mistakes in LoL have a huge consequence, which creates an uptight, passive-aggressive style of play and basically encourages negative emotions all around.

Bronze Fiend8/2/2016, 2:07:37 PM3 votes

You either learn to ignore particular people or just mute them if you can handle. Either way, don't take anything to the heart. I hope you didn't hear the notorious cancer wishes just yet.

It would be nice to remember, not all of them are toxic on a daily basis, just having a bad game, a lose streak and so on. You said you enjoy the gameplay, i do too, most of the people do. That's what keeps us playing, since the community surely doesn't.

As far as the report system goes.. i want the old open-tribunal back. It's been in "maintenance" for how long ? 2 years now ? I started playing @ season 3 and i used to love that open-tribunal system. People could get involved and feel like helping contouring a better community. I'm still waiting to hear a reason for why was it closed, and all of a sudden privacy modifications that came with it. I bet it has nothing to do with them. MORE MONEY, MORE PROBLEMS

Petiovski8/2/2016, 5:24:37 AM3 votes

It truly sadens me to read posts like these. I'm sorry to hear you had to deal with some insensitive doucebags. Some people seem to forget that the ultimate objective of a game is to have fun and enjoy it. Sadly some find it more enjoyable to put down others however.

But the best way to avoid these kinds of people is to play with friends, or even friendly chaps you meet in game, (made some real life connections with people that I met originally from this game in fact). I very rarely play this game alone now because it's just much more fun with friends.

Feel free to add me if anybody is looking for someone to play with, more than happy to kick it with some chill folk :)

Jasiwel8/2/2016, 11:07:33 PM3 votes

One time a Leona harassed me for playing poorly. I told her being toxic wasn't going to help. Then I started doing well and she said it was because of her. People like this are absolutely delusional.

Joker7758/3/2016, 12:26:52 AM3 votes

I HATE the community here.I am always the person mute reporting or trying to stop a fight b4 it starts.If you want someone to play with that's nice I don't mind doing a few games. I do something no one in league does and play to have fun.Everyone finds winning is the most important thing.Even though its just a game.And sorry to hear what they did to you. HF and GL with your games.

GeneralAkiz8/3/2016, 4:22:27 AM3 votes

You can drag chat off the screen mate,or just reduce the scale to very small.It's not that bad once you get used to focus on game and ignore toxic ppl.I used to feel bad too,but now i laugh when i see someone salty spamming in chat.

Shima Luan8/6/2016, 7:15:37 AM2 votes

it's summer time all the kids arent in school yet wait for school to start and play in the moring or at night mid day is when the kiddies come out to play.

TMW Champ8/2/2016, 5:32:59 PM1 votes

[deleted]

AnonymousPoro8/2/2016, 6:17:10 PM1 votes

Sad, but there's only a couple ways you can get passed it.

  1. Mute and report
  2. Play with friends. Just so everything is chilled out and relaxed for you and your friend. And even if someone does start to talk shit, you have a friend to back you up.
  3. Ignore it or get a thicker skin, with all due respect. Sad, but true to play this game.

And, just as an FYI, I've been there. Quit league for two months after going 2/14 after a few days of playing with Jinx.