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PSA: On the New Player Experience

DOUBLE TAPPED E·2/16/2018, 3:57:57 AM·1 votes·434 views

Hey there folks! I just wanted to take some time away from League to tell everyone a little story about my adventures in low level.

I've been playing this game for a long time. I want to say late season 2 was when I started but don't quote me on that.

Anyway, I recently tried out the new Katarina (I was pretty salty about the rework and I just assumed I wouldn't like it, boy was I wrong! GJ Riot!) and I decided "You know what? I may be Silver, but wouldn't it be fun to level an account playing only Katarina, and work on my mechanics all the way til 30?" I also enjoy playing with new people and helping them get a handle on the game / mechanics / lanes etc. I may not be a pro but I have a fair amount of game knowledge saved up after all this time and I like to think I have been of some help to at least a couple people.

So I made the account, logged in, chose my name, played a few bot games until I got the BE for Katarina, then continued playing bots for a while because I noticed there are quite a few people using "AFK bots" that just execute in the jungle repeatedly, meaning the game is basically a 4v5, and it's fun to carry people on Kat!

Then, I was having such a blast with all these friendly people in the bot games that I decided "Hey let's go see what's up in normals! I'm sure that'll be a hoot!"

I was quite wrong.

Low level PvP is incredibly toxic. Several people admitted to having been banned for extended periods due to toxicity. In fact it seems like this is what every toxic player does when they get banned.

They make new accounts, and end up playing with new players, and ruining the games for them by trolling, flaming, inting, and so on.

After this discovery I decided to get some new player opinions on the matter, so I went back into bot games and started asking people if they had tried PvP yet.

Most had, and most were turned off of PvP because of the incredibly toxic atmosphere, so they returned to bot games. These are the resilient players. I'm sure a very large number of players go into their first PvP, do poorly, and get flamed into quitting the game forever because of the dregs of the League community.

I even experienced this firsthand: I got stuck with support because I was slow on the draw shouting out my role, so I said "I'm playing only Kat on this account, could you pick an aggressive ADC? We push for lv 2 and all in"

I didn't get a yes, but I also didn't get a no. Everyone locked in and the game started. According to my plan, which nobody had disagreed with, I started pushing for level 2. Jinx was quite upset by this, and started flaming me incessantly, calling me a troll, among other things, and eventually leaving bot lane after we got 2 kills. Apparently her and our mid Zed getting a kill each was not proof-of-concept, so she left me in a 1v2 as an under-farmed Kat against a Soraka/Ezreal bot lane.

Needless to say I got dumpstered, and then the real flames came on...

Anyway, I let their words get to me for a bit before muting everyone, I definitely said some angry things, though it felt like I was defending myself. I felt like I was being backed into a corner by an angry mob, and lashed out to defend myself. I'm not proud of it, but it happened. Anyway, I say "anyway" a lot.

So where was I? Oh yes:

I feel like there should be a more permanent solution when a person has been banned for constant, repetitive toxic behavior. I would suggest IP bans for the duration of their punishment. Them being able to make new accounts is costing you actual new players who will be willing to spend money on the game after they fall in love with it. I fell in love, and I have been a loyal, paying customer for the long-term.

The toxic players are getting in the way of the development of that love.

Thanks for taking the time to read! Looking forward to the discussion that follows! :D

14 Comments

Chermorg2/16/2018, 4:10:45 AM2 votes

Low level PvP is incredibly toxic. Several people admitted to having been banned for extended periods due to toxicity. In fact it seems like this is what every toxic player does when they get banned.

This is, kinda, the goal. The matchmaking system is much better than people give it credit for. As someone who's been playing since Season 2 timeframe (as you claim), you're eons ahead of true new players - even if your level may be lower. You will always be matched with players of your skill level - and at level 1-25 or so those players will most commonly be smurfs as well.

DOUBLE TAPPED E2/16/2018, 4:38:14 AM1 votes

To note: I was actually in favor of the idea, I just wish it wasn't the default landing zone for every smurf :P I don't mind matching against other smurfs, it's fun, I just wish toxic players had less presence is all.

DOUBLE TAPPED E2/16/2018, 4:56:24 AM1 votes

Couldn't this be accomplished by IP / MAC address? (I don't know enough about networking to know if Riot's servers have access to MAC address info, but I'm sure they know the IP.)

DOUBLE TAPPED E2/16/2018, 4:58:16 AM1 votes

I'll answer my own question by saying "But then the best troll of all will be to go to an Internet Cafe and get all their computers banned from League permanently, ha. ha. ha."

Point taken.

Soulstealer Nami2/17/2018, 11:46:51 AM1 votes

I'm currently leveling this account up so I can play ranked and uh wooooo boi... The number of times I've received instant feedback reports is sadly pretty high. So much toxicity. Hoping it gets better when I get the account around level 30.