Riot fanboys who parrot the rules of toxicity, and are not toxic, are in-fact toxic. I <3 Riot tho

I've been reformed for a month now, every time I've been punished it has been because I was learning what Riot's definition of "toxicity" is. This is not one of those posts saying it was unfair of riot to ban my main account, or saying Riot should change the rules on toxicity and they are too harsh, this is a discussion towards the players. I understand why I was banned, I "deserved" it because I wasn't adhering to the rules of Riot and this is their company/domain and what they say goes. I agree with my ban. It took me a while to learn that retaliating to toxicity is also considered toxicity by Riot, and I've learnt my lesson.

Now, that first paragraph alone has probably already given me a few downvotes. Every time I see a post about toxicity and a player is simply expressing their opinion that they did not deserve to be banned, and they were generally a decent person in the chat except for a "f*** you kid" once or twice, an insult directed at a troll or someone being legitimately "toxic," it has 10+ downvotes. Now, did that person deserve to be banned/or chat-restricted for insulting somebody? Of course, because these are the rules that Riot has set out, and these are the rules we must follow. However... that person absolutely did not deserve to be ridiculed and shamed by the community they were trying to protect.

Those rules(opinions) are not my rules(opinion), and I'm sure that they aren't the rules(opinion) of many of you out there either. I believe that if someone is intentionally feeding a lane, or they are harassing someone in-game, or trolling, that it is my responsibility to speak up. I understand why Riot has their toxicity rules in place, mostly because it's an easy system. Secondly, it's so the smart-peaceful morally good players can figure this out, mute/report a toxic person without insulting them or making themselves flagged as toxic to Riot's system, then they move on. However many of us (me included) are not smart and peaceful, some of us are in-fact the opposite! I would consider myself a dumb and aggressive player, but I still believe I am morally good. Before my reform, I would never have flamed someone having a bad game, someone who had made a mistake no matter how big or small. I would only express myself at someone deliberately being an ass. I won't ever do it again, because I realize now, that it is not allowed.

In my opinion Riot's report/ban/restrict system works. It does it's job... but, if you were the owner/a manager of Riot would you want an employee who only simply worked? an employee who only "did their job"? Or would you rather have an employee who goes above and beyond? An employee who eradicates toxicity and makes the game a better place? An employee who isn't so passive and is actively seeking to make the League community a better place? I know what I would pick, and it isn't the system we have now.

I like Riot, I think they're mostly a great company who do go above and beyond, they've literally changed the world (of esports :P). But Riot has unknowingly brainwashed much of it's player-base, many of you no longer have your own opinions. This is the point of this post, most of you are fanboys and listen to and only to Riot, instead of forming your own opinions and saying "hmmm I actually don't like this part here". Whenever there's a post about toxicity like I said before, it has 10+ downvotes, everyone in the comments saying something mean and deconstructive (and toxic!), like "Glad to see you banned you were toxic, bye bye :)!" or similar to. Most of the time you are saying this to somebody who was stupid, somebody who's intention wasn't to hurt someone's feelings and flame, but in-fact, somebody who was wronged and was punished for making a mistake. Somebody who while they made a mistake, they were still wronged, and you are telling them "haha you deserved it" while the person that truly deserves it ran off scott-free. You in-fact are being toxic... and I've seen this over and over, when you're putting down a fellow human trying to do good.

I've been one of those people on the other side of the screen, we have feelings too... and most of the time we think we're doing a good thing. We're so "disillusioned" with reality where the theme is stand-up for yourself, and stand-up for those who deserve your sympathy, that when we come to this game we are punished for it. "Read the Summoner's Code pleb so you can finally learn the rules" and I have finally... but who among us honestly has done that within the first few months of playing? Who reads the Terms and Conditions on any game/product/or application that you use? Almost nobody! Most of us use our common sense and understanding of the world and decide on how to use the product or service. We try not to break the rules that we know of, and go on about our way.

Now, while the system remains unchanged, I have only this to say to new players/reformed players/players who don't understand. If someone is being toxic in chat, mute them. I know you've heard this a million times before, but you're never told the reason why, so let me tell you as someone who has gone through what you are going through. I posted something on my main account, trying to understand Riot's rules on toxicity, and the Riot employee gave me an answer that made everything click. Riot believes that responding to a toxic player is in of itself toxic. Let me elaborate, the Riot employee/representative told me that most players do not want to see back and forth fighting in chat, people come here to relax and you are making the environment not-so-relaxing for them. Even if you are being polite to the toxic player, even if you don't use any insults, if you argue with a toxic player it is spamming the chat and making the environment worse off because other players have to see it. It means if you argue, you yourself are being toxic.

So the answer is, say absolutely nothing, mute them, and report them once the game is over. If you want to make the community a better place, this is how. You can't change the toxic person with words, they have to want to change themselves, report them and move on.

Now, that's how we deal with the current system as players, but how can Riot deal with toxicity in general/the future is my next thought. The answer I think is to involve the players, Riot owns this game as the government owns the land, but we the people own the community. Right now, we are mostly doing Riot's job for them by reporting toxic players to keep our community clean, peaceful, and relaxing. But we can do more. The first step has to come from us, we have to show Riot that we aren't mindless drones who listen to everything they say, drones who deserve no respect and can be trampled over. We are individuals with ideas, voices, and capabilities.

When you see a player who was banned, especially if they thought they were doing the right thing, don't put them down. Don't parrot after Riot and say "You were toxic because you reacted normally like a human being". Instead, lift them up, improve them. Let them know how to deal with the situation instead of being toxic and telling them that you are glad they are gone. Because that player could've been you. I read a Riot tip somewhere that said "everyone has bad days, just breathe"... that could've been you who had a bad day, it could've been you who was manipulated by a negative person into losing your account and taking away something you love to do.

Once Riot sees that we're an actual community, on our terms, 24/7 all the time, not a community when Riot makes the choice for us (when you're cheering for a team at a competition and showing your love for league), but when they see us actively being members of the community all the time, then and only then will there be possibility for change.

Riot has implemented a new (relatively) honor system, a system that shows us who the most respected, least toxic, players are. The players with top honor levels are pillars of the community, and I'm sure some of us would listen to and agree with them. This is only an idea, it can be criticized, it can be changed, it can be thrown away for an entirely new one, but this idea I'm about to explain is the best I could come up with in the few minutes I spent writing this.

Why don't we keep the current report system, the one that flags insults and restricted words, the one that chat bans people for anti-social behavior, and perma-bans players for repeat offenses, and augment it with another system? A system where volunteers that Riot handpicks, that the community has handpicked (high honor players), can come together with a few representatives from Riot review cases of transgressions that the current system is too slow to pick up and or cannot pick up at all. One too many times have I seen a troll say "report me nothing will happen" because their offense cannot be picked up by chat-bans, and they get away with it and are allowed to continue to plague our community. I've seen players say absolutely nothing in chat, but intentionally feed anyways because they know they can get away with it. We need a system to catch these people, and most of all we need a system to actively improve our community.