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Riot needs to remove chat from this game. It's causing teen suicides.

Scrunny D·1/8/2019, 10:43:02 PM·2 votes·4,236 views

This community is so toxic, and the report system is so fucked, you'll often get 4 people reporting a new player because they fed and because that one player tries to defend themselves vs a torrent of abuse and because 4 ppl report them for it they get banned and the toxic people who ruin this game for everyone (and were likely the cause of their team losing) get off scott free, because theyve played for years and they only say small bits and know how to work the system and have high honor.

The honor system, reports system everything should just go. chat should be deleted fullstop and failing that, have a chat filter installed that only allows you to say things pertinent to the game. there is no reason for riot to keep allowing this other than because they think it will make them more money because they know that young kids who dont know how harmful their words can be wont play if they cant abuse others.

Why am I so passionate about this? I have a younger brother who also plays the game. Today one of his friends committed suicide, and it came to light that 3 of his 13 YEAR OLD friends frequently self harm as a result of the abuse they receive during games. whether the game brings out feelings they have suppressed or whether it is just so toxic it does this alone, Riot have a duty to address this issue and quite frankly so far their attempts are half arsed. Even their customer support is ridden with bad attitude and passive aggressive mentality.

Toxicity is ruining this game and children's lives. Riot need to grow a fucking pair of balls and fix this issue instead of distracting everyone with new champs and rebranding.

I'm sorry but if you can't be sensitive to this issue then you're part of the problem.

78 Comments

Xidphel1/8/2019, 10:48:53 PM15 votes

Nice biased poll.

Umbral Regent1/8/2019, 10:55:45 PM15 votes

I'm gonna be short and to the point about this.

Toxicity is ruining this game and children's lives.

The honor system, reports system everything should just go. chat should be deleted fullstop...

This line of thinking is "my thumb hurts because I have a splinter, so I have to amputate my hand".

If you say "toxicity is ruining the game", then targeting chat and the behavior systems wholesale instead of focusing on toxicity (which, focusing on toxicity is what Riot is already doing, no less) is pretty much overshooting the target entirely and trying to get rid of everything related to the problem in hopes that you'll take the problem out with it.

Imagine if businesses employed that strategy. "Well, we're receiving complaints about one cashier making rude remarks about customers on their way out, so let's just fire everyone who works the registers and set up self-checkout lanes to replace them". It's asinine, and causes more harm than good. Nobody in their right mind would try to solve problems that way.

AeroWaffle1/8/2019, 11:38:23 PM8 votes

There have been children killed by scissors. Does that mean that scissors should be banned or that does that mean that we need to make sure to teach our children to not run around with them?

And did you even watch the video you linked OP?

The first person died because they played for 23 hours straight without eating or drinking.

The second example was a mother dying an accidental death trying to guilt-trip her son for going to an internet cafe and the son dying because the father kicked him into the river (because he saw his wife get caught by the undercurrent).

The third example has someone murdering another person because they got upset after losing three games in a row.

The fourth example the person died because of some stupid meta-game bet they had going on with their friends where the loser had to choke themselves until they lost conciseness. Instead of using his hands he tied a rope to a boxing bag and hung himself.

The final example is a homeless man killing someone because he wouldn't move for a group of friends that wanted to sit together for League. They started beating him up, in response he stabbed one of the attackers and the person died.

Literally NONE of those has to do with chat and you can easily superimpose any other game or activity in place of League.

R107 Games1/8/2019, 10:57:53 PM6 votes

If they commit suicide because of a video game then that's their problem.

They should fix their own problems instead of putting the burden on random people.

PresBushDid7111/8/2019, 11:32:38 PM6 votes

Many more children self harm or commit suicide due to failed relationships. I suppose we should ban interactions between the sexes, you know, for the children.

Another option would be to make an effort to encourage parents to be knowledgeable of the games their children are playing , monitor their Internet usage and keep open lines of communication with their child. Likewise, we could make sure young people are aware of the resources avaliable if they ever feel the urge to self harm.

Will that eliminate the problem? No, but it might save one.

If you aren't able to talk to your parents, a family member, teacher, priest, etc

1-800-273-8255 is available 24 hours a day if you need to talk to someone.

There is also a live chat option at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org

I just noticed I only gave information for the United States, as this is a global game here is a link to the Wikipedia page containing suicide hotlines by country

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines

Eternal Torment1/9/2019, 2:01:37 AM3 votes

#WHILE WE CAN AGREE THAT TOXICITY IS AT AN ALL TIME HIGH

Removing the chat alltogether won't solve the problem. It will just shift it from one thing to another. If the chat gets full on muted, people will be more intent to troll by inting, purposely orchestrating teammate's deaths and sabotaging exp gain and gold gain by invading their lane and taking all their cs. people who can't speak will more likely tend to action instead.

Your "solution" begs for a heavy backfiring.

Aladoron1/9/2019, 11:16:07 AM3 votes

Have you seen the video you posted?

Which one has anything to do with chat with random strangers? I see only:

  • Already sick people ("hearth condition" quoted from the video)
  • A very very very problematic family
  • A r%%%%%ed murderer (the guy who died didnt even play the game)
  • Idiot people with idiot friends. (Darwin award?)
  • IRL attack on somebody, who defended himself

I do not really see any of these being connected to chat with random strangers.

I have a younger brother who also plays the game. Today one of his friends committed suicide, and it came to light that 3 of his 13 YEAR OLD friends frequently self harm as a result of the abuse they receive during games. whether the game brings out feelings they have suppressed or whether it is just so toxic it does this alone, Riot have a duty to address this issue and quite frankly so far their attempts are half arsed. Even their customer support is ridden with bad attitude and passive aggressive mentality.

Well, if you are afraid because of your younger brother, then i advise spending some time with him, be a good brother, be happy with him. Even you mentioned that these people might have other problems as well, let me quote :"as a result of the abuse they receive during games. whether the game brings out feelings they have suppressed or whether it is just so toxic it does this alone" It's kind of funny if you blame the games for this, when their family life is probably fcked up already. There are no examples, where a healthy person comitted sudoku, just bc somebody said a kys in game... This just does not happen. And blaming the game or players for somebody having a trash family or bad circumstances, is stupid.

I'm sorry but if you can't be sensitive to this issue then you're part of the problem.

Hi Scrunny D, I'm part of the problem. TEACH YOUR BROTHER THAT ON THE INTERNET HE MEETS A BUNCH OF IDIOTS, MAKE HIM CLEVER ENOUGH TO NOT CARE ABOUT ASSHOLES. EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO BE AN ASS, AND YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO IGNORE THEM, IT COSTS LITERALLY PRESSING ONE FCKIN BUTTON. Instead of blaming the world, take a look at yourself!

breakordoom4441/9/2019, 1:51:46 AM3 votes

This community is so toxic, and the report system is so fucked, you'll often get 4 people reporting a new player because they fed and because that one player tries to defend themselves vs a torrent of abuse

That ain't how it works, If someone feeds unintentionally, they don't get banned. as a shitty zed player, I know.

and because 4 ppl report them for it they get banned and the toxic people who ruin this game for everyone (and were likely the cause of their team losing) get off scott free, because theyve played for years and they only say small bits and know how to work the system and have high honor.

4 Reports = 1 Report

The honor system, reports system everything should just go. chat should be deleted fullstop and failing that, have a chat filter installed that only allows you to say things pertinent to the game.

so instead of making things better, we completely kill off the problem? if lets say..... Florida has a high crime rate, do we nuke Florida? or do we solve the problem? having a chat filter is a shitty idea, look at ubisoft with R6, no one likes having their chat restricted to nothing but "gg" and "nice"

here is no reason for riot to keep allowing this other than because they think it will make them more money because they know that young kids who dont know how harmful their words can be wont play if they cant abuse others.

define young kids, this game is 13+ most children. unlike how you say are not sadistic maniacs whom wishes pain and suffering upon those they meet, the actual "toxicity rate" varies from person to person.

Why am I so passionate about this? I have a younger brother who also plays the game. Today one of his friends committed suicide, and it came to light that 3 of his 13 YEAR OLD friends frequently self harm as a result of the abuse they receive during games.

I'm not insensitive, but although toxicity is looked down upon, players should realize that they are in a competitive environment and have to act based on their current situation. also, there is a MUTE BUTTON in EVERY SINGLE POPULAR ONLINE GAME they made the choice to keep on listening after the first, if they don't want to get hurt, they should mute players.

whether the game brings out feelings they have suppressed or whether it is just so toxic it does this alone, Riot have a duty to address this issue and quite frankly so far their attempts are half arsed. Even their customer support is ridden with bad attitude and passive aggressive mentality.

Riot does! but banning words is unacceptable censorship, and players whom are toxic get punished quite fast. you can't prevent toxicity. period. ass* Riots customer support, are people, and if you constantly harass them, they will close your case.

Toxicity is ruining this game and children's lives. Riot need to grow a fucking pair of balls and fix this issue instead of distracting everyone with new champs and rebranding.

but gameplay is most important. toxicity is being heavierly punished, and thats already getting people pissed, you think even stricter regulations will work? nah.

I'm sorry but if you can't be sensitive to this issue then you're part of the problem.

so people who disagree are part of the problem? you are calling out people with open and free opinions.

The Highest Noon1/8/2019, 11:06:44 PM3 votes

Had three games in a row with toxic teammates, and all three games had "KYS" stated in them.

Why do we even have an open chat function when Emotes and Pings are a thing now?

Hammermancer1/9/2019, 4:35:22 PM2 votes

So two murders, a medical condition, an accidental death, and a suicide immediately following a kid being blamed for his mother's suicide

None of these were because of league