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The Infinite Cycle of Toxicity: AKA The Circle of Life Sucks

Deep Terror Nami·11/28/2015, 1:01:16 PM·57 votes·3,817 views

This is how toxicity is perpetuated and creates toxic players out of well-meaning individuals.

  1. Toxic Player 1 abuses his teammates
  2. Good Samaritan decides the only way for Toxic Player 1 to learn his lesson is being toxic to him
  3. Good Samaritan becomes Toxic Player 2
  4. Justice Lord sees Toxic Player 2 being toxic, decides he needs to learn a lesson
  5. Justice Lord becomes Toxic Player 3
  6. Innocent Bystander has his games ruined by lots of Toxic Players
  7. Innocent Bystander becomes toxic too, because it's the normal thing to do
  8. Each player just looks like another Toxic Player, and none of them are actually helping

This is how you stop that cycle;

  1. Toxic Player 1 abuses his teammates
  2. Everybody mutes and reports Toxic Player 1 and doesn't respond to him
  3. Only the original Toxic Player ruins the game until he gets punished or reforms

As much as you think you're helping by abusing a toxic player, you aren't. You just increase the number of bullies and victims, and sometimes that's exactly what the toxic player wants.

If you want to defend another player, just insist that they utilize the mute function. Do not tell anyone to report a player; it's up to each individual to decide what they want to report, and trying to influence their decision is harassment. You can inform them that the report option exists.

> THE OTHER PLAYER IN THE GAME I WAS REPORTED FOR WAS WAY MORE TOXIC THAN ME. HOW COME I WAS PUNISHED? > Simply speaking, retaliation is not an acceptable or justifiable behavior. An argument between two players can easily create a negative experience for the rest players in the game with you. Regardless of the other player’s actions, this does not justify your own behavior. You alone are responsible for your actions within the game. If you encounter a toxic player like this, the best option is to simply report their behavior and move on. > WHY IS VERBAL ABUSE PUNISHABLE IF THERE IS A MUTE BUTTON/LANGUAGE FILTER? > Players shouldn't need to rely on features like the mute button or language filter to engage with other players in positive ways. When a player verbally abuses another player and forces him to use the mute button, they have already created a negative experience for that player.

Please, break the cycle. Be the better person and let the system handle players you think are not good for the community. You do get a say in it because reports are a form of community voting. You aren't the judge, jury, and executioner; the community must "vote" that a player should be punished for his behavior by building a case against him with their reports. If you feel a situation needs more immediate action or personal attention, you can submit a Support Ticket.

65 Comments

ModUlanopo11/28/2015, 3:49:34 PM34 votes

If I may be permitted, this is how I used to explain it:

Timmy, Tommy and Sarah are trapped in an elevator. Timmy loses his temper and soils himself. Tommy gets angry at the smell and decides to retaliate by soiling himself. Now Sarah is trapped with two smelly idiots. Don’t be Timmy or Tommy. Stop ****ing your pants.

[slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

DrProfVibeCheck11/28/2015, 7:38:40 PM4 votes

When two people on my team are fighting, I usually say something along the lines of "Rest your breasts guys. If we fight eachother, we cant fight the enemy as well."

Most of the time it works

Ravklof11/28/2015, 5:00:11 PM3 votes

I was just in a game with a Veigar that called everyone idiots after feeding a kha'zix(not intentionally) after he blamed me for feeding. He then proceeded to call me a r----d for saying tear Veigar isn't very good because your passive + morello is enough. He of course said I was toxic for just pointing things out. I told everyone to report him and at the end of the game he proceeded to say report brand, lucian, jax, and lux(we didn't have a Lux it was a pantheon lol) for f----try. I got one of those "A player you reported has been punished" pop ups.[slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

Shitsuren11/28/2015, 5:58:34 PM3 votes

"I have one dream!.. for Riot to make auto-mute system, that mutes toxic player when it detects him saying the blacklisted word etc. retard, motherfucker..."

DoctorWolf1811/28/2015, 7:04:16 PM3 votes

Yeah like I always most of the time don't talk or be nice until the point either the enemy team taunts which (I think in my opinion if they do that to you or your team through out the match should be punished "Aka unsportsmanlike like.") But sucks having depression and aspergers and a whole lot of emotions stored up can easily trigger me lol. Yeah i regret being rude saying shit and all. But most of the time what i yell is the truth since well no one watches the matches to review what is going on to be true. Like to me people who type "GG EZ" just to be a dick should be chat banned. Honestly though until Riot cares about us again and makes a new tribunal something like CS:GO Overwatch i believe it's called were you can watch the "Suspect" to see if there hacking cheating. But this would be seeing the chat and watching the match and evaluate the person being toxic to be punished or not and if they were being toxic yes but them saying like team never helped this lane or left them to die on purpose we should be allowed to report the others or one other person. But hey Riot won't ever do that shame Riot in my opinion is like a warped EA and Ubisoft hybrid of evil now.

Holyfrost Sub11/28/2015, 3:30:50 PM3 votes

THis is my experience and is abit ranty, philosophical, but bare with me. It's my opinion.

Whenever someone is toxic to me, i try hard to have will power and patience and remind my self they are only human. I know they may have had a bad day and are being ugly to others.

Of course i do report toxic behavior because my teammates react and i have honor but um, the key lesson is - i take responsibility for what happens in my mind and body. Over the years of many emotional problems and other painful events, i have become pretty matured, positive, and friendly. I can say that, toxic behavior and painful situations will either - A) Make you are stronger, more positive person - or B) Make you a more worse, monstrous person of anger and dishing and receiving pain.

AS to why that happens the way it does - religions, spiritual philosophers, science, medical and psychology all have answers. me personally, i could never figure out why some people grow better from pain and toxic, and many others continue to get worse as they experience toxic and painful experience in their lives.

Basically every painful event or experience has the potential to give you more experience and will power, to give you more maturity and self observing power. Every painful situation or toxic person is like a challenge, a trigger, a "test" to see if you can remain aware of your self while anger tries to possess you. I guess you could say that, our minds love to react to others because it feels good and is stronger than us, like a drug or an addicting over powering experience. That is why i say we need "Will Power" because honestly, very few people can stay nice against angry people.

I think you could say a fine example is Call centers and customer support services. Angry people always want to rage and yell, and it's your job to remain communicative, peaceful, positive, patience, and very resistant to their reactions. So yea toxicity it very annoying to deal with, BUT it can be a growing experience if you let it teach you.

At the end of day, i learn a GREAT deal of valuable skills in my life, like self awareness, patience, peace, honor, trust and fairness, having will power, and Just overall being a positive human being in this world. I gained these skills from being exposed to toxicty, emotional and mental pain, and from a harmful family. The example i am using is that some people (like 30-35% of americans) can actually turn into positive powerful people if they learn in college or (more often then not) if they gain experience exercising their patience in negative painful situations. So you can grow positive but i DONT know what the way or how to "unlock" that growth. I know some people grow positive from their emotional past, and some people stay in a rut. If only we as humans knew how to trigger the growth into negative people. We would have world peace.

But why do some people grow into positive people, and some people remain toxic even after being exposed to training, programs, supports, and help. Sometimes i think, fate or a precarious higher power chooses who stays toxic and never grows, and who starts toxic and grows positive from life experience.

I mean to say that if there was a way to change toxic people into positive people, it would be such an amazing break through that it would be priceless. World peace would happen.

Yea i speak from experience about personal human experience observation. When toxic hits me, i can feel the reaction (anger hate) try to possess me and control me, and with will power and practice, i have been able to "not" say what the anger wants me to say, but to "say" what my heart really wants to say. It's a very extraordinary experience.

Well i am done ranting. I hope somebody learns from my experience

Silver Fluffenbu11/28/2015, 4:53:23 PM3 votes

The carrot and the stick

If they are toxic, punish with silence, but don't mute them, because when they are behaved, reward them with a reply.

1ZslqTY3fd11/29/2015, 3:14:47 AM2 votes

This is how you stop that cycle;

  1. Toxic Player 1 abuses his teammates
  2. Everybody mutes and reports Toxic Player 1 and doesn't respond to him
  3. Only the original Toxic Player ruins the game until he gets punished or reforms

umm no. this only works when step 3 is reinforced. but this is riot, a company that took 6 seasons to develop a system to detect intentional feeders. (meanwhile in those 6 seasons, how many resources were pulled in skins/designs/new champs?) if only trollers actually get banned, that would work. truth is sometimes you troll (purposely taking jungle camps and following jungler for no reason) and get away with it. it'll probably be another 6 seasons before riot figure that out too.

Azteryz11/29/2015, 1:39:49 AM2 votes

but then there are rare cases like this

http://cdn2.cad-comic.com/comics/cad-20120328-d2f00.png

Gentzer11/29/2015, 8:36:25 PM1 votes

The ultimate anti-toxicity strat.

When people start getting toxic say something wierd as fuck.

Examples:

Weather looking fiiiiine today.

I'm eating a Mars Bar

Works every time.

q O y O p11/28/2015, 10:58:23 PM1 votes

Did you know: You can use the /ignore playername command in chat or mute a player from the scoreboard (TAB default) instead of engaging with a toxic player?

This should actually be a tool-tip that pops up like a Quest when you enter summoner's rift.

Blazing Tenshi11/29/2015, 7:50:47 AM1 votes

The idea of something being toxic is that it spreads. The root of the problem needs to be fixed not just its effects. The root of the problem is trolls, afks, intentional feeders, people that may not particularly use extremely toxic language.

Chicken4dinner11/29/2015, 1:58:57 PM1 votes

Have a song, lifts my spirits https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zjG6Et2ENA&index=10&list=RDvXRItARMnBw

Palmeiras SerieB11/29/2015, 4:22:29 PM1 votes

I think something that might help is a punished player list, so everyone can see the reports value. The current system only works if your report triggered the punishment.

There also must be created some way to mitigate problems caused by intentional feeders and AFKs, and in these cases punishment is not enough as the matches are already ruined. In my country boards I saw a good thread where a player suggested that the AFK player loses a higher amount of PDL, discounted of the other players of the team that lost the match.

Grashnim11/28/2015, 2:16:50 PM1 votes

Terminated: /ignore {name} or click the mute button.

Maybe RIOT can update their client so when anyone talks to someone else in game, it notices it and asks if you'd like to ignore the person. Come on Riot, end toxicity! Help people /ignore. [slayer-jinx-catface]