Dear Smurfs: A PSA
So, after being rightly banned for toxicity, I took a week from the game then created a second account to try and reprogram myself. I realized I had become 'that' player, and I wanted to remind myself what I loved about the game, without the stress of a ranked environment. I was a pretty chill player and very calm and anti-tilt for quite some time. Running through the bots matches and early blind pick, I remembered the awe and wonder I felt at the game. Its complexity, the limitless range of possibilities. I felt relaxed while playing league for the first time in ages. I guess you could say the second account was doing what It was supposed to.
But then I began to notice something. There are alot of people grinding smurf accounts through pre-level 30 blind pick. And almost all of you guys, are toxic as all hell.
My last four games have been a mass of seething toxicity and rage, and I just don't understand it.
Do you guys not realize that:
- You are at the absolute lowest level of PVP in league at this stage.
- Some of these players may very well have literally just installed the game, which means
- Your flaming is going to literally do nothing but make them quit and go play Dota.
Seriously, I don't remember this from my first experience in league. I think if i'd of been called a [Censored] stupid [Redacted] [Redacted], and that my mother should go [Censored] a pig on roller skates, I don't think I would have kept playing for very long.
Why are you flaming people for poor positioning who haven't been playing long enough to know what positioning is? Why are you flaming people for champ selections when roles and team comps are still foreign concepts to them? Why are you harassing someone about missing CS or mismanaging a minion wave when it could very well be their third game of league ever and they only just last game figured out that you do indeed have to kill the minions to begin with?
It boggles my mind. At a normal elo, whether it be silver, gold, plat, whatever, I can understand a bit of flame. Players have climbed to a certain level and are expected to perform at that level, and when they perform far below that level, it's frustrating! Especially when their performance directly affects your position in the ladder. Granted, flaming still doesn't help anything, but at least there's an excuse there. But... Pre level 30 blind pick? Hell, even blind pick in general, you can't get any lower. There's no lower rating to drop to. Nobody has climbed anything.
It is silly, it is petty, and it needs to stop. Your harassment of these players isn't going to magically give them two thousand battles of league under their belt. It's not going to assist them in learning kiting, trading, wave management, warding, building, or literally anything. The one and only thing that this level of toxicity this early in the game is going to accomplish is running potential long term players away from the game.
It takes about 150 matches of blind pick to get yourself to level 30 (or so i've been told). In these 150 matches, you will interact with 1350 players, and there is a real possibility you may not see the same player twice. If you spend all of these matches being a toxic jerk, you have the potential to run off over a thousand players from the game. Thats right, just you. Let's say a thousand even for some easy math here: if only 10% of these players invest money into the game (100 players), and they only purchased 10 dollar RP cards, that is still a thousand dollars you've cost the game you love enough to make multiple accounts on. Sure, this is making a crapton of assumptions, but the point i'm trying to get across is that toxicity at this level is not only stupid and pointless, but can cause serious damage to the game and its player base. And this effect dominos. Instead of these players going off and telling their friends what a great game league is, and getting them to play, they are telling their friends league is too toxic to play, and getting their friends to steer clear of it.
So even if your ego is so large, self esteem so low, and sense of empathy so non-existent that you don't care about the players you are harassing for no reason at all, then think about the game you obviously care about. The matches don't matter, so bite the bullet, and grind through it.
And honestly, if you're finding yourself being toxic at this level, it is time for a vacation. Take a break from league, a couple of weeks. Play non-moba games. Boot up skyrim for old times sake, play candy crush. Find something soothing, easy, and relaxing to reprogram yourself. It'll be good for both you and the community.
Anyway, I think i've ranted long enough, good luck on the rift!
