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Text-based chat is actually the worst possible thing for both communication and player behavior.

fox only fd·11/14/2017, 10:11:10 PM·3 votes·1,008 views

So, I'm fairly new to LoL (Kind of. I actually tried the game out back in 2014, and I've been playing occasionally ever since, but I only started playing seriously around September), and, being pretty bad at the game, I've obviously experienced firsthand just how toxic other players can be. I think this is the only game where other players have given me sole blame for a loss. While this seems counter-intuitive, I honestly think implementing voice chat would improve player behavior. Both the inaccessibility of having to type out a response and the inherent lack of tone in raw text can increase toxic behavior while making it more difficult for players to use it for its intended purpose of teamwork and strategy.

First of all, text based chat has the annoying problem of being unusable while also actively playing the game. This makes it difficult to use for actual teamwork - how am I supposed to discuss with my team whether we should take Baron or an inhibitor with such an inefficient means of communication? It's really only possible to actively type in chat while dead. This makes players more likely to use chat for a different, less constructive purpose: blaming a teammate for their recent death. But even if text chat wasn't so clunky and inefficient, text is simply a fundamentally worse medium for communication than voice.

Much of our communication is through non-verbal means such as tone of voice, which are totally lost in text. Communication between players can quickly get heated over simple misunderstandings such as one player asking another what they're doing and the other player taking it as a rude rhetorical question. Such misunderstandings would be much less common with voice chat, as it's much easier for players to understand each other if they can hear each other's voices.

Additionally, voice chat can make people view each other as more "human." Players are much more likely to act toxic if they see their teammates as words on a screen rather than actual human beings. I've attended numerous in-person competitions for other games, often with actual money on the line, and my teammates there are always really nice, regardless of how bad I am. While having players meet in person is obviously out of the question, voice chat can also help humanize other players. Back during SG Invasion, I regularly communicated with premade teammates using Discord, and I don't think a single player I talked to on Discord said anything remotely toxic. On one occasion, one player in our premade who didn't have Discord started blaming me for the team not getting S rank, saying it was impossible for the team to reach S rank with me on it (see my summoner icon for more details XD). I distinctly remember my teammates on Discord having my back when this happened rather than joining the toxic player in blaming me. Playing without a premade, I feel like I get flamed in almost every game. In my experience, players behave significantly better using voice chat than text.

TL;DR: As we all surely know, League players can be really toxic. Text-based chat makes players more toxic, as it can only easily be used while players are dead, when they often want to blame a teammate; it lacks nonverbal aspects of communication such as tone of voice, which could help prevent misunderstandings between players; and it makes players seem more like text on a screen than actual human beings, which makes players less sympathetic for each other. It also makes constructive strategic communication and teamwork more difficult. Voice chat could solve all of these issues.

11 Comments

Chermorg11/14/2017, 10:17:07 PM7 votes

While I don't have any sources or specifics, coming from the point of view of other games with voice chat implemented (either by default or by opt in) toxicity is much higher in said games - especially when the text chat is almost nonexistent or almost never used.

Brutalmore11/14/2017, 10:17:53 PM2 votes

Text is actually a lot better because it can identify when a player is truly using toxic language and provides a medium to track their harassment. I know you might see a lot of extreme examples of toxicity but it is all about how you go about communicating with others yourself. There are times where it is just ungodly toxic and there are some matches where it can be pretty fun and an overall good time when people playing are having fun and not taking it to extremes. That said DOTA and other MOBA's that have voice chat are sometimes one of the worst experiences I've had playing online.

A lot of the online gaming community tends to say a lot of horrible things to one another and it becomes a standard amongst players to say things they typically wouldn't in public. Voice chat is an open door to make fun of someone's disability, sexuality, sexual orientation, race, and anything else another player could easily harass someone with. You can easily use DISCORD and try to play with premade groups using the application/ website to communicate.

If you need to call baron hit tab select baron icon at the top and short-hand the words Baron into chat. Most players will understand if you're pinging for assistance that you're calling for a baron kill. Same thing with Drags. Masterfully using pings is one of the best parts about this game. If you can use the system well enough you'll never need to type and you'll be able to make the plays you need without heavy typing.

Magical Player11/14/2017, 11:03:20 PM2 votes

Very well written opinion piece, thank you for taking the time to write this.

I disagree about your primary point -Text is more toxic than voice chat

Where as text chat is not super useful during a fight the precommunication helps alot, in addition to the pings can help coordinate alot of plays The humanizing element, I play/ed several games where text and verbal chats are in place I agree with a voice chat in general humanizes people more, but still believe people to be butts in the most case(insert generic xbox 13year community comment), however by going to voice you're losing the ability to analyze what is actually said and punish for being a dick. Since yeah people are still dicks in voice if not more so.

Modi11/14/2017, 11:30:39 PM1 votes

Text chat is no more, nor no less toxic than voice chat. You may take my experiences with a grain of salt, but my tenure playing Halo 2/Halo 3 showed that regardless the type of communication, people who are going to show negative behavior are going to do it, regardless the medium used.

Telephone Booth11/15/2017, 5:04:07 AM1 votes

I agree, people tend to be less flamey when speaking with their voices. At the same time, I don't really want to talk with strangers while relaxing playing a game. I wouldn't use it, but it definitely should be a thing and you should use discord and tell people to join when a game starts. Sometimes people do. I've joined one or two, but it's not really my thing.

Krigjer11/15/2017, 6:10:29 AM1 votes

So start linking a Discord or Cursevoice channel in chat.

I immediately left the voice chat when I first started playing Overwatch. Riot has zero need to implement their own voicechat system when so many free programs exist. I will not be forced to join a voicechat with strangers because you think connotation changes depending on delivery.