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Trying to be nice means you're at a disadvantage, it seems

MVPteranodon·9/29/2016, 9:01:05 AM·9 votes·1,116 views

I'll get straight to the point: I love this game, but not much of a competitor. By that, I mean that I enjoy what happens in the game, both when I'm winning or losing, but I don't really care much about the result.

That may be the cause of why I'm not getting so good with this game. I'm an enjoy-player, if you know what I mean by that. Some people hate it, some people love it, and some people just don't care.

But I will tell you, I was never a troll. I don't do intentional feeding, even when an obnoxious teammate of mine flares at me all throughout the game. I don't say anything violent, do anything unreasonable, or anything like that.

And it looks like I have to pay my price for that.

The League, in my opinion, is a strange game that puts players like me, the light-hearted just-for-fun players, at a certain emotional disadvantage. You see, because I don't say anything mean even when worst kind of people tell me all kinds of shits, I often get flared quite bad. Of course, if things get to the unbearable degree, I report them, but that's about it. I ignore them, I report them, but that doesn't erase the bad memories and feelings I received from that game. (Plus, of course, those shitty people wouldn't even care.)

They do all kinds of shitty things, and all I can do is ignoring and reporting, which I don't even know whether Riot cares or not. From what I found, Riot only gets to action when dozens of people report that single player - just a single report is close to nothing.

What I found from other users is that their basic attitude towards problems like this is "if it's not me, then I don't care." I don't say anything bad towards people who played bad - who knows, they might have an internet problem, could be their first time playing that champ, got snowballed from early game, etc etc. There can be a lot of explanations, and I don't want to blame them. I'm a light player myself, and there must be at least a dozen people who are like me.

And then I face these people who have no problem flaring and blaming others, even for their own mistakes. A lot of politics going on, and because I try to be nice, I'm often the victim, and it never looked like my other teammates actually cared about what was happening. Even my own friend said "Meh, that's what happens in this game. Just get used to it," so what could I expect from mere strangers, right?

I once wanted to share my experience with other people - you know, things like that are not likely to stop, but if you know there are many people who are like you and who actually care about the issue, then you feel kinda relieved. I just wanted that, and guess what I found.

"That's what the League is like. Don't like, don't play it. If you can't bear even just that amount of harassment, then you're not 'fit' to play this game."

Wow, like, seriously? I am upset because I believe that flaring for no reason, or emotional flaring and blaming at all is a wrong and rude thing to do, but even what I'm doing is just a mere whining?

I'm writing this because today, for some reason, a teammate of mine, after winning a game, said that I should quit this game (or, literally, to "uninstall", but same thing, right?). Which I believe basically means that I did nothing, made no contribution whatsoever in winning of the game.

Some of you may be thinking, "what, you're upset about THAT? You should have seen what happened to me during my solo queue~" and things like that, and yeah, sure, it's not really a huge comment. I'm already aware of that.

What really got me was what followed that. People were paying absolutely no attention to what was happening - that member of my team was obviously targeting me, and no one cared. I reported him, but I know Riot would not do anything for something so small. No disadvantage for him for being rude to me, an emotional disadvantage for me for trying to stay nice.

Now some of you might laugh, "Hah, WHAT? Emotional disadvantage? What the hell is THAT? He didn't even tell you a racist or sexist or whatever the real shit is! Don't whine over such little~" and so on, but I'm a person who cares about manners. I'm one of those kinds of players who prefer to have a bad teammate with a good personality than to have a good teammate with a personality of an asshole. It doesn't matter if I win or not - I just want to enjoy a nice game. I don't want to pay a price or feel like I'm at an disadvantage for trying to stay as a nice player who actually cares about his teammates.

Well, that was my story, based on my experience. Let me hear yours.

And if you guys really think I'm being too picky about manners, that I'm being unreasonably upset, that my personality is not fit for this game, then please just say so. Because if it appears that majority of League players are like that, then it should really mean that it's time for me to quit.

14 Comments

Deep Terror Nami9/29/2016, 9:27:43 AM5 votes

Riot is pretty big on trying to promote sportsmanlike behavior among its community. With the length of matches and the competitiveness of PvP, players can often get overly upset about mistakes (whether perceived or real) or simply losing (whether by a close match or a landslide).

The amount of time players have to type while the enemy isn't around (or doesn't appear to be) makes chat an easy way for them to vent their frustration, and some take it out directly on their own team. Most players don't do this too often to a great extent, but those that do this frequently and/or to a severe degree (such as using hate speech) are liable to be punished with chat restrictions and account bans.

If a player starts being negative in chat to the point where it bothers you or you feel they may escalate their behavior, don't hesitate to mute them. If you feel their behavior should be punished, make sure you report it in the post-game lobby. As long as you make accurate reports it will contribute to getting the player punished if their negative behavior is severe and/or consistent enough. Very few players that get punished once continue the same behavior enough to get punished again, and the Instant Feedback System is able to do this within several minutes of the final report that triggers a review.

TL;DR - The PvP environment can be frustrating and people look for somewhere to vent and place blame. Try not to feed into it, and don't hesitate to cut them off by Muting. If they are like this regularly they are likely to be punished for it until they improve.

Featured Game Modes and Co-op vs. AI are low stress environments where you can improve and enjoy yourself. If the negativity and stress are getting to you, I recommend playing those for a bit or taking a break. If you need any advice, feel free to come to the boards and ask.

Kei1439/29/2016, 11:19:26 AM1 votes

hmm.. I'm a little tight on time, so I only read half of the post.

Everyone experiences toxicity, in fact the low plat ELO is considered the most toxic ELO, where people tell you to kill yourself on the first sign of mistake. So the "more competitive" players kinda get the worse side of it.

Now on your reporting frustration, mass reports actually don't matter, as one is punished based on the # of games they are validly reported in. Mass reports in a game count as one report and all it does is to flag the system to check for toxicity. If none, they system will throw the report away.

However, keep in mind that punishments are based on a formula of frequency x severity. So the very toxic chats will be punished in less games. However, if they do it once in a while, they probably won't be punished.

What I think most of your frustration lies; is within the visibility of the behavioral system. where you only see the punishment notification if the game you reported someone was the game that got them punished, and not when it is building towards their case. Which also means alot of people feel the system doesn't do anything.

The good thing is, Riot is well aware of how people feel about the system and are working on solutions. However, we won't get to see those new features until after the new client is up and running smoothly.

AgeOfTheMage9/29/2016, 11:25:24 AM1 votes

mmmhm, I feel that way too! I play to enjoy and I don't seem to be progressing, buuuuut, i'm having fun.

ShinkoMinori9/29/2016, 1:19:02 PM1 votes

Were you the evelynn support with Windspeaker Blessing Keystone?

Just Blame Jenny9/29/2016, 1:27:19 PM1 votes

People can definitely be jerks. I agree that it's not really cool.

That said, if it's genuinely tilting you, I have one word of advice:

/mute all

Brain Errör 4049/29/2016, 5:00:29 PM1 votes

I agree. I normally get fed up with the people in this game, but if someone on my team is feeding their ass off, but their hella funny and polite I can get behind that. I'm normally a highly cynical, satirical dead beat and people normally have a problem with it. It's just me and who I am. I'm not a generally "nice guy" so you have to have my type of humor to understand me.

Like a few days ago, I joined a game and my mid laner said something to me. My reply was "screw you dumbass". His reply was "Like I screwed your mom?" and we went at it back and forth. Our team was like, "Oh god, good start." After like 20 seconds we both really hit it off. He'd say stuff like, "You useless ass jungler, do something. Aye dude, come mid" and I'd reply with a snarky remark.

We had loads of fun that game. If I'm losing and people want to play the game and be chatting with competitive banter. I hate where you're having a bad game and your enemies just go, "Eziest game of my life. You guys suck" Like, sit back and enjoy the game people.

Around999People9/29/2016, 5:06:55 PM1 votes

I know how it feels. Sorry it happens to you so much. Just keep reporting and mute them. They will be dealt with in time.

Morality Coach9/29/2016, 8:06:55 PM1 votes

This isn't a single player game and you deserve to be abused in it if you are sinking your team.

There is always Pokemon GO or Penguin Club if you are too lazy to try.

Great Muta9/30/2016, 4:39:59 PM1 votes

Being nice to anyone in this game is one of the biggest mistakes you can make.

And unfortunately, Riot doesn't crack down on trolling enough, so the innocent players will be punished.

Any system where there is not equal cause and effect will create situations where abuse is common.