Boards›Player Behavior

Restore Our Freedom of Expression by Learning to Mute

ofart·1/25/2016, 9:10:20 PM·5 votes·1,027 views

By reporting for nearly everything, we are teaching the system to punish way too many things and stifling our own freedom of expression even in innocent cases. There's also the problem of false reports with no consequences but that's something else. If you mute someone more often when it's not a truly toxic comment but still bothers you for whatever reason, we can leave the kiddie island and be adults with all our ability to be witty intact instead of living in fear of reprisals for what might be misinterpreted.

I'll just quote my response to this since I don't feel like reformulating what is basically the same idea. I'm not saying the guy doesn't deserve a ban overall but he definitely doesn't based on what was provided as evidence against him so far (assuming it's the real chat).

> > Ok, but why is he presented with the chat log above as "evidence" which is not worthy of even a chat restriction imo. If you're going to ban someone, provide REAL evidence to them instead of hinting there is other stuff. He's not allowed to joke with friends saying things like "noob aaron" which for all we know was when his buddy misplaced a ward or died after having a 10-0 score etc.? > > If the system goes this much by reports rather than objective things, that's an issue affecting freedom of expression and I don't think the rewards are worth it. Honestly, the whole system makes little sense to me because the problems it tries to solve instantly disappear if you mute players. Moreover, if mute was the only way to deal with toxic players, we would feel free to be ourselves and joke around. Also, why ban players for this stuff when you can just permanently revoke their chat privileges? Many players already mute everyone at the start of the game and pings are pretty descriptive so I don't see the issue. > > As an adult, I'm afraid to make jokes, use sarcasm, use profanity for emphasis but with no ill intention etc., I feel like a little kid locked in a playpen when I'm in this game and it's demeaning. I think it's going to make a lot of players over 18 leave the game eventually. Since I limit a lot of my expression, I don't have any issues with my account but it makes it decidedly "un-fun" to have to hold back nearly every joke in fear that some oversensitive prude gets offended. > > I got 3-man turret dived and barely lived not long ago. I wanted to type "gg ez" as a joke and didn't but I find it ridiculous people would get banned for it too. I haven't heard of anyone getting banned for having the opposite opinion and typing "gg hard" so why isn't someone allowed to express the opinion that the game is easy? I'm not saying that it's the nicest thing to say but are we really all 6 year olds and do we need the thought police for every statement? I feel like I'm in Orwell's 1984 and no one wants to live like that. I'd gladly welcome more toxics (who I'd quickly mute) if it meant that I wouldn't have to worry about my chat being flagged as toxic for innocent jokes, sarcasm etc.

BTW: I think the reports system is out of hand in general. I've seen threads with a lot of support from the community for reporting teams for "not ending efficiently." For example, instead of taking Baron and winning, a team might go into the enemy base and get a bunch of kills instead. I consider getting reported for such a thing absolutely insane. First of all, no one has control of the team's decisions and secondly there is a surrender option. If people vote "No", it means they think they have a chance and it's probably exactly because the enemy team is messing around. Just yesterday, TL came back from 11-0 with every inhib down and there is always a sliver of a chance if one's enemies get too careless. In any case, this is simply a gameplay report and I think it's absurd to try to control how people on the enemy team play the game.

27 Comments

AMYS GRAVE1/25/2016, 9:11:34 PM17 votes

If i have to mute you, you've likely already ruined the game.

ofart1/25/2016, 9:21:27 PM3 votes

You can think a wide array of things ruin the game, and not all of them are reportable or valid. Much of this is opinion and the truth is, that some of the stuff people report for is pretty absurd, as I've indicated. If one comment ruins the game for you, you need thicker skin. You shouldn't have 30 minutes ruined by a single line, regardless of what it is. Moreover, muting will stop further negative influence from that player but a report won't stop him from continuing to annoy you.

I'm not surprised I'm getting downvoted but it just highlights what's wrong with the community. With how little time passed, I doubt anyone even bothered to read and just reflexively downvoted based on the title like some kind of rabid monkey.

I'm not even toxic and don't get punished but the issue is the lack of freedom in expression. I guess some people would rather rescind their freedom than be exposed to any potentially toxic comment. I think that's sad and weak minded. Some people would rather live in a censored and walled society than have their sensibilities tested in any way. Is this the Chinese influence? ;) Are we also going to imprison people for criticizing kings like in Malaysia? The cost in freedom is way too high.

ModPrandine1/25/2016, 9:50:01 PM3 votes

[1] People can report you for anything, but as long as you're doing nothing wrong then the report will be flagged as false and ignored. Also, the report reason doesn't matter, as if you're breaking the rules then you'll get punished regardless (i.e. if you were reported for intentionally feeding but were actually verbally abusing and harassing others in-game then you would be punished for verbally abusing and harassing others in-game).

[2] As far as muting goes, muting is not a "get out of jail free" card, meaning that it's not an excuse to act however you want to in-game. I shouldn't have to mute you, but If I have to mute you though then the damage has already been done by you, as it's clear that you have absolutely no intentions of being neutral or positive that game.

[3] I took a brief glimpse at that person's chat logs and what I saw is that their punishment was completely justified in my eyes. Keep in mind though that Reform Cards prioritize recent games that one was reported in, and they had multiple games of acting up as well in order to get punished like they did.

[4] What's funny to you and/or your friends may not be funny to others, which is why Riot strongly recommends you be careful when making certain jokes or comments when around completely random strangers. If they've asked you to stop and you refuse to do so then the fault and blame lies with you and you alone.

[5] While perma-chat restrictions might work for some, it won't work for all, as there are trolls out there who refuse to say a single word and would rather have their actions in-game shown that they're fully bent on trolling. That's why Riot immediately bumps them up to 2-week and/or permaban status when they are caught, as they know that chat restrictions would be completely and totally ineffective against those kinds of players.

[6] Allot of people here claim that they are adults but in reality they act like little children and throw a fit when they don't get their way. Remember that it's not cursing itself that it's bad, it's when it's directed at other people that it becomes bad. If you must yell then yell at your computer monitor or something rather than in the chat. Some people also don't understand that harassing others constantly and being a jerk is unacceptable here or out in the real world. In here you'd just get chat restricted or banned from playing the game, but out in the real world you'd actually get fired from your job if you acted like a jerk.

[7] Keep in mind that almost all of the people that complain about their punishments often try to hide and/or lie about the reason that they actually got punished, whether by changing the story of what happened or just trying to shift the blame onto others in order to try to hide that they got banned for negative retaliation. If you really want to blame someone, blame those people for failing to see that they were in the wrong, hence their punishments.

[8] Freedom of speech doesn't apply here, and Riot has every right to punish you if you choose to act up. You can say what you want sure, but you can also be held accountable for what you say as well, so watch it.

TL;DR Follow the rules and don't be a jerk to other people. Doing that will prevent you from getting punished by Riot. Also people make up stuff here all the time to try to justify and/or hide their poor behavior only for the truth to be brought to the light once a Rioter or their Reform Card rears it's head. Don't force people to mute you just so you can act however you want to act, and if you're asked to stop then stop. Basically don't do or say anything that you know will only serve to tick other people off, and don't use excuses like Freedom of Speech either as you'll just instantly lose the argument.

HexaDecimel1/25/2016, 10:29:08 PM3 votes

Freedom of Expression does not mean freedom to abuse.

ofart1/25/2016, 9:44:36 PM2 votes

Since people are mindlessly downvoting without even reading (and yes I know they haven't read it when it's -5 within less than 5 minutes of it being posted), I will change it to a title that people don't reflexively associate with suggesting toxicity is OK because there's a mute button.

PIMPSMOOTH1/26/2016, 12:22:58 AM2 votes

[slayer-pantheon-popcorn] http://static2.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1551/15516851/2941774-lfs23.png

Kei1431/25/2016, 11:02:16 PM1 votes

there are consequences when you report every game (sometimes without merit), your report weight reduces as your false report count increases.

So you are lesser to be treated seriously.

please reference boy who cries wolf for further details

Krigjer1/26/2016, 1:16:26 PM1 votes

I really do think people are too easily offended these days. I mean, there are people on these boards that think you offering advice in the nicest way you possibly can is still toxic. 'because you're telling people what to do, and that implies you think they're wrong!'

I'm not saying that no one should report anyone ever, but there IS a difference between being toxic and simply disagreeing. Someone saying something you don't like is not grounds for a report.

(Had a game where the enemy Akali roamed bot and got us even though we were warded. I admitted that we shouldn't have been so pushed, but I also asked our Zed to either push the wave or follow her, instead of just last hitting. His response: 'You're a bully. Stop harassing me' Like. Come on.)