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Why so much toxic and aggressive behavior?

Zapharly··1 votes·658 views

So I kinda stopped playing after my original account was perma-banned because i was defending myself and other players who did nothing wrong from toxic players of the community. And i know what some will say; "No you were probably the one being toxic" or something to that effect. I came back and immediately i'm greeted in every game I have played thus far I have played, someone has found some reason or another to pick on other players just because they are having a bad game, they are disconnecting every once in a while or they were already in a (excuse the language Riot) shitty mood and the game started going sour.

So I guess some of my questions is why is everyone so against people talking while playing? It's supposed to be a FRIENDLY game, not a toxic and hostile game. I literally played 4 matches tonight, every single one of them had an issue with someone in the game or just snapped for no reason when the team we were on started to lose. In another match, not only was i bashed for not having flash; AND BEFORE ANYONE SAYS ANYTHING!!!! READ THIS FIRST! I play WORSE when I use flash so I stopped using flash, I also know my tendency to hide more and play "safer" or technically passive which (which i usually play as) if i'm the adc i need to be up there getting shots off not standing in the back waiting til they get them low enough especially being I am the one doing the most dmg as adc (just an example). The other part I got bashed for is playing Illaoi support.....Thing is it works GREAT and i know this for a fact, ONLY IF the adc works with you, I've won many games as support like that among other supports. (Yes i understand she's "not support material" not my point. We are supposed to be able to play the way we like, try and find things that work for us and help us stand out and who knows maybe exceed the better players otherwise we start again from scratch.....with the general toxicity of this game and other games like this, it's hard to actually enjoy the game when you can't find a group who won't quarrel.....which leads me to the next game, I was adc in my fourth game.....the support was karma.....I know how op she is when done right. Not only did she spend as much time as i did talking, and i did it when i was enroute or dead mostly as i can do nothing useful for the team. She tries to tell me i'm talking too much......just because I was having a discussion with another team member who was hurting bad as she was jungle and being countered hard. yet when the game was done, she had not only called me mental, but retarded and a few other names for trying to help a team mate our with using a different approach. I instead of lashing out or fighting back because i learned defending myself isn't an option in this community anymore, i muted her and reported her at the end along with the zilean who also called me retarded and stated outright that he reported me when i'd given no warrant for it.

Sorry for the long post, I'm trying to seek opinions and thoughts among other things because I can't play a game I can't enjoy anymore and it's testing my limits. So I guess in general; the questions stand, why is breaking the meta a bad thing now; why don't ppl have friendly conversations anymore and why should those having a bad game or ended up making a few bad plays have to suffer through this? And one other things before i forget.....Flash, is it vital or situational? The person i was talking to felt it was vital and i was asking her why, and i will state this if i already haven't, I don't use it because it worsens my game even with perfect timing.

8 Comments

Deep Terror Nami2 votes

Is this thread about player behavior, off-meta champions, or Flash?

Zapharly1 votes

It would be about all of the above if you want to know which sepcifically

Deep Terror Nami2 votes

Ok.

  1. Toxic players - Try your best to ignore them. Don't provoke them, don't engage them, just try to shift the team's focus to the game in a positive manner, and mute anyone that would rather be a jerk. These players will always be out there, but how you respond to it will reflect how you enjoy the game greatly. Their reports will not hurt you if you aren't being negative back to them.

  2. Off-meta picks - Yes, you can play whatever you want. However, keep in mind that this is a competitive team game, and your allies are relying on you to carry your weight and do your best to win. You can use Illaoi Support if you want, but there's a reason it's not meta; it is not good. If you're good enough with her compared to the enemy you can perform just fine, but if you can with her you can probably do much better with a meta pick and win more games. People play Ranked to win, and you need to be considerate of the others there; people typically do not care what you play in Normals if you're looking for a more accepting environment for that.

  3. Flash - It's often an "Oh shit" button, meaning it will occasionally get you out of a situation that nothing else can. You can definitely pick something else for more frequent combat benefits, you just have to play knowing your emergency options are more limited. If you can make it work for you there's no problem not taking it, but since it's such a staple in the meta most players will be skeptical that you can do so.

Zapharly1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Deep Terror Nami,realm=NA,application-id=ZGEFLEUQ,discussion-id=nIg22r57,comment-id=00010000,timestamp=2016-09-13T10:03:03.252+0000)

" 1. Toxic players - Try your best to ignore them. Don't provoke them, don't engage them, just try to shift the team's focus to the game in a positive manner, and mute anyone that would rather be a jerk. These players will always be out there, but how you respond to it will reflect how you enjoy the game greatly. Their reports will not hurt you if you aren't being negative back to them."

I've learned my lesson after the last time, I definitely follow those rules of thumb if you will and usually report them depending on how much of a jerk they are being because there is no reason for it especially if there was nothing to instigate it. And actually I found, no matter how you respond to them especially if they are, let's say a team of 4, you can get punishment from reports and nothing you can do about it as the system is automated, no one is reading the reports anymore.

"2. Off-meta picks - Yes, you can play whatever you want. However, keep in mind that this is a competitive team game, and your allies are relying on you to carry your weight and do your best to win. You can use Illaoi Support if you want, but there's a reason it's not meta; it is not good. People play Ranked to win, and you need to be considerate of the others there; people typically do not care what you play in Normals if you're looking for a more accepting environment for that."

I get where you are going with mentioning normals is more accepting although I do often ask the adc if they want me to pick Illaoi or an alternative instead especially in ranked because as you pointed out, it is competitive and not everyone is receptive. However, I've found in the recent playing i've done since my quit, there is not as many receptive people in Normals anymore either.

" 3. Flash - It's often an "Oh shit" button, meaning it will occasionally get you out of a situation that nothing else can. You can definitely pick something else for more frequent combat benefits, you just have to play knowing your emergency options are more limited. If you can make it work for you there's no problem not taking it, but since it's such a staple in the meta most players will be skeptical that you can do so."

I definitely see your point and agree with you on it, however I already know my "oh shit" situation usually gets me in even worse situations or causes my team a fight we could have won had i not used it. But that's what people fail to realize i think, not everyone is capable of using flash as a utility and some people end up worse off than better. As I had already stated, I hurt my team because I play more passive and on top of that I know I get panicky in some situations and F or D then crap either my teammate who thought i was backing him/her up is dead or crap i just flashed towards instead of away from them. xD which is why my standard go to is heal and ignite/smite depending on what i'm doing. Thank you for your input, atleast I'm not the only who feels it's not an absolute necessity.

Deep Terror Nami2 votes

And actually I found, no matter how you respond to them especially if they are, let's say a team of 4, you can get punishment from reports and nothing you can do about it as the system is automated, no one is reading the reports anymore.

This is inaccurate. Yes, the system is automated. No, that does not mean it punishes people just based on report volume. The system checks the chat logs and game data for the reported behavior, and if it doesn't find anything then the report won't hurt you. Premade reports altogether only have the weight of a single solo report specifically so they have no extra power in triggering a review of your case, and even if they do trigger a review it still doesn't matter as long as you've done nothing wrong. The system is not perfect, but it is not stupid.

Struddle1 votes

At least for the second question of off-meta picks generally people dislike them because they generally "don't" work but I believe this is currently one of the biggest flaws in League of Legends. It doesn't allow for a lot of people to play what they want hell I play TF ADC sometimes if the team is willing to work with me but I always let them know ahead of time what I plan to do. The simple fact is that a lot of people look at a number crunch and say well hey this is the best and only ways to play pick these hero's. While I like and dislike this problems occur when you don't pick what people are used to and even if you do well and those blaming you feed their heads off if you don't pick meta they simply will flame and potentially report you because you went Illaoi support (which I've played with varying success).

(I should probably rename myself to TheDotaPlayer or something like that because here comes the comparisons) In dota there is a "Meta" but I would consider it more like a flavor of the month the difference being that every hero in dota is viable in a certain situation it's how each hero is designed. Unfortunately Riot doesn't take this approach to Champion design and it's one of the reasons why some champions (especially older ones) simply don't work or need to be reworked. This is something you will very rarely see in Dota since so many hero's are designed with a kit and it serves a purpose and is built to work in varying situations.

This is where I believe Riot is fundamentally flawed in their thought process of champion design and in turn makes something an off-meta pick. They make a champion with the idea of this champion is going to be a tanky top lane or a jungle or support (or whatever). This is where I really believe it is a hindrance and the fact that riot suggests where the champion should be played. Any time a Dota 2 hero is released they show off the spells give suggested items and say hey you go figure out where the best place to play this is. I think this IMO is what sets the two games apart. (Don't even get me started on how terrible Riot's invisible champions are literally so bad they stopped designing extended invisibility into the game because they couldn't figure out how to make it work still haven't to this day even after multiple reworks.....)

Mind you this is a bit more than just hey here's why you don't pick off-meta but I truly think this is a design flaw in the game that Riot just hopes people won't address. Off-meta is only off-meta because some pro hasn't figured it out yet. Singed wasn't played until Dyrus picked it up. Yorick was never played until Rainman got his shit kicked in on his signature teemo. Shyvanna and Rengar weren't considered top laners until pros picked them up (I don't remember who brain is shutting down) Mage mid lane wasn't considered a thing until EU dominated the American scene with it. Annie and Brand were not considered supports when they were designed so it's as simple as this off-meta will always exist and someone somewhere is going to break it but the sad and horrible part is unless you're a big streamer or a pro player what you pick off-meta will never matter regardless of how good your WR is at lower levels you will be flamed you will be reported and potentially banned. Because it's "off-meta".

BUT does that make you wrong for wanting to play what you want to play. Not really but you are risking so much more if it fails. If you lose a game as Leona Support no one will bat an eye but if you lose a game as Illaoi support you best believe someone on your team will say "Maybe if we had a real support instead of this Illaoi we would have won." Even if they go 3/9/7 as a adc (marksman) because they don't understand when to go in/not go in. It will be your fault because you didn't pick meta and nothing that you say will convince that player or any other like minded player otherwise.

TL:DR If you wanna play "off-meta" picks go for it but in doing so you're running the risk of having the entire team turn on you the moment something goes wrong even if it has nothing to do with your play alone. Also said some stuff about bad champion design creating an off-meta in the first place. Along with reworks and inability to balance champions.

Zapharly1 votes

{quoted}

At least for the second question of off-meta picks generally people dislike them because they generally "don't" work but I believe this is currently one of the biggest flaws in League of Legends.

I strongly agree with you in every aspect, Riot designs champs with a specific lane in mind like you said, only pros and those who are noticed can really change a meta. I know first hand how to achieve victory on off-meta and that starts with the team trusting you and obviously because it isn't meta, it's difficult; like you said, you have varying success....I had more wins as Illaoi support than losses under my belt. I know it is supposed to be (the term you used) a flavor of the month but it's come to the point where if that isn't the flavor it should never be embraced nor looked at at all...But you do make valid points such as champs needing reworks, having bad kits in general which make them better suited to other lanes and areas as opposed to the set meta for the champion.

Thank you for your input.

Struddle1 votes

Any time I wish you the best of luck in your games going forward. I do hope you can prove my statements wrong in fact I'd love it if you did so glhf and see you on the rift!

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