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Hyperbole has no place in discussions

The Ecdysiast·5/12/2019, 10:47:47 PM·3 votes·2,541 views

One thing that irks me to no end is the inclusion of emotion when we're taught how to write argumentative essays. It's far too easy to appeal to the audience's emotion with exaggerated and/or false claims, to the point that they aren't informed enough to form a reliable opinion and can't lend to the discussion.

A shocking fact with the correct context should illicit an emotional response on its own. When you have to resort to hyperbole, you're showing that the information you saw wasn't actually all that shocking.

If you're going to completely misrepresent the information like that, your threads don't belong anywhere but the Rant board.

In particular there are phrases and words people like to use that, when used in exaggeration, become flat-out lies. And while they could be used properly, they most often are not:

  • "One-shot"

  • The word you're looking for is burst. If you actually do die to a single ability, then it does warrant its own discussion. But it doesn't help your case to try and start a discussion about burst time being too quick by lying about getting one-shot.

  • "Outplayed"

  • This one's usually used in an attempt to be sarcastic, but is often used with the example of an actual outplay or without the context that the enemy was insanely fed. If you think that it's a problem that you died to two abilities from a fed caster, then you're misunderstanding a core aspect of the game-- you try to get fed to get more powerful.

  • "100 - 0"

  • This one should be the most obvious. It's another way to say you were burst down. But somehow, despite the phrase referring to actual numbers, people get it wrong and will use it to refer to moments where the enemy in fact failed to kill them. As if taking 2/3rd of your health from a combo that would have killed you if they were fed is a problem.

In general, making claims that exaggerate the numbers involved in your discussion is just lying. And we can't have an actual discussion about the perceived problem if you start it off by showing you're just going to lie.

10 Comments

Kei1435/12/2019, 11:02:43 PM5 votes

Best and overused hyperbole in Player Behavior: trolls and griefers in every game

rujitra5/13/2019, 12:01:00 AM1 votes

I think it's important to note that while there often is hyperbole used (ex: someone saying they were "one shot" simply because they were ambushed), there are also cases where each of the phrases you use are appropriate, as you note for one-shot. That being said, keep in mind the other two can also be used appropriately. Discussing the amount of time that it takes for someone to go 100-0 is a valid discussion (when conducted appropriately, which it rarely is). Furthermore, there needs to be a way to differentiate between a champion who is "overpowered" because they can burst really well from one who is "overpowered" because they were being played by someone who's better at the game (i.e. the player outplayed and that's why it seemed strong).

Flashes5/13/2019, 2:57:53 AM1 votes

I will see legitimate trolls and griefers, but that pales in comparison to the amount of ACCUSERS who often say things like "This person is a f%%%%%g r%%%%d, report for inting, boosted" and other phrases like that. That's the part I dislike about League, and how there are so many players that can remain so toxic.

This happens once every maybe 4 or 5 games, at least on my team.

If you include opponents complaining about their team postgame and in all chat, the number goes to about 2 or 3.

Syrile5/13/2019, 3:21:24 AM1 votes

One-shot is actually a phrase commonly used to describe one rotation of spells and has been for years in League. Otherwise, yeah, on the whole, hyperbole should stay mostly towards comedic effect rather than being used for "facts"