Toxic Community

keybone·10/20/2016, 2:14:02 AM·2 votes·384 views

Hello,

I just wanted to post and say I will be cancelling my son's account because of the dangerous and abusive players in the game. It's always been bad but recently the comments I see are getting out of control.

The majority of games involve players calling each other racist and demeaning terms, telling each other to eat shit or drink bleach... and worse. This is really unacceptable. There's lots of other games he can play that do not expose him to this sort of behavior.

I do not think Riot is doing enough to make the game's community positive and I would like to see this improve.

8 Comments

Keepe10/20/2016, 2:15:56 AM4 votes

Hi, welcome to League of Legends. Welcome to the internet in general. Riot acts on these comments, so I am sorry you feel that banning these players regularly isn't enough for you.

Slythion10/20/2016, 2:28:17 AM3 votes

My suggestion is to stop being an overprotective parent (I mean this as honest advice, not to be mean). Bottom line is that you can't just stop this type of behavior, and your son will be exposed to it regardless of what game he plays. When (or if he is already in one) he enters high school, you won't be able to protect him. There are mute + censorship option in the client for these purposes, as well as the fact that Riot bans/chat-restricts players regularly.

Now I'm not trying to justify these player's behavior though. I've never been the player you describe, but I'll freely admit that people in general (it's definitely not limited to just League players, this applies to everyone, especially on the internet where being anonymous is a common shield for bullies) are harsh and cruel. You can't shelter your son forever, no matter how much it sucks.

There's also the fact that imposing force to stop your son from playing this game because your concerned for his feelings will only create a rift between you two. Trust me, you don't want to be that parent that just forces your children to do things "because you say so". This is one of those things that you need to let your son decide for himself, else you create a very controlling and restrictive environment for your children.

But hey, I can't tell you how to parent your child. I simply am trying to express my point of view as I can relate to both you and your son.

My advice: Try to consider his feelings instead of trying to protect him from things that he'll be exposed to anyways

My Sea Cow10/20/2016, 2:22:13 AM1 votes

Though the community can be toxic at times, any sort of online game will have toxicity in it unless it's 100% meant for children, there's absolutely no way to avoid it. Riot definitely does the best it can and warnings and punishments are given if people are reported. Yes League is more for a mature audience which is why we don't let my boyfriend's nephew play often

EvilDustMan10/20/2016, 2:27:51 AM1 votes

Honestly, this is the best game out there that has unrestricted interactions. Though I haven't played overwatch in a while, I don't know how well that is going.

Dank Jerry10/20/2016, 2:19:21 AM1 votes

League is a toxic/underground game, he shouldnt be playing anyways, you make it sound like hes a kid or teen.

Either way if hes sensitive he shouldnt be playing, thats how games are,

Even if you are the father no one will take it seriously since this is the internet of course.

lastly there wont be any improvements, thats how the community is, no way around that but to not play

RIP, another lost soul gone but not forgotten summoner 1

Zykklon B10/20/2016, 2:30:50 AM1 votes
KORGtuners10/20/2016, 2:57:34 AM1 votes

Thank you for being an active parent.

keybone10/20/2016, 12:51:00 PM1 votes

We are of course aware that he will be exposed to people like this in his life, that doesn't mean it will be encouraged.

I also, disagree with the "it can't be avoided" mentality. He loves Overwatch and the community is no where near as bad. Even the swearing/flaming I have seen in that game is never as aggressive, hateful, or intense as in LoL. There's tons of talk about this online- check Reddit, Imgur, or any of the gaming forums.

Finally, I disagree that Riot is doing everything they can. And there's no need to argue on the internet, this can be easily validated by showing the stats on-

a) How many games involve a player that makes extremely abusive or hate speech comments vs b) How actively that player is banned/punished

Based on how prevalent the problem seems to be in LoL I think that a) is a very high number and b) is a very low number.

I would be happy to be proven wrong, though.