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Toxic vs. A little trash talking

RuGu·1/7/2016, 11:55:46 PM·4 votes·1,052 views

I think the word Toxic is getting used a little too freely. Remember that League of Legends is at the core a competitive game, its going to draw out some strong emotions from people, because it is a really emotional game.

If it is going to be treated like a sport, which I think it should be. The players are going to have to thicken up their skin a little bit and not report every player who doesn't win lane and carry the game. I'll be the first person to blame myself for a bad play in any given game. I'll even take credit for something that went wrong when it isn't my fault. At the end of the day I want to win, if you calling me a 'bronzer' for a boneheaded play helps you get that hate off your chest and focus on the rest of the game, i'm totally fine with that, and i'm not going to report you.

The things that in my opinion are not ok and I will report someone for. Harping on someone the ENTIRE game for a mistake that happened 15-20 minutes ago. Excessive cursing - a little is ok if you ask me, just don't over do it. There is an option that hides these bad words if you are too sensitive to see them. Giving up because someone disagrees with you. AFKing because you're not the one who is carrying the game. Blaming other players all game long.

I think player emotions during a normal game of league aren't going to remain level, there are going to be highs and lows, and may illicit some trash talking. If we start labeling any negative or critical comment in a game as toxic, or start reporting players we simply do not agree with, the word loses its real meaning.

A toxic player isn't someone who is toxic one game, and not toxic the next, a toxic player is should be someone who is CONSISTENTLY toxic. The other really odd thing, and maybe this is because i'm getting on the older side now, and i think the league crowd is a little younger than me. The difference in what we consider offensive. I grew up in a really...rural and politically incorrect area (most of the time). I'm seriously desensitized to a lot of words people consider offensive. I imagine other players could be like that too, perma-banning someone for a first offense, even for racial or homosexual slurs, still seems wrong to me. I mean, 14 ban, ok, let them at least know that it isn't acceptable for this crowd.

Now before you ask me where it is acceptable, because that seems to be a popular counter point. I played a lot of sports as a teen, there was always trash talking and name calling, some of it would have probably made Gangplank wince; this dude is sailor if missed the correlation. That is part of a competitive environment. We were always good sports at the end of the game, everyone shook hands (the OG GG).

Lets all just take a step back before we go "OMG PERMABAN FOR BAD WORDS!"

Commence the down votes :p

11 Comments

Anomander1/8/2016, 12:13:16 AM5 votes

The problem is most people don't stop at a little trash talking.....

Insulting others is toxic. Flaming others is toxic. Telling people to uninstall is toxic.

Why not tell us a few thing you think are just "trash talking" because the line is drawn differently for everyone. Some think telling a person they are so bad they gave you cancer is trash talking. Without a baseline it is hard to determine what is acceptable. Hell "GGEZ" is considered very toxic. While a lot of things are blown out of proportion and prolly should not be reported. There really is no reason to unsportsmanlike.

Hell I played sports as a kid. If I cussed at all my coach would make me run laps/do push ups. This was for saying a simple word like "shit". If I had called another player a name even a kid on the other team I would have been benched for being rude. What is acceptable by your standards might not be acceptable by others. It is just a lot easier to have little to no tolerance for it, then trying to draw lines.

The game is for playing not for being a jerk. If you feel that being a jerk is a part of the game maybe you shouldn't play.

DexterousGecko1/8/2016, 12:20:41 AM5 votes

It's called not being a dick.

I'd hope someone would get punished in sports for calling someone a fa%%ot too. We seem to think that in competitive sports being a dbag is ok because it's competitive. Hint: you're allowed to be competitive without insulting someone else.

Tenzosan1/8/2016, 4:32:47 PM2 votes

This program at it's absolute core is not competitive, it is a game. Games are meant to be fun and bring joy. Save your competitive mojo for ranked. If you are in normals and start trash talking you are ruining the GAME for others who are there to have a good time. They might be trying something new, they might be trying a different build. Hell they might even be just trying to have fun with THEIR game the way they want. If you want to justify trash talking then there has to be a safe haven for those who don't want to deal with your kind of thinking. This isn't about being sensitive, it is about what people want to get out of this GAME.

Troll Armada1/8/2016, 1:52:37 AM1 votes

The problem is that most of the trash talking occurs to your own team, and that's just not acceptable. Sorry bro.

You should just imagine that every game you play is against a six year old girl and you'll be fine.

Woodakoodashooda1/8/2016, 4:17:32 PM1 votes

Here's an example of trash talking.

I recently played against a Xerath. I saw that he stayed in bot lane after picking up a couple kills; so, I TP'ed in and killed him, but not before flashing after him.

Xerath: Nice flash. Me: Nice overstay. Xerath: Wasn't an overstay, I would have lived had you not flashed. Me: Woulda coulda shoulda.

Here's an example of flaming.

A few days ago, I laned against an Orianna whose jungle regularly and successfully ganked my lane.

Orianna: You're such an idiot. Enemy Jg: You really are.

The enemy Orianna continued to insult me to the point that me and my alllies reported her for unsportsmanlike conduct.