You're Losing New Players & Veterans like Myself
I've been playing League since I moved away from home to attend university. Like a lot of you, I developed a love for the game, mostly because it allowed me to connect with the friends and family who I moved away from. 5 years later, I've decided to quit playing because of the negative affects it had on a friend who I tried to introduce to the game, and because of the negative behaviour I've adopted as participant in toxic dialogue.
My friend was new to online gaming and exited for the experience, and I was excited for her. After a few days, she came to like it and she would play occasionally without my guidance; however her enjoyment wouldn't last long. In a Coop Vs. AI match, I instructed her to move to top lane so the lanes would be balanced (2 top, 1 mid, 2 bot). Greed compelled the other top lane player to tell her to "go [back to] bot bit.ch". I immediately began flaming this dude because they had no right to call my friend a bi-tch.
My friend was bewildered by the hurtful comment from a player who she had never met before. She was also astonished by the way I reacted in her defence; like a viper who might have killed this person had they been in my presence. The combination of these two things permanently destroyed her emergent gameplay experience. She now refuses to play the game, and understandably so.
After this event, I realized that most of the ~2000 games I've played had at least 1 unnecessarily toxic player whose toxicity would be deemed unwarranted by any reasonable person. I'm not saying that we should all love each other, and I do understand that this behaviour is perpetuated by League's competitive culture, but its possible communicate our displeasure without diminishing other players' self worth.
It doesn't feel good to be told to kill yourself just because you have imperfect mechanics. It doesn't feel good be on the receiving end of a racial slur just because you didn't click the "ready" button fast enough. It doesn't feel good to be called a bit-ch even when you're playing the game optimally (as in my friend's case). And if you think any of this is okay, then maybe you should kill yourself to see how it feels you [insert racial slur here] bi-tch.
I'm just giving Riot a detailed reason why I will no longer be contributing to their revenue stream.
The above was too aggressive. I'm saying, in part, that toxic dialogue hurts newer players experience; players who who may be willing to spend money or time on the game to make the content or community more robust and fun to participate in.
Happy Leaguing,
Daykeem
After I wrote that, I began to wonder what makes this game fun for other players. I've forgotten my reason for playing this game. What about you?
