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Why does Riot control chat so intensely?

googaingan·1/6/2020, 4:18:41 AM·1 votes·2,302 views

I've never understood what's wrong with "toxicity". Every function a player has in this game is optional and mutable. Muteable pings, muteable chat, disabled chat, blocking, etc. Why is text chat in a video game censored and punished so heavily??? If your a typical 30+ account playing ranked, you know league, you've heard and seen things and outside of that, people in the real world know league is a toxic wasteland. All Riot's system does is provide benefit to those who can avoid the detection of the system or those who are passive-aggressive, stoking the fires of the truly toxic players, who then go crazy in chat and then receive punishment. But not the person who spam pings ?'s and provokes people non-directly. Go to any "gamer" you know and ask them about league's community. More often than not, in real life and the internet, the consensus is that league has an awful, toxic community. Clearly, the bans and chat restrictions have barely curbed toxicity and just loses loyal players and money, so why not change the system to something more realistic, perhaps more on Mute culture or a better profanity filter. I just don't get why people should have to change and hide who they are just because others don't understand how to use the functions the game provided.

edit: yes free speech doesnt apply to companies

nvm forget Tencent own's it all which means if whinnie the pooh doesnt like it, it go bye bye

17 Comments

GatekeeperTDS1/6/2020, 4:27:03 AM10 votes

This free speech shit again. League is Riot's living room. Just as you control your own living room, they control theirs. Follow the rules or one way or another, you won't be playing.

KFCeytron1/6/2020, 4:21:36 AM6 votes

Because by the time you have to mute someone's shit your experience has already been ruined.

You have a right to free speech, guaranteed by the government. However, so does everyone else. This right only protects you from the government, which is restricted from passing laws that infringe on your right to free speech, assembly, and so on. It doesn't force other private entities, such as Riot Games, to provide you with a platform and compel everyone to listen to you. We all have the right not only to speak freely, but also to not listen if we so choose. When Riot restricts your chat privileges (not a right - a privilege), they are choosing not to listen to what you have to say, and choosing not to transmit it to other players. If a theater employee asks you to quiet down during a movie, or a friend tells you not to swear at their house, or a newspaper rejects your submission, they are not infringing on your right to free speech. They are exercising their own.

DuskDaUmbreon1/6/2020, 4:34:17 AM5 votes

Because toxicity leads to tilt, which leads to feeding (intentional or otherwise). You can mute it, sure, but that doesn't mean you didn't already have to listen to it.

people in the real world know league is a toxic wasteland

So...why should Riot do nothing to fix that? That's like seeing your bathroom is disgusting then refusing to clean it because it's disgusting.

Modi1/6/2020, 4:44:47 AM4 votes

Another less well thought out point; why does a company based in America not follow the constitution, which is very liberal about free speech.

Less thought out? You need to read the constitution before spouting off about free speech. Here's the actual text of the first amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The first amendment has nothing to do with how a private entity polices speech on its private property.

Now that is out of the way, we can get more into the other part of your post. I'm going to do an exercise replacing some words in key excerpts of your post.

I've never understood what's wrong with "law breaking". ... All the justice system does is provide benefit to those who can avoid the detection of the system ... stoking the fires of the other criminals, who then go crazy and then receive punishment. ... the world still has criminals. Clearly, laws, jailing, and ticketing have barely curbed criminality ... I just don't get why people should have to change and hide who they are just because others don't understand how to protect them selves and belongings from criminals

The example is extreme hyperbole, but the argument boils down to this: "clearly there is still toxicity in league despite banning people, why bother with banning?" It is analogous to "clearly there are still criminals despite the efforts of the justice system, why bother prosecuting suspected criminals?"

It is a logical flaw to think "because their efforts don't fix everything, then why bother doing anything?" I don't even want to imagine what kind of nightmarish shithole this game would become if Riot removed all their chat policies.

MagicFlyingLlama1/6/2020, 5:49:17 AM4 votes

Because nobody wants to listen to some redhat vent their incoherant rage in a game they play for fun.

ModPrandine1/7/2020, 9:43:57 AM

Freedom of speech does not mean freedom of speech consequences, nor does it apply to privately owned businesses such as Riot Games. For instance you can't yell "fire!" in a crowded theater, incite a riot or plan to kill the president and expect not to be held accountable for it. As for the mute argument, yes people should use it if need be but it's meant to be a band-aid solution at most and is not an excuse for poor behavior. If the only way you can interact with others is in a way that forces them to mute you then you're doing something wrong and need to fix it asap.

As for the punishment system angering people, in my experience the only people it angers are those who are mad that they can't get away with being jerks or bullies, & rather than take responsibility for their behavior they'd rather blame others instead & cry foul whenever they're actually held accountable for their actions. People seem to think that because it's a video game or the internet that it gives them a license to be a jerk and behave however they want accountability free, and that anyone who dares complain about it is an "insert insult here". From what I've seen it's the people who act like this who are actually the sensitive/"insert insult here" ones since they're the ones throwing a fit over being punished & having their playthings taken away from them for poor behavior. It being the internet or a game shouldn't mean abandoning all basic forms of common sense and decency, and if someone is dead set on being hostile to others than LoL isn't for them.

Yes the IFS isn't perfect and needs improvements in the gameplay trolling detection department, and yes the game will never be free of toxic players (no online multiplayer game will though), but clearly it does work. We shouldn't coddle and protect the people who just want to make others miserable (and thus drive away business & potential customers), but instead protect the ones who actually provide enjoyable and fun (or at the very least neutral) experiences for others.