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How to kill a troll: With kindness

Warlord Zudane··73 votes·9,446 views

So, it sounds stupid but hear it out: There's an old thing I've heard that I always loved which is killing someone with kindness. When someone is lashing out at you they normally want a reaction. If you react negatively then they will continue because it felt good, if you don't react then they will continue because they are getting annoyed, but if you react positively then you can actually get them to stop.

I'm not saying be passive aggressive, that's still a negative reaction. Simply be positive. Ignore their negativity, continue talking with your team and being positive. If your team isn't being positive then use /all chat (I'm sure if the game is going that bad you have some down time while dead) and joke around with the other team. Yea, they are the enemy! but it's just a damned game they just want to play and have fun too. It's being a good sport, because out of 10 people in the game I'm sure you can find at least 2 of them that are positive (you + 1).

I see a lot of toxicity in the game, but it's everywhere - here on the boards and what not too. Too many people that forget that people have feelings, or people that have been abused by someone else and in turn are passing on it again. The cycle of rage and anger needs to stop somewhere, I'm just hoping to start a seed for that.

And, if you yourself start to get angry at the game, don't take it out on your team or you're the one that people are complaining about. No, I don't care if others are doing it too that doesn't mean it's acceptable to do and no I don't care if they ARE feeding. Unless the person is intentionally running up and dying without trying to fight back or escape they are just playing badly and that could be for any reason. Remember that thing above? Stay positive and help them out. You CAN turn around a game when someone is doing poorly because one person or one lane doing poorly will not make the entire game a guaranteed loss.

Seriously, if each person adds a little positivity then we can raise the overall attitude. Have more fun, chat more and make jokes! It's a game for crying out loud!

101 Comments

RiotBilby66 votes

This is great advice

Also when I read this in my head it's all in Lux voice

Xidphel11 votes

http://imgur.com/Cu8Fhk9

LET'S KILL THEM! With kindness! Teemo! I want you to make balloon animals!

DeathBurst8 votes

can we get that to be stickied, plz ?

Aatrox Mid 1v52 votes

{quoted}

This is great advice

Also when I read this in my head it's all in Lux voice

cmon that just makes it sound cringy now

MuChicken1 votes

sameeeeeeee i can so hear luxe's voice rn! XD

NightmareAmazoX1 votes

{quoted}

This is great advice

Also when I read this in my head it's all in Lux voice

I read it in Jinx voice for some reason..

Miles The Man1 votes

{quoted}

This is great advice

Also when I read this in my head it's all in Lux voice

I also read this in Lux's voice. She's probably the most positive champion.

Oleandervine8 votes

I kill it like this: http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/992/407/776.jpg If you play ignorant, it actually helps diffuse them a lot.

Dioxao2 votes

{quoted}

I kill it like this: http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/992/407/776.jpg If you play ignorant, it actually helps diffuse them a lot.

Same here! I've found that a random "?" or "huh?" usually deflates alot of the salt.

Raja Chachki5 votes

Isn't this a Selena Gomez song? I didn't know she endorsed League!

Anyways, yeah this tends to work for me. In general, I love to joke around with the other team, and it can really help lighten the mood when our team is doing badly.

R FLASH XD4 votes

Or make them snap till they get banned

Randorf1 votes

no u

JVP151 votes

no u

Romtheguy1 votes

oh look, there's one of the aliens

redfeenix3 votes

I agree with you 100%, me and me friends have this attitude all the time. At the end of the day, just remember its a damn video game. Its nothing to lose your shit over.

The worst thing thing though is having a negative/defeatest attitude.

I'm really not bothered by hate speech, but if you're gonna constantly be negative and not try, thats really dissapointing for me. However, I havnt had to report a player in a LONG time.

I think overall either the community is becoming better, or we've banned out all the toxic players. Stay cool League players [slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

DeathBurst1 votes

you're lucky, I'm still reporting someone every other game ^^'

redfeenix1 votes

your team or enemy?

DeathBurst1 votes

Both. Be it someone in my team asking for reports and blaming everyone all game long, or someone in the enemy team ending the game with "gg, easy", it all happens pretty regularly.

It's a long time since I didn't have a more "serious" offense, like someone using hate speech or telling people "kys" or other horrible stuff like that, but there are still plenty of less-serious-but-clearly-report-worthy stuff.

Warlord Zudane1 votes

There's a line that needs to be drawn though, and you are drawing it in the wrong spot.

Saying "GG, EZ" is annoying, but not much more, it's just bad sportsmanship. Telling someone repeatedly they are terrible is directly inflammatory and insulting and is reportable. Saying one small quip that can be annoying is not reportable - if I am mistaken, please someone from Riot correct me.

DeathBurst2 votes

"GG EZ" has been stated many times to be reportable. Probably won't trigger any punishment by itself, or maybe just a chat restriction, but it is reportable.

"It's just bad sportsmanship", but that's why the first category in the list of motive to report is "unsportsmanlike".

But yeah, maybe I'm a bit trigger happy. Thing is, that's the only way we have to "influence the community", because let's be real, most of the community doesn't come on these boards to chat, so I'm quite liberal with both reports and honors. That's why I'd like to know what's my report weight and my standing in the system, but tough luck, we don't have access to this data... Riot's too scared. Security by obscurity is a bad practice, but meh, it's far too common.

Anyhoo, all that is a bit tangential to your OP, so let me state here that I 100% agree with what you said up there. I'll still report people in the end, but your attitude DURING the game is exactly the right one.

Randorf1 votes

{quoted}

"GG EZ" has been stated many times to be reportable. Probably won't trigger any punishment by itself, or maybe just a chat restriction, but it is reportable.

"It's just bad sportsmanship", but that's why the first category in the list of motive to report is "unsportsmanlike".

But yeah, maybe I'm a bit trigger happy. Thing is, that's the only way we have to "influence the community", because let's be real, most of the community doesn't come on these boards to chat, so I'm quite liberal with both reports and honors. That's why I'd like to know what's my report weight and my standing in the system, but tough luck, we don't have access to this data... Riot's too scared. Security by obscurity is a bad practice, but meh, it's far too common.

Anyhoo, all that is a bit tangential to your OP, so let me state here that I 100% agree with what you said up there. I'll still report people in the end, but your attitude DURING the game is exactly the right one.

Your reports change nothing. Sad, Sad little people.

DeathBurst1 votes

Yeah, keep believing that, and I'll keep reporting.

Warlord Zudane2 votes

Really I'd love to be able to go somewhere to see an actioned report %, just to know what percent of my reports have been right or have been logged as evidence.

This way it's just some way to know how to improve. Right now people know so little about reporting that people expect you need 500 reports and 20 games for a single person to get punished. I understand that if it's 1 game and 6 reports it's most likely only one of them is actually used for punishment (meaning 5 others will never see the message that they helped).

What's the worst that could happen? People aim for 100% accuracy on reporting?

WacingTheFind3 votes

GL killing a trundle with kindness.

On a more serious note, I agree.

Warlord Zudane3 votes

Annie He just needs a bear hug!

SeductiveGrandpa1 votes

Annie AN ENEMY HAS BEEN SLAIN Trundle

SkyBlade793 votes

Yeah, listen to Selena Gomez, it works quite well.

3ofGot40ve2 votes

I find it kind of Ironic...

As I was reading this, I accepted a queue, and my support Caitlyn said she was going to troll. She then banned my top laners preference (wukong) and asked him to uninstall and neck himself. I tried to use the tactic I had just read. It went as follows:

Cait Supp: I'm trolling Cait Supp: Ez Me: Just have fun and do your best Cait Supp: STFU Retard kat main Cait Supp Bans Wukong Me: Hey (insert toplaner's username here), just pick your next best champion and you can carry No problem! ^_^ Top Laner Dodges

Relief.

Morality Coach1 votes

Honestly I'd throw if someone acted like that and I was in a bad mood.

I can climb if people are gonna be toxic or not, don't patronize me with the positive Sally stuff.

Warlord Zudane4 votes

Anyone can climb with it. The point is the difference between an enjoyable experience of a game versus being the top ranked person. Not everybody cares about being top rank, they just want a fun game.

And I'm not saying to go "Oh sweetheart, don't be so mean, let's all be friends!" but I am saying to not retaliate against them, don't turn your messages to them aggressive. Use polite chat whether someone is nice or not - and I don't care about saying shit or fuck or anything, but just use it right and don't insult people. Don't act that someone is falling behind is losing the game, help encourage them, continue pings as warnings, give them tips and advice. You know, act like a fucking human being.

Morality Coach1 votes

It's disingenuous. You aren't a nice guy you are just manipulating people psychologically to gain ELO. I can tell when someone is excessively nice or not by examining their morality.

I can tell you no one acts this way at the higher levels of the game. The game gets more toxic the higher your rank goes.

Gold 3 and above that excessive positive stuff tilts people, YMMV.

DeathBurst3 votes

Don't try to get the moral high ground here, because you just can't with this stance... -_-

It's better being mean than being nice, because when you are mean, at least you're honest? You can't be for real...

Morality Coach1 votes

Personally I'd rather have someone tell me I'm spastic and I cs like Micheal J Fox then stop typing than have some care bear talk to me a whole match.

That's just me though, it's not going to bother me much either way cause I know I'm gonna climb regardless.

I will always have the moral high ground because I've studied every moral system on the planet extensively.

Riot's Morality system the Summoner's Code is decent, but like all moral systems has flaws.

Meta Phyton3 votes

It's not Care Bear level friendliness that wins matches. You're right, that doesn't work, and it loses just as often as being an ass. Then instead of raging, people are busy cringing lol.

The sense of positiveness the OP talks about is .. more of a resistance to negativity rather than an overt reaction to it, that endures and stays on the right track as if the negative person's anger didn't exist. Wouldn't you say so, OP?

If somebody is being an ass and starting fights, well it's true positive to just .. keep going, and keep on pinging sensibly and acting smartly to assist them anyway, and generally keep on treating them like they're a valuable member of the team, even when they're busy insulting everyone and trapped in their own paranoid delusion that everyone is out to get them. It's not really niceness, and it's not diplomacy either. It's just .. well, if the guy is being a giant prick, then this kind of positivity is being to him like an older brother is to a spoiled brat kid of a sibling; still protective, still helpful, and now and then just privately rolls their eyes at how ridiculous the loud-mouthed runt is being. But still considering them as though like they matter and have worth, even though it would be pretty nice and personally satisfying to watch him sit in time out for a serious length of time -_-

Edit: Sorry for the edits, but really had to clean up the post a lot .. Yeesh.

Meta Phyton2 votes

Also your sense of morality, Morality Coach, is very bizarre for somebody who claims that they would throw the match just because somebody pushed your wrong button.

Morality Coach1 votes

What if my Morality of choice is Utilitarian Philosophy? JS Mill would not put up with any nonsense from Riot kids, lol.

When I'm playing ranked my Morality is 95% the Summoner's Code. My accounts are in good standing and I usually have good matches with no trolls in them.

President Swa1n1 votes

Pure utilitarianism has been dismissed as pathetic logic by pretty much everyone

Meta Phyton2 votes

Hey I don't know why that's the case. I don't really even know what it is, so could you describe it to me in your own words? I'd like to know what you're talking about, Morality Coach, so you could chime in with your words too.

President Swa1n1 votes

BASICALLY, utilitarianism is the moral principle that when making a decision, whatever makes the greatest number of beings happy is the right choice. Ask me if you want examples where the morality of this is questionable.

Meta Phyton2 votes

Well, sure I suppose you could provide that. But since this is a League of Legends forum, I think it makes more sense to compare everything to how it looks in League of Legends, since that will be the greatest source of practical knowledge and insight about whether it works well or not in League of Legends .. since here we're supposedly aspiring to determine which code of conduct is most effective to make positivity and enjoyment into the game.

'Morality Coach' sort of alludes to the possibility that .. his moral compass could be guided by that philosophy .. So, if we can hear some examples of behaviour that it inspires, then I think that will be the best source for evaluation. Agreed?

President Swa1n1 votes

I agree, although you must realize that utilitarianism always sounds amazing at first but it has caveats. For example, because it takes into consideration ONLY how MANY beings are being positively affected and not to what extent, if the majority of a team are trolls, the 'right thing to do' would be to troll. For a real life example, if you had the option of giving $10 to 10 people or $10,000 to 1 person, the first choice will be 10 times better than the second. Furthermore, although this is irrelevant to the game, humans and animals are given equal priority. Therefore, it would be better to give two rabbits a carrot each than give a human being anything at all.

EvilDustMan3 votes

[{quoted}](name=Morality Coach,realm=NA,application-id=ZGEFLEUQ,discussion-id=zcGgERIz,comment-id=000600000000,timestamp=2016-08-14T18:43:15.008+0000)

It's disingenuous. You aren't a nice guy you are just manipulating people psychologically to gain ELO. I can tell when someone is excessively nice or not by examining their morality.

I can tell you no one acts this way at the higher levels of the game. The game gets more toxic the higher your rank goes.

Gold 3 and above that excessive positive stuff tilts people, YMMV.

Honestly, with that attitude, isn't any and all speech you trying to psychologically manipulate people? You are expressing sounds that the other person is mentally interpreting and hopefully feeling the desired outcome behind your words. All speech is manipulation. All expression is manipulation if viewed that way.

Making an effort to be positive to help others stay positive to make the game better is not subversive, and a net gain for the game over all.

Morality Coach1 votes

No, I'd rather be honestly flamed for being bad than buttered up with nonsense. That's just me though.

At least with the flaming you know the person wants to win and is upset. The excessive positivity guy is probably just some beta male troll.

Elikain1 votes

People who rage for no reason don't deserve to be in a two way communication. I mute them from the first sentence they utter in this fashion because i don't really have to listen to them whine nor i have the time to sweet-talk them into submission and reverse psychology them into working with the team again.

Your way probably works but it's for people with patience to talk to the trolls, i am really focused on the game when i play and i seriously don't want to buddy buddy them if they're dicks.

Meta Phyton3 votes

No, it's not really about diplomacy or "sweet-talking" them into changing their attitude.

It's like ... ok, so if there are 5 guys who have to work to paint a fence and 4 of them are trying to have a good time and get the job done, and yet 1 of them starts going slowly and complaining and whining because somebody got a few splashes in the wrong spot or didn't wear the right overalls ... well ..

... the 4 other guys can either, get pissed and shout back at the guy to STFU and get back to work because they aren't gonna be bothered to deal with that ...

... they can get all sweet and try to appease all of his concerns and basically shine his shoes until, maybe, he'll be satisfied and go back to work but probably not because he's being a stubborn baby ...

... or they can just kinda .. roll their eyes at the poor baby, reach over and help him finish up his spot, and then go back to work like usual, so the surly baby doesn't have a lot of option other than to be surly for a few more minutes, and then eventually begrudgingly go back to work ...

The kind of kindness the OP talks about .. is that 3rd kind. The real kindness, not some fake, "oh darling I understand your concerns now let me please help you to feel better" BS.

ZAggie21 votes

What if they take vayne jg with heal/flash? Rage away? ;)

Warlord Zudane2 votes

Nope, don't rage. Game is going to go to hell? Eh, just have fun with it. Give them a hand and have them try to make it - or have them duo top. The enemy isn't prepared for that. It changes the dynamic but it'll work. Duo top and bottom and the jungle can't keep up.

Adapt, don't rage.

TheOldOneLT1 votes

Okay , but what should I do when I play jungler, top dies and asks me to hang myself. My bot lane - feeding, mid - feeding, everyone blames the jungler, cuz I can't carry their lanes for them, followed by "Report Vi" in after-game chat. FeelsGoodMan.

Warlord Zudane2 votes

If your team isn't being positive then use /all chat (I'm sure if the game is going that bad you have some down time while dead) and joke around with the other team. Yea, they are the enemy! but it's just a damned game they just want to play and have fun too. It's being a good sport, because out of 10 people in the game I'm sure you can find at least 2 of them that are positive (you + 1).

All honestly - that's a shit team from the sounds of it. But also don't forget that your own actions need to be taken into consideration. No it's not good for them to flame but if they are then there might be something you did wrong, if not they are just being assholes.

I'd guess this is the game you mean here: http://matchhistory.eune.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/EUN1/1490067102/209599299?tab=stats

From the looks of it Rengar invaded and put you behind early on. But looking at your stats: 2.1k damage to champs (lowest on your team) out of 60k damage dealt (highest on your team), only a single ward placed (lowest on your team), and earned 5k gold (highest on your team).

Before continuing I wanted to check replay.gg and you can see the games here: http://www.replay.gg/search/eune/TheOldOneLT#

So I watched some and saw that you did reconnect in late (nearly 2 minutes in) and didn't get a leash so your first clear was rough and with Rengar invading it doesn't help much. But excusing that I saw far far too many mistakes for it to be just that everybody was blaming you. Top actually would have had first blood with the exception of Rengar's invade, because he had a kill very shortly after.

Yea the team was rude but you can't just say that you played a perfect game and everybody was just feeding and blaming you. Take some blame for it - yea it sucks but that's how we improve. If you've never seen replay.gg before, use it to watch your games and see how you can improve.

To answer it simply: Take some blame for what you do wrong, apologize and improve. Nearly every person will not continue to insult you after you've acknowledged your mistake, because that shows you are aware of it and can improve on it - further harassment does nothing but harm. So start with trying to be humble and not that your team was terrible and blamed you - but rather you just had a bad game and everybody was negative towards you. Read the post again and remember to try and improve your game play and attitude because they both matter about winning.

TheOldOneLT1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Warlord Zudane,realm=NA,application-id=ZGEFLEUQ,discussion-id=zcGgERIz,comment-id=001c0000,timestamp=2016-08-15T23:18:40.368+0000)

All honestly - that's a shit team from the sounds of it. But also don't forget that your own actions need to be taken into consideration. No it's not good for them to flame but if they are then there might be something you did wrong, if not they are just being assholes.

I'd guess this is the game you mean here: http://matchhistory.eune.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/EUN1/1490067102/209599299?tab=stats

From the looks of it Rengar invaded and put you behind early on. But looking at your stats: 2.1k damage to champs (lowest on your team) out of 60k damage dealt (highest on your team), only a single ward placed (lowest on your team), and earned 5k gold (highest on your team).

Before continuing I wanted to check replay.gg and you can see the games here: http://www.replay.gg/search/eune/TheOldOneLT#

So I watched some and saw that you did reconnect in late (nearly 2 minutes in) and didn't get a leash so your first clear was rough and with Rengar invading it doesn't help much. But excusing that I saw far far too many mistakes for it to be just that everybody was blaming you. Top actually would have had first blood with the exception of Rengar's invade, because he had a kill very shortly after.

Yea the team was rude but you can't just say that you played a perfect game and everybody was just feeding and blaming you. Take some blame for it - yea it sucks but that's how we improve. If you've never seen replay.gg before, use it to watch your games and see how you can improve.

To answer it simply: Take some blame for what you do wrong, apologize and improve. Nearly every person will not continue to insult you after you've acknowledged your mistake, because that shows you are aware of it and can improve on it - further harassment does nothing but harm. So start with trying to be humble and not that your team was terrible and blamed you - but rather you just had a bad game and everybody was negative towards you. Read the post again and remember to try and improve your game play and attitude because they both matter about winning.

Yes, that was very bad game for me. I went into ranked after loosing some(and being tilted of course), got told by the premades to go jungle( role I didn't play in a while), that made me tilt even more +bugsplat at the start. Didn't have my mood at all, played horribly and got flamed at. The atmosphere in our team was just awful and there not much to do, lose that game, take a break and move on. Now I'm in promos for Plat again so it's ok :) Thanks for answer.

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