Instead of complaining about your teammates being terrible and all that...

ChaosThief·Feb 18, 2015·1 votes·958 views

TL:DR Play a weird, unusual role for a champion, then try to win with everything you have. When you're at a disadvantage, don't blame others, but try to work with them. This is a team game, not a solo game, and everyone is in here to enjoy themselves, believe it or not. Some forget what playing too serious means.

...Why not try to play a fun game with some friends?

If there's one thing I learned in nemesis draft, anything can be possible if you know how to play with it. Rather than play the ultra tank shen that normal people do, I played shen as an assassin. I would both try to save other people and keep myself alive.

Sometimes people are boggled why they have losing streaks or that "their team sucks" or anything else like that. But think about this, just for a moment: If you played something that seemed completely unconventional, could you win? And the answer should not be "no", and not "maybe" either. Try to always think "Yes, I can win this!" So here's a little experiment: play a game with a general theme, or play all characters in an out of meta way. I don't mean play Urgot, or anything like that, I mean play them strangely. You're playing nami? Don't play as a support, play as the APC. Playing lucian? On hit lucian could be fun, right?

When I played nemesis in unconventional ways, I felt I was playing smarter than when I play something "meta", such as an marksman as a marksman. AD shen wasn't just "try to kill them every time" early game, it was "work WITH my teammate to try and kill them." You can learn some valuable things when you play different roles in unusual spots, because instead of it being about winning the lane, then the game, it's about working TOGETHER to try and win.

This is all from personal experience. One thing many players do is complain that they have bad teammates, or they can't win games. Well, try to learn how to be a better teammate! Don't harass them, help them out. Don't try to surrender if you're losing initially, be patient. There are so many valuable things people overlook simply because they just want to win and head for the "best option", rather than what they feel comfortable with. Or, better yet, something they feel uncomfortable with. If you're forced to play something where you feel you're disadvantaged, most of the time you'll think of playing smarter and using anything you have to try and win, and anything means teamwork as well. Sometimes the most simple of things can be lessons.

I apologize if this seems like I'm rambling. I'm not an excellent writer, but I hope my message got through to the readers here. If anyone wants, I can attempt to play a game with you, with these strange conditions. I'm not great, but I'll try my best! So go on out there, and try something new. Refresh your league experience by doing everything the game has to offer, not just what "professional players do." See if you can get a little more enjoyment out of league.

Remember, league is nothing but a game. If you take it too seriously, you may forget what the meaning of "having fun" is. Plus, you could improve! Learning how to play with all of your strengths is something that will help you play the "meta" roles as well!

2 Comments

MasterofSFLFeb 18, 20151 votes

(Disclaimer: I'm at work, read the summed version)

I'll make this as concise as I can (for me anyway), I have thousands of games, against various comps, with a plethora of different mindsets regarding this game, all with various levels of skill associated with each player.

In my extensive stay here in League, I have found that there is no guarantee of when being nice, being informative and being a leader. It takes a certain person to be a leader, but it also takes a certain person to be a follower. There are two camps in the demographic you are trying to help us, as players, with.

Demographic A: The Bad due to Inexperience

Demographic B: The Bad due to personal ignorance

At first you will think what's the difference between A and B, but though it may seem subtle, it makes the difference between a mate who complies and works with you and one who tells you to fuck off.

A has potential and wishes to learn, but has little understanding of the game because of various reasons: too few games, stuck in one role, hasn't mastered basic mechanics. W/e the cause it can almost solely be attributed to lack of knowledge and not attitude.

B has potential to, but thinks it knows everything. B believes it can do it all better and either refuses help due to ego or nit picks and refuses to be helped due to a perceived superiority.

Ex: learning a new champ

A: chooses a new role to play and uses outside insight to augment A's performance.

B: tries a new role, is blatant about its inexperience and shuts down outside input.

Just this example alone you and many players out there can associate with, that one player who listened and you won, that other player who rebuked you and you lost.

Yes, you are correct that this is a team game and you should make the basic attempt to work with your teammates, but there is a limit and much of it rests on the player acting out not you. You can't baby sit every player, you cant explain moderate to advanced concepts mid game to an confused or egotistical individual. You can't moderate their play and tend to your own. A team is a collection of people with specific skills and duties working together. You nor I can impart skill and we can onlu clarify someone's duty.

So no, I reject that both I need to actively blame myself and not others for their own in abilities, especially if they reject what little help I can give them. If you think expecting players to understand the game, their abilities and work with the team as an inherent rule as taking the game too seriously, then I would tell you that League might not be your game. Every other teambased anything has these expectations, why shouldn't League?

ChaosThiefFeb 18, 20151 votes

To start things off, I understand if you can't read this now, I would suggest you read it when you have free time, as this will be lengthy.

I did notice the very subtle difference between A and B before advancing. It is quite subtle, but a massive difference indeed.

Player A usually is more friendly and cooperative, most of the time a little push and tug in the right direction will do wonders for him/her.

Player B is the stubborn one who believes that they are the "best player out there", and I have had that kind of player in my games several times. More than several, unfortunately.

The whole team concept is a tricky thing. It seems a simple enough concept, yet you can easily compare it to people talking to one another. Some people will enjoy company. Some are very good at making new friends in this category, and some and very quiet but willing to join in at any point when invited to do so. Teamwork is the same, there are no guarantee that you will be able to talk sense into the people you're playing with. It's not always about teamwork, as in a one-on-one situation, as you have the most, if not all, the input. Most of the time you want to try and give hints and tricks and try to let them figure it out, however in my case I most of the time tried to be the mentor of my lane partner. Without coordination, it becomes so much harder to get things done in a two-on-two, so focusing on you and your teammate is vital.

I don't mean many people take league too seriously. I mean that some take this game too seriously. I'm talking about the ones who refuse to even see the merit of any "non-meta" picks, they simply see black and white in this case. There are people who take it seriously but are kind and outgoing, ones who are still fun to play with as they try their best and don't harass others, they see their own problems. I was referring the "too serious" as the ones who are in a slump or unable to take a loss. This is still a game, even if it must be taken seriously. Yet they only see winning as the objective, and anything that happens that could deter this instantly result in anger for them, and blaming others. I'm referring to the pessimists, whom will try to win and shut off everything else, which compares to Player B quite nicely.

It isn't that they have to know everything in the game, just enough to understand what's going on, which isn't much to ask for, is it? No matter the amount of poking and prodding that is done, some will not learn, I understand that. But at least, I would try to leave a trail or a simple task to follow. If I'm initiating, I would hope that the player, A or B, would attempt to assist if they can, if they can't I would have to realize my error. We are all human after all, making mistakes and learning is something we do.

I suppose the summary is that I'm hoping for people who will put effort into working as a team, even if they don't understand the game or even the people around them's actions. I'm not saying "ultimate knowledge" is a requirement, just enough to work at the situation at hand, rather than trying to predict the outcome. Being a leader is not always needed, but someone needs to fill the role, regardless if it's not you or not. I just want people to understand that they should not see X champion killed Y as an instant end to the game, rather just something that happened at the time. The game is meant to be enjoyed and played seriously, but not to the point as to be negative or toxic about it.

...again, I apologize with rambling. I am attempting to be coherent, but I jump from one thought to the next, and it may not result in an organized display of information.