by Jason Parker (Ragachak)Editor’s Note: This video actually has a very positive message and I encourage people to watch it, follow it, and believe it. Not just for League, but in life. There are always going to be toxic players, but don’t let them stop you. But still, this is online gaming/Riot, so let’s do this.
I like this video. I really do. It’s got a positive message, where you learn what you should already know: The first step to being good at something is sucking at something. We all suck when we start League of Legends. Anyone who convinces you they came out of the box as an S+ Asskicking Machine, they’re lying to you. My own experience is a testament to that. I’ve lived in Silver/Gold forever, but I started trying to play top-lane/mid-lane champs like Vladimir, Mordekaiser, Fiddlesticks, champs like that. And whoo doctor, was I awful. I fed every single time I played, not bothering to play bot matches. figuring I could learn more from the actual in-game experience. I don’t recall the sort of things I heard because I mostly played with four other friends, who were helping me get my feet wet. I mean, I played DOTA/DOTA 2 also, so at least that helped. A tiny bit, anyway. But they do have a positive message to offer here: Keep trying, be new. You’ll get there. Unfortunately, that’s where I start to have a problem.
What they don’t tell you is that League of Legends has the most awful, vile, dumpster-fire community I’ve ever been a part of. I’ve played almost every major online/competitive game that’s gained a measure of ground. I don’t recall a game with a worse community than League of Legends. They’re all pretty bad for one reason or another. In SMITE they’re mostly confined to Conquest for example. In Overwatch, you can just mute people. Back on topic, you aren’t told that you’re going to constantly be told to “Kill yourself”, “Hitler should have killed your family so you weren’t born” (that was over talk of Christmas/Hanukkah, mind in champ select), that “You should’ve never been born”, or one of the best, “Please put a gun in your mouth after the match and pull the trigger because nobody needs you”. Sure, you can mute them, but in a game where you’re trying to win, you don’t want to deny communication. The next is spamming pings, which is almost as annoying. Their video doesn’t make it clear that you’re going to be made to feel like the most garbage person to exist. The only time this doesn’t’ seem to happen, it’s probably because you’re the one doing it.
They also neglect to mention that there are going to be people that will refuse to play, logging into Ranked and deny you a win by disconnecting on purpose because “They won’t listen to me, so I refuse to play”, or “You picked Master Yi”, “You chose Taric and he’s gay af”, or whatever nonsense reason there is. I wish those weren’t real. Riot glosses over the fact people hate you for no reason and are more than willing to purposely feed if they don’t get what they want. This happens, and it happens a lot. Now, this is not the entire community. Don’t get me wrong. There are tons of people in the League community that want to help you get better and want to win matches. They seem to be far and few between though. And I want you to win. No matter what game you play or what you enjoy, I want you to win and have fun. But you should definitely know, if you didn’t already, that people are shitbags. How do you deal with this? How do I deal with this? I either try to “kill them with kindness”, or if that isn’t going to work, I just stop responding. You can’t stop them from feeding or idling but you can try to be considerate to even the worst people. It won’t hurt to try. Firing back, or informing them they’re going to get reported never helps. If you’re going to report someone? Wait til the match is over. That’s just going to make things worse, and that’s not the goal here. The goal is to both have fun and win. If your idea of fun is being a jackass to strangers on the Internet, you have problems that I cannot cure with words.
The really disappointing thing is that the game is not bad. And all of the people are not bad. But the ones that are are the most vocal and are in the most games. They don’t really care if you report them or if they get muted/banned because it’s easy to just make another account and hit 30 to get right back into your match. So I like this video. I think it’s positive. But it’s really painting the community and game in a light that’s just not viable. Very seldom will your teammates be understanding that you’re “just new” or “you’re trying your best”. It’s an unfortunate part of online gaming that’s probably not going anywhere anytime soon. It is important for you to know this. It’s not always going to be a horrible, upsetting experience, and if you have thick skin/are willing to ignore that level of toxicity, everything will be fine. This doesn’t make League of Legends bad, because the game itself is fine! It’s fun. It’s solid, even if every few seasons they completely shake up the whole game, or are willing to let things get completely out of hand with balance issues (RE: The upcoming Rune Update is insane. It’s insane). But don’t stop playing. Keep working, climb from being a noob into someone with skills. You can do it! Just … don’t let these awful, toxic dumpster-fire people from stopping you. They’re going to be there, just keep trying.
