Online multiplayer game, League of Legends, is battling a surge in toxic players as a new ranked season starts. The game’s developer Riot Games, claims they have innovative systems in place to keep this in check, but how true are these claims? Let’s dive deeper into this with the help of our game-enthusiast friends for a closer look at this issue.
The Observable Trend of Toxicity
-
Players report a significant increase in toxicity during the initial weeks of a new ranked season.
-
Notably, the toxicity does not just stem from chat abuse; there is an observed increase in players intentionally sabotaging games.
-
However, Riot seems to be upping their game with new systems designed to penalize these players.
Are Riot’s Penalties Working?
No-Meaning6765 shares an encouraging experience saying, ‘Yesterday I reported a guy for soft inting and he got banned. I was actually surprised’. This post comment provides some evidence of Riot’s efforts at punishing toxic players.
However, on the other side of the coin, Lash_Ashes expresses a contrary opinion that ‘Riot supports toxicity… they added emotes into the game that are exclusively used to be toxic.’ Apparently, Riot’s battle against toxicity is a tad complicated.
Placebo Effect or Real Action?
Amongst the mixed opinions, Medical_Quiet_69 floats the possibility of these report feedback notifications being a placebo effect. According to Medical_Quiet_69, these notifications, which lack specific details about the punished parties, might ‘be a mere fake … Riot happens to have an army of people who know how to manipulate players’.
The Impact of Penalties
Whether it’s true or not, it can’t be denied that Riot is laying down some sort of law. Players like LargeSnorlax agree that ‘if a player actually runs it down and you report them, they’ll get canned or restricted’.
However, he admits that this does not completely solve the problem as erring players can just switch accounts. He suggests a Dota-like ‘prisoner’s island’, where identified toxic players are confined to playing amongst themselves until they reform, as a better solution. Now, wouldn’t that be interesting?!
All said and done, the gaming arena continues to be a world of its own, filled with passionate, animated, and sometimes, a little over-the-top-competitive spirit. It’s clear from the discussion that while Riot Games is making efforts, managing player behavior in this wide-ranging and emotionally charged League of Legends community is a bit like playing whack-a-mole with a snow shovel. Let’s see how the developer swings the ban hammer in the upcoming season!
