I played LoL again after 2 years and was surprisingly little bullied
League of Legends is one of the most famous and popular games in the world. Unfortunately, it’s also notorious for its extremely toxic community. MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus knows that – and was surprised that he didn’t have to read a flood of insults after a break.
LoL is toxic. Everyone knows that and whoever starts again learns it quickly. His colleague Philipp Hansen only tried League of Legends for the first time at the beginning of 2020 and realized: They are really as mean as everyone says.
Shortly before Phil started LoL, I stopped (again) – around the middle of 2019. I only played sporadically before that, but the break now was probably the longest so far.
I am still used to being poisoned all the time. You were never to blame for a defeat, insults like to get … creative. I went into the game with exactly this mindset.
To my surprise, however, I was hardly or not at all molested. No: “**** you, noob!”, No: “Go to die!”, Not even a rather harmless: “git gud” came from my teammates. What happened to the LoL that I met?
I myself have been playing League of Legends almost since its release in 2009 and have sunk more hours into the MOBA than I am ready to admit. I used to play with my team even in the semi-professional field.
However, e-sports were not yet established at the time, which is why we mainly took part in community tournaments. We didn’t earn any money until later, after switching to Heroes of the Storm. But only by the way.
2 years break and suddenly everyone is peaceful?
From the past I am used to the fact that some nonsense is written into the chat before the match. Today? Nothing. If anything, then a: “Hello” or players who ask for a role reversal.
In the game itself, I did not notice any excessively toxic behavior either in chat or via pings. I was not insulted or insulted, and neither was I copulated with my close relatives, not even in foreign languages.
To my shame, I have to admit that I completely disabled chat for the first few laps. Of course it felt more peaceful then. But even after reactivation, I was rarely snapped at.
It even happened that something was constructively pointed out to me. And out of a trained instinct I immediately switched to “defense” and folded up my teammate who just wanted to explain something to me.
His colleague then explained to me that he just wanted to help me. I apologized contrite and we still won the lap very confidently, even if it came close several times.
People howl more softly
However, the quarrel that is now quite typical for gamers has not completely disappeared. Every now and then I still had a quarrel with someone. Usually it was the jungler who complained that he didn’t deserve such bad teammates.
When I’m out in the woods myself, there are still the sporadic insults if you don’t gank a lane often enough.
For explanation: The “jungle” connects the three “lanes” of the game. The jungler moves between these lanes and ensures that the respective team members can kill their opponents there. That gives a gold and level advantage.
Beyond that, however, it was peaceful. And even when it got louder, it was mostly after the game and not during the round. As if by now more players knew that toxic behavior only promotes “tilt” and promotes defeat.
But why is everyone suddenly nice?
12 years LoL – and it’s slowly getting better
Riot, the studio behind LoL, has gone to great lengths over the years to limit toxic behavior. A particularly serious cut was probably the deactivation of general chat in the game.
Even then, that was a reason why I liked Heroes of the Storm better. Because without a general chat, the colleagues concentrated more on the game and did not fight verbally with the opponents.
Before that, however, in June 2021, Riot introduced some changes with the “Behavioral System” that are supposed to limit toxic behavior. Since then there have been bans lasting several weeks for players who go AFK for too long and further penalties.
But the whole thing goes back further. In 2012 the “honor” system was introduced, and in 2017 it was revised. This allows players to give awards to their comrades, which in turn leads to small rewards. And if you act like an ass, you won’t get anything.
Better to reward the good than punish the bad
Riot has since followed a strategy of rewarding positive behavior rather than punishing negative behavior. The latter may lead to defiant reactions rather than insight. This is what studies carried out by Riot himself (via spectrumlabsai.com).
In 2012 and 2013, Riot Games tried different methods in millions of games. In the course of the “Optimus Experiment”, motivational messages in different colors were tested and the players’ reactions were evaluated.
The result of the experiment was crude: with the right incentive, players are less toxic. The incentive here was to show through news that toxic behavior is more likely to lose. Or the other way around: loses more often with negative behavior.
Even I noticed that at the time and moderated my behavior a bit at that point. I don’t think I have won much more often, but every time since then, playing has been more pleasant. You can read more about the Optimus Experiment read on the GameStar.
Of course, all of this did not happen straight away, but was a creeping process that slowly banished more and more toxicity from the game. With a hard cut of 2 years off, you notice this extremely well and directly.
Some fans even suspect that Fortnite’s success should have resulted in a less toxic community. Allegedly the Battle Royale attracted all the “toxic kids” and led them away from LoL. Whether that is true remains to be seen.
Just why are people toxic in the first place?
Toxic LoL player wants to improve, asks for help and receives valuable tips
Toxic Behavior – A Gamer Tradition?
12 years ago, when League of Legends was released, the internet looked different. There was black humor and unmoderated image boards, forums and chats everywhere. Hardly anyone paid much attention to video games, except for a small crowd of gamers.
From my own experience, I can say that a lot of gamers at that time looked primarily at themselves. And then some developed an “everybody else are idiots” mentality. This hardens at some point, incites one another and spreads.
LoL as a free game with a hugely successful concept has spread quickly and widely. Accordingly, many players were attracted – including toxic players. Those who didn’t feel like it just left again. It was just a game. But the toxic core remained. It was “her” game.
In addition, LoL is by nature highly competitive. Here teams of 5 players each play against each other in long matches for victory. Of course you want to win there, even if it’s nothing – but especially in the ranking. This quickly leads to an adrenaline rush.
It was also not helpful that many role models behaved in a way that should not actually be customary in a game or shown how bad it looks in LoL:
Since then, however, a lot has happened socially as well. Gaming has been moving more into the middle of society for years and more and more eyes are on gamers. Naturally, this increases interest in the topic and also in making it more accessible.
Developers are interested in not only attracting “hard-skinned gamers”, but everyone. And that only works when toxic behavior no longer has a place in modern games.
What does “toxic” mean anyway? One speaks of toxicity when extremely negative behavior is shown. This ranges from insults and harassment to sabotage of one’s own team to downright threats and death wishes. Yes, the internet was – or is – a rough place.
Study says: online games are toxic – these are the 5 worst
A nicer environment for new players
Whether planned or not, that the LoL community is more pleasant now than it used to be, not only benefits the game. The new LoL series Arcane has sparked a fresh hype around the MOBA.
Lots of new players are starting, lots of former ones are returning. For example me and several other colleagues from the editorial office. The fact that you don’t have to be called a son of a bitch or worse in the first rune increases motivation.
Apparently the measures did exactly what they should. LoL has become nicer and as a new or former player you feel good again. Or at least more comfortable than before. There are still one or the other nasty remark.
But I imagine that LoL and its community have grown up. Arcane itself shows that too, because the series can be really dark. It would be exciting if it is actually this series that LoL has now made a better place.
In any case, it strikes me that the Arcane heroes Vi, Caitlyn, Jinx and Jayce are played a lot right now. And coincidentally, colleague Alexander Leitsch has a guide ready for you for exactly these heroes:
This is how you play the 4 most important characters from Arcane correctly in LoL
Reference-mein-mmo.de