League of Legends created a space for toxic gaming to thrive.

[game7]

League of Legends has been around for well over a decade now. The community has changed in many ways over the years, but the most notable difference that I see is how it enables negative behaviors.

Toxic people are prevalent in any game. This game has many. In early years of the League of Legends servers, people told feeders and harassers to stop, then reported. After the number of reports grew, Riot initiated a feature to let fellow players review those reports before issuing judgments. Over time that was removed too, due to toxic players not reviewing cases before issuing judgments. This has led to where we are now (sort of).

Now LoL has many automatic things in place to review games and issue judgments. One of the most notable judgments that it often gives is chat restrictions to not only the game's troll (sorry Trundle), but also to any player who stood their ground and did not accept harassment quietly. Standing up for oneself is a pivotal part of society and essential to long term health. Since when is it Riot's official stance to prevent personal safety and self preservation? This stance has been the League of Legends go-to for several years now. "Mute and report." "Don't respond to them." "If you respond you'll be chat restricted too for flaming."

How is the official stance: If you get targeted by trolls and bullies, take the hit, stay down and shut your mouth, never stand up for yourself or we'll punish you too.

Riot shut down their message boards last year because they claimed low usage. I've been playing this game off and on since it's initial release. I can state for a fact that a primary reason for low usage is that gamers who built this fanbase have disconnected after being punished for these reasons. League of Legends does not want people who respect or protect themselves. In-game trolls may be punished and banned, but they create new accounts and continue on their merry way. Good people that speak out against those trolls are also punished. Those are the ones that quit playing. This is why recent polls show such high levels of harassment in this game.

League of Legends forums are closing next week | PC Gamer
79% of League of Legends players say they were harassed after a match ended, according to a community survey | PC Gamer

 

[Brian Boru]

How is the official stance: If you get targeted by trolls and bullies, take the hit, stay down and shut your mouth, never stand up for yourself or we'll punish you too

I played a few field sports long ago, and the stance in all of them was the same. If a guy fouled you, the ref dealt with him. If you retaliated, the ref would typically reverse his decision and award the free to the opposition.

The point was to minimize minor incidents from becoming major brawls.

trolls may be punished and banned, but they create new accounts and continue on their merry way

That of course is the difference in online games. IP address bans would help, but only up to a point. I don't have an answer to dealing with online trolls, but could the matchmaking service use a reputation system to get mostly 'clean' players into the same game?

 

[EternaLife]

That's why I stopped playing League of Legends. I would just feel so angry that I spent sometimes 40 minutes trying to so hard to win at a game, and then lose.. and then often be abused by your own team, and sometimes abused by the enemy team. Such a waste of time.
So much frustration. I am so glad I gave that game up.
After that I stuck mostly to single player games. So much more fun and rewarding.

 

[DXCHASE]

Destiny 2 also created a toxic space by adding the game mode "Trials of Osiris" it literally just breads cheating and toxic human behavior.

 

[Zloth]

It's all so sad - I've seen competitive multiplayer between strangers work really well back in the days of Air Warrior.

 

[kEczuP]

That's why I stopped playing League of Legends. I would just feel so angry that I spent sometimes 40 minutes trying to so hard to win at a game, and then lose.. and then often be abused by your own team, and sometimes abused by the enemy team. Such a waste of time.
So much frustration. I am so glad I gave that game up.
After that I stuck mostly to single player games. So much more fun and rewarding.

True that, the toxicity of LoL helped me get rid of that slight addiction of playing it. But how can people find single player games more rewarding is beyond me. I find almost no fun in defeating a computer enemy.

 

[Johnway]

True that, the toxicity of LoL helped me get rid of that slight addiction of playing it. But how can people find single player games more rewarding is beyond me. I find almost no fun in defeating a computer enemy.

An interesting point and i can see where you're coming from. If you're after a competitive thrill then yeah playing solo against the PC is probably not going to cut it. Especially if you are superior. Lets face it, the AI isn't going to be as good as a actual player most of the time.

The appeal of single player games is more the experience/story and narrative. Being able to experience a choregraphed story with prescribed thrills. It might not always provide the heart pounding action in a very competitive game, but the other benefits more then makes up for it. A good example would be COD MW1, 2, 3. the singleplayer game provides an exciting rollarcoaster experience alone whereas the multiplayer element is competitive fun with multiple people.

But i digress. Why do i prefer SP over Multiplayer? The aggro. The competitive nature \toxic behavior alone kills it for me. i'm not the best at these games and important reason is that i'm not having fun. it pisses me off that someone else is having fun at my expense. Someone is having an ego boost at the expense of my pride and enjoyment? Screw that. i find that it brings out a very ugly side of me that i don't want to see ever again. Its made worse when i know that i'll just encounter dickbags when it comes to PvP. case in point the division series and dark souls pvp.

That said, i like PvE i enjoy working with people and helping people out to overcome a greater faceless evil. I generally ok taking the jobs no one wants like healer or support. if i'm better then my colleagues i take great pride shepherding them.

 

[Brian Boru]

how can people find single player games more rewarding is beyond me

Depends what you want from your gaming. If it's human competition, then obviously multi-player is the thing.

If it's exploration or story or strategic and tactical choices or solving puzzles, then single player is likely to be more rewarding. Those are the aspects which appeal to me, to each hir own.

When I used to get enjoyment from the competitive aspect, I got it by playing high difficulty levels. But that's no longer a driver of my enjoyment, so I typically play on easy or normal difficulty.

In a previous life I used to play sports—some at a competitive high level, others at a fun low level. Both were satisfying, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. So go with what's fun for you, knowing there are other ways to enjoy

 

[kEczuP]

An interesting point and i can see where you're coming from. If you're after a competitive thrill then yeah playing solo against the PC is probably not going to cut it. Especially if you are superior. Lets face it, the AI isn't going to be as good as a actual player most of the time.

The appeal of single player games is more the experience/story and narrative. Being able to experience a choregraphed story with prescribed thrills. It might not always provide the heart pounding action in a very competitive game, but the other benefits more then makes up for it. A good example would be COD MW1, 2, 3. the singleplayer game provides an exciting rollarcoaster experience alone whereas the multiplayer element is competitive fun with multiple people.

But i digress. Why do i prefer SP over Multiplayer? The aggro. The competitive nature \toxic behavior alone kills it for me. i'm not the best at these games and important reason is that i'm not having fun. it pisses me off that someone else is having fun at my expense. Someone is having an ego boost at the expense of my pride and enjoyment? Screw that. i find that it brings out a very ugly side of me that i don't want to see ever again. Its made worse when i know that i'll just encounter dickbags when it comes to PvP. case in point the division series and dark souls pvp.

That said, i like PvE i enjoy working with people and helping people out to overcome a greater faceless evil. I generally ok taking the jobs no one wants like healer or support. if i'm better then my colleagues i take great pride shepherding them.

That is actually very true, that a good PvE can be very rewarding, without the aggro generated by man to man competition. I actually very like to be the support/healer guy you mention.

Still, never SP over Multi. And I think dealing with in-game bullies is a good preparation for the assholes that waiting out for you in the real world. Even environment as toxic as LoL's can be dealt with retaining inner calm. To all the attacks you can just react - hola, Boy, why the anger, it's just a game.

Although, as I said, over the long run this atmosphere helped me get rid of this game out of my free time menu ^^

Depends what you want from your gaming. If it's human competition, then obviously multi-player is the thing.

If it's exploration or story or strategic and tactical choices or solving puzzles, then single player is likely to be more rewarding. Those are the aspects which appeal to me, to each hir own.

When I used to get enjoyment from the competitive aspect, I got it by playing high difficulty levels. But that's no longer a driver of my enjoyment, so I typically play on easy or normal difficulty.

In a previous life I used to play sports—some at a competitive high level, others at a fun low level. Both were satisfying, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. So go with what's fun for you, knowing there are other ways to enjoy

Word. Totally agreed. But at some point in life I realised that no single player gives me the exploration or story thrill as a good book.

The "puzzle" and "tactical choices" is an arguments that talks to me. I actually could use a good game that offers good puzzles. Yesterday I stumbled upon a new Larry Laffer point'n'click joint - might be just what I crave. Maybe you can update me on similar positions I probably skipped over last years?

 

[Pifanjr]

I've never really cared about multiplayer games. I don't like having to depend on strangers to not ruin a match and I don't really care much about beating strangers either. There's often not that big of a difference between a random player and a decently programmed AI.

That last point does mean it depends on the game, as some games don't have good AI. I played a lot of Battlefield 2 (the original one) with just bots and that was pretty similar to playing with actual people. Left 4 Dead on the other hand is a vastly different experience even if only one of the survivors is controlled by AI, especially in versus.

 

[Brian Boru]

no single player gives me the exploration or story thrill as a good book

Interesting how different things appeal to different people
I used to devour books, everything from literature to scifi to mystery to thrillers etc. Last couple of decades though, I'll pick a game I like over a book or movie—I guess I like 'writing' my own story rather than consuming one an author gives me.

I actually could use a good game that offers good puzzles

From my Puzzle notes:

Portal 1 & 2
The Talos Principle & Road to Gehenna DLC
The Turing Test
The Swapper
Royal Envoy series—casual games on BigFish Games

Some articles/videos:

19+ Challenging Free Online Puzzle Games You Have To Play

www.makeuseof.com

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLbJEfJ3KfE

The 12 Most Mind-Boggling Puzzle Video Games of All Time

These challenging puzzle games will put your problem solving skills to the test like no other games will.

whatnerd.com

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH5mK3ptO84

5 Best Puzzle Sites for Logic Riddles and Lateral Thinking Brain Teasers

Your mind needs regular workouts to remain fit. Try these free puzzles, riddles, and brain-teasers to activate those brain cells.

www.makeuseof.com

The best puzzle games on PC

Whatever kind of puzzle game you're looking for, we've got you covered with our definitive list of the best puzzle games on PC.

www.rockpapershotgun.com

 

[Zloth]

But how can people find single player games more rewarding is beyond me. I find almost no fun in defeating a computer enemy.

You mean like this old GEnie advertisement? Yeah, if you're looking for sheer competition, playing against an AI isn't going to cut it. You WILL win. It may take a long time but, assuming you don't get bored, you can just keep trying and you will eventually beat it. Books and movies will always take the prize for the best narratives, too.

But what if you want both? SP games aren't the best at either narrative or competition, but they're still pretty good at both.

Let's see, puzzles, exploration, and some narrative?

Outer Wilds on Steam

Named Game of the Year 2019 by Giant Bomb, Polygon, Eurogamer, and The Guardian, Outer Wilds is a critically-acclaimed and award-winning open world mystery about a solar system trapped in an endless time loop.

store.steampowered.com

Subnautica on Steam

Descend into the depths of an alien underwater world filled with wonder and peril. Craft equipment, pilot submarines and out-smart wildlife to explore lush coral reefs, volcanoes, cave systems, and more - all while trying to survive.

store.steampowered.com

 

[xclaaa]

Couldn't agree more..