User blog comment:YourPrivateNightmare/Reasons to quit this game/@comment-26983798-20150913184900

This is a great blog post and I would like to provide the perspective of someone who, for the most part, already has given up league.

I was introduced to League of Legends by my much younger brother just before Jinx was released. I wanted to play with him, but I was a total noob and he had already been playing for years. The few games we played together resulted in me getting severly flamed due to my inexperience. We decided that I should take time to learn the game properly and then we could play when my skill level was closer to his. Naturally, when I finaly learned the game well enough to be able to play at his level he stopped playing entirely.

I continued to play solo and made many friends online. A number of my new friends were new to the game and I enjoyed mentoring them so they could avoid some of the mistakes I had made. The new players that I helped always had a good attitude at first but, over time, became more likely to rage at their teamates. They would even rage at me sometimes if I refused to surrender(I never give up).

In short, what I noticed is that new players tended to enjoy the game much more in the first few months of playing. After that it became super competitive and not nearly as fun. That certainly mirrors my experience. After awhile every game I played was ultra serious and if I happened to not play well I got called out for it.

I wasn't having fun and that's why I stopped playing. I came back recently and tried it again, but my skills had degraded to the point that it would take more effort that I was willing to give to get back to my previous skill level. It wasn't worth it.

Now, to your questions:

"Do I still enjoy this game as much as I did when I started playing?"

Clearly no. I played at first to spend time with my brother and learn the champs. once I had learned the champs and was not able to play with friends then winning became everything.

"Do I still have fun playing my favourite champs or do I just play to win?"

I feel hamstrung by the meta on SR and, of course, you can't exactly choose your champ on ARAM, so I play to win.

"Do I still get satisfaction out of doing well other than the relief of not being the reason your team is losing?"

It reached a point where I was rarely the reason we were loosing, so I can honestly say that I got more satisfaction from doing well that I had fear of doing poorly. The flip side of that was that I would get mad at myself if I didn't carry or contribute significantly to the win. I would push myself and stress out if I wasn't carrying my team.

"Do I REALLY want to queue up for another game even if you don't get any excitement or joy out of the anticipation?"

No. I remember early on I would be very excited as I locked in my champ. The anticipation would build during the load screen, as I would cover the QWER buttons and then climax as our champs would drop onto the fountain! What a beautiful moment that was!

Now, meh. I know that any number of things can screw up the game, much of it out of my control. And perhaps I've played too much. Familiarity breeds contempt.

"Can I really keep calm and play the game in a community as tainted as this?"

Probably not. I've never really raged, but I have responded to it. Just before I stopped playing I encountered a rager that was severly pissed off after we suffered a close loss. I casually mentioned that he contributed to the loss by not properly participating in teamfights and that's when he lost his mind. Pages and pages of insults flew by. It was actually pretty funny and I told him so. That pissed him off even more and I can honestly say that I goaded him on after that.

The incident didn't bother me personally, but afterward I thought about the experience and realized that he was not having any fun. League of Legends is a game and should be fun. Too many players, myself included, are not having fun anymore.

I can't say that I will never return to league. When all your team mates are working together it is the most satisfying gaming experience possible. I think that's why it's so frustrating when things go wrong. The break has been good for me and I know it will be good for you too. Good luck to you and anyone else that makes the decision to walk away from LoL.