User blog:YourPrivateNightmare/Reasons to quit this game

Prologue
Let me start this off by making sure that you understand that this isn't a parody or a joke. I'm actually making this in order to make you rethink your choice of playing this game.

I do realize that a lot of people her will be disagreeing with me and that this might appear as just a nonsensical butthurt post with no relevance whatsoever, but if you go ahead and just delete this, you're kinda just proving my point.

Also, note that this is less of a pre-written essay, but an off-the-top-of-my-head rant.

Introduction
The reason for this whole post is following video made by Youtuber videogamedunkey (most of you should probably already know him) I strongly recommend you watch it, since he brings up a lot of valid points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjzgbZL12VI

If you have watched it, you (like myself) may have come to the conclusion that he sort of sounds slightly whiny, butthurt and thinks he's entitled to something. That might be true and it caused me to dismiss the video as some emotional reaction to getting banned, but then I thought about it again.

Arguments
First of all, Riot's new approach at battling "toxic behaviour".

At first glance it seems like a thing they should have been doing a long time ago. More severe punishment for any form of aggression towards other players, including retaliation. The idea is noble and technically should force toxic players to reform if tehy want to keep playing the game...

Then dunkey's video made me realize how goddamn idiotic this actually is.

Think about this: The game has existed since a few years now and has spawned one of the most toxic communities (mostly due to its popularity) in online gaming....and they're only NOW taking action? That's like cutting off your arm after the infection has spread through your whole body FOR 3 YEARS.

What I mean by this: the toxicity has established itself within the community. It's not just a phenomenon, it'S pretty much part of the game...and how wouldn't it be? A game that's potentially so frustrating is bound to induce rage in some way. And now they're trying to combat this established system of "flamery to the max with occasional chat bans that are annoying and kind of sort of keep the problem in check" with draconic punishments that not only punish players that start flamewars, but also those who respond, which, again, wouldn't be such a bad idea if they had started with it YEARS AGO!

Basically my point is: Riot is trying to sail with a sunken ship. They messed up by not enforcing this earlier and they're messing it up even more by starting now.

Now before you come at me with some accusations, yes I am currently banned for 2 weeks due to toxic behaviour. I do not disagree with the ban as it is, since I have done a lot of banworthy things in the past and gotten away with it. The only thing I find stupid is that they're only punishing me now (and the game log that was shown to me consisted only of me responding to some other idiot) which, again, ties in with the point I made before.

My second point is also explained pretty well in dunkey#s video. This game has lost it's magic...and I see now that I'm not the only one who thinks that way. Even before my ban I kinda noticed how I didn't really feel the excitement I used to when  started playing this game.

I just can't play for fun anymore. Everything has become a meta-dictated competition. The more I learn about mechanics, builds, rune setups and all other details, the more I feel pressured to do well and follow strict guidelines. Hell, I can't even pick up new champs because I have no way of learning them, since I mostly start off by doing terribly which results in both harassment and defeat, neither of which is fun.

The only way i can have fun is by playing champs I'm actually good at (or at least pretend I am) or by playing (who, at this point, is the only thing I will regret having to give up) and there only when I'm winning (except for, again, tahm kench, because that guy is just way too much fun)

This bring me right to point number three: The way competitive play has warped this game for regular players. I guess a lot of people will attack me on this one because I've repeatedly defended Riot for balancing the game around competitive play (which soloq suffers from, see Azir, rek'sai and some other guys). I still think that Riot is doing right when catering to the pros...the problem is that League shouldn't have been a competitive game in the first place. Not because it doesn't have what it takes, but because it didn't start off that way.

There were a lot of ridiculous concepts that got abandoned when Riot tried to straighten the game out to print some money. This basically warped the game into a sort of boring standardized MOBa that it once was supposed to be a parody of. To Riot's credit, they're trying to breathe some fresh air into it by releasing champs like Bard and TK to break their previously set limits, but that only does so much.

To top this off, Riot basically keeps trying to distract you from the growing monotony by releasing weird game modes and pooping out skins to keep you distracted from the fact that for the past years they only really cared about the main map and not the other less popular (but technnically still enjoyable) ones, since they can't make as much esports money off of them.

I'm not saying this is wrong and they should be urged to change it (because honestly their strategy works pretty well for them), but it is something you have to consider when you look at how the game has developed over the years.

Also, while it's pretty cool how they keep updating and reworking old champs....ever noticed how the meta keeps getting turned over with each patch? Almost ever rework they have released was in some way overpowered (oder udnerpowered) and kept creating lasting problems (Cinderhulk took a while to be nerfed into an acceptable state and still is controversial).

Also, I feel like the time between patches is way too short...I mean, last month, Sated Devourer came out and caused all the "omg Shyvana so broken, Yi so broken, kayle so broken, i don't even know what to ban" rage....and now, only a few weeks later, juggernaughts are even worse and nobody even gets to ban devourer junglers anymore.

Conclusion
Now what I really want to get out here is this: I've been playing this game for a long time and it has brought me lots of great moments. I have also spent a lot of money on it and I regret nothing about that, since I still see it as my contribution to help RiotGames to improve it (except for the fact that i have 3 Cassiopeia skins and barely even play the champ...something went wrong there).

However, I have come to realize that it is impossible for me to enjoy this game as I once did. Too many things have change in ways that I don't approve, regarding gameplay (the rework of twisted treeline and Sejuani) as well as overall management (the new punishment system). I should have quit long ago, but this game is severly addictive (also, I don't really have that much to do apart from wasting my time online) and I don't feel like I can keep interacting with this community and behave in a way approved by RiotGames. I might just keep checking back for new champions and skins, just out of curiosity and maybe come back for a few weeks if they release a particularly interesting champion, but other than that, I think I'm quitting for good.

Here's your turn.

I want YOU to think about your future in this game.

No, I don't want to convince you to quit League because i personally don't enjoy it anymore. I want this to be a wake-up-call for those who also considered giving up, but the thought fell victim to procrastination.

Ask yourself this:

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

Do I still have fun playing my favourite champs or do I just 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?

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

and most of all:

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

Answer these questions for yourself and then you can decide. Most of you will probably conclude that they still get enough enjoyment out of this game to oversee all its flaws...the few of you who don't...I hope you're strong enough to put an end to it and maybe find something better to spend your time (and money) on.

Closing Words
So basically this also functions as some sort of a goodbye, since I won't be interacting with this wiki anymore as well (except for this one blog post which I will keep checking because I need attention THAT much).

I will say her again: I don't hate this game. I don't hate the company. I don't hate the community. I just think it has outlived its glory days and is beginning to collapse under its ambitions.

YPN out