When it comes to anonymous internet relationships, few are as abusive as the five man relationship you voluntarily place yourself in every time you queue up for a game on the summoner's rift. Varying from snot-eating elementary school kids all the way through retired physicists, it's hard to remember that all members are (for the most part) human beings on the other end.
As a result, the competitive spirit of League sometimes brings out the worst in people. How do you prevent and/or diminish the blow from these negative players? Read on to find out!
Introduction
When it comes to anonymous internet relationships, few are as abusive as the five man relationship you voluntarily place yourself in every time you queue up for a game on the summoner's rift.
Varying from snot-eating elementary school kids all the way through retired physicists, it's hard to remember that all members are (for the most part) human beings on the other end.
As a result, the competitive spirit of League often brings out the worst in people. How do you prevent and/or diminish the blow from these negative players? Read on to find out!
1. The AFK (Away From Keyboard [person])
A classic in League of Legends and online games in general, some players simply aren't in the game.
There are two types of AFKs:
There are two types of AFKs:
- Accidental AFK
- Fake AFK
Solution: Ignore it, do the best you can, and wait for them to stop Fido from mauling the mailman.Luckily, league actually has a strong "catch-up" mechanism and allows players that are behind to level up quickly. Stay positive!
Fake AFK - That guy spamming dance in the fountain. These are more difficult to deal with.
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However, if they're simply dual laning there's still hope.
Solution: Ignore them if they're raging, or apologize/apologize on someone's behalf if they're upset at something specific.Again, you're likely never going to see them again, so apologizing doesn't lose you any street cred.
2. The Whiner
The Whiner is somewhat of an artist. They dance on the brink of being reported, but aren't exactly "toxic", they just make it very difficult to concentrate on the game. There are a myriad of them including the following:
- The "I'm getting camped!" whiner
- The "You missed a skillshot" whiner
- The "You got hit by a skillshot" whiner
- The "We're all gonna dieeeee" whiner
- The "Our team sucks so bad" whiner
Solution: The key here is to note the difference between whining, commenting, and strategizing.
To help, check out this handy dandy flowchart below!
To help, check out this handy dandy flowchart below!
Example:
Comment: We're very far behind
Tactic: Let's split push, we're too far behind to teamfight
Whining: Omg we're so far behind, our Leblanc died too many times, she's so bad. If she didn't die this much we'd have a chance. We're all gonna dieeeeeeee
Comment: We're very far behind
Tactic: Let's split push, we're too far behind to teamfight
Whining: Omg we're so far behind, our Leblanc died too many times, she's so bad. If she didn't die this much we'd have a chance. We're all gonna dieeeeeeee
Solution: Keep the comments low, the whining non-existent, and the strategies fresh.
3. The Lobby Troll
The lobby troll is best exhibited by example.
[Player 2]: Mid Ahri please.
[Player 3]: Top Jayce
[Lobby Troll (Player 1)]: I can only mid or top
*bans Jayce and Ahri*
[Player 4]: Umm your lolking seems to show that you main Shaco and Nunu, could you jungle instead?
[Player 4]: I'll ADC btw
*Lobby Troll locks in Twitch*
[Lobby Troll]: ADC.
[Team]: ...
Solution: Unfortunately, the only way to avoid these trolls is to simply dodge the game.
Hot Tip: You actually have a few seconds AFTER the countdown hits 0 seconds to still successfully dodge.
4. The Smurf
The smurf is either a liar or a true smurf. This means they're either desperate enough to lie to get a specific role, or plan on crushing the enemy team with the champion they have in mind.
Solution: I'd generally lean towards just giving them what they want. It's likely their best role, even if they're lying about being a smurf. Don't be too disappointed if they're lying, and mute them if they start raging.
5. The Duo Queue
Expectations for a duo queue to perform exceptionally well are high, especially if someone was forced into an uncomfortable role as a result of giving it to them. If they fail, teammates tend to get extremely negative.
Solution: Hold low expectations for duo queue players so you won't be disappointed. Matchmaking wants to make the game harder for them, and it probably will be. Ignore the ragers.
6. The Feeder
Feeders make life difficult by either being deadweight on the team, or simply giving the enemy team too much gold.
Solution: Request feeders to split push in order to catch up. If enemy teams converge to kill them, you're better off as that player is probably worth no gold at this point.
7. The Verbal Abuser
When people start talking smack, it's hard to resist talking smack right back. However, this generally leads to poorer performance all around. Luckily, this is fairly simple to resolve.
Solution: Mute.
8. The Surrender Spammer
Some people like to start spamming surrender from 20 minutes onwards, sometimes right in the middle of a teamfight. This leads to general negative thoughts all around, especially if it's combined with some whining.
Solution: Ignore, hit no, and say "let's play for late game"
9. The Multi-Laner/Jungler
By far one of the most annoying things a player can do to another player is the classic "follow-you-around-and make-life-terrible" strategy. Unfortunately there's very little you can do if they're specifically aiming to ruin your day.However, if they're simply dual laning there's still hope.
Solution: If you have a jungler, try and fit the role left over that your troll decided not to fill. If you don't have a jungler, then dual laning may still work out, especially if you're aggressive early and roam hard.
10. The Center of the World
These players need everything to go the way they plan.
They need:
- All the farm;
- All the kills;
- All the peel;
- All the jungle support;
- Perfect ward coverage; and
- The exact champion and role they call.
If any of the above isn't covered, they'll resort to whining and general E-mumu type of behavior, even leading to becoming a surrender spammer despite the massive lead your team may have.
They may also have a duo queue partner who will also join in on the above.
Solution: If they're already doing well and have simple requests, try and appease them. The emperor must be kept happy. Meanwhile, if they're playing poorly and still require massive amounts of attention, muting works just as well.