As a free-to-play, team-oriented, and competitive game, League of Legends provides the perfect blend of ingredients to foster toxicity within its player base. With a massive 98% of players experiencing toxicity at some point, being able to combat League’s infamously toxic community is vital for both climbing the ranks and protecting your mental wellbeing.

‘Toxicity’ is a term coined by the gaming community to aptly describe a player who intentionally uses negative, and potentially harmful, actions to disrupt gameplay. Toxicity can manifest in both subtle and more obvious ways, from spam pinging your jungler when you feel they missed an opportune gank, to unleashing a tirade of sharp tongued comments at your opposing laner. Unfortunately, the prevalence of toxicity within League has infected many parts of an otherwise fun and inclusive community.

Why Is League So Toxic?

From Iron to Challenger, League of Legends has cultivated a consistently ‘high-stakes’ feeling in each game, often resulting in justifiable feelings of frustration. However, these emotions can quickly become toxic as players project their annoyance onto their teammates and opponents.

Due to the spread of toxic behaviour across all ‘Elos’, each bracket has developed niche distinctions in the type of abuse players face. Due to the increased game-knowledge required to progress to higher ranks, toxicity within the upper divisions is predominantly expressed through comments on gameplay. In contrast, lower ranked players, with less game experience, tend to launch more personal attacks.

Another factor contributing to League’s infamously toxic community is player anonymity. A paper, published in 2015, groups “cyberbullying, griefing, [and] online disinhibition” under the umbrella of toxic behaviour, attributing its rise to the anonymity provided by an online persona. While not unheard of before its creation, the Internet has made it exceedingly easier to make anonymous comments, which when placed within a competitive environment can quickly turn hostile.

The use of toxic language and behaviour has also been popularised by leading figures within the community. Through platforms such as Twitter and twitch.tv, content creators are able to easily broadcast their thoughts and opinions to thousands – or sometimes hundreds-of-thousands – of their fans. While the majority don’t abuse this, the few who produce toxic content only contribute towards making this behaviour seem more acceptable.

As League of Legends possesses one of the most wide-reaching communities in the gaming world, the topic of toxicity is frequently discussed across a range of platforms. From general members of the community, taking to Reddit or Twitter to voice their frustration about the language used in their game, to more prominent figures who have dedicated numerous videos to discussing this topic, there is a wealth of support for players experiencing toxic behaviour.

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It is no secret that a toxic mindset – whether it’s your own or someone else’s – can seriously affect in-game performance. So, this poses the question: how do we stop this toxicity from infecting our games now and in the future?

Muting

With the majority of the player base experiencing verbal abuse of some kind, muting troublesome individuals provides an obvious method of avoiding toxicity. Located either on the scoreboard, or by typing ‘/mute all’ in the in-game chat, this simple solution removes the ability for you to see hurtful comments or annoying pings, allowing you to keep a clear headspace and focus on your own game.

Additionally, in patch 10.13, Riot has added another mute option. Now, players can choose to mute others in Champion select. This option will also carry over into the game, meaning you can silence any potential toxicity much earlier than in previous patches.

Receiving negative comments can dramatically impact in-game performance: from doubting yourself and modifying your playstyle to become too passive to avoid criticism, or going overly aggressive in an attempt to prove toxic players wrong. You might not be able to control the way in which the other players in your game behave, but you can control the extent to which you interact with them.

Removing Chat

If selectively muting players in each game is not for you, in patch 9.14 Riot made it possible to permanently remove allied chat. In the ‘Interface’ menu, under ‘Chat’, you are now able to deselect the ‘Show Allied Chat’ option. This entirely removes the ability to see what other team members are typing, and, when coupled with unchecking ‘Show [All] Chat’, this function allows the player to be completely removed from toxicity, without having to worry about tackling it in-game.

Since its introduction, this function has received a lot of support from professional League of Legends players. The popular North American twitch streamer Gosu has commended the feature in the ‘FAQs’ section of his ‘About’ page, stating that it is simply “More enjoyable to play League without it, [as] 99% of the time it’s just bad players trying to… flame you”.

This is a feature that not only prevents you from seeing toxic comments, but also allows you to limit your own. Providing an ideal function for players who might not have the self-control to stop themselves from venting their frustrations to their teammates, disabling Allied Chat can drastically limit toxic behaviour.

Remember, It’s Only a Game – Take a Break!

Playing when tilted is never recommended. Stepping away from your computer, or simply having a night off from playing, can be extremely beneficial, as it will help you reset and return to the correct headspace you need to improve.

It’s completely normal to become frustrated in a competitive environment, and even the calmest player will likely admit that at times they’ve lost their cool. However, remembering that this frustration is better spent improving your own game, rather than raging at others, is key to climbing. We have to take responsibility for our own toxic behaviour and understand the impact these seemingly offhanded comments may have on the mental wellbeing of other players. Your team won’t always be filled with LEC calibre players, so don’t expect every game to be played like the European finals!

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