The upcoming update for Riot Games’ hit MOBA League of Legends will allow gamers to mute and report toxic players as early as Champion Select.
Rampant toxicity has been plaguing League of Legends (LoL) for quite a while now, with many high-profile players—such as Joedat “Voyboy” Esfahani and Danny “Shiphtur” Le—taking to social media in a bid to catch developer Riot Games’ attention.
Riot previously claimed that they were exploring options to properly address the issues, then proceeded to implement stricter policing of disruptive behavior. Although, many players still believe that toxic players are still getting away with ruining games scot-free.
In response to the mounting pressure from the League of Legends community, Riot recently announced a new feature that will allow players to mute and report disruptive people during the Champion Select phase. The highly-request option will be included in a future update.
A feature you’ve asked for is coming soon, even sooner than we expected! 10.13 will have Champ Select reporting AND muting during champ select. A small but powerful tool.
— Riot Brightmoon (@RiotBrightmoon) June 17, 2020
Riot’s plans against game-ruining behavior
League of Legends Lead Producer Jeremy Lee (also known by his in-game name “Brightmoon”) broke the news of the upcoming features on Twitter, which he said are set to be added in patch 10.13.
Just last month, LoL Design Director Andrei Van Roon (in-game name “Meddler”) wrote a lengthy blog post about the steps they’re taking to address toxic behavior, detailing short and moderate-term plans.
Champ Select Reporting and Muting was Riot’s short term solution, justified by the lack of options to deal with disruptive behavior during that phase of the game.
According to Van Roon, “these reports will be used to establish a data foundation for champ select behavior. Then, once we’ve got enough data to identify different types of behavior accurately, we’ll deploy a punishment system.”
Long-term wise, Riot plans to reevaluate their automated detection for players deliberately trying to lose games.
Game Ruining Behavior.
TLDR:
Now – Improvements to reporting and report notifications
Soon – Report in Champ Select
After that – Testing better automated detection
Ongoing – Monthly comms about ithttps://t.co/ieuJFxW80G
— Andrei van Roon (@RiotMeddler) May 8, 2020
Another LoL Lead Gameplay Designer Mark Yetter (in-game name “Scruffy”) tweeted a sneak peek of the upcoming patch, though he did mention that the details have yet to be finalized.
Updated 10.13 Patch Preview with our current changes. Things aren't yet final so some may still change. pic.twitter.com/zEQoxzslNf
— Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) June 16, 2020
The woes of League of Legends Season 10
While League of Legends (along with most Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas) has always had its fair share of toxic people, many players both amateur and professional agree that the issue has reached new heights during the current season.
I've played League of Legends for 7 years now and I can wholeheartedly say this is the worst season I've had to date. In a 20 game period I can get 10 rage quitters and not one punished? And the report system is so flawed you can get around it by leaving out one letter in a slur?
— Avery Omoto (@powerbottomaf) June 21, 2020
Most LoL gamers report regular instances of teammates remaining in the base for the duration of the match, while others simply leave games or feed kills to the enemy team without any repercussions. Footage has even been captured of players using game-breaking bugs to easily win matches.
@riotgames @RiotSupport @LeagueOfLegends
how to fix ranked league of legends:
remove the matchmaking algorithmyou're welcome.
p.s.- season 10 stats for my account: 50 out of 77 ranked games have had AFKers on my team… thanks Riot, and still my account's rank isnt fixed…
— TheShawn 🦝 (@TheShawn4Real) March 6, 2020
Muting and reporting during Champ Select may seem like a minor fix to a much larger issue, but at least it’s a step in the right direction. Riot Games still has a lot of ground to cover before they make real progress in dealing with the League of Legends toxicity.
Featured image courtesy of LeagueOfLegends/Twitter