Views: 486 Been a LONG while. How far we come.
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I remember I used to like this site, starting up as a lowly and unremarkable new league of legends player I walked into everything wide eyed and surprised of change. It was a time when Jayce was just announced and people wondered just who the hell Diana and Zyra was. Reflecting back on my lowly two blogs that people might not ever read again it makes me upset in a way, a want to track my progress as even now looking back I have changed a great deal. Yet with time it wasn't just league, I find myself in a way a changed person as well(To some extent.)
So while my trials to thirty have long since passed I believe it is time to pick up something I can track, at least kind of in my opinion. Reaching thirty with that ever so fearful wrath of a permanent record I found myself finally jumping into ranked at a friends request. And you know what? It actually isn't that bad, which is rather ironic when I think about it. However on the course of my promotional games I feel like I need to address something that affects us all.
It is a syndrome that seems to infect the core of the league of legends community. It is a sickness that because of its simple and easily accessible playability(I still for the life of me can't stray into the uncharted territory that is Starcraft 2) that has even the most casual player jump in with ease and then start raging once it gets "unfair" for them. I may be overcomplicating the idea of being overly competitive but it is something that I never understood in normal games, and even now in ranked something that baffles me with the entire system of league itself being just a game in the end.
While jumping back into my journey into the heart of ranked matches I found myself winning them with relative ease, even with most of my team members appearing negative in the end I would hardly seem to die and even found my first promotional match not even dying once while carrying the entire team. But of course with fair warnings form friends I wasn't that naive, I wouldn't be sucked into the simple comfort of three easy wins as always approaching that ranked button there would always be a sense of uncertainty. But of course my dream of a perfect promotional session came to an end in my fourth run, hardly that realistic when I think about it simply based on chance rather than say ranked 5v5 teams. However this isn't about me complaining about how bad my team was, brag about how much I carried, or even start in the mindless and never winning argument that the game is simply broken from patches(Which wouldn't even apply to me). It's about one player I met on my journey, and the concern that has me bracing myself for future losses.
What is it about league of legends that makes a game the meaning between life and breaking a keyboard. Why is it that despite all of my encouragement, all of my friendliness, all of my carefree attitude about the purpose of a game was to be fun considered alien, even antigenic? Why is it that with every loss(Or even win) there is this cold formality that consists of blaming another person other than yourself with the winning team coldly acknowledging their victory and moving on? A player who I shall not(And can't even remember) name struck hard, lashed out at my friendliness and calling my team and I that cancer that keeps a negative kill ratio player "back". Whatever back means for that matter with current real life concerns constantly running around in my head, never once agonizing over the statistics of whether or not I might make it into Silver II.
But of course I kind of understand it, I myself sometimes harm my unsuspecting keyboard from a mistake I may make. Yet my question is looking back at this player whom I've never met before insulting me in a game meant for fun, can there ever be hope of change for such people or must this disease in all games consistently exist as long as players have accessibility. Can we ever fight against the anger and unfriendliness to others people, represent the honor received, and congratulate those even despite a win or loss? Is it too much to hope for in ranked matches a friendly voice to save me from this surrounding darkness or should I just drop all efforts of conversation and convert into a system I cannot fight? (Rhetorical of course, people hardly can change who they are after all without some constant strain or effort. Maybe one day.)
In conclusion ending my day with this match I have little desire to return even despite the knowledge that I will eventually. But to all the few who end up reading this blog just know that there are voices of reason among the crowd, that even if you find yourself in the pits of Bronze five ranked Hell that you can be a voice to kindness to any other who may hope to be saved that day. Too all of you who find yourself falling into the darkness of competitive nature just know that not only are there people like us who may strive unsuccessfully to save you, but an entire world outside of the housed room of artificial creation. Even if it is just wishful thinking let us all be the change we wish to bring on league, let there be hope for a future of change where all of us can look back and laugh at the idiotic nature of mistake. After moving on and shedding the coat of a Gatsby only then can we look behind us and really see how far we had traveled.
Then we can really see how far we come.
So while my trials to thirty have long since passed I believe it is time to pick up something I can track, at least kind of in my opinion. Reaching thirty with that ever so fearful wrath of a permanent record I found myself finally jumping into ranked at a friends request. And you know what? It actually isn't that bad, which is rather ironic when I think about it. However on the course of my promotional games I feel like I need to address something that affects us all.
It is a syndrome that seems to infect the core of the league of legends community. It is a sickness that because of its simple and easily accessible playability(I still for the life of me can't stray into the uncharted territory that is Starcraft 2) that has even the most casual player jump in with ease and then start raging once it gets "unfair" for them. I may be overcomplicating the idea of being overly competitive but it is something that I never understood in normal games, and even now in ranked something that baffles me with the entire system of league itself being just a game in the end.
While jumping back into my journey into the heart of ranked matches I found myself winning them with relative ease, even with most of my team members appearing negative in the end I would hardly seem to die and even found my first promotional match not even dying once while carrying the entire team. But of course with fair warnings form friends I wasn't that naive, I wouldn't be sucked into the simple comfort of three easy wins as always approaching that ranked button there would always be a sense of uncertainty. But of course my dream of a perfect promotional session came to an end in my fourth run, hardly that realistic when I think about it simply based on chance rather than say ranked 5v5 teams. However this isn't about me complaining about how bad my team was, brag about how much I carried, or even start in the mindless and never winning argument that the game is simply broken from patches(Which wouldn't even apply to me). It's about one player I met on my journey, and the concern that has me bracing myself for future losses.
What is it about league of legends that makes a game the meaning between life and breaking a keyboard. Why is it that despite all of my encouragement, all of my friendliness, all of my carefree attitude about the purpose of a game was to be fun considered alien, even antigenic? Why is it that with every loss(Or even win) there is this cold formality that consists of blaming another person other than yourself with the winning team coldly acknowledging their victory and moving on? A player who I shall not(And can't even remember) name struck hard, lashed out at my friendliness and calling my team and I that cancer that keeps a negative kill ratio player "back". Whatever back means for that matter with current real life concerns constantly running around in my head, never once agonizing over the statistics of whether or not I might make it into Silver II.
But of course I kind of understand it, I myself sometimes harm my unsuspecting keyboard from a mistake I may make. Yet my question is looking back at this player whom I've never met before insulting me in a game meant for fun, can there ever be hope of change for such people or must this disease in all games consistently exist as long as players have accessibility. Can we ever fight against the anger and unfriendliness to others people, represent the honor received, and congratulate those even despite a win or loss? Is it too much to hope for in ranked matches a friendly voice to save me from this surrounding darkness or should I just drop all efforts of conversation and convert into a system I cannot fight? (Rhetorical of course, people hardly can change who they are after all without some constant strain or effort. Maybe one day.)
In conclusion ending my day with this match I have little desire to return even despite the knowledge that I will eventually. But to all the few who end up reading this blog just know that there are voices of reason among the crowd, that even if you find yourself in the pits of Bronze five ranked Hell that you can be a voice to kindness to any other who may hope to be saved that day. Too all of you who find yourself falling into the darkness of competitive nature just know that not only are there people like us who may strive unsuccessfully to save you, but an entire world outside of the housed room of artificial creation. Even if it is just wishful thinking let us all be the change we wish to bring on league, let there be hope for a future of change where all of us can look back and laugh at the idiotic nature of mistake. After moving on and shedding the coat of a Gatsby only then can we look behind us and really see how far we had traveled.
Then we can really see how far we come.
I think that low elo players take this game way too seriously. People need to understand that I'd you are struggling in bronze, silver, or gold, you should probably understand that you really don't have anything on the line. Please don't get worked up about your bronze 2 series.
Any game where you have to rely on teammates and also the game keeps track of your wins and losses is bound to be full of venom. Dota was almost this bad and there were no stat tracking or the like.