If You Play League, You're Probably Toxic

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League of Legends is one of those super fun games that can suck you in and keep you addicted for long periods of time. As publisher of one of the most popular multiplayer games in the world, Riot Games has done an excellent job of growing and maintaining its user base. Unfortunately, the League community has gained a reputation as being one of the most toxic (ill-mannered) groups in gaming. One of the reasons for this includes having team centered gameplay, where if one player makes a mistake, the rest of the players on the team are affected. Many times the interaction between players on the team through in-game chat will turn negative, and players will verbally harass or "flame" one another for bad plays. The other reason for negative behavior is due to long game times, where players will have to invest 30 to 40 minutes of their time playing out each game. This makes early mistakes potentially devastating, as it sets the other team up for a lead which will likely result in a win farther down the line. Riot Games is attempting to fight back against this community-wide toxicity, through psychological studies and techniques such as the new honor system, and a player based banning system. Unfortunately it's hard to see the community changing too much from these changes because as long as the company keeps in-game chat enabled, people will always get upset about something and make sure to let everyone on their team know about it.

Group Projects Are The Best

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When it was announced to the class that we would have to present in groups for our first collaborative project, I began feeling excited at the prospect of engaging in group dynamics, as there is no better way to study how groups interact than to be part of one. As humans generally live in societies at this moment in time, it is crucial to learn how social dynamics work. However, I also felt that familiar anxiety, the one we all tend to feel when pushed out of our comfort zones. This feeling is the reason most people hate working in groups, as it forms when actively trying to reach out and communicate with others who are strangers to us. In an age where social media is dominating our interactions with others, and entertainment is a click away via smartphone, people have slowly but surely lost many of the social skills that are necessary for such a collaborative lifestyle. This is why I believe schools should teach social dynamics, as it is becoming more of problem in society, and also why I think group assignments are pushing us for the better. Years later, I will probably not remember the subject of the many presentations that were given in class this week, but I will remember the experience I had working in a group, and will definitely use that experience moving forward.