A
developer update from Riot Games hears from TimTamMonster, a new Product
Lead for Behavioral Systems in
League of Legends. MOBAs are notorious for
toxicity, and the update notes that this breaks down to about 5% of the player
population being consistently disruptive. But it also says the other 95% still
generate occasional problems, and are actually responsible for 86% of reports.
This highlights the delicate problem of dealing with the majority of players on
those minority of occasions when they're part of the problem. Riot says it's
shifting focus to improving the game for this 95%, and outlines a few steps
being taken. There's also a straightforward appeal to try and do better to
follow
Wheaton's Law:
In turn, I
ask you to remember this: When you get frustrated, only you can stop yourself
from being disruptive. All 95% of us can support these systems by being the type
of player we want to play with—even in Ranked. It’s not always easy, I know, but
even the most perfect systems can't prevent all instances of bad behavior from
occurring. Because it's not just about building systems to influence human
behavior. It's also about the humans who play the game. It's about you. And
you're here reading this, so I know you care about our community too.