This latest video from Riot Games breaks down the numbers, and shows how good sports make a difference.
Teamwork OP, League of Legends developer Riot Games claims, and it has a video to prove it. Sportsmanlike players win 1.7 more games than the rest, says Riot, and if you happen to be one of those that leaps on the slightest hint of poor play with venom and Mom jokes, then you’re not just pounding that player, you’re pounding your team’s chance of winning. Teamwork is what’ll win the match, and that isn’t helped, says Riot, by screaming in chat.
This video is the latest in Riot’s toxic player charm offensive. Not that long ago Riot hit the news with its Tribunal experimentation, trying to adjust player behavior in game by disciplining offenders. “There was another player, we showed him his logs,” said Riot’s Jeffrey Lin at the time, “and this player said ‘I’m really disgusted by my own behavior. Can you guys give me a little guidance?'” But when discipline doesn’t work, harsher methods are called for. This is the same game that banned several pro players for poor conduct, keeping top players out of the professional circuit for a short time, or – in IWillDominate‘s case – permanently.
Riot has reason to be concerned. The League of Legends player base has a rowdy reputation, but the game’s eSports success story is growing by the minute. Last year’s competition saw the largest cash prize pool in eSports history – $3 million – and this year, even after moving to a much larger 15,000 seat stadium, the LA competition sold out about an hour after tickets went on sale. With something like that on the line, the last thing Riot needs is for poor sportsmanship to be the League of Legends story.
