Open letter to parents of League of Legends players released - Polidicks

[quote]This is an online game. In most cases, your child is playing with real people. Please take a moment to understand how this game's person-to-person interaction functions. In the past, I have seen numerous stories of children who routinely disconnect mid-game because it's bedtime, or their parents decide that they've played enough for the day. Some of these stories have come from parents themselves, proudly stating that they are firm about making their children stop playing at a specific time. While it is admirable that you are teaching children some responsibility to schedules, please stop neglecting to teach them responsibility to other people. Unless your child is playing a Custom Game, his actions will permanently affect the statistics of up to 9 other people. Don't enforce behavior that involves disregarding other people. Do you want your child being callous to people in face-to-face situations too? The average game of League of Legends lasts over 30 minutes. Many last close to an hour. When a game has begun, players have implicitly committed their time to each other until the game ends. If you have given your child a strict cutoff time for play, do not allow him to begin a game if he has less than an hour left. Bedtime in 30 minutes? Don't allow him to start a new game. Dinner in 45 minutes? Don't allow him to start a new game. If a game is in progress, do not interrupt it unless it is an emergency. You are affecting up to 10 people, not just your child. Feel like checking your e-mail on the same computer? Please wait until the game is over so you don't completely ruin things for the real people on your child's team. Is a game that started 90 minutes before bedtime somehow still in progress at 87 minutes? Please allow him to finish the match so you don't completely ruin things for the real people on your child's team. Games almost never last that long, and if people lose due to a teammate quitting after spending that much time on a match, they are likely to be more upset than usual. Now you're probably thinking, "But what if my child takes advantage of me and starts a game 5 minutes before bedtime because now I'll feel guilty about making him quit a game in progress?" I have an answer for that. Are you ready for it? It's a two parter. Let him finish the game. This sounds like you're letting your child walk all over you, but please just let the game finish normally and follow through with step 2. Ground him. You're the parent. Don't let him play League for a while. If your kid tries to exploit you, you don't have to stand for it. Step 1 is just about showing courtesy to other people and being responsible to the team. However, your child should definitely learn that there are consequences for all actions. If you are a parent and can't figure out why this is a problem, take some time to read how people react to children prematurely abandoning games. If you know any parents who make their kids leave mid-game on a whim, please direct them to this thread.[/quote] Source: [url]http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/miscellaneous/bEhf1EPt-open-letter-to-parents-of-league-of-legends-players[/url] [url]http://kotaku.com/league-of-legends-open-letter-to-parents-is-sensible-1684797954[/url] Before anyone says "it's just a game, parenting comes first" I'm not into MOBAs but I remember when I'd be playing Counter Strike with someone and you hear "GET OFF THE COMPUTER NOW" over Vent for stupid reasons like taking out the trash. It sucked. It put the team at a disadvantage and the way I see it is essentially pulling your kid from a sleepover/sporting event early without the social stigma of looking like an absolute asshole. Kids can be real pricks, starting a game 5 minutes before bed or before doing chores (which is entirely their fault), but I don't see why you'd kick your kid off the game. Personally, if my hypothetical son pulled that shit, he'd finish up and be punished after the game is over. I'd love to see what you guys think considering some of you are parents and all of you play games. This is a post made by a user and responded to by Riot and picked up by several gaming media sites. This isn't an official post.

That actually sounds pretty reasonable. Although most parents don't understand the concept that it's not just their child in the game. It's not exactly going to reach most of the parents who do this, even if it sounds reasonable to let them finish if they go past their bed time, and in turn ground them.

I agree. I also have a counterpoint to this counterpoint: Stop taking MOBAs so damned seriously. Statistically speaking the chances of any one random League player going 'pro' is on par with winning a decent chunk from the lottery. 99.999% of the people playing these sorts of games are never going to see a single cent reach their wallet from what they do in said game, and most are playing it as a way to relax. So relax. Don't take it so damned seriously that one person DCing from the match ruins your day. Big fucking deal you lost [i]one[/i] match because of a mid-game DC. The world's gonna keep right on turning, no need to get upset over it.

[QUOTE=Tasm;47124178]That actually sounds pretty reasonable. Although most parents don't understand the concept that it's not just their child in the game. It's not exactly going to reach most of the parents who do this, even if it sounds reasonable to let them finish if they go past their bed time, and in turn ground them.[/QUOTE] Even if a parent came across the post, they'd laugh it off. Of course you're going to get the "fuck you, don't tell me how to raise my goddamn kids" bullshit but I still think it's the right thing to do. [QUOTE=TestECull;47124199]I agree. I also have a counterpoint to this counterpoint: Stop taking MOBAs so damned seriously. Statistically speaking the chances of any one random League player going 'pro' is on par with winning a decent chunk from the lottery. 99.999% of the people playing these sorts of games are never going to see a single cent reach their wallet from what they do in said game, and most are playing it as a way to relax. So relax. Don't take it so damned seriously that one person DCing from the match ruins your day. Big fucking deal you lost [i]one[/i] match because of a mid-game DC. The world's gonna keep right on turning, no need to get upset over it.[/QUOTE] That's the thing, it isn't strictly MOBAs. It's every online game I've ever played and it sucks each and every time. It's so common that I'd say it'll probably happen 1 out of every 3 games. Ask yourself, would these parents act like this if it were a "real" social event? I really doubt it, even if the kid was in the wrong, you don't do it unless you have to.

That felt a bit silly to read but unfortunately this happens. An experience I had that's related to this was about a year ago when I used to play MOBAs, my father asked me to help with a chore while I was in the middle of a game. I couldn't because it would ruin the fun of 9 other people and I explained that to him. He later bitched that I put my video games before my family.

When I saw this thread's title, I thought it was about online harassment. I was wrong.

I don't play these games, but I would go ape shit crazy if I spent an hour getting there (whatever objective is) and being close to victory and then some ass saying "gtg bed time or dinner" and we lose. Cs go competitive mode is what all games should adopt, the more you drop out the more ban or cooldown you get, that would solve kids joining games when they know they can't make it on time. Call me asshple but in cs go when someone of my team abandons game and then I see system message that they received 7 day cool down , it pleases me somewhat as a punishment.

[QUOTE=ROFLBURGER;47124214]He later bitched that I put my video games before my family.[/QUOTE] you put [I]other people that you don't know[/I] before your family

this is pathetic

holy shit this letter will totally be seen by parents and they will totally change their behavior because of reading this and this is totally a legitimate issue.

[QUOTE=TestECull;47124199]I agree. I also have a counterpoint to this counterpoint: Stop taking MOBAs so damned seriously. Statistically speaking the chances of any one random League player going 'pro' is on par with winning a decent chunk from the lottery. 99.999% of the people playing these sorts of games are never going to see a single cent reach their wallet from what they do in said game, and most are playing it as a way to relax. So relax. Don't take it so damned seriously that one person DCing from the match ruins your day. Big fucking deal you lost [i]one[/i] match because of a mid-game DC. The world's gonna keep right on turning, no need to get upset over it.[/QUOTE] People are never not going to take games seriously. People love to play to win, hell I only played dota 2 because it was fun to win. I ended up quitting mobas because it was too stressful and I would catch myself calling other players garbage if they were really bad.

[QUOTE=TestECull;47124199]I agree. I also have a counterpoint to this counterpoint: Stop taking MOBAs so damned seriously. Statistically speaking the chances of any one random League player going 'pro' is on par with winning a decent chunk from the lottery. 99.999% of the people playing these sorts of games are never going to see a single cent reach their wallet from what they do in said game, and most are playing it as a way to relax. So relax. Don't take it so damned seriously that one person DCing from the match ruins your day. Big fucking deal you lost [i]one[/i] match because of a mid-game DC. The world's gonna keep right on turning, no need to get upset over it.[/QUOTE] I think you underestimate how prevalent it is though. It's an issue than needs rectifying because as it stands now, almost every game has at least one d/c, and if people "stopped taking it so seriously" and they gave more leniency on it, it would become an even greater issue. And whenever someone d/c's, it wastes 40 minutes of 9 other people's time. It's not even about going "pro" even in unranked games it's annoying, because it's not just one game, it happens a lot. This is the correct way to go about it, as well as the harsh penalties for leaving in a game.

[QUOTE=Kommodore;47124240]this is pathetic[/QUOTE] But admittedly correct. It's bullshit playing something extremely competitive and someone has to leave because "sorry guys I gotta eat/take out the trash/walk the dog/insert bullshit that isn't THAT important", especially when it isn't even the kid's fault.

[QUOTE=Tasm;47124249] it wastes 40 minutes of 9 other people's time. [/QUOTE] If you define time being 'not wasted' when you win or lose, then you need to rethink why you play the game in the first place.

[QUOTE=NixNax123;47124232]you put [I]other people that you don't know[/I] before your family[/QUOTE] well when you put it that way! I rather waste 5 minutes of my father's time than 40 minutes of 9 other people's time.

[QUOTE=Korova;47124253]But admittedly correct. It's bullshit playing something extremely competitive and someone has to leave because "sorry guys I gotta eat/take out the trash/walk the dog/insert bullshit that isn't THAT important", especially when it isn't even the kid's fault.[/QUOTE] It's your fault if you can't predict when these things will happen. It's not like you didn't know you had to do chores, or didn't know you had to eat. It's just poor planning on your part. Personally, I would always ask my parents what time dinner was, and then plan my gaming around that. Worked out well for me.

[QUOTE=Tasm;47124178]That actually sounds pretty reasonable. Although most parents don't understand the concept that it's not just their child in the game. It's not exactly going to reach most of the parents who do this, even if it sounds reasonable to let them finish if they go past their bed time, and in turn ground them.[/QUOTE] that or parents think that adult on the internet = dude out to get your kids! / Horrible manchild who is playing kids games (Because you know, video games are for KIDS ONLY)

[QUOTE=NixNax123;47124258]If you define time being 'not wasted' when you win or lose, then you need to rethink why you play the game in the first place.[/QUOTE] I'd like to lose a fair fight, and win a fair fight. It's not about winning or losing.

Uh, the guy that posted that open letter isn't a Riot employee...

[QUOTE=NixNax123;47124258]If you define time being 'not wasted' when you win or lose, then you need to rethink why you play the game in the first place.[/QUOTE] In Dota 2, if someone leaves in ranked matches, you're forced to play the rest of the match unless you want penalties against your account which forces you to play quite a few matches with players who've received infractions in game.

[QUOTE=TestECull;47124199]Stop taking MOBAs so damned seriously. Statistically speaking the chances of any one random League player going 'pro' is on par with winning a decent chunk from the lottery. 99.999% of the people playing these sorts of games are never going to see a single cent reach their wallet from what they do in said game, and most are playing it as a way to relax. So relax. Don't take it so damned seriously that one person DCing from the match ruins your day. Big fucking deal you lost [i]one[/i] match because of a mid-game DC. The world's gonna keep right on turning, no need to get upset over it.[/QUOTE] You clearly don't understand the attitude of people who play these games. If someone DC's in the middle of the game, leaving their team at a disadvantage, they have effectively wasted four other peoples time. Maybe those other peoples time was limited. Maybe it was their only game they could play that day. Maybe it was in the middle of a match you were winning. Maybe it was in the middle of a match you were losing but making a comeback. Either way, you've effectively left four other people to flounder in a match for anywhere from 15-45 minutes. That is a long time to be stuck with the notion of "This guy left, so we're probably going to lose now." Games do have comebacks, I've won some 4v5's in Dota myself, but generally you're down someone and you're stuck. It's not fun, it's not relaxing to be forced to play down a guy. Then, once the game is over and you've lost, unless you have the foresight to just ignore everyone on the enemy team, that amazing sentence rings out over all chat: "ez". Welp.

I used to play Dota2, and it isn't an exaggeration that 1 player can completely change the fate of the game by just stopping playing. In some cases, the player can be really bad and the team can compensate, but teams can do so much better when they don't have to.

it's just a videogame

[QUOTE=wickedplayer494;47124274]Uh, the guy that posted that open letter isn't a Riot employee...[/QUOTE] oh dear someone actually checks sources

[QUOTE=sloppy_joes;47124260]It's your fault if you can't predict when these things will happen. It's not like you didn't know you had to do chores, or didn't know you had to eat. It's just poor planning on your part. Personally, I would always ask my parents what time dinner was, and then plan my gaming around that. Worked out well for me.[/QUOTE] You're lucky because I've dealt with cases where it wasn't even their fault and they did everything right. It was just their parents acting like assholes "you've been on the computer for three hours, go outside" "mom, I just need to finish, give me ten minutes" "NOW!". [editline]12th February 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=wickedplayer494;47124274]Uh, the guy that posted that open letter isn't a Riot employee...[/QUOTE] I never said it was. It was reported on in the gaming media quite a bit today.

[QUOTE=Tasm;47124268]I'd like to lose a fair fight, and win a fair fight. It's not about winning or losing.[/QUOTE] For me, it's about the experience I have within the game on a play-by-play basis. I have fun based on my experience overall.

[QUOTE=NixNax123;47124301]For me, it's about the experience I have within the game on a play-by-play basis. I have fun based on my experience overall.[/QUOTE] And losing because some kid got kicked off the computer is going to lead to a bad experience. It's not fun winning then suddenly losing because you lost a player 40 minutes into a game. That shit happens all the time in Payday and it's awful.

[QUOTE=Kommodore;47124287]it's just a videogame[/QUOTE] Good to know, if you don't like it, don't play it? God forbid some people enjoy a competitive game and get a kick out of it !

there's a pretty thick line between getting a kick out of something and making entire swathes of your living day inalterable and then pretending you have a moral responsibility to other people in what is ultimately enjoyment for yourself and yourself only

VIDEO GAMES ARE SERIOUS BUSINESS