One of the problems with online gaming can be found simply by logging onto any popular game and beating somebody. You will promptly discover the depths to which sore losers can sink. That’s a problem when your bread and butter is an online game you’d like to keep growing, and Riot, developer of League of Legends, has decided to use positive reinforcement.
This isn’t a new problem with Riot; in fact, they have an entire team dedicated to, essentially, ensuring good sportsmanship in their games. It’s headed by a man with a doctorate in cognitive neuroscience, to give you an idea of how seriously they take this.
According to Rock Paper Shotgun, one of their steps is rewarding polite players with better rewards. People with clean chat logs and who haven’t been suspended or restricted will get a boost in influence points, what players use to buy in-game items and bonuses. And that’s not the only bad behavior they’ll be gunning for:
We’ve recently been focused on addressing extreme cases of verbal toxicity, and will soon be testing additional systems that address gameplay toxicity like leavers, AFKs, and intentional feeders. However, it’s important to keep in mind that players engaging in these behaviors really are not welcome in our community. Fewer than 1% of players have been escalated to a 14-day ban or permanent ban or even received a chat restriction.
Honestly, I could care less about controlling people who ragequit, because time is the only cure for immaturity. Still, it’s good to see Riot is doing their best to make a game fun for everybody. Now, how about some shock collars?