League Quickie: Just Use The Mute Button - By Your Average Platinum Player

Overview:

Though it has been around for as long as the game itself, and its purpose is as clear as day, many players in the community seemingly don't understand the concept of using the mute button. Whether you are Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, or even Challenger, the League of Legends community will always have its fair share of toxic ragers in every tier. In order to deal with them, the solution is relatively simple, and yet, many players fail to simply press tab and click the simple mute button next to a player in game. It is almost as if continuing to subjectify one's self to verbal abuse or toxic behavior aids in winning the game.

How not muting someone will make you lose (most of the time):

Whether it was in Silver, Gold, or now Platinum, the amount of toxicity and rage I experienced was never in a shortage. A common misconception is that players believe that if they climb the solo queue ladder to a rating they believe is relatively high that the amount of troll's and ragers would decrease significantly. Simple answer is they don't. Because of this necessary evil in the community, I say "praise lord baron for the mute button".

Going on Tilt:

The main reason why toxic players and ragers all alike seemingly lose more games is because of the reason known as "tilt". Being on tilt is a term that originated from poker that can be applied to almost all decision making scenarios or games. League of Legends of course, is no exception. So what is tilt? 

"Tilt is a poker term for a state of mental or emotional confusion or frustration in which a player adopts a less than optimal strategy, usually resulting in the player becoming over-aggressive. This term is closely associated with steam and some consider the terms equivalent, but 'steam' typically carries more anger and intensity" (From wikipedia). 

If we apply this term to the game, we see that ragers are all alike in regard that they are usually an aggressor when blaming a teammate for why they are losing, complaining, or any other negative input they may have. In doing so, this affects team morale and overall makes everyone else on the team feel worse and ultimately go on tilt along with said rager. In the end, when an entire team is fighting amongst each other and bringing each other down it's no wonder that losing would be more likely. 

JUST USE THE MUTE BUTTON:

So if it weren't obvious enough (and if it were that obvious, every single player in solo queue would be doing it), using the mute button not only help you as a player, but your entire team as well. Instead of wasting time and energy arguing in a game with some 10 year old named Melvin as referred to by Greg Sky Williams, a simple mute will allow you to focus on your game, be less likely to go on tilt, and be an actively constructive teammate that can contribute something. Now think, if you have 1 rager on your team and the other 4 of you use the mute button, its almost as if the rage isn't there (shocker!).

 

Melvin Video:

Conclusion:

I realize this article was a bit short and many players might already know to use the mute button, but there are still a vast number of players who do not. The mute button feature was implented not just in League of Legends, but almost every online game out there for this specific reason. In order for players to have as much of an enjoyable gaming experience as possible, the simple muting of toxic players keeps that relatively intact.

Everyone should use the mute button, not just half. If you are player and follow the mute button, bravo to you, and if you are a player who doesn't, I strongly consider it. Being able to focus more on your game rather than 10 year old Melvin, will increase the quality of your games and more often than not, help you win more and climb that ladder.