Personal opinion: Communication problems in League of Legends

Communication is key for winning and outplaying your enemies in League of Legends. League requires you to be on synch with all your teammates for a game to flow with ease. Not communicating efficiently can bring many problems to your team gameplay and can cause team members to tilt. One can cause positive or negative output depending on how well one communicated.

A very big problem League of Legends players encounter daily is lack of good communication. This is not always one’s own fault, but it’s a flaw in the game itself. Players are matched with 4 other strangers whom they know nothing about, and are somehow expected to instantly get along and be able to effectively communicate via text messages. So many times have I wanted to tell my team things that cannot be explained easily through text chat.

For instance, let’s say you’re playing top, and are getting camped by the enemy jungler. You’re 1-4 and you’re trying to play your best. Regardless of your effort, your team’s mid says something along the lines of “GG this top only feeds”. They are not saying something incorrect, but they don’t know exactly what has happened to you. It is not the fault of the mid to be almost clueless of what is going on up top. That person is focused on his lane, and is getting emotionally affected by someone on his team dying recurrently. All you want to tell your team is your situation, and tell them to take advantage of it. If the jungle is constantly harassing top, your mid laner and jungle can coordinate dragons and bot ganks. Sadly, this is very hard to express to your teammates through short messages.

Another problem with communication is the emotional state of most players. Usually you will be paired with at least one member who has been losing that day, and is probably frustrated and mad. The slightest mistake you make will ignite a chaotic rager who only wants to impale you. There will come times when you have no other option than to mute people on your team. I’ve met many players who are afraid to mute people on their team because they believe that by muting someone, they lose all hopes of winning because they take away communication. Let me tell you this: if you are constantly being yelled at and distracted by someone, how is that more effective than muting the person? You are doing yourself a favor of not having to deal with negativity this way.

Many people have offered solutions like voice chat programs. In NA this might be a good option, but in other servers like LAN/LAS or EU, you cannot always understand the accent very well or vocal speed. Sometimes you only cause yourself more confusion. Another problem with this is getting yelled at literally. I’ve been yelled at through voice chat once, and it’s not any better than through Caps lock reading.

Thankfully, League of Legends offers you the opportunity to play with friends. I enjoy the game more when played with 4 other people I know. There is nothing better than playing with a well coordinated team, and good environment. League of Legends is a great game, we simply have to find ways to make the gameplay and community not interfere with our own individual fun and emotions.