Riot Games has made the decision to disable /all chat in all matchmade games of League of Legends. This is being done as part of the studio's effort to reduce toxic behavior in their MOBA-style game. Though all chat has been disabled, players will still be able to talk to their own team. There are also emotes that players can use to express themselves should the need arise.
The only time players will be able to communicate with the other team is during the end of game periods.
A new blog post from the devs lay out the reasons behind this new chat restriction.
While /all chat can be the source of fun social interaction between teams, as well as some good-hearted banter, right now negative interactions outweigh the positives. We'll evaluate the impact of this change through verbal abuse reports and penalty rates, as well as surveys and direct feedback from you all.
Regarding that last one, we're aware that verbal abuse happens in team chat too, so disabling /all chat won't get rid of abuse altogether. But team chat also plays an important team coordination function, so the potential value it brings is much higher, even if it can also host some negative experiences.
We know this sucks for those of you who just want to compliment your lane opponent's skin, or ask for a dance party in Baron pit. But we believe the tradeoff is worth it to cut down on the growing negativity /all chat has been creating in your games.
We know this sucks for those of you who just want to compliment your lane opponent's skin, or ask for a dance party in Baron pit. But we believe the tradeoff is worth it to cut down on the growing negativity /all chat has been creating in your games.
"Very odd that they claim to be doing it to reduce verbal abuse, but 99% of toxicity is from your own teammates."
"Cant remember last time i got flamed by the enemy team, but i get flamed by my own team , 5 out of 10 games at best."
"Just me or does 95% of the toxicity happen in team chat? disabling /all does nothing imo"
"I’ve had far more positive interactions in all chat, than I’ve had in ally chat."
"This is so frustrating, honestly. Some of my best friends in this game have come from friendly cross-team banter. It's already off by default and opt-in, so just. Why?"
"Cant remember last time i got flamed by the enemy team, but i get flamed by my own team , 5 out of 10 games at best."
"Just me or does 95% of the toxicity happen in team chat? disabling /all does nothing imo"
"I’ve had far more positive interactions in all chat, than I’ve had in ally chat."
"This is so frustrating, honestly. Some of my best friends in this game have come from friendly cross-team banter. It's already off by default and opt-in, so just. Why?"
I'm not defending toxicity of course, but i feel a little bit of "back in my day" syndrome, maybe toxicity is worse now but 15-20 years ago i just ignored it and loved the freedom of being able to talk to people in the games i played, i guess some people need protecting so the rest of us need to lose something.