Y'know what... I can admit when I'm wrong. Hands up, I've changed my mind (somewhat). I can understand your points a lot more now. Not just from reading the (very well written) words you say but also from reflecting on my own recent in-game behaviour. A week or two ago now for a couple of nights in a row, I really did lose my shit with my team. I behaved terribly... or at least worse than I needed to. Like you say, the passion you feel for a game can make you go to the extremes and feel so frustrated that you need to lash out and LoL is THE perfect example of a game that makes you 'tilt' as you say. It's weird, looking back now, I can remember why I lost it and to a degree, I can understand (and dare I say, justify) why I lost it. But the logical side of me knows I shouldn't have (over)reacted the way I did and not slag off my team when it doesn't accomplish anything and only turns people against you (despite me still thinking now that I had a point). I'm torn on it really. The feelings/passion of the game versus cold hard logic/reason.
Did you report them for being so bad they must be hacking?
When you're passionate about something, it's hard to have the discipline not to show the negative emotions that spawn from that sometimes. I've learned to do better over the years, mostly by making a massive fool of myself and learning the hard way, but even today I'm not completely impervious and sometimes it still comes out...though when it does I try to at least express it privately so I don't make as much of a fool out of myself.
But to be honest, I'm not sure how well even I would fare as a professional gamer. The schedule is grueling, the pressure to perform is intense, the 'fans' can be downright cruel if they think you're not doing well enough, and you're practically living with these other guys that are your team-mates, in some cases right after you meet them. It's a pressure-box, and we take these guys fresh out of high school (or even before), remove them from all the support systems they've ever known, and put them in this situation.
To be honest, it's a wonder players aren't more toxic...in NA at least, most of the players have friendly relationships with each other, and trash talk is usually done in fun. And that's what the fans expect...as eUnited found out on the challenger series:
"The fan base is very against [trash-talking]. Gilius [Berk "Gilius" Demir] just got smited by the fan base across the board, and he made his team very unlikable and unpopular within a few hours of that happening. The repercussions are very high in NA, I think that’s why people are less likely to do it." -Locodoco
Regarding Dardoch specifically, I do somewhat see what you're saying and can accept it all, for the most part. I'll never be a fan (or even like the guy) though. Lol. Anyone who describes themselves (oh so arrogantly) as 'the cleanest Lee Sin in NA' deserves a swift punch to the gob in my opinion. But then of course, I'm an underdog loving, success hating brit and we often percieve american 'confidence' as arrogance and want to tear them down cos of it. So I'm going to claim defense based on my social upbringing for me feeling this way.
lol, well, I wouldn't exactly call Immortals with him on it a success...they didn't even get to playoffs.
But I think he's shown a lot of improvement this split both in and out of the game...I'm not aware of any public toxic moments he's had with Immortals, and he's definitely becoming more of a team player in-game. I guess at this point I see his antics with TL as part of his past and not necessarily something that reflects who he is now...so I have a hard time judging him based on that.
I watched one of his streams though, and can confirm that he has shitty taste in music. xD
Is that the pool of poison/acid she spits out? That does make sense now you mention it. I can see how she would support well. It's strange to me how there's so many champs out there that can work in a support role if played a certain way. It's no wonder people barely ever play your traditional/classic (mage) supports anymore. I do wish they'd redefine or change the role in some way. Or at least give more of a boost to the actual support champs.
If I remember correctly, support wasn't originally a defined role...it just kind of evolved with players over time until it became part of
the meta, at which point Riot adopted it as official and started trying to tailor characters to that role. I understand how having a defined role helps make it easier for the fifth player, but personally I think it's a bit limiting too. In reality, picking most champions for 'support' can give you an edge in some area when played right. At least with the new ten-ban system on the competitive level, there's a lot more flexing in positions, including support.