“League Of Legends” Makes Online Players Be Nice

The massively popular online game League of Legends is now rewarding players for making nice. It seems that the game's chat functions and other forms of communication were pretty hardcore trollish. Also, people were unfairly stacking the characters to the level of invincibility, which although not technically cheating, isn't cool either. So, the game's producers Riot Games brought in a bunch of social scientists and etiquette teachers to make people play nice and fair. The game awards honor points for not acting like a total tool. While this doesn't really give you any tangible benefit, it seems to be working. On the one hand, it's no fun to play with someone who cheats. On the other, should a game company legislate behavior?

Mind you, you go around destroying and killing in this game. That ain't exactly nice behavior. I understand the desire to make things pleasant and fair. Trolls are a scourge on the Internet that make certain things like commenting on forums and message boards no fun. Also, we all have that friend who cheats in a way that you can't really accuse them of technically cheating. Like my friend The Weez who used to create a wrestling character on Nintendo 64's WWF game that was invincible. Not cool. But still, isn't there something to be said for free speech? Isn't some level of trash talking part of the fun of killing strangers in a virtual environment? I think it is. I'm going to be polite and then stab you in the face, OK?