In LoL you will soon be able to communicate with allies without using third-party software. Another opportunity for toxic players to annoy.
A voice chat for League of Legends has been discussed in the community for years. The fans generally split into two camps regarding their opinions: “Yes, we need it. This makes it much easier to communicate tactics and team fights” and “No, this is just another source where we get flamers and ragers.”
In recent years, it didn’t seem like RiotGames wanted to implement such a communication tool in the game. However, during a Q&A session from Riot Korea, it was recently announced that the voice chat is currently being tested internally.
Teamwork is to be promoted through voice chat
On Reddit, user Calycae posted a translation of the Q&A session. According to this, the voice chat is already being tested internally. In the past, the team expressed concerns that such a communication tool could lead to toxic behavior. After reconsidering the tool, the team decided to develop such a voice chat:
“League of Legends promotes team sports that are based on teamwork. We believe that a voice chat can be valuable when players are paired with other random players. Therefore, the chat is currently being tested.”
There is still no fixed release timeframe for the feature. The translation states: “After the update for the game client has been implemented, we expect more concrete plans and may make initial arrangements.”
This sounds like the feature has already been officially confirmed. However, community manager “Runeterra” subsequently explained on the Korean website Inven that the term ‘confirmed’ cannot be used yet: “The voice chat is currently receiving positive, internal feedback. However, this does not mean that the feature is ‘confirmed’.”
What prevails: Tactics or Flame?
From the players’ perspective, such a voice chat is a good opportunity to exchange ideas with other players, discuss tactics, and provide assistance. A voice chat in LoL could replace programs like Discord to communicate with “randoms”.
On the other hand, the “League of Legends” community can quickly turn toxic as well. It can happen that the existing (text) chat in the game is only used to insult one’s allies or enemies. This frustrates and distracts. Those who do not mute or ignore toxic players will quickly find themselves in a bad mood.
This danger still persists and may be exacerbated by a voice chat. Other games like CS:GO rely on voice communication. An important feature is one that allows players to toggle the feature on and off. A funny example can be seen in the following CS:GO video, where the player demonstrates how it sounds when the voice chat is reactivated in an unranked round:
Although the video is just an example and does not represent the entire CS:GO community, “auditory spamming” is not uncommon in games with voice chat. We are eager to hear more from official sources on this topic.
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