Riot Responds to User With League Addiction

Video games can be addicting. You always want to be the best that you can be at anything – whether that’s a video game, a sport, or anything else in life. Sometimes you get too attached to something and become addicted to it. An addiction is defined by Webster’s dictionary as a, “compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly: persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful.” Simply put, an addiction is something you seemingly can’t live without in your life. 

League of Legends can be addictive.

Sure, it’s a video game to most – but to some it’s a way of life and part of their routine. Take a smoker for example. Everyone knows somebody who’s tried to quit smoking but just can’t. Often times, they need help to kick their addiction and that’s what this reddit user did with their League addiction.

On Rayzeh’s reddit post, he magnified the response he had from a member of Riot Games. However, his initial message to Riot is yet to be seen. Rayzeh did comment on the post and said he sent Tyler1’s most recent freakout to them, timecoded at the 9:05 mark. Take a peek below.

Whether or not this is what Rayzeh actually sent, it’s still an emotional (read: rage-filled) explosion from Tyler1 that’s oddly truthful. As much as Tyler1 does put on an exaggerated act for his stream – you can tell that he does in fact love League of Legends and wants to see it in a better place.

Riot Games Player Support employee CarpathianSphinx responded to Rayzeh’s initial claim and set the tone from the get-go by offering a truthful exchange. “I don’t have training in this field regarding addiction so I couldn’t really help by sharing expert advice or anything like that.”

However, CarpathianSphinx did offer some personal advice. “I consider an addiction something we do on repeat and would like to stop doing it – so I called it ‘toxic hobby’. I asked myself how could I get rid of it and then it hit me: ‘I need a productive hobby’, one that makes me happy so I started reading.” Rayzeh did credit CarpathianSphinx and said, “Just want to give a shoutout to Riot CarpatianSphinx, you are a really nice guy and helped me a lot!”

This true, down to earth response actually makes a ton of sense. When you break down an addiction into a “toxic hobby”, it makes sense for League players. The community started to chime in as well with their own ways in which they curbed their League addiction. Reddit user VenomousCompany said, “Reading is actually the main thing stopped my League addiction. I bought the Game of Thrones Set and my goodness. Another key one is exercise. I dedicate at least 1 hour everyday (Monday to Friday) on doing gym work and then do my 2 rest days on Saturday and Sunday. I lost 3 stone in weight (42 pounds) and Now I’m about 10 stone 11 pounds (151 pounds) and rocking a decent six pack and everything.”

It’s refreshing to see Riot respond to claims like this. Instead of sitting back and shoving aside claims like this – having real-life human interaction is the first step for many, like Rayzeh, in curbing their addiction.

Well done, Riot.