Devon H. August 17, 2018
The maligned solo queue experience has been a subject of ridicule since League of Legends’ inception, but there are some surprising people who are working hard to improve it.
Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp, a League of Legends player and content creator once renowned for his negative attitude and ensuing permanent ban from League of Legends, has proved once again that he has turned over a new leaf.
On August 15, Tyler1 took it upon himself to encourage his teammates and his opponents to join a team call over chat program Discord to create a more competitive environment. He continued this for the entirety of his 13-game stream. Tyler1 ended it with the conclusion that voice comms made the game more fun, and he had zero negative experiences with his solo queue teammates.
Riot added premade voice communication to the game in March 2018. There are many who wish the functionality would be expanded to teams beyond premade groups, but Riot refrains from doing so.
In Riot’s voice chat FAQ, the developer stated that, “We could have made voice chat opt-in, but that creates a lot of pressure for players to opt in for the sake of competitive advantage. We're going to keep voice chat parties-only for now.”
Riot Games currently wishes to focus on preventing further toxicity in the League of Legends community rather than potentially inhibiting the growth of competitive play. Time will tell if that position will change.