Update: Riot has posted an update, saying it will be removing all-chat “in a few regions” over the next couple of patches.
Riot said: “All-chat will be disabled in matchmade queues in a few regions. Since our original announcement, response has varied between regions, so we’re shifting our approach and only disabling /all chat where players were most receptive to trying it out. This test will last for 11.21 and 11.22.
“In regions where the disable rolls out, /all chat will still be available in custom games, and no other tools are being disabled. We’ll evaluate the impact of this change through verbal abuse reports, penalty rates, surveys, and direct feedback. When the test ends, we may leave /all chat disabled, make changes to the disable, or turn it back on, on a per-region basis. We may also make adjustments during the test itself based on initial results.”
Original article: Riot Games has announced it is removing all-chat functionality from League of Legends, meaning opposing teams will no longer be able to type to one another mid-game.
/All chat will be disabled in matchmade queues. While there is an in-game setting to disable this, it’s currently optional – this new change will make it compulsory (though Riot has described it as a ‘test’ and will ‘evaluate the impact of this change’ for now).
It’s good news for Team Liquid’s Welsh top-laner Alphari, who won’t have to mute G2’s all-chat shop promotions anymore (see image above).
“While /all chat can be the source of fun social interaction between teams, as well as some good-hearted banter, right now negative interactions outweigh the positives. We’ll evaluate the impact of this change through verbal abuse reports and penalty rates, as well as surveys and direct feedback from you all.”
Riot Brightmoon and Meddler
The all-chat change will be made in patch 11.21, which is due to go live on Wednesday October 20th 2021.
Game director Andrei Van Roon, aka Meddler, and lead gameplay producer Jeremy Lee, aka Riot Brightmoon, said in an all-chat update on the League of Legends website just now: “While most of our focus around behavioral systems in 2021 has been on gameplay-based behaviors like AFKing and inting, we’ve heard from you that verbal abuse has been a rising problem this year, too.
“While /all chat can be the source of fun social interaction between teams, as well as some good-hearted banter, right now negative interactions outweigh the positives. We’ll evaluate the impact of this change through verbal abuse reports and penalty rates, as well as surveys and direct feedback from you all.”
Riot added that it is working on a number of other changes to address verbal abuse.
Players will still be able to communicate across teams using emotes, champion voice lines and Champion Mastery symbols, and chat to one another in the post-game lobby. And those on the same team will of course be able to chat to one another as usual.
“We’re aware that verbal abuse happens in team chat too, so disabling /all chat won’t get rid of abuse altogether,” Riot admitted. “But team chat also plays an important team coordination function, so the potential value it brings is much higher, even if it can also host some negative experiences.”
RIP those cross-chat ‘1v1 me bro’ challenges, then.
UK LoL reacts – ‘band aid solutions won’t fix the underlying problem’
Here’s how a number of UK League personalities have reacted so far:
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Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
