Fired Riot Employee Discusses League of Legends’ Community Toxicity And Recent Backlash
The League of Legends community is infamous for its ability to somehow nurture toxic behavior within the game. Though the term itself and the nature of the topic is always a matter up for discussion, a shining spotlight has been focused on a recently fired Riot employee, who is now opening up about his experience within the community and his actions have not been well-received. Last week, Aaron Rutledge (a.k.a. Riot Sanjuro), age 40, was terminated from his position within the experience design team working on the game client, new features, user interface, and so on.
During a long, drunken night of gaming on the critically-acclaimed MOBA, Rutledge decidedly let the stress from work and the responsibilities that came with it pour out, effectively targeting a player known for toxic behavior toward others – Tyler1 – and making slanderous statements.
After a long night of some terrible games with friends, I had a couple too many whiskeys and decided to pop in some chat rooms to see who was awake. Some discussion started about Tyler1 and I let it rip.”
In an effort to defend himself, and still fueled by liquid courage, the fired Riot employee even suggested that it was Tyler1’s fault for the grief and stress at work. However, realizing his mistake the morning after, Rutledge issued a public apology on Reddit, but that wasn’t enough to stop the community from ripping him apart…figuratively. From doxxing, to threats, and insults, members of the LoL playerbase were relentless for “several days”.
The doxxing and threats and insults kept coming for several days. Pretty scary stuff – but nothing I didn’t deserve. I was very impressed with Tyler’s reaction to all of this though, I said some nasty stuff and his response was quite generous.”
Ironically enough, his latest endeavor involved a fair deal of contribution to League of Legends latest venture toward curtailing virulent behavior within the community. As the course of the internet would have it, Redditors openly discussed Rutledge’s position and how the events have led up to his termination. Plenty of users agreed that due to his position, there’s a certain level of standard that needs to be upheld.
It’s no secret that players can be the best and worst at bringing others down with flames and trash talk, role models are needed to set an example for better behavior. Nevertheless, Rutledge acknowledges and has fully accepted Riot’s decision. In the end, he understands that actions have consequences.
I fully respect the decision to terminate me, and if this was one of my former direct reports I’d probably have done the same. Riot has a really strong set of values about how they think about and speak to players and I foolishly threw that out the window that night.”
Not only has he been let go, but it turns out that the prospect of alcohol rehabilitation is within the horizon. In an effort to discover the underlying problems that may have led up to the events of his termination, Rutledge confessed that he is taking steps to solving a them.
I’m checking into a rehab center to try and figure out how my drinking led to this happening. Once I’m back home I’ll look for some freelance work for a bit but ultimately I’d like to get back to making games. Riot is a fantastic company – the best I’ve ever worked for – and I’ll continue playing and watching League.
It seems that Riot and the League of Legends has a long way to go, even within the confines of the developing team. Perhaps this is enough of an alarm that some regular check-ins need to be done with Riot employee s, or that community toxicity is a more serious issue that stems beyond the player base.
What do you guys think of the events of the fired Riot employee? Do you think Riot took the right steps? Feel free to let us know in the comments section below or start a conversation on Don’t Feed the Gamers official Facebook page. To stay up to date on gaming news as they happen, follow us on Twitter! Here are some of our latest:
Hoi Duong2131 Posts
Hoi is an elusive figure at DFTG, whose favorite past-times include chillin' in the Fade, reading manga, watching anime, collecting novelty items, and gaming.
