League of Legends players have stumbled upon a new strategy that involves leveraging champion select as a means to solicit money from teammates.
Reports have surfaced on the official League of Legends subreddit detailing encounters with players who, prior to the match, request ‘financial assistance’ under the pretext of needing a meal or facing financial hardship until a certain date. Payment options such as Venmo or PayPal are suggested.
In the event that their appeal is disregarded or met with refusal, these players resort to holding the lobby hostage by threatening to intentionally int during the entire match. Once it becomes evident that their plea for funds will not be heeded, they solidify their intent by selecting a deliberately disruptive champion, such as Nunu or Yuumi with Smite, thereby compelling one of their teammates to dodge the game.
The phenomenon of intentional feeding and other forms of disruptive behavior has long plagued the League of Legends community, often stemming from frustrations over banned or contested champion picks, or personal motives such as account deranking.
However, this particular manifestation of trolling introduces a humorous yet concerning dynamic, wherein players find themselves coerced into donating or risking the outcome of the game.
While Riot Games continues its efforts to combat toxicity and trolling within the game, the challenge of detecting and penalizing offenders without inadvertently ensnaring innocent players persists. Should the prevalence of these “donate or lose” tactics escalate within the community, it could pose yet another obstacle for League of Legends players in their ranked matches.