Why Riot should never implement voice chat

2. It will make toxicity impossible to monitor

Currently, Riot monitors toxicity through algorithms that monitor the text chat of players in games. The algorithm is programmed to target certain keywords – like racist or sexist terms – as well as terms that the League of Legends community identifies as “toxic” by their reporting patterns – like “noob” or “ez.”

Such an algorithm could not exist for voice communication and thus hinder Riot’s ability to police their community. If one player reports another, Riot would need to have someone listen to the conversation to determine if it is truly toxicity or a false report, far less efficient than the automated system at present.

This will also put a spotlight on the game’s more prominent players, namely big streamers and professionals, for their toxic behavior. As it stands right now, most of the big streamers can speak and interact with chat freely, unafraid that what they say about their teammates will be used against them. But if they are in voice chat with their team, there is that risk that a streamer or pro will say something that is worthy of punishment.

This is precisely what happened to Overwatch pro player Felix “xQc” Lengyel, who was banned for 15 days last summer after being reported for toxic behavior. xQc responded by saying that the toxic messages were “just banter” and pointed to Twitch chat as a cause of his behavior.