I understand Riot has made a very educated effort to defeat toxicity in League. But has anyone considered they might be too late? That there are immutable consequences to enabling a rabid base of completely uninhibited strangers to speak their minds and act upon their worst thoughts?

Today, I decided to go to my grocery store to see if the latest shipment of mountain dew was in. I was hoping there were MW3 exp codes on them. So, as you can see, my day was completely cut off from League of Legends. I hadn’t even played the game, just an ARAM or two and that doesn’t count.

I’m rolling down my street, happy as can be, and bam. There’s this ugly red octagon that catches my eye. It’s a sign, raised up like a standard… just saying STOP.

STOP. Just STOP. I was flabbergasted, but furthermore, I was gobsmacked and insulted. I could feel my chest tightening up, the way it does as I slap together messages for my team after a bad baron fight. The way it does when I forget to do my Karthus ult and my team starts pinging me, ULT, ULT, STOP, STOP.

I mean, who put up the sign? What a pretentious freak, dude. What a pretentious little freak–they think they can just plop down STOP and I’ll loyally come to a three-second standstill. As if they can control my entire life with just the minimal effort of a sign and a single word. There’s a crosswalk! I know when to stop! Or if it matters that damned much to police my life, have the courage to sit on the street corner and say it to my face.

And the tone. Don’t get me started on the tone. The bright red color, the all caps… whoever placed the sign was pissed off! I can’t imagine how many people are driving, and they see STOP, and go–stop what? Stop breathing? Stop being a financial burden on your mom? Stop harassing truck drivers about whether or not they know when the mountain dew will arrive? It’s just funny, okay? League of Legends has created an environment where one chucklefuck with white paint and a sign can indict your entire life.

I have to go to traffic court for failing to come to a complete stop, and also for accidentally forcing a station wagon with a family of four to swerve into a hydrant. But wait until a real judge hears about the shit Riot perpetuated. I’ll tell him, your honor, I would have stopped, I would have loved to stop, if the sign said “Please Stop” and not “STOP.” I shouldn’t have to bend the knee to such toxic pings. Here is evidence of the damage pings caused to Riot.

So yeah, I’ll be off the hook by tomorrow. But, just, dude. in the police cruiser, I saw dozens of these STOP pings. Just spammed. Not a sliver of trust, and definitely not an iota of respect. As a society, League has made us so toxic that we can’t even trust one another to stop at crosswalks anymore. I just don’t know if this is fixable at this point.