Today, I'm boycotting League of Legends. This game has been my career for many years now, and not only has it been the main source of my income, it’s also been the main source of my passion for much longer than that. While I have in the past taken time off the game when I didn’t enjoy it as much, this is the first time ever that I’m taking time off because of their management decisions. Just so you understand, I’m playing in the NAOQs tomorrow. Practice and scrims, as well as bettering my level of skill on champs I’m not practiced on should be my priority, above all else. Instead, I’m prioritizing this. Immediate growth to my stream / skill level is not nearly as important as securing good leadership decisions from Riot would be. While most would say that a one day boycott does nothing, that sentiment couldn’t be further from the truth. With this boycott, albeit short, we’re showing Riot that when the time comes, we, as a community, are willing to unite against the corporate greed that threatens the livelihood of OUR game that we’ve spent so much of our time playing and supporting. Then deciding to backtrack on decisions that they knew would be harmful towards their player base merely because the fallout was even more harmful does nothing to address the real issue… Their mentality towards their players. We are not just pixels and numbers on a screen that can increase the CEOs reputation in front of the shareholders; we are people who have spent large parts of our lives with a fixation on the game that has given a countless number of us a countless amount of cherished memories that will last in the perpetuity of our memories. To ensure that those memories don’t become a mere thing of the past, I urge Riot to truly listen to myself and many others when I say these next words; Your mentality towards us is a repulsive infection that has shown itself to us in its most disgusting form over the last few weeks. While you may think that a damage control response is enough to placate us, I’m here to tell you that you couldn’t be further from the fucking truth. We’ve allowed, for the longest time, your upper management to be increasingly lazy and unresponsive to the true needs of the community, but I hope that these next few words dispel the notion of that trend continuing from your minds We’ve had enough. It’s time you take an actual stand at truly making this game better for everyone. Organizing local community events for your players across the coast, monthly check ins with your content creators and high elo player base to gauge game direction, and the removal of your predatory Gacha system are the starting point of what should be your crusade at making League of Legends great again. And I truly hope you understand that this comes not from a place of malice, but rather of love. A love for a game that I’ve played for years, A love of a passion that has been all-consuming of my entire life, And a love for what I see League of Legends could truly become. If any Rioter wants to privately reach out so that I could further explain my ideas on how to truly make League succeed, rest assured that a private dm will always remain private. The community does not want to stand against you. They want to stand with you. But for that to happen, you need to make the changes that make this game worth standing by. This can be the start of something beautiful if you allow it to. Thank you for reading.