League of Legends players have always had creative ways to taunt each other, whether it’s through in-game chat or using pings on the map. But in Patch 13.19, Riot Games is taking steps to reduce toxicity by removing one of these classic BM pings from the game.
In this update, scoreboard pings will only be visible to the player who activates them, according to League’s product lead Chris “Auberaun” Roberts. This means that players can no longer spam pings in the chat to harass their teammates. However, certain pings like item cooldowns or ultimate timers will still be visible to the entire team.
The bait ping, another controversial addition to the ping system, will also be removed because it is deemed “unacceptable” in solo queue and other game modes. It will be replaced in a future patch.
While some members of the community believe these changes are removing useful communication tools, others see it as a necessary step to combat toxicity. They suggest implementing relative timers for pings to prevent spamming.
These changes are part of Riot’s larger effort to address toxic behavior in League of Legends. Toxic summoners will soon be required to play non-ranked matches before they can access ranked solo queue again.
League Patch 13.19 is scheduled to go live on Wednesday, Sept. 27.