If you play League of Legends, then you hear the word “inting” a lot. Truthfully, it is not explicitly bound to LoL, but that is where it originally comes from.
In short, “inting” stands for “intentional feeding” – the act when a player purposely loses the game for an entire team. It is “intentional” because they do it out of their own will and “feeding” because they feed the opponent with gold and experience, which in turn makes it almost impossible to win.
But “inting” is used for so many more League’s gameplay cases than for just the intentional feeding. Players and streamers alike can flag the most random moments as “inting”, even though they have nothing in common with the original meaning. And by this point, the word is rarely used for what it was meant for at the beginning.
So, how did this happen? How did League of Legends give birth to one of the most well-known yet most misused terms in the gaming industry? And why is it important to understand it?
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The Philosophy of “inting”
In truth, “inting” has always been there. There is probably no correct answer to when players first started using the word. League of Legends is a naturally very competitive game, and the origin might be in the implementation of the ranked system. That is because competitiveness touches the emotional side of every one of us, and not always in a good way.
First of all, it is quite normal to feel bad sometimes when you’re playing a game. Everybody does. But if a person loses control of how they feel, then things like “tilt” and “inting” are very likely to happen as well. And when the positive emotions aren’t there to drive us to victory, and instead the negative ones urge us to lose the game at all costs, that’s when the real problems appear.
But “inting” isn’t only “intentionally feeding”. The term has also been coined for just “playing badly”. “Inter” can be called anyone who has a hard time in the game and does many misplays. Popular streamers and pro players often call their in-game mistakes “inting”. (Provigil) They do it sarcastically, but people have generally accepted it and continue to knowingly misuse it over the years.
And now the line between toxic people who specifically login to ruin games and regular people who just do what they can in the game is totally blurred. This wouldn’t be much of a problem if it was all fun and games. But the truth is that it can hurt our community in the long run. Repeatedly bashing people for “inting” can turn off many new players away from League of Legends and stop the existing players from trying their best to win.
And yes, the pro players and the streamers don’t mean any harm when saying the word “inting” like that. But we all have to try and be better teammates and gamers, so we don’t spread the real “inting” further.
Spreading of “inting”
One of the most famous examples for “inting” in the LoL community is Tyler1. Tyler1 is known for many things like “challenger player”, ‘best Draven”, and “popular streamer”, but also for “toxic player”, “promoter of inting”, and “banned streamer”. During season 5 and 6, Tyler1 was such a trendy figure on Twitch that his streams had massive audiences coming in. But the real reason why his gameplay was so much viewed is that he was known to regularly “int”.
Tyler1 wasn’t a bad player at all; he was a challenger level ADC. But people would regularly tune in to his stream just for the chance to watch a high ranked player destroy the solo queue for many other players, including some pros. Tyler1 was so tiltable back then that if his teammates did something that he personally didn’t like, he would straight “run it down mid”. He would repeatedly die and feed the enemy players until defeat.
Riot Games issued Tyler1 an ID ban, which forbade him to play League of Legends. That enraged many of his fans, who kept jumping in games and imitating him by “inting” and “running down mid”. And while Tyler1 was gone for a long time, Riot Games eventually welcomed him back to the community a few years later.
Now, Tyler1 is “reformed” (a term that symbolizes a positive change in a player, usually meaning that he has overcome toxicity). His streams still gather the biggest audiences on Twitch, but today he is one of the most positive persons to watch play the game. But regardless of everything, he is still responsible for massively promoting “inting” in League of Legends and has negatively influenced many other people’s experiences.
But the spreading of “inting” can happen to anybody. If we let our emotions get the better of us on a bad day, then we can ruin League of Legends for the people in our matches. And if we do that, then those people have a chance to inflict negativity on other people. It is an endless chain that we, the LoL players, have to overcome it sometime.
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What Can You Do Against “inting”?
Truthfully, no one can escape “inting,” and no one is “untiltable”. Even the most dedicated professional players fall victim to their emotions and “int”. And that’s because we’re all human beings, after all! We’re susceptible to certain feelings and can not always get a firm grip on them. But the most important thing is to be aware of it.
If someone in your game is “inting”, then you aren’t left with much of a choice. You could always talk to them and try to be their friend. They will often have blinding rage and will want to lose the game, even if you’re winning. But sometimes they can calm down and let you carry them to victory. And if that doesn’t work, then you should report them for intentionally causing you a defeat and let Riot’s system make them aware of their actions.
But, if you recognize that you’re “inting” in a game, then the best solution will always be to just quit and play another time. There are numerous activities or video games that can calm you and reset your mindset for your next games. Having a “fresh” mentality is a big reason behind many winning streaks.
And while we can’t permanently delete “inting” from League of Legends, there are things that all of us could do to minimize its effect. It takes both desire, effort, and work, but it isn’t impossible. So go on and be a better teammate. Do it for yourself and do it for League. Legends never die!
