Open Letter to Parents of League of Legends' Players

[ForumSafari]

Hey, I totally agree a kid who joins a game they know they may not be able to finish is in the wrong. I'm just saying the solution is to punish the kid, not the kid and 9 strangers. That's overstepping your remit.

It is, which is why you don't do it and either accept that the kid is just going to behave that way because, let's be honest, no one gives a fuck about your league ranking but you and it's just a game to most people or you report them quietly to whatever their code of conduct group is.

What you don't do is get butthurt that someone broke your high score and what you most certainly do not do is tell off strangers for parenting their children properly because it's momentarily inconvenient for you. What the parent says goes, you do not teach children that if they start a game they get to finish it no matter what, that encourages them to think that their momentary wants are more important than their parents instructions and the rules laid down for them.

But no one has the choice of whether to play with kids in this context or not. Don't blame people for joining a random queue and getting grouped with random people.

If you join a random queue and get grouped with random people you have to accept random behaviour. It's like when my DM takes a night off of the campaign to run a one-off and we net in some randoms from the LGS, I don't get rectally ravaged and talk about 'wasting our time' when someone has to leave early because the expectation is that no one has a commitment to each other. It's the different between a random matchup and some kind of guild event where you have tacitly agreed to support an ongoing group of players. AS I say if one of our regular players regularly bailed on me I'd start to get annoyed but a one-off?

also, dude, you are being super aggressive

Who cares? Honest question. This isn't my first Escapist account and if I get banned I'll just make another if I feel like posting. Heck, I've got like 2 accounts I forgot the passwords for because the Escapist haven't realised that IP banning people or IP blocking multiple signups don't work on dynamically addressed clients. Well either that or they'd let /b/ in here if they'd click on adverts.

Besides which it's not aggressive, it's scornful.

 

[Mutant1988]

Look at it through any colour glass you want, that kid has a talent. It's just a case of convincing an entire child-producing generation that it is a talent.

That talent obviously does not extent to knowing when it's dinner time.

If the parent hauls the kid out before the end, then the parent did waste everyone's time. There are alternative ways to discipline the kid.

-----

I don't expect parents to compromise their routine in the slightest. If there's no time for the kid to play LoL now, then the parent just shouldn't be allowing the kid to play LoL now. If the parents eat at a routine time but the kid keeps queueing for new games in at that time anyway, then that kid should have their LoL taken away.

So because you can't be bothered to make up a team of 5, this kid should have his ability to play LoL, at all ever, revoked?

And no, insisting that there is alternate ways to discipline the kid is compromising their routine.

Does this letter even specifically note there is a pattern of this happening (Parents removing children), more so than any other reason for people to quit or ruin their enjoyment?

To think that this wouldn't even be an issue if some people knew how to assemble a team.

 

[mike1921]

It doesn't matter if it's a game, if you wasted my time you wasted my time. If you wanna learn how to respect people you can't be caught up on degree like that.

If you're playing serious games with children (which in itself weird) then you're gambling on them not having a schedule to stick to. If someone plays a game and ignores an appointment that's their fault, not the person with whom they have an appointment. Telling people to let their kids play with you rather than eat dinner because this computer game is super important is fucking weak.

The parents also didn't waste your time, the kid did.

There's also an argument that if you take time to write an "open letter" (the most pussy-assed passive aggressive form of communication imaginable) to the parents of children that run home for dinner telling them that it's more important that their kids play games with you online then your time is almost by definition unwasteable.

It is the age of the internet, where everyone is anonymous except for what they decide to disclose, them being children is irrelevant to the vast majority of gaming interactions.Some things are flexible, some things are inflexible. Your dinner time is flexible, just microwave it for fucks sake.

This computer game is 5v5, 30 minutes long, so 4.5 hours of time not on your kid. I don't give a flying fuck how important you perceive the game to be, the fact of the matter is the other plays invested/are investing a lot of time in it and that's reason enough to let your kid finish and punish him later if he reasonably could have known that something was going to happen during the course of the game that he should be there for.

And what's this opposition to heating up dinner?

No, the parents definitely wasted my time, if you force someone to not honor a commitment they made to me that's on you. Doesn't mean that you even made the wrong call but it is on you.

It's a game of skill, there's nothing weird about an adult playing a child in chess.

The reason this is weird is that adults are treating children like peers and expecting their parents to compromise their routine , it's also weird because they're blaming their parents for making them eat dinner at a routine time rather than play games with strangers online. Finally it's weird because these people are so dumb that they seriously don't see it coming when kids fuck up their scheduling and run home for dinner. If you are seriously pissed off when children behave like children then you shouldn't be playing with children.

Also if you want to have a serious tournament set it up as a serious tournament, you know, with entry and venues and proper matchmaking and flexibility for drops. This is like the difference between dropping 5 seconds into a PTQ match in M:TG and shutting down Cockatrice.

Children ARE your peers online, if you're anonymous with no entry requirements than your peers are those you get matchmade with. It's a meritocracy, if you're 5 years old but you're more skilled than me than you will be a higher ranking than me.

It is a straw man to say no one sees it coming , just because I know it's going to happen doesn't mean it's not annoying and doesn't mean that every time it happens it's legitimate. Also, it's not children behaving like children if you out of nowhere force them to leave to do something that could wait a week let alone 30 minutes. I don't know where you get this idea that there's a "routine time" for dinner, I don't think I know a single person who has ever had a routine time for dinner. Most people I know normally got called down/upstairs/inside at some point roughly between 4:30pm and 8:00pm.

It's not behaving like children to be forced away from a commitment because an authority figure is an asshole who has no concept of flexibility (specifically talking about the ones who inform a kid they need to take out the trash at 5:30 and unplug the router if it's not out by 5:35).

I don't want to have a serious tournament , I just want to have a game where people acknowledge that if they leave they're wasting some of my time. What the hell is wrong with middle ground? I don't care if you leave because your dog ate something he shouldn't or you got a call for a job interview or literally anything that can't be put on hold.

 

[ffronw]

Here's my $0.02 as a parent and a lifelong gamer.

I'm really glad my son is into games. They've been a source of entertainment for me since I was young. I hope he finds as much enjoyment in them as I have.

That said....

There will never be a situation where I will base my parenting decisions on what someone else playing a video game thinks is important. You simply cannot constantly monitor what your kid is doing. It's not possible. I can go to his room, tell him "Dinner's in 10 minutes. Don't start any games!" and after I walk out, he'll start a game. In a case like that, I am absolutely turning the game off. Not because I want anyone else to suffer for my child's bad choice, but because one of my job as a parent is teaching him time management and listening skills. Hopefully, turning off the game will have the proper impact on him, and we won't have to have this object lesson again.

I'm perfectly aware of the implicit commitment and time required for these games. If I was playing, I wouldn't be quick to walk away. But in the case of a kid who's young enough to still be living at home, they don't always make the best decisions, and they sometimes have to be punished for them. That's just a fact of life.

Hey, I totally agree a kid who joins a game they know they may not be able to finish is in the wrong. I'm just saying the solution is to punish the kid, not the kid and 9 strangers. That's overstepping your remit.

Those nine strangers don't enter into the decision. It's my house, my kid, and my call. It's unfortunate that they're affected by the kid's bad decision, but that's life. Luckily, no one is hurt, and it's just a game.

 

[Kolyarut]

Hey, I totally agree a kid who joins a game they know they may not be able to finish is in the wrong. I'm just saying the solution is to punish the kid, not the kid and 9 strangers. That's overstepping your remit.

It is, which is why you don't do it and either accept that the kid is just going to behave that way because, let's be honest, no one gives a fuck about your league ranking but you and it's just a game to most people or you report them quietly to whatever their code of conduct group is.

What you don't do is get butthurt that someone broke your high score and what you most certainly do not do is tell off strangers for parenting their children properly because it's momentarily inconvenient for you. What the parent says goes, you do not teach children that if they start a game they get to finish it no matter what, that encourages them to think that their momentary wants are more important than their parents instructions and the rules laid down for them.

I don't know what you're saying with "you don't do it" here?

But I'm saying that parenting their children properly is taking charge of when they start the games in the first place, and punishing them when they start games without checking they have that time first. Punishing them, not them and the other players as well. All the bluster about league ranking and high score is irrelevant. Rightly or wrongly, the kid made a promise when they joined the game. If you pull them out of the game before it's done you teach them it's OK to break their promise. Their momentary wants don't factor into it.

Who cares? Honest question. This isn't my first Escapist account and if I get banned I'll just make another if I feel like posting. Heck, I've got like 2 accounts I forgot the passwords for because the Escapist haven't realised that IP banning people or IP blocking multiple signups don't work on dynamically addressed clients. Well either that or they'd let /b/ in here if they'd click on adverts.

Besides which it's not aggressive, it's scornful.

Whether it's open aggression or scorn, it's not good behaviour. It also sets the tone when you jump into an argument about poor player behaviour then brag about your bans.

So because you can't be bothered to make up a team of 5, this kid should have his ability to play LoL, at all ever, revoked?

And no, insisting that there is alternate ways to discipline the kid is compromising their routine.

Expecting other people to go out of their way so you don't have to discipline your child is the very definition of bad parenting.

There are only two conditions where I'm advocating taking the kid's game away - when they're starting games without checking with their parents that they have time first, or if the parent is too lazy or too unreliable to make promises to their kid and keep them. In the latter case, sorry kid, it's not your fault, but if you can't commit you can't play.

Does this letter even specifically note there is a pattern of this happening (Parents removing children), more so than any other reason for people to quit or ruin their enjoyment?

Everyone playing the game knows already they're not supposed to kid. Parents might not realise that it causes a problem - they might assume it's like any other genre of multiplayer game where they'll get a replacement, or matches are 10 minutes long, and it doesn't really make a difference. There's nothing malicious in writing it to parents rather than players.

 

[irishda]

I find it interesting that so far the discussion is centered around time management, balancing one's time with the game (which has an unstructured time limit) and scheduled activities (dinner, bedtime, etc.). There's very little discussion of the unscheduled or the responsibility parents have to remain authority figures.

The unscheduled probably goes without much discussion, although I'm little worried that there's at least a few people here that would be like, "Yeah, someone just broke my window, but I gotta finish this match or I'll get banned."

But what about the parents' responsibility as being an authority to their children? I think this is where I see the biggest gap between people who have kids and people who don't. For the people that don't have kids, it's fairly clear cut: don't let your kids start something if they don't have time to commit (to a game WITHOUT a set end time I might add), and don't be such an "inflexible asshole" if they have to do an innocuous chore. Let them finish the game (again, the game WITHOUT a set end time) before making them leave.

However for people with kids or people who deal with them regularly, the complexity of parenthood is a little less cut and dry, because kids are not pets. It's complicated in a way that only parents really understand, which is why it annoys them to no end to receive advice from people without them. So as one poster put it:

At the end of the day, I read that open letter as more of a request that parents generally have some knowledge of what games their kids are playing. I think most of us would agree that a responsible parent would show an interest in their kids' activities and if the games they are playing with other people come with an implied time commitment, that they at least be aware of that. It seems to me like the problem is many just simply don't - and I would generally say education and knowledge is better than ignorance.

This swings the other way as well. Gamers need to understand that parents have to deal with things that are pretty hard to realize without having kids of your own, and that there are responsibilities which trump their child's commitment to 9 internet strangers. A responsible parent shows interest in their kids' activities, but a responsible parent has more commitments to their child than simply the kid's video games. Understanding swings both ways here.

 

[chocolate pickles]

This is only being discussed in the first place because the thing in question is a videogame. If it was literally any other kind of time commitment whatsoever, people wouldn't be on their high horses to anything near the same degree. If their kid was in a play, or a football game, or taking an exam, would people readily accept a parent storming in, taking their kid, and walking out ten minutes before the end?

Except that a videogame isn't as big a commitment as a play or exam, and that in-real life, it is acceptable to plan around these things because they are real. Can you really compare an exam to League of Legends game? I'm fine planning events so that my (hypothetical) son can finish an exam, but I'm rapidly going to lose patience if every night i have to delay dinner so that he can play League.

I mean this in an as non-offensive way as possible, but i think the League community needs to stop taking itself so seriously. It's a game, guys.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

Am I the only one perplexed that we are even making this much of a big deal out of ... a rather innocuous forum post on some website? (Yes, I am aware that I'm posting in this tread and thus contributing to it, no need to point that out.) It's not like the post is some incoherent mess, nor is it completely unreasonable. I don't necessarily agree with what they are saying, but at least seems significantly better written, thought out and more polite than the vast majority of posts on the internet.
It really doesn't seem outlandish enough to warrant an unbelievably smug response from penny arcade.

He's telling parents how to raise their children because they quit a match of a video game he was in.

If it was that big of a deal to finish the game, why didn't he make sure in advance to play with people that wouldn't quit for any reason?

Because he can't. The primary form of ranked play in league is solos or duos.

I think a better solution is just seperating the community, like make dedicated server for serious players and unleash hell on people leaving mid game, and one for casual games where it's not the end of the world if someone leaves, something like that.

The question of which will be more foul mouthed is an interesting one.

That wouldn't work when half the marketing is how much of an E-sport the game is. That's why it's such a toxic game, because it's inherently competitive. That in combination with the cognitive disconnect that's created by not being in the same room with the one you're talking to (Laymans terms - Within punching distance) leads to terrible behaviour.

Everyone would opt for the "pro" ladder, regardless.

Public games are always and will always be a gamble on how much entertainment it will give you. I think people just need to accept that sometimes you just get dealt a bad game. Better that it is in a video game than anywhere else.

Be angry, get over it, join another game. Or if you're that angry, quit playing multiplayer.

Once again, you show how you know absolutely nothing about this game you're so proud to criticize. There already is a division between casual and competitive play, in normal vs ranked play. Most games of league are unranked games. Most players hardly touch ranked play.

 

[Mutant1988]

Expecting other people to go out of their way so you don't have to discipline your child is the very definition of bad parenting.

Okay, okay! Back up.

Making a team, right?
In a team based game.
To make sure that the people you play with are good and reliable.

Still with me?

IS going out of your way?

As opposed to just common sense?

Because he can't. The primary form of ranked play in league is solos or duos.

Then it's a bad game. If you are forced to play with random people, then I'm sorry, you will have to deal with people not always being there to finish the game.

Sucks, but that's just the way it is. Hardly has anything whatsoever to do with kids.

No wonder that game is such a vitriolic **** show then.

 

[irishda]

This is only being discussed in the first place because the thing in question is a videogame. If it was literally any other kind of time commitment whatsoever, people wouldn't be on their high horses to anything near the same degree. If their kid was in a play, or a football game, or taking an exam, would people readily accept a parent storming in, taking their kid, and walking out ten minutes before the end?

The commitments of an exam and a play are a little different than that of a multiplayer game. For one, the implications are a little more serious than that of a game, particularly in the area of an exam. The punishment for pulling them from an exam is a little more severe than that of LoL, and likely to have a more far reaching effect. A play, and a football game in a more professional setting than backyard (PeeWee league, high school, etc.), affect more people than a handful of internet strangers, and the time commitment is likely well established beforehand and with a far more complete understanding of when it ends. Your argument is a false equivalence.

Take instead, an equally unimportant activity. Let's say, playing football in the park with your friends. Yes, there's a game going on, but parents frequently do pull their kids away from such activities because of other commitments or as punishment, whatever. Are they being a dick for taking their kid out from this activity and affecting the other kids?

 

[mike1921]

Hey, I totally agree a kid who joins a game they know they may not be able to finish is in the wrong. I'm just saying the solution is to punish the kid, not the kid and 9 strangers. That's overstepping your remit.

It is, which is why you don't do it and either accept that the kid is just going to behave that way because, let's be honest, no one gives a fuck about your league ranking but you and it's just a game to most people or you report them quietly to whatever their code of conduct group is.

What you don't do is get butthurt that someone broke your high score and what you most certainly do not do is tell off strangers for parenting their children properly because it's momentarily inconvenient for you. What the parent says goes, you do not teach children that if they start a game they get to finish it no matter what, that encourages them to think that their momentary wants are more important than their parents instructions and the rules laid down for them.

No, that is not "parenting their children properly", that is teaching your children to not respect people. Also , what the fuck? How does letting them finish the game and punishing them later teach them to put momentary wants over rules? It teaches them reality: you get punished AFTER you do the bad thing. Like, can you not teach your kid nuance, can you not respect your kid enough for them to learn that there are situations where punishment can wait?

 

[Kolyarut]

I'm perfectly aware of the implicit commitment and time required for these games. If I was playing, I wouldn't be quick to walk away. But in the case of a kid who's young enough to still be living at home, they don't always make the best decisions, and they sometimes have to be punished for them. That's just a fact of life.

Hey, I totally agree a kid who joins a game they know they may not be able to finish is in the wrong. I'm just saying the solution is to punish the kid, not the kid and 9 strangers. That's overstepping your remit.

Those nine strangers don't enter into the decision. It's my house, my kid, and my call. It's unfortunate that they're affected by the kid's bad decision, but that's life. Luckily, no one is hurt, and it's just a game.

It's not the kid's decision the game was terminated, though, it's yours. The kid was responsible for starting the game. You were responsible for ending it. It's not your kid and your house, it's ten people, and ten houses.

If the kid isn't old or wise enough to sneak onto a game with a time commitment like that without your consent, they shouldn't be playing that game. Don't create the risk, don't let them install it. Give them other options.

Except that a videogame isn't as big a commitment as a play or exam, and that in-real life, it is acceptable to plan around these things because they are real. Can you really compare an exam to League of Legends game? I'm fine planning events so that my (hypothetical) son can finish an exam, but I'm rapidly going to lose patience if every night i have to delay dinner so that he can play League.

I mean this in an as non-offensive way as possible, but i think the League community needs to stop taking itself so seriously. It's a game, guys.

You should never have to delay dinner every night so your kid can play League. Your kid should not be playing League at dinnertime. That's bad behaviour and they should be disciplined for it.

And the people in a LoL game are real. Just because the characters are pixels doesn't mean the players are make believe.

Making a team, right?
In a team based game.
To make sure that the people you play with are good and reliable.

Still with me?

IS going out of your way?

As opposed to just common sense?

If I get on the bus, and a kid is misbehaving on the bus, should I make a team to fill all the seats on the bus next time?

Is it acceptable for a parent to tell the bus driver to stop so they can make a public scene, thereby spoiling everyone's journey, rather than disciplining the child properly?

 

[Kolyarut]

A play, and a football game in a more professional setting than backyard (PeeWee league, high school, etc.), affect more people than a handful of internet strangers, and the time commitment is likely well established beforehand and with a far more complete understanding of when it ends. Your argument is a false equivalence.

Take instead, an equally unimportant activity. Let's say, playing football in the park with your friends. Yes, there's a game going on, but parents frequently do pull their kids away from such activities because of other commitments or as punishment, whatever. Are they being a dick for taking their kid out from this activity and affecting the other kids?

This is the difference though, that people aren't grasping. LoL isn't a casual drop-in, drop-out activity like Minecraft or a casual kickabout. It's a fixed match activity, like a timed football game with a referee keeping score. Parents don't pull their kids out of those with any regularity, and nor should they.

You said it yourself, these things affect more people than just the kid - whether they're internet strangers or any other type of strangers is irrelevant. You can parent your child but don't screw around with the lives of strangers.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

Because he can't. The primary form of ranked play in league is solos or duos.

Then it's a bad game. If you are forced to play with random people, then I'm sorry, you will have to deal with people not always being there to finish the game.

Sucks, but that's just the way it is. Hardly has anything whatsoever to do with kids.

That's just like, your opinion man. One that any sane individual would be unlikely to just up and adopt given the total ignorance of this game that you have shown thus far.

 

[Mutant1988]

If the world revolved around making things convenient for LoL players... Well, that would be a strange world indeed.

Discipline your children - But make sure they finish playing that game first. Because, I don't know. How long does that take? I don't know. Put the food you made for your child in the microwave because these internet strangers say so.

Because it's only ever someone else's fault when random shit happens that ruin the game for them, intentionally or not and them being unable to just deal with it or take measures to avoid it is a failure of you raising your children.

It's just... Inconceivable to imagine that it's such a recurring issue as to necessitate calling out parents for it. As if it's the only reason someone would leave or ruin your game.

If you literally can't make a team then that only tells me that it's a poorly designed game.

That's just like, your opinion man. One that any sane individual would be unlikely to just up and adopt given the total ignorance of this game that you have shown thus far.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that a supposedly team based game not having or supporting team based play in any actual capacity is poorly designed and just asking for conflict.

 

[Varrdy]

What does the Electric Light Orchestra have to do with League of Legends, anyway? Did they do the music?

 

[mike1921]

But what about the parents' responsibility as being an authority to their children? I think this is where I see the biggest gap between people who have kids and people who don't. For the people that don't have kids, it's fairly clear cut: don't let your kids start something if they don't have time to commit (to a game WITHOUT a set end time I might add), and don't be such an "inflexible asshole" if they have to do an innocuous chore. Let them finish the game (again, the game WITHOUT a set end time) before making them leave.

However for people with kids or people who deal with them regularly, the complexity of parenthood is a little less cut and dry, because kids are not pets. It's complicated in a way that only parents really understand, which is why it annoys them to no end to receive advice from people without them. So as one poster put it:

At the end of the day, I read that open letter as more of a request that parents generally have some knowledge of what games their kids are playing. I think most of us would agree that a responsible parent would show an interest in their kids' activities and if the games they are playing with other people come with an implied time commitment, that they at least be aware of that. It seems to me like the problem is many just simply don't - and I would generally say education and knowledge is better than ignorance.

This swings the other way as well. Gamers need to understand that parents have to deal with things that are pretty hard to realize without having kids of your own, and that there are responsibilities which trump their child's commitment to 9 internet strangers. A responsible parent shows interest in their kids' activities, but a responsible parent has more commitments to their child than simply the kid's video games. Understanding swings both ways here.

I must not have parents because my parents tend to disagree with this kind of "parenting is a divine experience unexplainable to mortals" language and were never really unreasonable or inflexible with my time when it didn't effect them and I don't think I'm alone in that. And it's not like my parents didn't do any of the stereotypical things that make no sense to non-parents, I wasn't allowed to cross the street until I was 11 and walking a block and a half to the convenience store (which I don't need to cross the street for) to get a sub was something I wasn't allowed to do until I was 13, but I've never seen any explanation that is impossible to understand if you're not a parent. I mean my parents both used to play games so maybe that's why they always thought of multiplayer games more as commitments and less like someone just doing something by them-self?

I think there's a difference between "maintaining your authority" and "asserting your dominance" and a lot of this seems to be parents asserting their dominance.

If the world revolved around making things convenient for LoL players... Well, that would be a strange world indeed.

Discipline your children - But make sure they finish playing that game first. Because, I don't know. How long does that take? I don't know. Put the food you made for your child in the microwave because these internet strangers say so.

Because it's only ever someone else's fault when random shit happens that ruin the game for them, intentionally or not and them being unable to just deal with it or take measures to avoid it is a failure of you raising your children.

It's just... Inconceivable to imagine that it's such a recurring issue as to necessitate calling out parents for it. As if it's the only reason someone would leave or ruin your game.

If you literally can't make a team then that only tells me that it's a poorly designed game.

Your child decided to make a commitment that made them unable to eat dinner on time, it has nothing to do with what I say, it has to do with how I'm effected as a stranger outside of your family. Also: again, what is this opposition to putting food in the microwave? I don't get it, is every day a big event where you make some ridiculous to put together dinner where it's truly an affront to nature if it sits for 20 minutes?

You can make a team, why the hell do you think everyone wants to get 5 friends together? What you're doing is telling someone not to develop a more effective form of birth control because abstinence makes it impossible. There's plenty of reasons to play solo or duo. Of course you can play with 5 if you have 5.

 

[Dantos]

This is the difference though, that people aren't grasping. LoL isn't a casual drop-in, drop-out activity like Minecraft or a casual kickabout. It's a fixed match activity, like a timed football game with a referee keeping score. Parents don't pull their kids out of those with any regularity, and nor should they.

You said it yourself, these things affect more people than just the kid - whether they're internet strangers or any other type of strangers is irrelevant. You can parent your child but don't screw around with the lives of strangers.

Well, parents dont pull their kids out of those, because they are scheduled in advance, so the parents can plan their day around those activities. Im sure they would pull them if the kid decided to join a random football game at 5:30PM, and dinner was at 6.

Maybe we need apps or something that a parent can approve of their child starting a match, or not being able to start one at certain times or something if its becoming that big a concern.

 

[Kolyarut]

Because it's only ever someone else's fault when random shit happens that ruin the game for them, intentionally or not and them being unable to just deal with it or take measures to avoid it is a failure of you raising your children.

"Random shit" is one thing. "Angry parent spoils 9 strangers evenings" is not "random shit", and of course it's not the fault of the 9 strangers.

Telling the entire world that they all need to do their collective best to go out of their way to avoid contact with your child in case you decide to discipline them badly is *ludicrous*.

It's just... Inconceivable to imagine that it's such a recurring issue as to necessitate calling out parents for it. As if it's the only reason someone would leave or ruin your game.

Because more than one potential problem exists, no one should ever try to fix any problem ever, right?