The official League of Legends subreddit has long been a gathering place for League players and fans to discuss the game with original posts, videos, and pictures. But for years, the subreddit has had a fraught relationship with some of the biggest names in the League community. The most common disagreements come from the heavy-handed nature that subreddit moderators have policed posting activity.
But over the past six months, there have been signs that the relationship is thawing. And now, moderators are relaxing a long-held rule against meme content during a trial run. Specifically, the subreddit will allow “high-quality original content,” even if the inspiration was a meme. The new rules are as follows:
- Memes with League of Legends text or images imposed over a template are not allowed. Post this content on /r/leagueofmemes. Fanart or videos that originate from memes that are remade in their entirety are permitted.
- Copycat posts such as MS-Paint drawings, front page topics reposted with slight changes, and other similar posts may be removed.
The change was prompted by feedback that the moderator team has received over time. Previously, there was a “zero tolerance” attitude toward meme content. That’s because, well, people like memes. League fans in particular like them a lot. Allowing memes cart blanche could bombard the front page with content that’s easy to produce and isn’t worthy of extended discussion.
The problem was that, while “zero tolerance” seemed clear, it actually created a lot of gray areas. Specifically, some users would put a lot of thought and effort into planning a video that wasn’t totally a meme, and still see their post deleted. Others would produce memes and see them upvoted on the front page with no problems. The issue is, it’s really hard to agree on what exactly constitutes a meme.
In the rule change, the moderator team posted several examples of meme-ish content that had originally been banned but would be allowed during the trial, including a Kayle and Morgana face-off drawing, a new Purrgot skin idea, and this horrifying re-imagination of Bowsette in Urgot’s body.
The reason these are now allowed is because the artist remade the original meme in its entirety. And meme titles, regardless of the nature of the content, look like they’ll continue to be removed as well. So if you’re looking to just produce memes, it’s probably best to post elsewhere. But for those who create and consume original content, this should make the League subreddit a much better place.
