Runeterra's emotes are exactly as rude as they should be

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Runeterra’s emotes are exactly as rude as they should beDon’t get emote-tional

Don’t get emote-tional

I’m still playingLegends of Runeterra, Riot’s card-me-do set in the world ofLeague Of Legends. It remains quite good, albeit deeply familiar. The emotes elevate it.

Like most everything about Runeterra, the emotes are nothing new. You click a button at the bottom left of the screen, and up pops a bloke doing a cheery wave, or a ruminating gnome, or a furry creature who is sad and small. These emotes are the only way to communicate with your enemies, and are thus used for trash talk.

Emotes are the one medium where I find online rudeness acceptable, because there are limits to how much you can upset someone with them. I don’t believe anyone has done anything more than roll their eyes when I’ve summoned a big yeti, and announced their appearance with a cheeky, grinning bald man.

There’s camaraderie, too. When my opponent loses a valuable unit or three, I have never not responded to their crying fluffy creature emote with a sad Poro of my own. It’s nice to help people feel a little less alone. When I’m outplayed, I make sure to show my respect with the bowing ninja.

My best emote-enhanced moment so far, though, came when my opponent messed up. When they misclicked, and wound up buffing a units' attack rather than its defence, this happened

Glorious.