Recently, a "League of Legends" player published a highly controversial "research report" on social media, saying that by analyzing the game performance of a female teammate, he found that her winning rate was related to her menstrual cycle. This post quickly sparked heated discussions in the player community.
According to the player's self-report, he observed one of his female gaming partners for several cycles and analyzed the data of about 150 ranked games. Metrics he focuses on include: damage done, number of deaths, and overall win rate.
He claimed to have concluded that during certain phases of his menstrual cycle, his partner's play style became more aggressive and he was more inclined to take risks in team fights, resulting in an increase in mistakes. The win rate during this phase was approximately 52%. At other times, her operating style was more steady and cautious, with fewer deaths, enhanced map control, and a team win rate that increased to 57% to 58%.
The player even claimed that he had been able to roughly predict his partner's next cycle based on the data, calling it a "scientific discovery," and his "prediction" surprised the female teammate.
As soon as the post was posted, it was immediately criticized by the vast majority of players. Critics point out that this so-called "study" lacks scientific basis, has a very small sample size and is full of subjective assumptions. Simply and crudely attributing complex competitive performance to physiological factors is not only disrespectful to female players, but also obviously discriminatory.
Some comments pointed out: "This is simply a terminal cancer of a straight man, using other people's normal physiological phenomena as an excuse for his failure in the game." Some netizens believed that the player's months-long tracking behavior itself had seriously violated the privacy of others and made people feel uncomfortable.
While some view this as a joke or amusing observation, experts stress that such conclusions lack scientific basis. This observation is based on limited data and does not take into account many key variables that affect the outcome of the game, such as network latency, opponent strength, hero restraint, and status of the day.
As of now, Riot Games officials have not commented on this incident.