The Meaning of Inting: What It Is and How To Use It

This article will give you all of the information you need on the word inting, including its definition, usage, origin, sentence examples, and more!

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What is the definition of inting?

Inting is an abbreviation for “intentional feeding,” and is commonly used in video games. It is most commonly seen in the game League of Legends, according to Nerds and Scoundrels. When a player ints, they die on purpose to spite the other players on their team and let the enemy team win. Some people do this to intentionally troll, because they believe it to be fun. Other times, the play who dies does this to get revenge on a player they do not like.

Inting in League of Legends stemmed from one particular player with the username Tyler1. He has been nicknamed the “Most Toxic Player in North America,” and has received numerous bans for toxicity, harassment and inting. The streamer created an “Int List,” which was a list of players he disliked and planned to int if they encountered each other. Some of these players had personal conflicts with Tyler, but others made the list because Tyler thought they were bad at the game and did not want to play with them. He would frequently intentionally feed by charging into a group of enemies, a phrase that has been coined as “running it down mid.”

Inting can get gamers banned in League of Legends, because many players have quit playing the game entirely because of this reason. However, some players believe League of Legends gets ban-happy, and ends up banning players who have a bad game or a bad luck streak when they believe them to be inting. 

It can be difficult for game moderators to spot the difference between inting and feeding, which also happens frequently in the game. In League of Legends, “feeding” means your character is dying more often than they are killing. This can happen with inexperienced players, or if someone messes up or falls behind. Feeding is an honest mistake, whereas inting is intentional for the purpose of trolling or harassment. The term feeding gained its original meaning from the fact that the dying player “feeds” the opponent with their gold and experience, which makes it near-impossible to win, according to League Feed.

Some sources, including Games Today, fear that the word inting has lost its original meaning. Some people are now using the term to mean “dying,” which can be dangerous and get other players banned for simply having a bad game. Games Today states that this began when streamers and professional players began using the word frequently. A pro player may accuse their “jungler” of inting, which could in turn get them banned for life when they could have just made a mistake. This does not give gamers the opportunity to learn and grow, but instead punishes them for being inexperienced.

What is League of Legends?

League of Legends, colloquially known as LoL, is considered a MOBA, or Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, according to Red Bull. While it was not the original MOBA, it is an incredibly popular driving force that kept the genre alive. This trending game spawned the growth of esports, and continues to be one of the most popular online games in history.

In a MOBA, players compete in a battle arena from a helicopter view. Generally, there are three lanes of attack, with a forest or jungle between them filled with non player characters. Each team of up to five players has a base camp and defensive towers. The objective of each team is to destroy the other team’s base camp.

There are five different roles and over one hundred characters, or “champions” to choose from. Each of these have unique abilities that are better suited to being a top laner, middle laner, or bottom laner, or to be a “jungler” who takes on the uncharted territories. The last role is a support role, which helps out wherever needed. 

League of Legends was created by Riot Games and was released in 2009. By 2011, the game had over 15 million players, and competitions began to be held, including international tournaments with viewership of upwards of 100 million people. League of Legends has gained even more popularity from streaming platforms like Twitch. On the site, popular streamers live stream their gameplay.

How can inting be used in a sentence?

Inting is most commonly used between gamers as an accusation. In the below example, Terry and Ryan like to play League of Legends together after school. On this particular day, Ryan arrives at school looking distraught.

Terry: Hey dude, what’s the matter?

Ryan: I got permanently banned from League of Legends for inting.

Terry: Why would you do that?

Ryan: I wasn’t! My little brother got control and started keysmashing, I just kept dying over and over again but my mom wouldn’t tell him to knock it off. I’m sure it looked like I was, but I wasn’t.

Terry: Ugh, I’m sorry, that’s the worst. Can you make a new account?

Ryan: I can try, but I’ll probably lose all my progress.

Here, Ryan is frustrated that the developer has accused him of inting when in reality, he simply made a mistake. This can be frustrating for players who have computer glitches, let an inexperienced friend try and play a round, or who simply mess up.

Overall, inting is a gaming term that means “intentionally feeding,” or dying on purpose to spite the rest of one’s team and make it impossible to win. This term was popularized by user Tyler1 in the game League of Legends. Inting is considered trolling and unacceptable behavior, and can get players banned permanently from the game. However, some believe the moderators take the bans too far and end up banning people who are inexperienced or mess up unintentionally.

Sources:

  1. https://www.nerdsandscoundrels.com/inting-lol/
  2. https://leaguefeed.net/what-is-inting-in-league-of-legends/
  3. https://gamestoday.info/pc/league-of-legends/the-word-inting-has-lost-its-original-meaning/
  4. https://www.redbull.com/se-en/history-of-leagueoflegends