Competitive Policy Revision: Permabanned Players

TL;DR:

• We want disciplinary action to be about reform as well as punishment.
• We are introducing a new framework for long-term bans and permabans that treats all bans as suspensions subject to periodic review. More details on the timing and criteria for this review are available below.
• The two existing indefinite suspensions of Nicolaj “Incarnati0n” Jensen and Khaled “DarkwinJax” Abusagr have been reviewed and neither case successfully passed its review. As such they will not be eligible for play in CS or LCS Spring 2015.
• Jensen and Abusagr will be reviewed again at least 5 weeks before the LCS Summer 2015 roster declaration date.

Context on the Previous Ban Policy

In this post we’d like to give some context around our past policy regarding bans, revisions to the permanent ban (“permaban”) in our revised long-term suspension policy, and how these revisions will impact currently permanently banned players. In the past, LCS pros or Challenger Series aspiring pros who heavily violated the Summoner's Code were subject to permabans from Riot-affiliated League of Legends tournaments. All accounts they held at the time of their ban and any future accounts they made were banned as well. As the most severe punishment any player could be subjected to, permabans were levied on only a select few individuals, and only when there was clear and convincing evidence of their offenses. Only two players, Nicolaj “Incarnati0n” Jensen and Khaled “DarkwinJax” Abusagr, have ever been competitively permabanned, for reasons you can find in this competitive ruling post. Jensen and Abusagr have effectively been banned for the last four splits of competitive play (the equivalent of 2 seasons). At the time, permabans from competitive play were the appropriate response to the offenses of these individuals. In violating the Summoner’s Code to such an extreme degree, they ruined the gaming experiences of many other players. Moving forward, we're balancing the need to protect our players from toxic behavior with the additional goal of recognizing and encouraging reform. Although it’s still important to be responsive to past offenses, going forward an additional goal is to put offenders on the path to reform and acknowledge their genuine efforts toward reform during long periods of punishment. It’s important to us that players who have genuinely and demonstrably reformed get a second chance at being a part of the game and the competitive community.

New Long-Term Suspension Policy

Every official, League-issued suspension from competitive play with a duration of one split or longer will be classified as a long-term suspension. Both bans and permabans will be reclassified as “long-term suspensions”.There are two categories of long-term suspensions: “indefinite” and “fixed”. In addition to being for more severe offenses, indefinite suspensions have a “Minimum Suspension Term”, a component that fixed suspensions do not have.

• Category: Indefinite vs. Fixed
• Indefinite: Indefinite suspensions are subject to review, but suspended players need to meet the highest standard of conduct over a sufficient period of time to be permitted back into the League.
• What is considered a “sufficient period of time” may vary from case-to-case and will depend on the severity of the original offense and any offenses thereafter.
• Indefinite suspensions are reserved for players at the more severe end of the scale who in the past would have received a permaban.
• Indefinite suspensions are subject to review at the end of their minimum suspension term (see below).
• Fixed: Fixed suspensions are subject to review at the end of their duration but the offender doesn't need to meet as high a standard to be unbanned as someone with an indefinite suspension.
• Each fixed suspension can persist a maximum of two splits (which is the equivalent of a season of competitive play).
• Minimum Suspension Term (Indefinite only): This is the minimum amount of time an indefinite suspension must stand before the affected player is eligible for competitive play, provided they pass their review.
• This doesn’t apply to fixed suspensions
• The term is defined X number of splits (2 splits being considered equivalent to 1 season of competitive play)
• This can’t be any less than 2 splits (equivalent to 1 season)
• In exceptionally rare cases, an indefinite suspension with no minimum suspension term can be levied, meaning the suspended player would never be reviewed. Such a suspension will be reserved for only the most extreme offenses such as those which have severe effects outside of the game (criminal offenses like sexual assault, for example).

The Review Process

Summary

• Players eligible for review will undergo review at least 5 weeks before the roster declaration date for an LCS split
• Players with indefinite bans must demonstrate good behavior (as covered below) over the course of the suspension.

At least 5 weeks before the roster declaration date for every LCS split, players eligible for review will be reviewed by the LCS League Operations team. At least 4 weeks before the roster declaration date for a split, the results of the review will be announced publicly as well as directly to the player.

Demonstrating Good Behavior

Each review is holistic and takes into account both in and out of game behavior. Penalized players need to show through their ongoing actions that they have made a genuine and long-term change in their behavior. A track-record of good behavior can be identified over the course of a rigorous review. Players who continually antagonize their teammates in game through explicit or passively-aggressive behavior do not exhibit good behavior. Players who make bigoted or discriminatory comments in any context do not exhibit good behavior. Conversely, players who play by the rules, don’t resort to exploits or hacks, don’t misuse or share accounts, and don’t violate the Summoner’s Code demonstrate good behavior. Some guiding questions we think about when evaluating a player’s behavior are:

1. Does this player antagonize fellow players in his words or actions during games?
2. Is this player excessively antagonistic or abusive on social media?
3. Does this player account-share, use illegal scripts/programs, or otherwise exploit the game?
4. In the event that a player exhibits traits of toxic behavior, with what frequency and magnitude does that occur?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer for every case, but these are the general principles we apply in every case in our review.

Our New Approach to Account Bans

Summary

• League-suspended players who had their accounts permabanned will not have their original accounts unbanned. Their future accounts will not be banned so long as they are not abused.

As a precursor to this revision in policy, earlier this year we stopped banning the accounts of competitively permabanned players. We continued to closely monitor their new accounts to make sure their behavior on those new accounts is acceptable. If players continued to violate the Summoner’s Code on their new accounts, those accounts would have been banned as well, but so long as their behavior on those accounts was acceptable, those accounts would have remained unbanned. This policy will continue going forward. We want players to reform, and playing the game without abusing or mistreating fellow players gives them a chance to show that they have reformed. Regardless of whether they are successful in their review, League-banned players who had their accounts permabanned will not have their original accounts restored, nor will any season rewards, skins, champions, or other assets restored to any new accounts. Status of Prior Permabans Jensen and Abusagr’s permabans were issued on January 23, 2013. In accordance with the new Long-Term Suspension Policy, their bans have been reclassified as follows:

• Nicolaj “Incarnati0n” Jensen:
• Permaban reclassified as:
• Category: Indefinite
• Minimum Suspension Term: 4 splits (Eligible for review prior to LCS Summer Split)
• Khaled “DarkwinJax” Abusagr
• Permaban reclassified as:
• Category: Indefinite
• Minimum Suspension Term: 4 splits (Eligible for review prior to LCS Summer Split)

In accordance with the new policy, we have reviewed both Jensen and Abusagr’s cases, which you can read about (here)[JENSEN LINK] and (here)[ABUSAGR LINK]. Neither candidate passed their review and therefore both candidates will be ineligible for play in the 2015 CS Spring and 2015 LCS Spring Split, as well as any other Riot-affiliated League of Legends tournaments until their suspension is lifted. Per the new policy, their cases will be reviewed again prior to be beginning of the 2015 LCS Summer Split. Closing Thoughts By adopting a new framework for disciplinary action, we’re aiming to give genuinely reformed players a second chance, and make sure that players who violate the Summoner’s Code continue to feel the effects of their actions. Respectful, cooperative, and competitively fair behavior applies to all members of the League of Legends community, and it’s especially important that visible ambassadors of the sport serve as role models for their peers.