Competitive Ruling: Stixxay

Riot·Jun 4, 2015·1 votes·67,818 views

Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes was recently submitted by Counter Logic Gaming as a proposed addition to their LCS roster. During the rigorous vetting process of all prospective LCS participants, it came to light that Stixxay has been demonstrating toxic in-game behavior. This behavior included, but was not limited to, in-game harassment, and verbal abuse of fellow players. Stixxay divides his time in-game between two accounts. On his main account, he has been reported in just under 10% of games. However, he has what can only be considered to be a rage account: an account he plays on fairly infrequently, but consistently uses to behave in an abusive manner to fellow players. Over the last month he has been reported in over 55% of games on his less-used account. Between both of his accounts, he is in the most toxic 1.5% of all players.

Relevant Rules

Section 10.2.8 Player Behavior Investigation If LCS or Riot determines that a Team or Team Member has violated the Summoner’s Code, the LoL Terms of Service, or other rules of LoL, LCS officials may assign penalties at their sole discretion.

Ruling

Stixxay has violated rule 10.2.8 of the LCS ruleset and is subject to penalties.

Competition Penalties

Stixxay is:

Suspended from all Riot-affiliated League of Legends competition for a period of two weeks. For the avoidance of doubt, this period lasts from June 4, 2015 through June 17, 2015.

Context

When considering cases of in-game behavior, it is important to consider all factors when making a full decision. Stixxay’s behavior was not as severe as other cases of behavior-related competitive rulings - the behavior has been occurring over a shorter period of time, resulted in fewer reports, and did not additionally contain cases of racism or other extreme abuse. However, it is still below our standards for professional players. We will be carefully monitoring Stixxay’s in-game behavior, and if he fails to show improvement he will face additional time away from the League. The fact that the majority of inappropriate behavior was on an alternate account was not factored into the decision. The behavior standards are not for show - behaving in an abusive manner to other players is unacceptable for pro players, whether others know it’s them or not.

71 Comments

420 FRATLIFEJun 4, 201551 votes

But normal players can do that and get a ranked ban for months... We're holding this player to a lower standard than the average joe.

VexagonJun 5, 20158 votes

Because Riot can still potentially make money off of Stixxay.

Some kid in Bronze 5 telling his teammates to kill themselves doesn't have any potential profitability.

ºcºJun 5, 20157 votes

You forget the power of a mom's credit card summoner 11

IxionasJun 5, 20158 votes

No because, this is just an addition to the normal punishment players get. This is a COMPETITIVE BAN. His rage account probably got banned just like yours would.

DbzwesJun 5, 201510 votes

They don't have to release what they did to his account for casual league purposes this is a competitive ruling only for all we know both accounts are suspended or have extensive ranked bans.

XonraJun 6, 20152 votes

But they have in almost every case in the past. The fact is, he is banned for two weeks from competitive, so one would assume he can still play league otherwise for practice, or they would have said as much.

Just a double standard seeing as a non-pro player would have been perma-banned with a 55% report rate, where a "pro" player gets a 2 week lcs ban. That makes it hard to trust the system. Just sayin'

I Am MagicianJun 6, 20152 votes

Two week league bans are much more common than perma bans. And before a two week ban, unless you did something particularly atrocious (racism, real life threat), you would receive chat restriction and/or ranked restriction and possible a 72 hour ban not 2 weeks. You also would not have a public shaming to this degree.

Just because he has 55% report rate (on what may be a low number of games, they say "plays on fairly infrequently") absolutely is not cause, in and of itself, for a perma ban. They specifically state that although the level of occurrence is significant the behavior is not extreme but still of course unacceptable.

TLDR: 2 weeks is totally fair, you are unrealistic to think this would be a perma ban for any average player.

JaegybombJun 5, 20153 votes

This is in addition to any bans he got as a normal player.

XonraJun 6, 20151 votes

So you assume. If that was the case, then he wouldn't be (potentially) playing in 2 weeks, or at least allowed to. What would be the point of banning someone's account only to let them play on the LCS stage? (assume that happens, we don't know of course what CLGs plans are).

It sends a terrible message if they ban him for bad behaviour, then let him go on stage and make money. That sends the message that you can act a fool in solo queue as long as you are good, because you can still play on stage even if you can't play in solo queue. What sense does that make?

I Am MagicianJun 6, 20152 votes

What if his normal ban was also 2 weeks? 2 week bans have been very prevalent recently in League's effort to foster reform.

SoloQ is a very significant practice tool for these guys and a handicap to his soloQ accounts would actually be a handicap to his ability to play within CLG. So it may indirectly bench him because of a lack of readiness, and it's at CLG's discretion to play him or not once the suspension has passed. Plus if the behavior rears it's ugly head again it is very obvious the punishment would be more severe.

Riot is trying to focus on reform, so I don't get why everyone's panty is in a knot for actually following through with that formula and allowing for a "redemption" of even some of the particularly bad apples (Incarnati0n).

I hope this type of continued reform actually eventually improves the community as a whole, because it can be quite horrible in its current state.

2cents.

RiotPhreakJun 5, 201520 votes

His ladder accounts are not above Tribunal action. There's no one going in and saying, "Yo, drop this guy's Ranked suspension, CLG likes him."

HumlêJun 5, 20156 votes

id somewhat agree if it had not been for incarnations ddos actions being allowed back in. Incarnation is the sole reason that stuff like this is gonna seem like your exact "Yo, drop this guy's Ranked suspension, CLG likes him."

So im pretty sure in furture ban liftings or short term riot actions this will be the re-occouring thought on this given matter.

Incarnation by definition should never have been allowed back, but that is for riot to decide i guess. Thankfully i'm too old to play ranked and thus settles for ARAM or im sure id be throwing a teenage fit like in my young days in the 90's ^^

B1naryB0tJun 10, 20154 votes

If he reformed, what's the problem? Simply put, he grew up and started acting like a good person. Reform should be the biggest slice of the pie, not punishment.

Besides that, it's very difficult to keep someone from playing an online, free game.

ZeshinosaJul 23, 20152 votes

We are in the US here... we focus on incarceration not reform :P.

WickedfatesJun 4, 201521 votes

he is in the most toxic 1.5% of all players.

ya, soooo 2 week ban and let him right back to it hu?

do a search on the boards and you know what you find, a consistent history of riot allowing abusive, cheating, rule bending, toxic, people back into the game to continue this behavior... at the professional level.....

what do you think all the nonprofessional players are going to take from that..... that League of Legends allows toxic, cheating, abusive, rule bending behavior.

whats sad is im not even shocked anymore, just a lil disgusted

warpedmindJun 5, 20154 votes

you realise this is a competitive ruling do you? else you would look really stupid

XonraJun 6, 20153 votes

You realize the point still stands that this looks bad, right? They claim only about 1% of the playerbase is considered what they would call "toxic", so claims Lyte. The post claims he is in the most toxic 1.5% of ALL...read that out loud, ALL players. His punishment is a 2 week professional ban for being so Toxic he was reported in 55% of his games, and considered more Toxic than 98.5% of all the LoL players in this game.

That sends a message that you can act a fool, but you get a slap on the wrist and a pay check again in 2 weeks as long as you are good enough to be a pro. Getting an account banned means nothing if you are on a pro team now does it? And a two week ban, in the grand scheme, means nothing.

I Am MagicianJun 6, 20151 votes

1.5% of 27million is 405,000. 405,000 people is still a LOT of people, obviously way more significant than the amount of professional players. The 404,000 amateur players are all still playing the game as well and likely receiving similar punishments (2 week bans, ranked restrictions, chat restrictions), in hope of reform. Also the playerbase may not include accounts previously permanetly banned because they are no longer players.

Lyte's "1% of the playerbase is toxic" would not even include 135,000 of the 405,000 1.5% that Stixxay is a part of. So Lyte's comment is either outdated, a different subset, or more significantly abusive players that is included int he 1.5% but also there are 135,000 more which I would assume Stixxay is part of that lesser .5% else they would have said he was in the most toxic 1%.

Math.

ScriptproJun 4, 20158 votes

Why was CLG not fined?

TurquoiseYoshiJun 5, 20152 votes

Because they did nothing wrong. Are they responsible for researching the histories/backgrounds of all of their players?

HyP DolphinJun 5, 20153 votes

if you wanna recruit someone to your organization, wouldn't you want to research them first?

King LardoutJun 5, 20155 votes

By searching through publicly accessible chat logs right? Oh, nevermind.

warpedmindJun 5, 20151 votes

its common sense that in professional gaming toxic but skilled players get picked up anyway

I Am MagicianJun 6, 20151 votes

Yes definitely, and it's not just gaming but all professions. First priority is can you get the job done better than any other candidate, if there's a tie they then weigh the risk for fines and bad press and go with the non-toxic but equivalently skilled player/teammate/worker.

RandomUsername12Jun 5, 201514 votes

i dont think you got the joke...

HKnumber1Jun 5, 20152 votes

should perma ban his ass

XonraJun 6, 20151 votes

They won't do that ever again. They think it is better to hug a toxic player and give him a hand slap and say "go think about what you did" instead of actually punishing him.

It's okay to punish all the players these toxic players troll and yell at during games, but god forbid we punish anyone for acting a fool when they very obviously (by this point) understand the consequences.

Watch someone rob a store and get punished. Next guy robs it, and instead of going to jail, they just ban him from going into stores for 2 weeks hoping that will cause him to reform, because they don't want to punish him or anyone anymore.

That logic.

TheGrandAllianceJun 5, 20152 votes

Well just be thankful some action WAS taken... of course if this dude was any good he wouldn't get banned just ask C9's Midlaner.

AravarthJun 5, 201510 votes

You realise incarnati0n had a competitive ban placed on him for like eighteen months, right? And also had an account ban-on-sight policy for a year or so?

TheGrandAllianceJun 5, 20153 votes

{quoted}

You realise incarnati0n had a competitive ban placed on him for like eighteen months, right? And also had an account ban-on-sight policy for a year or so?

Assuming the claims made that he DDoS attacked in order to win or otherwise cause problems... he shouldn't be allowed a RIOT computer ever.

The fact he is here is therefore proof that Riot Standards and "Earth Humans" standards are not the same alas...

XonraJun 6, 20152 votes

An "account ban" he pretty easily got around by making 2 (that I know of) new accounts that he got at least one to challenger. Seemed to make a big difference.

If they had banned him from making a new account, then yeah that's a big deal. They just perma banned only his main account, and he just made a new one a week later (maybe it was two, I may be remembering that a bit off). The pro ban is one thing, but the banning an account means little if you are a challenger player and can just pub stomp back to challenger.

TSM Brendy BoyJun 5, 20152 votes

What are you even talking about? Incarnation wasn't allowed to play the game professionally for like 2 years and was indefinitely banned from the game

WickedfatesJun 5, 20155 votes

and yet he created accounts and played anyways

RiotPhreakJun 5, 20158 votes

We decided to focus more on reform than on punishment. We stopped the "Ban accounts on sight" mantra, but would still ban accounts that showed extreme toxicity.

WickedfatesJun 5, 20152 votes

you are correct riot has focused more on reform, and i hope that it eventually pays off in less toxicity rather than just players get to come back and keep playing...

however since league of legends continues to keep its well known and deserved reputation of toxicity im not so sure it is working...

but then i dont have all the info that you guys do, all i have are my anecdotal observations during games, and reading about how toxic other players are on the boards... and reading about how pro and want to be pro players keep being toxic

TheGrandAllianceJun 5, 20151 votes

{quoted}

We decided to focus more on reform than on punishment. We stopped the "Ban accounts on sight" mantra, but would still ban accounts that showed extreme toxicity.

LoL good to know -#PUNSOFDAMAGE still lives on forums. Nice work btw in all the stuff you do.

That being aside... it is very easy to claim that "RIot has shifted focus from 'punishment to reform'" when players even today are stacked with 1000+ chat restricted bans and even minor violations such as dodging a ranked query twice triggers 30+game ranked restrictions (as I have observed with me EUW friends).

If RIOT isn't going to have a double standard with Players and LCS then at least enforce such policies equally. Otherwise it appears that LCS players are being given "a free pass" because "they are good and someone wants them" and not based upon a supposed change in heart for RIOT.

Indeed it is so...

GarøüJun 5, 20151 votes

People need to understand that this is an LCS ruling and not a League of Legends (you don't play professionally) ruling.. There is a difference! As phreak stated his accounts are not above the tribunal. Being toxic could include something as simple as repeatedly telling someone in game that they suck! Stixxay's punishment did not involve racism or other extreme forms of abuse so punishing him in the LCS for minor abuse on a first time (maybe) infraction does not call for a year ban. In the case of Incarnati0n he was banned from LCS for a LONG time due to DDoS/other major infractions and as riot has stated in the past their goal/mindset has changed to mold these young boys into professional men and giving them that chance to grow with a progressive strategy in punishment is a good way to do that.

Mr Mojo RisinJun 5, 20152 votes

I'm so glad the anti bully brigade was able to respond to this in such a timely manner.

TheGrandAllianceJun 5, 20152 votes

[{quoted}](name=Mr Mojo Risin,realm=NA,application-id=9hBQwnEU,discussion-id=EQ9jxwFP,comment-id=000b,timestamp=2015-06-05T01:49:35.799+0000)

I'm so glad the anti bully brigade was able to respond to this in such a timely manner.

More like "stop trollin/losing my ranked games" brigade.

CUNGHCUNGHCUNGHJun 6, 20152 votes

Looks like he talked shit to his teammates with his friends, nothing about throwing games or trolling. He's a "pro" player, and I'll just assume that means he likes winning. Although he is on CLG so maybe that's a bad assumption haha xd. This politically correct junk is getting really over done.

TheGrandAllianceJun 6, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Looks like he talked shit to his teammates with his friends, nothing about throwing games or trolling. He's a "pro" player, and I'll just assume that means he likes winning. Although he is on CLG so maybe that's a bad assumption haha xd. This politically correct junk is getting really over done.

Fair enough but it sounded from the description like he was trolling and flamming at same time as well alas...

XonraJun 6, 20152 votes

If he is just "trolling and joking" then he wouldn't have gotten banned in 55....I repeat...55% of his games. Nor would Riot state he is so toxic, that is is apparently in the 1.5% of the most toxic in this game, saying "all players". So...I'm not sure that is just being jokey with his friends.

Sounds more like he acted all nice on his main account and acts a total fool on the other thinking he'd get away with it. Being a dick is being a dick lol Sorry

thesnowmancomethJun 5, 20152 votes

This is extremely unprofessional and uncharacteristic of Riot Games. While cracking down on any suspected rule violation in the LCS itself, they allow a player to receive a slap on the wrist for being in the top 1.5% of toxic players by their own admission? This is strictly appalling, because it sets a precedent where LCS players can continue scrimming and queuing up without chat bans and without account suspensions for toxic behavior at the highest levels of play, while the rest of the community is not afforded those graces.

He should have an in game chat ban, or have his account temporarily suspended, as if he were any other player. That encourages teams to be more careful about player toxicity, since practicing becomes a lot more difficult if one of their teammates can't even queue up.

Kat n DianaJun 5, 20152 votes

His troll account was obviously banned for much longer. He got all the punishments a normal player would get + a 2 week LCS ban.

XonraJun 6, 20151 votes

You must not realize how things work.

All he has to do, if he is even a sub on the CLG squad, is ask for what they call an "unlocked account". They will give him a fully kitted out account because he is a pro. Just cause others make multiple accounts doesn't mean they haven't done this. In most cases this is done for foreign players (Piglet leveled his own because he didn't want to wait).

So they ban his account, woopty doo, he can, when he joined CLG, ask for an account to play/scrim on, he gets a new fully decked out account.

Man that sure did sting I bet. All them punishments.

Dr Black FrogyJun 5, 20151 votes

I am sad everybody just rage about a ruling against rage, and don't try to understand that this guy will probably loose some money in the process. I am pretty sure anyone would be angry to be told you can't play for your team for two weeks because you were being toxic outside of your job environment. And by the way this is a COMPETITIVE ban.

warpedmindJun 5, 20153 votes

maybe you want to read the summoners code again^^

Templar ErtiJun 5, 20151 votes

How did they find out that he had 2 accounts?

Crack of spadesJun 7, 20151 votes

It doesn't fit into the topic at all but I'll still ask. So playing Ashe mid, Vayne top, Lissandra support... is abusive to other players. So doing this, is then against the rules and deserves a ban?