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Lyte I have a question

Dediguise·9/19/2015, 8:42:07 PM·2 votes·344 views

Under the code of conduct in the terms of agreement this clause appears as a violation of the agreement. This agreement applies to both the website and ingame. These guidelines are deliberately vague for legal reasons, and because this game is played and followed internationally.

"Transmitting or communicating any content which, in the sole and exclusive discretion of Riot Games, is deemed offensive, including, but not limited to, language that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, sexually explicit, or racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable; "

This has been the subject of much debate on multiple forum posts recently(and undoubtedly has been for some time).

Because of it's vagueness this clause is subject to personal interpretation. Mine for instance is that riot games is the ultimate arbiter in whether or not content is considered vulgar, obscene or objectionable, not the player that feels offended. One thing Riot has been very quiet about is how they determine these parameters.

For example the title of many threads contains the word "Fuck" and they are not banned for violation(nor do I think they should be). Using an expletive in chat should follow the same principle. At what point does that terminology become inappropriate?

I don't believe it is fair for players to limit their expression based on another players sense of propriety which varies not only from person to person, but server to server and culture to culture. Nor do I personally want to be a the mercy of a player over a disagreement of the use of language. With that said it is important for negative language that is directed at individuals or groups to be addressed in an effective and consistent manner. Does Riot share this philosophy?

Whether or not your answer is yes, there is community unrest over this issue, and we would appreciate a response so that a resolution can be met. To be clear I am not asking riot to endorse content that may be viewed negatively by players or viewers, nor should you cow to player sensitivity.

1 Comments

Matthias91199/19/2015, 9:34:03 PM1 votes

For example the title of many threads contains the word "Fuck" and they are not banned for violation(nor do I think they should be). Using an expletive in chat should follow the same principle.

The forums have a separate code of conduct from the in-game chat system. Players who are offended or bothered by a forum post can choose not to view it; if an obnoxiously offensive player is on your team you have to deal with it for the next 20-60 minutes.

Mine for instance is that riot games is the ultimate arbiter in whether or not content is considered vulgar, obscene or objectionable, not the player that feels offended.

That is a correct assessment.

I don't believe it is fair for players to limit their expression based on another players sense of propriety which varies not only from person to person, but server to server and culture to culture. Nor do I personally want to be a the mercy of a player over a disagreement of the use of language.

Riot -- in theory, at least -- bases punishments mostly on two things:

  1. Their own behavioral standards (largely summarized in the Summoner's Code: http://gameinfo.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/game-info/get-started/summoners-code/ )
  2. The community's standards, as determined by things such as: the rate at which you're getting reported, how Tribunal voters judged many hundreds of thousands of cases, and machine learning tools that analyze in-game chat to estimate how offensive specific statements are.

To be clear I am not asking riot to endorse content that may be viewed negatively by players or viewers, nor should you cow to player sensitivity.

So... what exactly do you want them to do? They already don't "cow to player sensitivity", at least not nearly as much as some punished players like to claim.