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Riots Ban system is flawed, lazy, and counter productive.

I relia miss you·7/15/2015, 1:06:04 AM·2 votes·775 views

Bit of a rant post but also insightful and blatantly honest - first time ever posting on the boards so much as calling out Riot. The Tribunal system along with the banning system is sad and lazy at best. I actually think the Chat ban and Leaverbuster (although a lot of people get screwed with Leaverbuster because of their internet or the cheap League client crashing/lagging) are good additions to the game and took far too long to implement.

As a veteran player my main problem with Riot's ban system is the "Toxicity and language" ban. At first I thought they actually sat and read the chat logs thoroughly before coming to a fair and justified conclusion, but after getting banned myself and reading other peoples bans I realized it's a really lazy system that most likely just looks for trigger words that offend them. I feel like Riot does not take the instigator into account whatsoever regarding whom they ban in a spat between players. "Retaliation" is a word I have seen used by to justify banning someone who was sticking up for themselves. I don't view talking back to someone degrading you or trolling the team as retaliation. Now if one were to intentionally feed or threaten them then that's retaliation - actions speak louder then words and in League of Legends your actions are what you do with your champion in the game - not what you type. Riot expects you to roll over and prefers for you to ignore the trolls and let them just troll along while you waste 20-30 minutes of your time in a game with a team mate set on ruining it for everyone from the second they que. I take it most Riot employees have never engaged in sports or real competition where tempers flare and trash talk is common - yes believe it or not Riot you do have extremely competitive people who play sports in real life and it translates to this "game" when they play. You ever played a game of football, basketball, any sport - where you talk trash but keep playing? Oh and the game ends and no one was hurt - only some feelings and pride. This applies to league too - the real toxic players are the ones that fissure the team early game and intentionally feed or are toxic in the lobby before game even starts. Call me old school but I don't care if my team mate calls me bad names or swears constantly - as long as he's trying and competing so I'm not literally wasting time with no chance of winning or a 50 minute win that's essentially a 4v5... What happens if I go afk because of said troll? I get banned. What happens if I troll back by helping the enemy team by feeding or giving positions away in /all chat? Well I'm no better then the original troll at that point. What if I talk back to the troll and really let him have it? I get banned for two weeks. What if I just ignore him altogether and play the game like Riot wants? Oh right - my team implodes, people argue, the enemy team gets ahead, time is wasted, and the troll(s) don't surrender just because they think it's funny to waste your time. It seems Riots solution is "Well we'll just ban both of them because they both said some mean things and that's no good for the community!" It seems this system to battle toxicity is indeed toxic in and of itself and is stunting the growth of new players and the expansion of a true community.

Just a little side story to how I realized that the system is flawed. So when you get banned Riot sends you a copy of the Chat log pertaining to the game that got you banned. I recently got a couple good friends to start playing. I have been playing for years and they know I have always loved it. One of my friends had called "adc" in blind pick and seconds afterwards a troll auto locked adc and mocked him in pre-game lobby calling him a "%%%g*t" and someone with downs. They both went adc - duo bot lane. The troll adc died first and said he was going to feed etc. My friend was sticking up for himself WITHOUT NAME CALLING and got banned for two weeks. The email he got sent only showed what he said in the log, not what was said by others, nor did it show what was said in the pre-game lobby which is where it all started. In said game the troll said it was an alt account so he didn't care if he got banned, he also said he didn't care because it's only a "chat ban" he'd get. Now what we noticed is that during the game my friend did indeed swear by repeating all the horrible names the troll had said to him; example: "Dude you've already called me a %%%*ot multiples times, r%%%%%ed, etc." This is literally the only bad thing he said - repeating what the guy had said to him to get a point across - and HE gets banned?... SMH. Hence my point - red flag words, A.K.A. Lazy banning system. Riot saw those words, decided to ban him and slap the entire convo in the email without reading the context of what was said. Ironically the troll was saying "%%%.it" and "%%%%%" - misspelling the word and using dots. I wonder, was he even banned or were the flag words not picked up because he did that?

If in these situations Riot actually sat back and read the conversations before giving out punishment I would commend them and respect them for it, but they don't unless it's high profile or serious enough to them. If they say they fairly evaluate dialogues and you believe them, you're sadly mistaken and being lied to.

A lot of us at level 30 that have been participating in the game for years (especially Ranked matches) know just how toxic and competitive the game can be. The new guys pre-level 30 or new to 30 don't know just how trolly this game can be. The ban system does nothing but allow the trolls to make "Smurf" accounts and harass new players as well as dominating them in game. I don't think banning noobs for weeks at a time will help the growth of the game. It's funny that most of these situations arise because people don't pick their roles properly or communicate. This is how it must feel to be a new player trying to level while evaluating their options - "Yaaay for team builder! Wait... it's not available til level 25? Oh ok well guess I'll do blind pick and get trolled. Oh wait blind pick sucked and was so discouraging... maybe I'll do draft pick. Oh damn it's taking 20 mins for draft que to pop because no one's playing it. Hmm guess I'll just do ARAM.. then when I hit level 30 I won't be that great at Summoner's Rift because I needed to do ARAM. You know what, I'll just do bot games!"

I'm not saying my two week ban wasn't justified - yes it was in self-defense but I did go way too far with the name calling. This post isn't for me or about me, it's about my friend and others that I'm sure have had this happen to them. As for my new friend who got a two week ban only a few weeks into playing the game over smurf trolls - not fair at all. Riot's lazy and their severe toxicity system is a bigger flaw to the game and community then any player that says some offensive words or trolls for a game - if not for the fact that trolls make alternate accounts and TROLL EVEN HARDER on it then their original account. Why not actually take time to investigate situations in their ENTIRETY and get the bans right and proper, not just throw out 3 day and 2 week bans for convenience sake.

Perhaps if players were able to actually reply to their ban emails or get in touch with support this system wouldn't be so bad and blatantly lazily dismissive towards its player base. Maybe if Riot responded to player tickets with more swiftness and not be so dismissive to players reactions this system wouldn't be so flawed. Most people don't even bother appealing because by the time Riot responds the ban would be up anyways. Yes it's a free game so I know Riot feels they can do whatever they want to their player base - but lets be real a lot of the players contribute money to the game - sometimes simply to support Riot for having such an awesome free game. What if a new player just bought a day exp or IP boost but got banned over some minor troll stuff? There goes that boost but Riot still got their cash so no big deal right? I'm not saying to treat the people who spend money with privileges, but don't sit and act like you aren't making a stupid ton of money off this game AND by banning people you know will most likely spend money on their other account. Invest some of that money the players base gives you into real Game Managers and a support system that will actually help communication between players and Riot employees/internet-hall monitors. I believe in my heart that Riot can't be this oblivious to the system and and that they have the mental capacity to understand that everything is situational - their bans don't have to be absolute and their conclusions don't have to be the same for every player who said a mean word. Thanks.

If I get perma-banned for speaking my mind it'd be a shame because I've personally invested a lot of time and money into this game, as well as promoting the game socially - in person and otherwise - but I feel this needed to be said. People are afraid to speak their mind because Riot rules with an Iron fist without fair trial and is trigger-ban happy - but I know I am speaking on behalf of a lot of players when I say this, especially new players and people just getting to 30. The ONLY REASON I'm even typing this is because my friend told me he couldn't even post on the forums because he wasn't level 30.. really? Ok Riot - how about making RP not purchasable until level 30? Sound fair? To you guys - of course not.

4 Comments

jackdrifter7/15/2015, 1:34:39 AM1 votes

{quoted}

People are afraid to speak their mind because Riot rules with an Iron fist without fair trial and is trigger-ban happy - but I know I am speaking on behalf of a lot of players when I say this, especially new players and people just getting to 30. The ONLY REASON I'm even typing this is because my friend told me he couldn't even post on the forums because he wasn't level 30.. really? Ok Riot - how about making RP not purchasable until level 30? Sound fair? To you guys - of course not.

I don't really have the time or mindset to read your whole post, but I thought I'd comment on this part, at least.

This account is level 27. I tried to use a lower-lvl account, but apparently the minimum level for posting on the boards is 7, and I don't have anything between this and my next lowest (lvl 5).

For reference (because I don't like having this account logged in) any future posts from me will be from the account Jubbinaut.

Sarutobi7/15/2015, 1:43:26 AM1 votes

So why do you need to use words like that? i think a trigger of words is a good thing because like i said you dont need to use those types of words in any circumstance in this game. Calling someone a racist/homophobic words brings what to the table? telling them to kill themselves because they gave first blood helps you guys in the game how?

Granted i do feel like Riot could take a lot of things much more serious for their game, and this would be one of them! but for your reasons not so much! Also im not sure what types of Sports you watch, but while i do see trash talk in those types of sports, its a lot more worse in league than i see in say football/soccer, basketball. And even then if an athlete does say something horrible they do make public statements, its even happen in league before!

Also they only take what the person says into account with reports because they are being reporting. if other people were reported as well im sure they take into account what others have said, but its pretty childish to have a "but he started it" mentality. you have so many ways to prevent it from going forward, or stopping it completely. If people are swearing what too much, or just chatting way too much (in a way that doesnt help with the game) you can always mute them and never communicate with them again. if its something reportable always do it after the game. you retaliating does nothing to help solve the problem, and more often than not just helps fuel the person trolling because that is what they want!

Also lastly that whole last paragraph is unneeded. First off riot has never permabanned someone for speaking their mind, you have every right to, but its the way you say it. and just because you put time and money into the game shouldnt negate you from any actions you do, or else anyone spending money on this game gets a free pass to act how ever they want to which is just wrong! And im not sure where your buddy is from, but people can post here at i assume any level. ive seen people level 10+ post on the forum. he obviously hasnt done something to give access to the forum.

I relia miss you7/15/2015, 2:00:34 AM1 votes

Jack - fair enough I'm not sure why he wasn't able to post on the forums then, he told me it said he must be level 30 but I don't know. I have been 30 for so long and didn't utilize the forums prior to level 30.

Bunta - I totally agree that there is no place for those words in the game, however I also feel that these words aren't as big a deal as the majority of the community makes them out to be, maybe because I have thicker skin and/or grew up in a rougher environment where mean words and phrases were used more often then tap water. For me personally - not everyone - I'd rather have a belligerent a-hole that went 7-7-10 then a troll that fed on purpose or didn't pick their role/communicate with the team. Again, that's just me.

So you agree they should take a look at this system, but not for my reasons? All of my reasons? You know why it's worse in League then real life sports? Because people can hide behind their screens and act tough - similar to how Riot acts like a Communist Government to a gaming community.

Bunta you do realize that people sometimes report knowing they're going to reported for being mean? This does happen and is why I made my statement earlier that it's lazy and irresponsible for Riot to give an equal punishment to the defender as to the instigator.

Again we disagree on the word retaliation - I have talked shit and still gone 20+ kills in a win. I've had games where me and team mates got heated, talked crap to each other, still won because WE ALL KEPT PLAYING and didn't intentionally feed.

You say "Also lastly that whole last paragraph is unneeded. First off riot has never permabanned someone for speaking their mind, you have every right to, but its the way you say it. and just because you put time and money into the game shouldnt negate you from any actions you do, or else anyone spending money on this game gets a free pass to act how ever they want to which is just wrong! And im not sure where your buddy is from, but people can post here at i assume any level. ive seen people level 10+ post on the forum. he obviously hasnt done something to give access to the forum."

  • It actually is needed and is perhaps the most important paragraph of my thread because it's the absolute truth. He wasn't allowed to post, I'm not sure why but he said it was due to level.. perhaps it was the specific board? That's not the point though - people are afraid to speak their mind to the Iron Fist that is Riot games - hell their logo says it all. For someone like me, a level 30 who got banned for name calling is cool. But for a new player to be exposed to smurf trolls and be banned before they even have a chance to really delve into the game? Nah, not cool and super duper lazy of Riot.