Why Leaverbuster is wrong for League
Since the last patch I have had some DC issues and for the first time got a Leaverbuster notice from playing a bot game with a few friends. In looking to write on the boards about it I came across the leaverbuster thread. Browsing the comments the system seems universally hated, which I thought was probably a selection effect, but now that I think about it, it may not be. If it's working and people hate afks, why does everyone hate leaverbuster? Is it only the people who feel strongly enough to post?
It would be easy to assume that is the case, but a few comments were more detailed. One thing to note is the psychology of positive vs. negative reinforcement. Incentives in games that are based on positive reinforcement do tend to work much better, and this is arguably part of what initially made lol succeed. Perceived loss leads to stronger emotion than missed gain however, giving the subject a superfluous emotional charge for example. Compare two imaginary scenarios, one in which the price of a skin increases, before you can buy it, and another in which a skin is confiscated and a refund given for the original price while the new price also increases. Anyone could tell you the second scenario would have much worse reception in the community.
The overwhelming number of complaints centered around fairness, an issue that should never be taken lightly. The league tribunal system seems very similar to leaverbuster but is largely accepted by most players. The main difference I believe is the nature of automation, and the idea that false positives are more socially undesirable than false negatives. It has been pointed out that afk-ing affects nine other people and so constitutes the closest thing to a clear cut 'crime' we have in lol-land. But in embracing the model of crime and punishment, we also bring in other principles of justice such as intent, extenuating circumstance, and even the idea of burden of proof, since the former things are likely outside the ability of riot to observe. In the real world a justice system which neglects the other principles is called draconian, and other unpleasant things, as it should be. When we implement a similar system in the game it broadly offends the moral sense of the average player.
If riot wishes to defend the current practices, it should release leaverbuster numbers, but this still leaves a fundamental flaw. In my games it seems that the number of deliberate afks and network problems is comparable. Since riot does not have any true 'control' statistics, the self reported internet problems versus true internet issues are very difficult to discern. The paradox is this, given that internet and other bug sources is statistically uncorrelated with the buster policy, if the number of true leavers is low, then most of the players it targets are false positives, making it an unjust system. If the number of leavers is high, then the system is ineffective.
Finally the last problem I will mention, perception trumps statistics. A single negative experience can have more impact than a number of positive ones, depending on the expectations of the player. It is a fact of psychology that people are bad at judging statistics, low probability expectation values, and counter-factuals in general such as opportunity cost. Even seeing the statistics, a player will likely not "feel" even a 20% drop in leavers, if they do it will be vague and spread out, emotional background as it were. What affects people are memorable events, a leaver in a big game or promo series, or an unusual number of leavers in a row, or the effect of false leaverbuster targeting. Under the old system of tribunals players could vent but I imagine the number of complaints was too large. A reform of that system to improve the logistics would probably be better, but I don't have all the answers. In the old days the enmity rested squarely on the shoulders of the player that left, but now it will reside more on riot itself.
Dealing with leavers is only one part of the more complete problem of moderating the community. And that's a struggle not just here but in the world at large.
My one positive recommendation is that a vote feature be added to the client. This will allow riot to do polling of the player base in a way that will likely be more positive and constructive than the boards. A bar or icon that has an issue to vote on, and a button to vote. Change the issue every week or patch. It could be a goldmine of data if done right.
PS.
plz fix this unspecified error I keep getting in 4.21 so I can continue to feed bot lane without getting leaverbusted!
