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On Reports, Tickets, Illegal Activity, and Calling Riot Out for Bullshit

Lizdeath·9/15/2014, 1:58:05 PM·17 votes·9,538 views

So let's say I have been severely sexually harassed in champ select (pretty damn close to what actually happened and I deeply regret not screencapping it). Can I submit a support ticket requesting the player's personal identifying information with which to go to police? I mean sure I can submit a report of the behaviour, but we all know it takes a special level of toxicity to hit tribunal. Obviously a ticket to have Riot personally deal with the instance is better, but Riot has one of the worst track records I have ever seen for dealing with cases so extreme that they warrant ticketing Riot to directly intervene in a single incident in addition to a traditional report.

Every single time some form of harassment has been so severe that it warrants contacting Riot directly, it does not matter the content of the submission directly to Riot, you will always get a cookie cutter response, and this is unacceptable. Sure the cookie cutter response is acceptable when it is a minor thing that will be better handled by Tribunal, but there are cases (most notably when something crosses the line into criminal activity) where it would be far better handled by directly contacting Riot.

To give you an idea of what happened last night, I picked Swain and called top as second pick in ranked. Immediately after I called top, this guy immediately says something to the effect of "gg, women can't play in a carry role except support" and went on a tirade of how I must be bad because he inferred I am female because I have a female sounding name, and how my "boyfriend" must have carried me out of bronze (I am a lesbian btw, so references to my "boyfriend" are particularly annoying). This guy was either looking to pick a fight, or genuinely doesn't seem to understand that 90% of players of online games with a feminine name are actually men (or at least this was true of WoW back when I played).

From there it got worse and lasted the entirety of champ select. I was continually harassed for being a female gamer while he had nothing to go on except my name (because what female gamer in her right mind advertises being a female gamer when it inevitably leads to harrassment). Once game started, he immediately stopped, presumably because it is a well known fact that Tribunal sees in game chat logs, but not pre/post game chat logs.

Now maybe I am not qualified to speak on the issue of when something crosses the line into territory of requiring a report in client to being better handled directly by Riot, but I would think that having spent 4 years studying social psychology would equip me pretty damn well to know when to make that judgment call. The result of being thrown cookie cutter solutions when I make that judgement call is infuriating and insulting. Its good to know that we have something resembling Standard Overseas Customer Support Desk handling these types of complaints. Don't get me wrong, I've submitted a large number of tickets (in my opinion), and most of them are handled excellently, except these ones. Almost every time I submit a player behaviour ticket, my reaction to Riot's response is one of "Did you even read the fucking message before responing? No? Then go read the fucking message and get back to me after you have done so!"

This is one area where it is very obvious Riot has repeatedly fail to meet a minimum standard in customer service, and this needs to be addressed better in the future.

And inb4 "you submit countless player behaviour tickets," I have played thousands of games and only ever seen behaviour so extreme that immediate intervention is the best method of handling it a total of 3 times. Statistically speaking, these cases are very rare.

27 Comments

Gavran9/15/2014, 5:06:59 PM28 votes

So let's say I have been severely sexually harassed in champ select (pretty damn close to what actually happened)

Wrong: Sexism is not sexual harassment. What happened to you was no worse than racism, or any other form of bigotry exhibited by people online. Not that it's okay, because it isn't, none of those things are - and I appreciate that it seems like a lot more people rally against things like racism while supporting the people that act sexist, and that sucks a lot but don't make it out to be more than it is.

Can I submit a support ticket requesting the player's personal identifying information with which to go to police?

Wrong: It would be massively illegal for Riot to give out personal information to anyone other than the police. Furthermore, bigotry on a personal level is not a crime and giving the police false reports is.

90% of players of online games with a feminine name are actually men (or at least this was true of WoW back when I played).

Wrong: Something like 40% of gamers are women and assuming 90% of those are men in disguise only encourages the sort of behaviour that led you to make this post. Online sexism stems less from actual misogynistic beliefs and more from perfectly normal (albeit reprehensible) "us vs them" mentalities and clique-ish exclusionary behaviours that as a student of psychology you should be familiar with.

Once game started, he immediately stopped, presumably because it is a well known fact that Tribunal sees in game chat logs, but not pre/post game chat logs.

Wrong: Riot has always had access to pre/post-game chat logs, and the Tribunal isn't even functioning right now.

Now maybe I am not qualified to speak on the issue of when something crosses the line into territory of requiring a report in client to being better handled directly by Riot, but I would think that having spent 4 years studying social psychology would equip me pretty damn well to know when to make that judgment call.

Wrong: The person in your example was offensive, and is deserving of punishment, but is guilty of the same wrongs as many people that are handled by Riot's player behaviour system without issue. You can look through the red tracker to find many many examples of players that were banned for offensive discriminatory conduct - I will note that I personally haven't seen a case where sexism was the primary issue - but I have faith that Riot's behaviour team takes sexism as seriously as everything else, even if the player base sadly fails to. Particularly since, as I said above, that behaviour is rarely indicative of true misogyny and rather speaks to a generally low quality of character that is prone to such negative behaviour toward anyone with little to no provocation. (E.g. That person would've flamed someone who picked off the meta, someone whose username suggested they were homosexual or of an "unfavorable" religious group, etc.)

Pbbth. Okay. That was a lot of words on how you're wrong, but I do agree with your ideal here, just vehemently disagree with your desired methodology... getting the police involved with a rager in champion select is immature and wrong. You would be diverting police attention from things of true importance, and that's not okay.

Now, while I believe a player like the one you mentioned will absolutely get picked up and punished without your "more direct" intervention and Rioters have said that the majority of support ticket based reports that lead to punishment are about players that were already detected by the system and en route to being banned - there are sometimes cases of extreme misconduct that warrant it, and only you can decide when that has become necessary. I encourage you to continue that practice, but have a little more understanding for Riot's support please. Not only are there countless tickets being opened every day, but just as they can't give you someone's personal information without breaking the law, they can't give you details on the discipline of someone else's account. That doesn't mean action isn't taken.

RiotRiot Nitsuabo9/15/2014, 4:00:59 PM18 votes

Sorry you went through that, sounds absolutely miserable. I'm going to use this as an opportunity to learn some more about our support systems. Can't promise any particular action, but I'll follow up if possible. Sorry for the ambiguity, just don't want to overpromise.

RiotdArtagnan9/15/2014, 6:23:44 PM17 votes

Hey Lizdeath,

First I want to say that I am incredibly sorry that you had to deal with any form of sexual harassment while playing League of Legends. We take reports like this very seriously and definitely do not condone this kind of behavior in any way, shape, or form.

When you encounter sexual harassment or sexism, the best course of action is to report the player after the match. We have a system and process in place that records these reports and issues punishments, regardless of where the chat happens. Include as much information as possible in the report as it will make it easier to establish evidence against the offenders.

If you have more information to share, such as screenshots, you can send us a player support request. Our Player Behavior team will investigate further and take any necessary action. Just a head’s up though, we can’t reveal any personal information about other players for legal reasons.

I also noticed that you have another ticket open regarding your connection. One of our tech specialists is on the case and will get back to you as soon as possible.

In the meantime, let me know if I can address any other questions you may have.

Pryotra9/15/2014, 2:30:31 PM4 votes

If it happens in champ select, send a ticket to tgeir support. Try to get screenies, and bug them about no pregame chat inclusion for the tribunal. From my experience, they usually give you copy pasta to ensure they don't give away info accidentally,but still follow up on these reports.

Also, they have access to the pregame chat logs, so if you give enough details, they can act accordingly.

Kiwi Surprise9/15/2014, 5:35:14 PM3 votes

If the player in this particular case thinks female gamers can only play support then he obviously does not watch steamers like Jessica Jung and Silver Lady or heard of the Sirens team that faced HotshotGG. Its not right what some of these people say in all chat and pre/post game logs. Sure I have had my share of games when I have gotten heated but who hasnt. However, when a random player immediately begins judging you for being a woman, thats uncalled for. Just think how awful he must feel that he has to attempt to belittle you for being a different gender in a video game. You're awesome! Stay positive and I am sure Riot will do their best.

thesi9/15/2014, 4:32:57 PM3 votes

I hope Riot is able to help you. It is jerks like that that have made my wife refuse to play any pvp. She has seen and heard about too many issues where players in general are relentlessly bashed, with women even more so, to risk trying for herself. And before anyone mentions mute, know that by the time mute is used, it is already too late.

PieRuler9/15/2014, 5:29:01 PM2 votes

Sexual Harrassment

Also how the hell did they know you were a girl.

NightEfx9/15/2014, 2:40:04 PM2 votes

you're absolutely right on the whole they dont care situation because ive submitted pictures of racist remarks and really negative chat boxes and have been given the generic response of we'll look into it. this is why i dont use their support anymore or believe their support actually does anything at all in regards to helping others with blatant problems they choose to ignore. its a shame because even with screen captured pictures they dont do much but give you the same response...and guess what i'll probably get this response deleted for saying any of this. so let's watch

xCrescentWrenchx9/16/2014, 2:49:02 AM1 votes

Sexism =/= sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment is more or less continued sexual/physical/suggestive advances at someone, whether intended or not. The dude ripping on you for your gender is sexism/gender discrimination.

Educate yourself before you cry on a forum about it. Also, educate yourself on privacy laws and the internet while you are at it. You seem like someone that if possible would cry to the police everytime someone offended you.

If I pissed you off, that's on you. Someone needs to be stern in this discussion. If you want to claim someone mistreated you with a mostly adult(yes, teens can be guilty of it as well)harassment, then be prepared to face it as an adult.

It's an online videogame. You could have been the bigger adult and alt-f4ed at anytime.
No one forced you to stay in Champ Select. No one forced you to play with the guy. YOU chose to stay in Champ Select.

Dodge and find something to do for 5 minutes. Stop letting every little worm get to you.

Deathless81C9/16/2014, 4:58:10 AM1 votes

I personally don't trust Riot on this as nothing in a practical sense ever seems to correspond to Riot claims over what they are doing to catch and punish a variety of trolls(most of whom troll in ways that do not involve chat at all). Going with a I'll believe it when I see it attitude about Riot.