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Debate: Should you report "legitimate" AFKs?

Paqi·2/23/2014, 7:18:48 PM·6 votes·1,239 views

Someone AFKs for half the match. Or is disconnected for half the match. It costs your team the game.

You hear "I'm really sorry guys. My client is ****, Riot hates me" or "Really sorry, I had to AFK because ".

It's possible they rage-quit for a bit, but you can't say for sure, and the person seems to have legitimately tried when they returned, and demonstrated no reportable behavior otherwise.

My stance: Report anyway. Why? Say they're being honest, and their client really did die, or they really did get called away on an emergency. If this is a rare occurrence, getting reported will not get them to the tribunal, and they will NOT be punished.

The other possibilities, however, definitely warrant a report. In the worst case, they're lying, and they definitely deserve to be reported. But what if they really do have a client that frequently crashes on them, or some IRL situation that constantly makes them AFK from matches?

If that's the case, I argue that this person is still toxic to the community. Well-meaning or no, s/he is constantly ruining games for the players that get stuck on her/his team. This person deserves a warning, at least, and possibly a ban. If it's a client problem, they should be working with Riot tech-support to resolve the issue. If it's a IRL problem, maybe they shouldn't be playing LoL, or need to manage their time better so they can play LoL uninterrupted. In both cases, they always have the option to enjoy LoL while playing bots.

What to you all think, and why?

12 Comments

Athryil2/23/2014, 9:27:53 PM5 votes

If it is a ranked game, then I say Yes. This is the section of the game that is taken seriously. If you can not devote 30min to an hour of your time for a match you should not be playing league. If you have a real emergency and have to leave, being reported for AFK that once will not affect you. But if someone consistently leave due to outside reasons, then they are demeaning the experience of everyone else in the game. There are other games, don't sign up for a ranked game if you can not commit.

Sneak Dog2/23/2014, 9:27:35 PM4 votes

A player has the responsibility towards the other 9 players in the game to have a reliable internet connection, ranked or not. Because any game they leave, they ruin for nine others.

Of course, the internet by nature isn't entirely reliable, but the system takes this in account for us by not punishing a rare leave. If someone tends to ragequit regularly/has a bad internet, they shouldn't be playing this game however.

Flannel Mannel2/24/2014, 6:59:30 PM3 votes

I report for it because if it's a one-time deal, then the report won't effect them. But if it's a habit, then they'll get punished for it.

shadwraith992/23/2014, 8:34:37 PM2 votes

It really depends on the stakes of the game, if it is ranked, with high stakes, and the person goes afk because of some legitimate reason like their client is bad, than they shouldn't play in ranked with a bad client. But in normals, because the stakes are low, as long as their reason might be legitimate, not to report them.

SaintCrazy2/23/2014, 9:46:30 PM2 votes

It depends. If they really sound genuine and it didn't ruin the game TOO much when they left (say if they only left for a couple minutes), I'll give them a pass. Also if they're not AFK by the end of the match I'll probably forget to report them if the damage wasn't too bad.

Remlap12232/23/2014, 11:36:20 PM2 votes

Use your judgement. If a player behaving really oddly (why the hell did Ashe charge into the entire enemy team by herself?) then unless they are explicitly being toxic, they're probably lagging, not feeding. If they just randomly disconnect, their internet (or their server connection to league) probably died. If they're being toxic, and rage quit, then I'd say it's reportable. Plus, the Tribunal doesn't look at one case, it looks at many. I'm sure 1 person in the game will report to report, but the person shouldn't be banned for 1 disconnect. People who disconnect for reasons outside of their control will most likely stop playing League and not take down more games.

Koobadoobs2/24/2014, 12:47:54 AM1 votes

I report anyone who afks. Why didn't they check their connection before playing or set aside enough time to play out a full match? If you might have to leave in half an hour, don't start a game. If you've been having lag issues, don't start a game.

If the reason is something absolutely out of their control (like their house gets spontaneously set on fire or something) then they don't have to worry, the reports for that game alone are not enough to get sent to the tribunal.

Hirok02/24/2014, 4:52:43 AM1 votes

Not voting because question format is too obviously tainted. "might" I think you meant to say "if the reason they give is legitimate."

Situational response. Ranked = report. Otherwise it depends on if I believe them and if they have other negative behaviors.

Thinking its their responsibility for connectivity is kind of harsh too. They may have great connection, and some one in the building blows a power fuse, resetting their computer's power. Instant dc and takes maybe 10 minutes to get back in-game.

Sir ArmaMalum2/23/2014, 9:24:17 PM1 votes

For your same logic I will report in the fact that it should be a rare occurrence but there is one exception for me. If they apologize at the beginning and also apologize to the enemy team for not giving them a well fought game. They expect the report and take it anyway, so I deem it better to give good, sportmanlike people the benefit of the doubt.

Zalkreai2/26/2014, 2:58:42 PM1 votes

Usually I let it go personally, if it's normal or aram or another non-ranked game, stuff happens that people can't control and I like to give benefit of the doubt. I mean I wouldn't want people to report me if I had a legit reason to leave. Do unto others right?

If it's a ranked game then yeah, I would probably report, if you go into ranked you should be sure to have an hour (or more) blocked off where you can play without interruption, again, stuff does happen, but in ranked there's less of an excuse for it.

Apologies make or break situations like this, if you afk because your client crashes and you come back 15 minutes later and explain the situation and try to make a comeback, then that's fine, I respect that. More recently because of the issues with the DDoS attacks, I have been much more understanding because the DC is in all likelihood not the players fault. People need to be more forgiving of others, it's just a game guys...

There was a situation a few months ago that I had to leave a game because my husband was in a car accident (he was fine) but I typed into all-chat "I have to go, my husband was in an accident" and left. I may have gotten reported for it, I don't know, but I like to think that I wasn't, because I like to think the best of people. Shit happens guys, and it's okay.

Paqi3/21/2014, 12:31:28 PM1 votes

I see a lot of posts claiming reporting is too harsh because "what if an emergency happened" or "what if their neighborhood lost power" etc. I don't think these posters understand that if that really is a freak occurrence, reporting the player won't negatively effect that player. You need a consistent history of reports to be at risk of punishment.

I suppose the question I'm really interested in is: If someone never intentionally AFKs but has a connection that regularly causes them to D/C, do they deserve to be reported and face punishment and/or a ban?