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Behavior Ribbon System Possibilities

Fixxen·2/11/2015, 6:43:05 PM·2 votes·747 views

I think it's great that Riot is constantly re-evaluating the player behavior system. I really like the current model of random rewards for players who have a history of positive interaction within the game, or at the very least who aren't contributing to the negative atmosphere we've all experienced. However, I really think that the Ribbon system needs to be revamped or even possibly replaced. I do like the fact that I can honor my team mates or even the opposing players for sportsman-like conduct, but it seems like the ribbon reward system is so lack-luster that there really is no incentive to utilize the system in the first place.

No, I don't receive an Honorable Opponent or Teamwork tag after every game. Far from it. But is this due to my performance in the game or just the general lack of incentive for honoring someone else in the first place? I think the vast majority of the time it is the latter. I think a lot of people play league with a positive attitude, but a little ribbon on my load screen really isn't enough of a reward for most people.

On top of that, nobody really knows (to my knowledge) how many honors you need to acquire a ribbon. If I knew I only needed a few more votes it might push me to try and get them, or it might not. I'm also not sure that I have a better idea. Riot can't just throw skins at us for not berating our teammates.

So here are a few options I've tried to come up with to replace or enhance the ribbon system.

1: Let us know how close we are to a ribbon reward. 2: Make a ward skin or summoner icon that only be used WHILE your account is flagged as a ribbon holder. 3: Reduce the number of options for a ribbon. Teamwork, friendly, etc could really just be consolidated into an Honorable Player tag. Enough tags and you get whatever the reward currently happens to be. 4. Create incentive for GIVING Honorable Player tags. Anyone not participating in the Honorable Player tag system cannot receive Honorable Player tags. Rewards require active participation. This will encourage participation in the system, without directly handing out a tangible reward to be abused by anyone who might think "Oh a participation reward, I'll just Honor everyone now".

Now that all that is said, let's try and pool our ideas and help Riot make this system worth using. If you think you have a great idea for the ribbon system, or something that could replace it, reply to this post and maybe Riot will listen.

Good luck Summoners. See you on the Rift.

5 Comments

Daen2/11/2015, 7:38:25 PM2 votes

Honor has a huge number of problems, and adding a more tangible reward to the system would not solve those problems (imo). I'll list some of them:

  • Honor has no checks or balances whatsoever.
  • Honor more readily rewards players for doing well than being good people.
  • Honor is absurdly easy to abuse.
  • The calculation used for Crests makes obtaining them almost impossible through normal play.
  • Honor decay makes the system function like a political campaign; keep the Honor coming or lose your status.
  • Numerical values of Honor displayed in-game have zero correlation with the actual calculated value.
  • Premade Honor makes absolutely no sense with the current functional implementation.
  • There is no incentive for Honoring other players whatsoever other than warm fuzzies.
  • Honor Crests have very little perceived value due to how rampant abuse was at original release and how impossible to obtain they are in normal play.

I'll stop there. I've spent a lot of time researching this system, and a lot needs to change before tangible rewards can be added. With the current implementation, if a skin were added to Honor it would be directly promoting rampant abuse without any way to balance it. Compare honoring someone to reporting someone, for example:

  • Honor - Player receives a +1 notification, at a certain threshold the player is rewarded with a Crest.
  • Report - Report goes into a pool of other potential reports to be reviewed by either peers (Tribunal) or Riot, at a certain threshold the player is punished.

Reporting has a balance on it; incorrect reports are just tossed out. Honor has no such system, it's just added to a running total unless the player in question is punished.

Sarutobi2/11/2015, 7:02:52 PM1 votes

i like the idea of an icon or even a Ward to help entice people to honor! i have a lot of honors from random people in games and its nice to have something to show for it. but then there is a side that makes it very abusive. it would be a shame to see someone who a teamwork icon/ward and seeing them be very toxic, or unsportsmanlike! And you know they probably just ask people to honor them or had friends honor them regularly!

TheRatsInTheWall2/11/2015, 8:12:17 PM1 votes

Remember that rewarding people for behavior they would chose anyway can actually decrease the likelihood of them doing it again if the reward or it's perceived value ever diminishes. The relatively positive person who begins to tie their behavior to the reward of honoring rather than the reward of good feels may become frustrated when people do not honor their honorable behavior. Then they may begin to think, "what's the point if I don't get honored," and suddenly the game is out one positive influence. Right now, the honor system doesn't regularly do this because it doesn't matter. If you make the reward too enticing, you begin to run this risk.

Then again, the lost positivity might get balanced out by the decrease in toxicity. It might be sad but worth it then.