Mentor Community Improvements

So, as an occasionally toxic player myself, (hear me out, this shouldn't invalidate the whole thread) I've been thinking about ways to help the community improve. I don't like being toxic, and I don't like playing with toxic players. I understand both sides of the spectrum, and want to help both the community and Riot make progress towards making a more friendly environment. I am posting this strictly for feedback from all summoners, regardless of disposition, level, rank, etc, but I do ask that all replies attempt to take an unbiased standpoint (ie, not affected by a recent game with a toxic player), as bias never helps progress. Let's dive right into my thoughts.

Why the current method of dealing with toxicity is flawed: Now, I understand, everything has flaws, and will most likely never be perfect, but that doesn't stop us from attempting to improve as much as we possibly can. That being said, I think the current methods of dealing with toxicity have too many flaws to prove as effective as both the community and Riot would like.

1. Negativity breeds negativity. Being notified that you have been reported has mixed effects. Some summoners use it as a reminder and improve, while others will easily be put on tilt by the notification. My current feelings is that the notification should be removed, as summoners with a calm enough mind to fix their behavior at a notification have enough serenity to stop without it.

2. Positive reinforcement is slim, Negative reinforcement is slim, and Consequences are abundant. While consequences are a good method to "teach a lesson" per se to toxic summoners, they seem to be the primary method of dealing with cases of toxicity. While the honor initiative was a wonderful addition to League of Legends, it's weight has almost completely dissipated, due to early abuse. The honor initiative created a large gap when it was first released, with lots of summoners receiving floods of honors for small cases of good behavior. This in itself is not an issue, until you realize the weight of an honor drops after a flood of them have been received by almost all summoners. Currently, honors seem to be far and few between, when a summoner exhibits an extreme case of good sportsmanship, and even in such cases, the weight seems to be slim to none. This positive reinforcement has little to no effect on players already exhibiting good behavior. Negative reinforcement, on the other hand, such as chat restrictions and the newly implemented ranked restrictions, seem to have a slightly larger impact than positive reinforcement, but I do not believe they have a large enough impact. Consequences, the current favorite method seem to have a mixed effect. I personally do not think mixed effectiveness is not good enough for such a large community. These reasons, combined with reasons from point 1, create a perpetually negative environment, which make it difficult for good sportsmanship and friendliness to thrive.

3. Improve, not remove. While bans are generally reserved in cases of extreme toxicity and are well-deserved, I believe summoners that continually violate the summoners code may not mean to, and need some outside help. Remember, one player banned will not stop other players from being toxic (or the obligatory reroll of an account of those more determined), but improving the behavior of a player may create a ripple, that could potentially aid other players in improving their behavior. For these reasons, I believe an initiative should be implemented, which I like to call the Mentor Initiative.

The Mentor Initiative is simple, but requires work and innovation to become a more effective method of improving behavior. Summoners that have proved their good sportsmanship, through perhaps a different number of varied criteria, may become voluntary mentors. Mentors will be paired (or potentially have a group of up to 4 players under them) with players that have either recently had a case of toxicity reviewed and deemed worthy of action. The mentor will then play with and talk to the player about their toxicity, and perhaps give them advice, tips, etc while monitoring their behavior. After a number of games have been played, the mentor will fill out a report of the players behavior and action taken. Post-mentor, action can be taken such as chat restrictions or bans, or, based on the mentors report, a summoner can be pardoned. While there are a HUGE number of variables and criteria that can take effect into such a system, I believe the basis of this can be changed and edited as needed.

Criteria to become a mentor (Under Construction): There could be a different number of criteria to determine who may become a mentor, as the worst enemy of this would be a toxic player becoming a mentor.

1. Summoners who have received and exemplary number of honors.
2. Summoners who have had a voluntary number of games monitored and reviewed for approval.
3. Summoners who have not been punished for toxicity ever (or for a certain amount of time)
4. Summoners who have not been reported for a certain number of games
5. Summoners who are active on a regular basis (The need for this will be explained later)

This thread is currently under construction and will be edited and discussed based on feedback from the community. There are obviously going to be many flaws with such a method, and I will myself try to address all of them, but think all summoners should participate in this group discussion.

Current Questions/Problems: Q: Wouldn't banning a toxic summoner be much easier than attempting to improve their behavior? A: Well, yes. That is correct. But if there is a way to better the community rather than limit it, why would we not try? Many summoners complain about the toxic community, and this would give many exemplary summoners a direct hand in changing the community. We love Riot, and they work hard, but I believe giving the community the power to stop the community will be more successful.

Q: Could the Mentor system be abused? A: Currently, yes, in various ways. Anywhere from false mentor reports to real-life blackmail for monetary gain may occur. These issues obviously require community troubleshooting and discussion to attempt to curb.

Q: Does this give mentors more power than normal summoners? A: To an extent. But mentors not only have to match criteria, but also potentially face harsher punishment than normal summoners. For example, and mentor exhibiting toxic behavior would not only be violating the summoner code, they would be corrupting the community movement to remove toxicity. For this, they may face a swifter, longer ban, with revoked mentor title and inability to regain it. Similar punishments may be given if a mentor is proven to falsely report another's actions, improvement, or lack thereof.

Q: Wouldn't the initiative be time-consuming? A: Yes. This does not mean it should not be considered. A time-consuming but effective process proves we care about our community more than a quick punishment.

Q: Would Riot have to handpick mentors? A: Not necessarily. There could be a various number of ways of attaining mentor ship; Application and Review, an automatic invitation when a number of criteria are met, community voted mentors, Senior Mentor promotion to Mentorship. Explaining the last method, I personally believe mentors that have worked effectively and efficiently as mentors for a significant amount of time should be granted the ability to promote another to mentorship, provided they match the criteria.

Q: How would this specifically effect players? A: Player assigned to a mentor may only play with their mentor. Similar to a time-ban or ranked restriction, it restricts a summoners ability to play in some form. This is why mentors are required to be active, as an inactive mentor could lead a player to lack the ability to play often. Assigned players may petition to the mentor directly for a change of mentors, for reasons such as scheduling and timezone differences, or personal conflict with the mentor. If a petition is denied by a mentor, the player may directly petition to Riot support team with reasons they would like to change mentors. This is one of the few times Riot would have to step into this self-sustaining method of dealing with toxicity. I think this method would speed it up, while freeing up some of the player behavior team to work on more issues.

Currently, this thread is under-construction. It will be edited based on community feedback.