Boards›Player Behavior

Permanent Bans are Lucrative

Apricot Jams·12/25/2018, 7:46:16 PM·5 votes·5,404 views

Riots stance on toxicity is that if you are being verbally attacked, you should just mute all, keep playing and report the offenders after the game.

This system can easily be taken advantage of by angry players who gang up on a person having a bad game, get a reaction out of them (because self-defense is a basic human instinct), and then submit false reports. These situations regularly slip through the cracks because the system is automated, and in my experience, Riot's support staff has zero empathy or compassion for context because they don't review In-game footage. They just read their scripts, say "well, you shouldn't have said that" and pass you on to the next person. This kind of unfairness actually CREATES angry players.

The only thing that makes actual sense is that permabans are good for riot's bottom line. People are forced to create a new account and since they don't want to spend months collecting blue essence, they pay real money to get their favorite champs again. This form of discipline doesn't correct behavior, perpetuates gang-like abuse, and makes Riot (plus all the sites that sell accounts) tons of money.

I understand that, at the end of the day, this game is a business and money makes the world go round, but how greedy do you have to be to keep running a flawed discipline system that literally steals money from people under the guise of "we're helping correct bad behavior"?

(Also, in real life if a human is getting attacked by someone, whether verbal or physical, self-defense is natural, which is why the court system doesn't dish out identical punishments to both the attacker and the person defending themselves.)

128 Comments

Umbral Regent12/25/2018, 7:57:14 PM13 votes

The only thing that makes actual sense is that permabans are good for riot's bottom line. People are forced to create a new account and since they don't want to spend months collecting blue essence, they pay real money to get their favorite champs again. This form of discipline doesn't correct behavior, perpetuates gang-like abuse, and makes Riot (plus all the sites that sell accounts) tons of money.

How does any of that make sense?

For starters, account-selling sites are something that Riot is vehemently against, and on top of that, they're a waste of money, for two reasons: 1. The game is Free-to-Play, meaning any bought account is money wasted, and 2. Buying accounts counts as account-sharing, and is against the ToU, meriting a permanent ban when identified.

Beyond that, the Permanent ban is not there to correct behavior, it's to remove players that refuse to change. The permanent ban is Riot's last resort when someone goes out of their way to break the rules again and again and again.

And Riot doesn't want the money from a player who got permanently banned. They want the banned player to leave and find another game.

Beyond that, if someone gets permanently banned, the odds are high that if they do come back, which in and of itself is rare, that they're not going to spend money on the game - since, they know that if they're not careful, they'd wind up right back at square one.

Permanent bans are only lucrative in that they get rid of the players who would ruin the game for the players who would actually play by the rules. Those who play by the rules, then, have the confidence to spend money in the game, knowing that Riot gets rid of the bad apples.

...but how greedy do you have to be to keep running a flawed discipline system that literally steals money from people...

And this is where it becomes difficult to take you seriously. Riot doesn't steal money. People give Riot the money, in exchange for access to content in League. That content can be revoked at any time - and Riot only chooses to actually do so when the player earns a permanent ban.

If you bought a drink, and then drank it, and asked for your money back, only to be told "no" - would you call the person you bought the drink from a thief?

Dynikus12/25/2018, 7:49:56 PM8 votes

You'll never get a chat restriction for calmly defending yourself.

FOR JUSTICE12/25/2018, 7:50:16 PM6 votes

chatlogs plz becuase you cant be banned for calmly defending yourself. also muting IS the self defense, the natural human instinct you speak of. however, returning the toxicity is just retaliation.

PresBushDid71112/26/2018, 12:02:39 AM2 votes

These threads always bring a grin to my face. I love seeing the OPs try to explain the business rationale behind banning a paying customer in the hopes that they will come back to being a paying customer.

I can see the greedy behavior specialist team right now at their ivory tower.

We have a player Matney74 spends about 25.00 a quarter consistently. Let's ban him, I'm confident he will come back and spend even more! Look at this sweet chart I have of Company A (Company A is theoretical due to no existing company having this sort of business model) and the massive profits this system creates.

Of course then you have your other points, multi reports have an impact. I think i'll take the word of the guy that wrote the code, and provided the line of code, over your opinion.

Shouldn't be punished for self defense. First, you arent. If you mute and report you aren't punished. Second, the real world isn't a good counter example as 1) In the real world there can be real threats to your physical being 2) No tool exists, that at the snap of a finger, removes annoying/hostile/inappropriate language.

Third, even if the real world did apply, most self defense laws require that you do the minimum to stop the threat. Which in this case would be to use the tools inserted into the game to to do just that. If you disagree, you would have to explain what game play related reason the mute player, mute pings, etc is in the client.

mlm olo mlm12/26/2018, 12:46:51 AM1 votes

Good luck arguing with the Riot fan club.

It's very simple. Riot provides a rental agreement in which Riot is paid upfront. Early termination of said rental agreement is profit. There is nothing to argue. Won't stop the fan club.