Diary Submission from a former toxic player (Posted from my Perma-banned Account) *Long Post*

Dear Community,

I just wanted to give my two cents on the justice system implemented in LoL. First, I want to give a bit of my background as a LoL Player, and a member of such a wild community. I've been playing League of Legends, for almost 8 years now this coming April or June I believe. This is the original account I made back in 2010. "Sidenote: Thank you RIOT for letting me keep my account accessible on the forums" I was 16 when I started playing back in 2010. The community was very small and "Toxicity" back then was just your every day online gaming trash talk. There wasn't a real system in place at the time so RIOT released the "Tribunal" system which allowed the community take part in controlling the punishment for players who were reported. RIOT would post the games scoreboards, champions, and only by name would they address the player that was banned not anyone else, and the chat log so players can see multiple sides to the story. Not only that but players who participated in the tribunal would get extra IP added to their account for doing their part in trying to make the community a better place. IMO this was the best way for RIOT to handle toxicity in the LoL community. I can't say as to why nor do I remember why they removed it, but I digress.

Back in the day it was nigh impossible to be perma-banned, you had to say or do some really bad stuff for that to happen, also chat restrictions never existed. I was banned about 25+ times from League of Legends on this account between the years of 2011-2013 or 14. Two weeks was the max ban I normally received, it was like a regular jail time sentence I soon became familiar with. 2013 - 2015 were my golden years in LoL I peaked in Diamond I was the first streamer on the PBE and got between 1100 and 5000 viewers on my stream back in 2013 and 2014 and things were going great, but at this point the tribunal was gone. and "Chat Restrictions" were the hot punishment. I think I was chat restricted for at least over 300+ Games (I'm not proud of these recorded punishments I just want to give incite how "frequently" I was punished and how toxic I was). Thought nothing of these new punishments, I was okay if I couldn't type to my teammates.

Season 6 goes by it was kinda meh for me I didn't really play because I didn't like the Dynamic Queue system for ranked. But RITO now had a new punishment system the good ol' 4 strikes and your out deal. With this you got your first slap on the wrist with a 10 game chat ban (I'm sure most people reading this are familiar with this system soft chuckle) After that, if your a repeat offender you'll get a nice 25 game chat restriction (I forgot to add that in the older punishments chat restrictions used to be WINS not just games played) 3rd offense 14 day ban. I received this 14 day ban that I was very familiar with in late Nov. 2016. Thought nothing of it moved on and waited to carry out my sentence.

Feb 2017 I was pumped and going hard for Season 7, I tried a little too hard and let my emotions cloud my judgement. I was Plat 3 things were going decent for my climb. But then I would lose game after game, I would take breaks come back and lose some more and go on some really good losing streaks.(You can see where I was perma-banned if you search my name in the LoL Client and check my match history.) At this point I really really went in on my teammates, not even thinking about the consequences for about 5 games straight. By my last game I was playing support Leona, thought I could win if I gave up my main role cause I thought I was shit at it and I was the reason for losing games. Lost that game as well cursed out my teammates called em trash etc. you know the usual. Then I queue up for another game get in champ select, and by the time I lock in my champ my client shuts off.... That's when I knew, I didn't think it was gonna be that bad, maybe just another temp ban. and then I read it. The words I thought I'd never read in my entire life with my account that I swore I'd never get banned in all caps "PERMANENTLY BANNED" HyenDryGG. I sat and stared at my screen for 5 minutes straight with no expressed emotions. I would carry this through 2017 getting 2 more accounts perma-banned (Again not proud of this) I just didn't care since my main account with over $1300 worth of skins and champs purchased was gone forever (BTW this was all before the "loot system" was around and you had to BUY RP to get skins and champ bundles).

But then RIOT did something great, that wouldn't "Fix" toxicity but definitely would impact me as a player, and brought out the new "Honor System" it was perfect, amazing incentives I thought "I'll never be toxic again" WRONG, I believe within the first month of the new honor system I was 10 game chat restricted and Honor locked..

At this point I knew I HAD to make a change, take a step back and actually evaluate why I was being toxic and saying mean, and nasty things, that didn't benefit my team. I tried to justify it by telling myself "It's online gaming culture this is normal" but that was the immature way of thinking. So I made the change by not talking on my main account and if I did, it would actually benefit my team, like shot calls and such since I main jungle. Carried out this new way of playing League of Legends, and I actually enjoyed the game more. I won more games, and I hardly tilt anymore. What I learned was just accepting things for what they are, and not just in LoL but in life in general. I'm a much happier person now than I was several months ago, and surely several years ago when I started playing. There's no excuse for my behavior nor is there and excuse ever to curse out another person over text on a video game that every player you are currently playing with LOVE to play.

After a few months I was able to acquire Honor Level 3, I know some people might not think that's a huge deal but this was an amazing milestone for me trying to stray from the toxic path. It's like a substance abuser getting their days without such and such milestone. For me it was great motivation to see my behavior progress and improve. (It might seem a little childish but hey it's a system that works great for me) Seeing the season 8 preseason changes Devastated me, my main account won't be able to take part in what I believe will be one of the best seasons in LoL since Season 3/4 time period. I'm on my main account right now seeing 145K Blue Essence wasted and some from not participating in the missions.

Do you want to know what the worst thing about losing my account is? Losing my friends list. My friends list I have accumulated over 7 years, and building relationships with a random people around the country and other parts of the world. I'll never be able to access those names again. I'm sure as hell can't remember 100+ names, I had a max friends list on that account. But not being able to play with those people or share old memories from games in years lost is the most devastating thing to me about losing that account. Not the money or the skins acquired but the "Real" relationships I built with other players and people, and you can't just buy them again like I could a champ or a skin.

I know the system might be flawed and really harsh for toxic players. But maybe you should look at yourself and see why you got banned or why you got a chat restriction, maybe don't blame RIOT for your actions in game over the keyboard, and don't try and justify your behavior for how strangers or a video game makes you feel. RIOT implemented a system that they believe is fair, and maybe there might be some slight hiccups here and there. But maybe it's our duty to uphold and respect the Summoners Code as well as the justice system they have in place. Think about your actions before going off on somebody on the other side of the screen, and ask yourself "Am I willing to accept the consequences that come from my actions?" and if you are then good luck to you and maybe try taking a break from LoL, but if you aren't, don't get yourself in a situation where you won't like the outcome from receiving the ban hammer...

TL;DR Long time toxic LoL player cleaned up his act, and on the fast track of being fully reformed. Don't be toxic and whine and complain then make excuses for being banned. #UpholdTheSummonersCode

P.S. Thanks for reading this, thought I'd shed some light on this topic since I never knew it was a sub forum. Love this game and community, I want to see it improve and hope others can take this and not deal with the same consequences I had to deal with before changing my behavior.

Also, Sorry RIOT for not getting the message and taking nearly 8 years to improve my behavior as a player, Thanks

~HyenDryGG