Riot, your punishment system is counterproductive, and here's why.

(For those who have read my recent comments on the board, this is basically summing those points up in a post rather than a comment, as so far my posts have said half the story and my comments the rest, which isn't really useful for bringing a point across)

It is vague. It is vague as to why you're getting punished, it doesn't provide a warning when you break the rules in a way that is not severe enough for a punishment. This vagueness results in the system being perceived as random - after all, this is exactly the same way rng works on a pc. A pc never actually generates a random number (or at least, most pcs don't. Some pcs, mostly those used for either scientific purposes or in some cases game servers use hardware rng), instead, it follows a pattern that is hard to track, and conceals this pattern to the end user. A system that is percieved as rng has the exact same impact on a user as actual rng. Combine that with harsh punishments and no visible strike system, and you got League's punishment system.

Now you may be wondering why it matters if the punishment system can be percieved as rng by those punished? After all, it still punishes those who break the rules, right? Yes, it still punishes those who break the rules, but the point of a punishment system is not to punish, it is to prevent repetition, and this is where League's system fails. It gives little feedback as to why a person got punished specifically. It often provides 1-3 chat logs, leaving the player to figure out where they actually went wrong. Some players will think "hey, I got punished, but he said some of the same stuff, but he didn't!" and conclude that it's random. This will either make them more toxic, as, to them, it feels like it doesn't affect the risk of getting punished whatsoever, or, combined with the harsh punishments, it makes them fear chatting altogether, as who knows what might trigger the system!

Here's a few examples of systems that, as far as I can tell, work better:

1. Three strike system (or any other number). In a three strike system, players won't feel cheated when they get their first warning, and they get another chance afterwards in case they didn't fully udnerstand what triggered the first warning.
2. Scalable punishment system (where the punishment scales with severity, not with wheter you got punished before). Even if when you get punished might feel random, the severity will not. Over time players will conclude that yes, being more toxic does result in worse punishments, which in turn makes them less likely to be toxic in the future.
3. Visible point system. In this system, each infraction gives a set amount of points, rather than a game as a whole causing a punishment, reaching a set amount of points does. This makes it easier for players to figure out what not to do, and removes any feeling of randomness.

All three of these systems have some visible leeway, which can be abused to some extend, but up to a limit, which, in my opinion, is better than what we currently have.