Honor Lvl 5 PBE's Perspective on In-Game Player Behavior Punshment System
I write this - from not my main account, nor my pbe account for security's sake; although, I'm sure Riot could easily link this to my other accounts if they chose to do so. I write this because I am getting very fed up with the state of the current system for monitoring unacceptable behavior and speech in game. Currently, one account of mine is honor 1, another was on it's way to honor 3 and a third is maxed out honor 5. That's quite a range of honor, so one might wonder how this happens. Do I have a rage or troll account? No. Do I change my attitude or behavior among my accounts? No. So what the teemo is going on?
Currently, I can confirm from first hand experience with teammates - and one very horrible game of pvp with experimental new build (where I fed way too much) - that no amount of running it down your lane and dying repeatedly to opponents a bronze 5 player or someone in their first game of ranked could tell you you cannot beat. Going 1/10/0 in lane, then playing macro like you are a full 2 tiers below your current rank has no negative results on your ability to play the game - no ban, no chat restriction, no warning. Since when are people okay with teammates intentionally feeding (that's what it is) even if it's just a game here and a game there? Inting is inting. If we tolerate a single game of it... say per week or per 15 games of a player, then we are still allowing it. And though odds are low, there is the possibility of a player having several games in a row (I believe my longest is 8 or 9 in a row) of teammate(s) inting to the point that a game is simply unwinnable unless you are a challenger smurfing in bronze. Now, imagine how tilted that player must feel - having all his/her games for an entire week be decided by 1-2 teammates who decided to intentionally feed that game. You log 8*30= 240 or more minutes (4 hours) of game time in a week without ever once being really allowed to play league of legends. This isn't a job for you, you don't get paid to play the game, you play it to IDEALLY relax and have some fun. Only... you never get to. The entire week, you just stare at gray screens or opponents you can't contest through no fault of your own. All because one or two people decide to ruin your game and Riot does nothing about it because "it's not frequent" or "maybe it was just a bad game". Running to melee range as a jhin is not having a bad game. Trying to 2v5 all game is not having a bad game. It is intentional feeding and it SHOULD be punished. Give 'em a warning. If that doesn't work and they do it again next week, restrict them from ranked or from league for a few days. Up the punishment as needed until people get the point.
Next point... harassment and unacceptable language. This system is perhaps even more flawed than the above and should be EASIER to fix. I'm a vocal player. I have a lot of macro and game knowledge. So when I see opportunities, I will call them out; when I see horrible risks, I will warn teammates. Example - in a recent game, I had a level 5 malphite jungle trying to gank a level 8 aatrox top. I had minions to farm by my tower, was low on mana, and had no ult. I was level 7. In no world do we ever kill the aatrox there so long as he tries to win the fight. In reality, we probably both die or blow summoners needlessly in order to escape. So I do the logical thing and ping malphite not to gank... 3x. Malphite ignores me, feeds my laner a kill, and gives him red buff - putting him a full level and lots of cs ahead of me since I have to play super passive now and ONLY farm under tower. Through clever character manipulation, malphite calls me a B i T c H without alerting the system to his unacceptable behavior - all because I didn't back him up on his horrible gank that I told him 3x NOT to do. As if that's not enough, mid takes his side and the two of them make sure to regularly harass me for letting malphite die. Repeat stupid plays like that lvl 5 2/3hp malphite vs lvl 8 full hp aatrox (with passive and ult available), and my lane and the game are completely ruined - no matter how much I play to help my team and stay as SAFE as possible to avoid feeding aatrox further. During this whole time, continue the horrible plays by malphite, the lack of help warding the map (just me and support ward), and we lose horribly. So mid and jungle who have been harassing me all game since malphite screwed me over report me. Why? Because I tell them they are retarded. What else do you honestly tell someone who tries to 1v1 an opponent who wins if even and the opponent is instead 3 levels and an item ahead of them? That's a stupid needless fight to take. Maybe you messed up the first time, but when it's 5x, it's not a mistake. Why refuse to ward anything and instead repeatedly facecheck into 3-5 enemies and die instantly? Why solo out tank galio when you could have hit 3 carries with your abilities instead? And somehow, I'm the bad B i T c H who never helps his team for pointing these things out for 15 min and doing so politely? When I get us half our kills mid/late game via picks I start and spon feed over to our adc or mid or jungle? But after all this, I'm still getting ignored and harassed. So I get fed up with mid and jungle and tell it to them straight - they are idiots. Idiots for forcing 2v5's half the game. Idiots for facechecking because they refuse to just drop a ward as they farm jungle or peek into river. Idiots for claiming I do nothing to help the team. Idiots for not realizing how bad their plays are after the plays do nothing but feed kills to the enemy team and cost us objectives for the entire mid game and late game. I know that's a lot of idiots - but let me make it clear - I didn't say it that many times in game. Anyways, back to the point. Through character manipulation like the "B i T c H" example and through avoiding "no-no" words that the Riot's system picks up, players like that mid and jungle can harass a teammate as much as they want... to no negative result other than losing the game they threw repeatedly. But you say one "no-no" word the system detects and it pounces on you like a hawk and punishes you.
Do you realize how horrible that is Riot? That's like taking the little kid at school with the black eye and bloody mouth and sending him the the principle's office to get a two week suspension because you SAW him hit some older, bigger kid on the playground. Meanwhile, you missed the fact that that older, bigger kid was beating the crap out of the little kid the whole time you were scanning the rest of the playground. The evidence is there, but you didn't catch him in the act, so he gets off free. Sounds like a pretty bad school playground if you ask me. And currently, this is exactly how your game detection system is operating. If you take the time to look, you might be surprised what you find. People are normally not assholes for no reason. I'm honor level 5 on an account and was a solid 3-4 last year barring punishments for scenarios like the above where I got fed up with the abuse and spoke my mind back to someone who was ruining the game for other people. Sure, the little kid shouldn't have punched the bully; however, the school should also be looking into why he's got a bloody mouth and a black eye. Chances are, the kid didn't just punch the bigger kid for no reason. If the school won't defend the kid, what is he supposed to do except punch the bully back? If Riot won't protect players from harassment and people going out of their way to intentionally feed and ruin the game for a teammate(s) of theirs, then what is the player supposed to do but fight back and stand up for themselves?
I'm perfectly forgiving of a mistake or having a rough game. I'm not okay with intentionally feeding, feeding then going afk, needless unhelpful verbal abuse, or verbally abusing people whom you screwed over by doing something stupid and now THEY have to pay the price. I'm not okay with bullies punching little kids when the school monitor isn't looking and then acting all innocent when they are... nor with little kids being punished for sticking up for themselves or others who are getting bullied. Start sticking up for the little kid that was minding his own business before he got picked on and beat up - instead of defending the bullies and rewarding them by punishing the little kids for sticking up for themselves and each other.
Sincerely, a gamer who USED TO admire your company
