Banned for "intentionally feeding" and acting against the design of the game?? Help me understand :(

Letter to Riot and the response :

November 4th 2017, 12:40:55 am Hello, I'm level 17 and am trying new strategies in league of legends. I have been playing Singed a lot and by Singed's very nature he dies a lot. It's the champions design. I do my best to make sure the enemy focuses me and give my team advantages on the map. I also die a lot in these games because i have legit rager and afkers.....just look at the 6 boot akali and the monologuing victor. Fighting in a 3v5 will greatly increase ones deaths less they are hiding in the base or something. I also have a game with no adc which means i take even more punishment as my alali is roaming and leaving me alone in lane.Not to mention the fact that I'm sometimes facing people several levels above me with mastery (esp the keystone) and rune advantages that will naturally make me die more as well.

I have farmed, bought legit items, placed wards, applied pressure to my lanes, always tried my best to win ( 1 of my 3 games on my report notice is a win), I show up and team fight the best I can. I have never flamed anyone on my team or returned toxicity. I maybe trying off meta strategies but I am doing my best( and still learning) and am NOT intentionally feeding.

SKELETOR November 5th 2017, 9:37:34 pm Hey there,

After reviewing the game we will be maintaining the suspension as we have confirmed that you were feeding in these games, and acting in a manner that was against the design of the game.

Please understand that because we won't be able to release this information to you as in the past we have had people take that information and make these investigations harder.

If you have anything new you would like me to address please let me know.

Skeletor Riot Games Player Support

I'm playing on my level 17 account and practicing different strategies and play styles for the upcoming season. I'm seeing if anything new is viable or maybe a different style of play is possible. I'm not here to argue if they or possible, viable, or hell..maybe they are just stupid lol. The point is, trying something different, especially in a sub level 30 game, should not be punished because it unintentionally feeds or plays in a manner against game design. Several things that are meta today were once considered to be "just feeding" and/or against game design. On my reform card I have 3 games listed ( even though the Rioter said he only looked at 1). I'll post the links in a moment but I want to make a few points before I do so there will be some context.

1. Yes, sometimes I do execute myself( esp early game) when I see I'm getting collapsed on or when I'm low on HP and/or mana. The death timers are short and there is no reason to back in a position that might get me killed.

2. Yes, sometimes I get caught and I will sometimes run into the tower to die over trying to fight my way out of it. I normally do this, if I know that only the enemy support would get the credit and gold for the kill. Why give gold to the enemy tank or carry and asst gold to the support when I can just accept my fate and minimize damage by dying to the support alone?

3. Yes, sometimes if I have a lot of deaths I will distract the enemy and have them chase me around.....since death streaks are still a thing it is actually worse for the enemy to spend 10-20 seconds trying to catch and kill me over going for an objective or farming in lane etc.

4. I buy real items, place wards, grp for fights, and 100% try to win.

5. No, I don't just buy tears and run down mid to hit "s" and just feed the enemy and end up 0/32/0 or something.

6. I move chat off screen in almost every game I play in on this account( got to game late in the victor game and forgot to....only reason I saw him typing an essay in game). I have learned my lesson and never...ever type in pre-game, during game, or post game as typing in this game is now a liability nowadays and I only ping.

7. I'm playing with/against varying levels of accounts and will naturally be at a disadvantage because lack of runes that are unlocked and masteries if I face people higher than me. This is especially true for people who have the keystone unlocked as that is a huge power spike. Some situations where i would have lived/killed my enemy if they were the same level as me...i simply die to like....a level 24 because they legit just have more stats than me and there is nothing I can do( that I'm aware of) to negate that inherent advantage.

http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/2635396074/80740400?tab=overview

Here is the game I assume the rioter reviewed....I'm 0/8/0 with 197 cs and 3 completed core items, our akali was trolling with 6 boots and victor was busy typing his thesis paper in chat during the last 10 mins or so of the game. It was an effective 3v5.

http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/2635328966/80740400?tab=overview

A 0/12/1 victory with 3 completed items and 88 cs. I distracted the enemy bot and jungler enough to help our riven top and hyper carry jax get fed and start to take over the game. While i wasn't doing a lot of damage I was applying pressure, warding and grping for teamfights. We ended the game with a near 15k gold lead.

http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/2634538874/80740400?tab=overview

This was a rough one with myself and misfortune( who isn't banned) both going 0/10/0 and a mid annie who had no control of mid....ever =/. I have 89 cs and have basically the same amount of gold as my mid and adc. We also had a top that was doing well but had a hard on for top and never really wanted to leave it or make plays XD. This was just a bad game that would make anyone look like a int feeder.

Please keep in mind that some of my deaths (like getting executed) make my score look bad but don't give the enemy anything. My "real" deaths are lower than the scores make it appear. I do strategically die when i think the situation calls for it. Streamers and pros get praised for this decision making as it gives up less and/or gives their team chances to make your death count with uncontested objectives or favorable fights. Finally, as stated before....stats from people higher level than me do matter...all things being equal I totally would have survived or killed my opponents in a in some of those situations :D.

Before people ask these questions, I'll go ahead and answer... Why not play bots? Bots are great for learning the basics of champions. they suck for practicing strategy and tactics as they are pre-programmed and after enough games you will know what the bots will do and buy before they do it lol. Why not play with a pre-made 5v5 group? Simple, things that work in solo Q don't always translate well into team play where everyone is on voice comms. Some champions and strats depend on the un-coordinated chaos that is solo Q ranked. is a great example...shitty vs people that work together but amazing in chaos like solo Q. I just personally consider solo Q and 5 man teams to be 2 separate "modes" of league of legends and practice them as such.

Well, I don't know how to prove that I didn't intentionally feed. I guess, unlike chat related bans, it can get highly subjective and I am the mercy of a rioter's opinion. I mean if i ran down mid for 0/32/0...sure I wouldn't even be here trying to argue a case for anything. My items are real, I played my best, I never /ff, I warded, team fought, peeled, etc. Trying different things out is NOT intentionally feeding.

As far as "acting in a manner that was against the design of the game."...what on earth does that mean? Is it the same thing as playing off meta? I read the most updated summoner's code that I could find ( http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/featured/summoners-code ) and found nothing on breaking game design...whatever that may mean. I'm also not sure what going against game design has to do with alleged intentionally feeding >> .

Thanks for reading.

Edit: In response to some of the comments below..

At its core, league of legends is NOT a game of kills. I'm sure many of us had that 20+ kill game with maybe 5 deaths or so and still lost. League is a game of objectives..at the end of the day that is all that matters. You can even take a look at how the world championship to see how scg won with objective control and pressure. Here is riot's definition of intentionally feeding:

Intentional Feeding – This category aims at punishing behavior that involves deliberately dying to enemy champions or turrets to make the opposing team more powerful while putting your team at a disadvantage. This is not intended for genuine mistakes or lapses of judgment!

Nowhere did I purposely put the enemy ahead by deliberately dying with no purpose. Same with dying to the turrets, with a few exceptions of getting caught( happens to everyone). I got something with nearly every death, be it lane pressure, lane control, forcing 2+ members to respond to me and giving my team chances elsewhere on the map, free damage on enemy towers etc.

Hey man, you got no kills and/or few assists! That's 100% by choice. I have had chances to kill my opponents but have chosen to turn off my poison and run for it. Why..you ask? I simply deem that me keeping my current gold value( death streak intact) is more helpful to my team than getting a kill and resetting my gold value. That is 100% a player judgment call and should not fall along the lines of intentional feeding by not getting a potential kill. Here is the most recent killing spree/death streak chart I know of to help show why I don't value kills as much and few it as a liability till later in the game.

http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Kill

The strategy maybe 100% stupid and unviable...I'm not arguing that...but with a massive change coming to league in the next few days there is no reason people shouldn't be able to try different things and get enough reps in to make a sufficient sample size. For all anyone knows the new changes may shake the entire meta and change the fundamentals of the game. Far-fetched I know, but once upon a time not having 2 bruisers bot and an adc mid was unspeakable. This is also why I'm testing in normal games and not running this in ranks.