Tribunal FAQ
(Cross-posting from the old boards for the sake of clarity and convenience for others here to see. These words are not my own so please don't think of them as such).
Basic Information
I am banned until 2286, what does that mean? You are permanently banned for behavior-related issues.
I disconnected from a game due to an emergency, will the Tribunal ban me? Though you may be reported to the Tribunal, AFKs and leavers are managed by a separate system called LeaverBuster. However, you will not be banned by either system for a single incident; these systems detect patterns of bad behavior / leaving.
I’ve closed the game before I could report. Can I still report people? Players can only report at the end of game screen.
What is the Reform Card? The Reform Card is a feature that provides feedback to players who are punished to help improve their in-game behavior. Players who are punished will receive an e-mail with a URL to a Reform Card that outlines details of their particular case; details include the final decision and the punishment - if there was one.
More information on how the Tribunal works and how well it works
Why doesn't Riot post a list of rules for what you can be banned for? We believe in giving the community what it needs to define itself and that includes what is acceptable or unacceptable behavior. Any rules provided by Riot Games could unnecessarily influence the community.
Do paying players get leniency? Paying customers are treated exactly the same as non-paying customers by the Tribunal.
Can I be banned for not playing the meta? Players are not banned by the Tribunal for not playing the meta; they are banned for consistently creating negative experiences for others.
We have data suggesting that reviewers of Tribunal cases are very thoughtful and accurate in their verdicts, so if you were reported for not playing the meta but were being a positive player, you can expect to be judged fairly.
In general, players should feel empowered to play what they want and to try new strategies; however, this does not give you a license to be disrespectful or rude to your fellow gamers.
Does playing more games mean I have more chances of being banned? The Tribunal takes into account how many games you have played. If you have played thousands of games and get reported a dozen times, you will be less likely to enter than the Tribunal than someone who played a hundred games and is reported a hundred times. However, if you are extremely, unbelievably toxic in a small number of games, then the Tribunal does not care if you have played thousands of games.
Is there a role/champion that tends to be reported/ punished more often than other roles/champions? Players don't change their behaviors much when they swap roles. Some champions might be reported more (e.g., pre-rework Eve), however, they did not end up in the Tribunal more often than other champions and even when they did, they are not punished more often either.
Can I be banned for playing an unpopular champion? No, the Tribunal does not ban players for playing unpopular champions. You should feel empowered to play any champion you like, any way you like as long as you are creating a positive experience for everyone in the game.
Common Misconceptions
I only have one bad game in my Tribunal Reform Card, why am I banned??? There’s only one game, how can I decide whether I should ban this player or not? There is also no requirement that all games in a case have to be toxic for it to warrant a suspension. Depending on the case, sometimes one game is all that is needed to show that the player deserves a suspension. For example, the community might punish a player who uses death threats in 1 game, but doesn’t necessarily rage in other games. To Tribunal reviewers, decisions like these are up to you. When you view a Tribunal case, the questions you should ask yourselves are, "Is this player's behavior appropriate in League of Legends?" and "Would I want to play with this player?"
That player in my game was far worse than me. Why am I banned??? I'll keep this one simple: those other players in your game that you thought were worse are probably also banned. Nearly 100% of the time, those players were banned even before you were. If someone is being toxic, just report them and move on.
We strongly believe that it is not OK to retaliate. If a player refuses to cooperate and says something negative, then players should ignore the player and report them after the game. Players can ignore or mute players by pressing the “Mute” button on the Scoreboard [when you hit TAB] in the game.
If a player retaliates and says something bad back, then the two of you have made a negative experience for potentially the other 8 players in the game. Rarely do teams start working together better when players begin fighting back—great games only happen when players cooperate and don’t make the issues even worse by fighting back and forth.
What's the point of having a language filter if I can get banned for 'adult' language? We aren't out to punish players who use adult language; in fact, very few players are ever banned for saying stuff like "f***, I missed that skill shot" or "damn, fing close game!" However, the language filter is not an excuse to verbally abuse someone in the game. When you verbally abuse or harass someone by calling them "fing *****" or "ngger noob", that's when you've crossed the line and will be punished by the Tribunal. I've said this before and I'll say it again, we aren't trying to clean online games of adult language; we're trying to reform or get rid of jerks who like to verbally abuse and harass other players.
Why is verbal abuse punishable if there is a mute button/language filter? Players shouldn’t need to rely on features like the mute button or language filter to engage with other players in positive ways. When a player verbally abuses another player and forces him to use the mute button, they have already created a negative experience for that player.
**Why cant you give permanent banned players a second chance? You will receive a better player. ** Actually, this is the unfortunate problem. Allowing permanently banned players another chance is an extremely damaging cost. Do you know what the success rate of the Level 20 Challenge was? 5%. Do you know that for each person, they clearly outlined the toxic behaviors and had 1 on 1 conversations with the players to try to improve their behavior? These are players that were hand-picked by Player Support staff because they felt the pleas from these players were genuine. The success rate was still 5%.
Do you know how many games on average these players played? 100 games / month. When a permanently banned player fails to reform, they are creating miserable experiences for hundreds, maybe thousands of players a month. That's not a cheap cost or a low risk and we cannot consciously justify that, for the sake of the rest of our players.
There are players who don’t cooperate at all, but they DON’T SAY ANYTHING IN THE GAME. How would people judge these cases?
The Tribunal is not the final solution for all player behavior problems; however, in many cases if players do not say anything at all but show bad behavior in the game, it’s still detectable in the Tribunal cases. For example, you might see their item builds are all wards and players do know they should punish this behavior.
Additional Notes
How can we prevent group emotional involvement in a game? When I play League of Legends, I see situations like this all the time; however, I find that a few simple tips help a lot. For example, if I see a player get frustrated or upset and start to blame other players, I will say, "Hey, let's just focus on the next fight. Don't worry about it." Or, I might say, "Hey, what happened already happened. Let's work together and try one last team fight."
Not all players will respond positively, but I find that quite a few players will stop blaming others if you say something like this. In fact, some of your teammates may jump in and say they agree with you!
Will the Tribunal change the “attitude” of players? We know that there is a small percentage of players that will never change their attitudes, and will always be toxic in every single game they play. The Tribunal is designed to remove these players from the game and will continue to ban them aggressively until they stop playing League of Legends.
However, there is also a percentage of players that currently behave poorly, but with the Reform Cards from the Tribunal will learn what they need to change to avoid being punished by the Tribunal. In NA and EU, up to 50% of players that are punished actually change their behaviors because of the Reform Cards and are not punished again. I am hopeful that the Taiwan community can show even bigger improvement and together make even bigger changes in the Taiwan community.
