Would fewer players be permabanned if the punishments were harsher?
Every once in a while I see a post on this board that tugs at my heart strings. I've seen this story come up a few times, maybe you've seen it too.
A player gets a chat restriction and thinks nothing of it. They may recall a few games where they were extra out of line, admit they were wrong, and move on.
Then they get another chat restriction. Again, a few of their worse games come to mind, but they think to themselves "I've had this punishment before, it's not so bad."
Then comes the 2-week ban with its warning that the next punishment is a permanent ban. It's at this point that the player realizes they really need to change. While there are those that don't try to improve, there are also those that give it their all.
They go two months or so without incident, but then it hits them. The bad day combined with the boosted Bronze 5 teammates who provoke them. They've handled situations like this since their two week ban, but today the old habits raise their ugly head and they lash out. They realize their mistake soon after the game, but it's too late. They're now permabanned.
Usually when this player comes to the boards they don't post about how Riot was wrong, nor do they beg for another chance. They'd love another chance, sure, but what you notice most is the sadness of the post. They were so close to being counted as honestly, truly, completely reformed, and it slipped away from them. If only they'd had more time to try and get it right...
It's for that player that I think the punishment system needs to be changed. I believe that these players can and would have been able to turn their actions around had they started trying sooner. I feel like the best way to get across that they need to change sooner is to have the punishments themselves ramp up sooner, with the exception of the permaban itself.
Imagine if after the 10 game chat restriction you got a 2 week ban. You'd take that pretty seriously, even if there were still punishments after it. I think that might be the best catalyst for players changing, is being kicked from the game for a while.
With that in mind, I think that the punishment system which might help players start reforming sooner would look something like this:
- 25 game chat restriction
- You can go a lot of games without needing to talk much. This punishment should be geared towards getting players use to that, even if they're frustrated with their teammates. I'm not sure 10 games with limited chat is enough to get that across
- 2 week ban
- This is where the punishment system gets real for most. It's at this step that people try to change, but it may take a bit of practice to get into a habit of responding appropriately, which is why I don't think it should be right up against Permaban. I'd also be in favor of keeping 10 game chat restriction and adding a step after 2 week ban.
- 4 week ban
- Roughly a month of no League. It's about as long as a temp ban can possibly be. There's a decent chance players would make smurf accounts at this point, so it's not an ideal punishment by any means.
- Permaban
I really think this would help people change sooner, but I'm curious what you think. Particularly if you've been through the current punishment system before, do you think you'd respond better or worse to this system?
