Boards›Player Behavior

The Ban System Doesn't Work As It Should

Endless Rebel·7/28/2019, 2:30:35 AM·1 votes·2,196 views

Hello I have been playing league for somewhere between 3-5 years and I am curious why in this day and age Riot still can't develop a decent ban system for intentionally feeding in games but one wrong word even with no priors ever is now 2 week ban worthy (not even chat restriction) I thought the whole point of escalating bans was to create a kinda safety net in the game so you know how far along you are. But to seriously lose 2 weeks over one chat problem in one game seems absurd when you can run into feeders that do quite honestly more harm, and don't ever get banned. Can someone try and explain to me why this is? Because quite honestly it seems like nothing more then a selective bias someone with no priors shouldn't get a two week ban when you are on a team of four feeders. And yes I am speaking about myself and while I do regret what I said I think a two week ban as a first punishment is insane as a first offense level punishment especially that it puts you one step from a perma ban. And how long does that take to decay even? Last thing I want is this broken system to kill my account so I am curious.

75 Comments

GatekeeperTDS7/28/2019, 3:16:08 AM4 votes

Ah, another one of those people who drops some hate speech in game, earns themselves a 2-week ban, then tries to deflect it onto the troves of unpunished inters and feeders, as if that has anything to do with what you said in game.

Last thing I want is this broken system to kill my account so I am curious.

Only thing that can kill your account is you. There is absolutely zero reason for hate speech in a video game, which is why it's zero tolerance. Whether you went with the popular "kys" or the more classic racist/homophobic slurs, you are 100% wrong and the system is working as intended. Keep poking the bear and you're going to lose your account.

KFCeytron7/28/2019, 3:33:19 AM4 votes

Usually, one transgression by itself wouldn't be enough to bring a clean account to an instant permaban, but the IFS works on an escalating punishment system. Breaking a minor rule, like engaging the team in useless arguments, has a minor punishment: a chat restriction. Breaking that same rule over and over again, however, doesn't prompt an endless series of chat restrictions. The severity of the punishment ramps up over time, because the goal is to eliminate the punished player's willingness to break the game's rules. If two chat restrictions don't stop the useless arguments, the system will increase the punishment to a 14-day suspension and deliver a very clear message that the continued rule-breaking is becoming a serious issue and any further instances will result in a permaban. Again, the point is to put a stop to this misbehavior. If a player is more interested in repeatedly breaking the rules than in maintaining access to their account, they'll lose access to their account.

Of course, it's possible to break major rules, like cheating, threatening people, or using chat for hate speech, and skip punishment tiers so that a clean account ends up with a 14-day suspension or even a permaban.

From Riot's support knowledgebase:

PUNISHMENTS GENERALLY FOLLOW A BASIC ESCALATION PATH:

  • First Offense: 10 Game Chat Restriction
  • Second Offense: 25 Game Chat Restriction
  • Third Offense: Two Week Suspension
  • Fourth Offense: Permanent Suspension

However, it is possible to skip to a Two Week or Permanent suspension based on the severity of the behavior in the game. Excessive negative behavior can result in a Two-Week or Permanent suspension at any time without having a chat restriction on the account.

If you misbehave but a teammate or opponent does or says something even worse, you should definitely report them after the match, just as someone reported you for your own misbehavior. Yes, that's certainly possible. Reports are not a limited resource. Any time someone believes that another player violated LoL's behavioral standards, they can report that player. Punishments are similarly not limited: if more than one player in a game merits a punishment, they can both get a punishment. This can happen even if the players in question were antagonizing each other. The IFS doesn't need to weigh the severity of all reported players' actions and then "award" the "winner" with a punishment; it's not a contest.

Think of it like dealing with a noisy person in a library: ask them to keep it down, and then notify library staff and move to another area if that doesn't work. If you get into a shouting match with them, you're just as likely to be removed, even if you weren't shouting quite as loudly as they were. The goal is a quiet library.

Your opinion of the rules is of zero relevance. When a cop stops you for going 40 in a 25 zone, you can claim "I think the limit should be 45 here" all you want. You're still getting a ticket. If a librarian asks you to keep your voice down while you use the facilities, shouting that libraries should be loud will simply get you escorted out. If you go to a friend's house who insists that you remove your shoes while you're in their home, "that's a stupid rule and I do what I want" will lose you a friend. If you are using someone else's services, facilities, equipment, etc., you abide by their rules or you deal with the consequences. If you think the rules should change, that is a completely different conversation (and I wouldn't give a plugged nickel for your chances at convincing Riot to change their rules to allow behavior like yours).

From Riot's support knowledgebase:

We work with the overall community and within our own company guidelines to identify what disruptive behavior is and what the consequences for those behaviors should be. We understand that it can be difficult to know where the line is, which is why we provide chat logs and we have a few tiers in the ban process in order to allow for you to learn and grow.

Kei1437/28/2019, 3:30:02 AM3 votes

Instant 14-day bans are based on hate speech or encouraging others to harm themselves. Those words faaaarrr from "one wrong word".

Umbral Regent7/28/2019, 2:57:12 AM2 votes

...I am curious why in this day and age Riot still can't develop a decent ban system for intentionally feeding in games...

Well, to start off with, detecting intent is always going to be difficult to develop a system for. Very few cases of intentional feeding are legitimately clear-cut, and an automated system will always have trouble discerning intent when there's so many factors to consider.

Beyond that, the community in general doesn't help matters much, considering how frequently people report others for underperforming, regardless of whether or not the poor performance was intentional. Or, as I like to call it, "crying 'wolf' over a pug".

...but one wrong word even with no priors ever is now 2 week ban worthy (not even chat restriction)...

If you skipped the chat restrictions from a clean slate, then that "one wrong word" must have been really egregiously wrong, because you only skip punishment tiers if you're being punished for an exceptionally awful offense, like zero-tolerance chat.

I thought the whole point of escalating bans was to create a kinda safety net in the game so you know how far along you are.

It's not a safety net, it's a punishment ladder. Increasingly severe punishments for players who belligerently refuse to follow the rules, and the tiers can be skipped (as mentioned previously) if you use zero-tolerance chat, such as hate speech or encouragements of self-harm. If you commit minor/moderate offenses, you'll doubtless climb the regular punishment tiers, but break the rules in an especially egregious fashion, and Riot will apply an equally strict punishment.

But to seriously lose 2 weeks over one chat problem in one game seems absurd...

Again; You'd have to have committed a pretty egregious offense to warrant the jump to the 14-day ban. The fact that you don't provide your chat logs or anything further than vague statements about your behavior makes me suspect that you used zero-tolerance chat, in which case, the 2-week ban is absolutely warranted.

...when you can run into feeders that do quite honestly more harm, and don't ever get banned.

They do get banned, they're just harder to catch than chat misbehavior. As mentioned before, discerning intent is extremely difficult, especially considering that the community has a habit of filing false reports against players who simply get their asses handed to them.

...someone with no priors shouldn't get a two week ban when you are on a team of four feeders.

Other people breaking the rules doesn't make it okay for you to break the rules yourself. If Riot just arbitrarily gave free passes to break the rules on account of other people breaking the rules first (or even specifically for other people "intentionally feeding", as difficult as it is already to verify), then there would be a whole host of nonsense where players start vilifying anyone who starts performing even remotely poorly, under the pretense that any feeding = intentional feeding and that means they should be allowed to flame whomever they want.

So, naturally, Riot's not going to do that. You don't get a free pass to break the rules at any point - it doesn't matter if other people broke the rules first, it doesn't matter if you can prove without a shadow of a doubt that the player you flamed was feeding, you are required to follow the rules you agreed to. Full stop.

And yes I am speaking about myself and while I do regret what I said I think a two week ban as a first punishment is insane as a first offense level punishment especially that it puts you one step from a perma ban.

Without seeing your chat logs, we've no ability to comment on your punishment. As far as we know, your punishment may well certainly be merited.

Skipping the Chat Restrictions and jumping to a 14-day ban is not unheard of, and it's only just shy of uncommon. Spewing hate speech like racial or homophobic slurs or encouraging self harm guarantee that jump to the 14-day ban, because that is behavior that Riot considers zero-tolerance - you should know better than to act that way, and Riot punishes players fittingly with that expectation.

And how long does that take to decay even? Last thing I want is this broken system to kill my account so I am curious.

From a 14-day ban down to "clean slate"? A long, long while. De-escalating a punishment tier takes around 3-6~ months of consistent play without breaking the rules, and you're sitting on 3 punishment tiers. You may as well round upwards and say you've got roughly a year of no misbehavior ahead of you if you want your account back in "clean slate" standing, and even that's far from a certain estimate.

And, no, the system isn't "broken". If you used hate speech or encouraged self-harm, the punishment of a 14-day would be appropriate.