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Riot had no obligation to lift my permabanned acount, yet I'm very grateful for their decision.

ArbyMcSwagger·8/1/2018, 6:12:25 AM·10 votes·6,852 views

#Intro and Suspension

Hello friends, people, and the League community,

I was one of the percentile toxic enough to warrant a permanent ban on the month of January in 2016. I'm ashamed to admit this. What I did to the people that share my love for the game was inexcusable. Inexcusable enough that it skipped the two-week ban tier. As to quote for the causation of my permanent ban:

"attempting to grief players physically beyond the means of chat...determined negative experiences by intentionally feeding and griefing... using Tahm Kench to intentionally troll players by spitting them into the enemy team, spamming pings as well as emotes throughout the duration... refusing to participate in the actual match with the intent to create negative experiences."

#Post-suspension

My love for the game was stronger than the loss from the ban. Over two years have gone since this event of my life. I have made 50+ accounts, a unique champion for each in fear of losing everything at once. Ultimately, I never got another permanent ban. Upon recently learning that Riot is conducting experimental testing on lifting permanent bans, I was selfish enough to submit a ticket in hopes of having my original account again. Lo and behold:

https://imgur.com/a/N834L46

Thank you Riot NA for letting me have one final chance on my first account to prove myself that I have changed, even though it was very selfish of me. There was no obligation to lift my well deserved ban, so I do apologize. It is hard in the current state of the game, but I want to pay the debt I owe to the community by staying positive and to enjoy the time we have together while the game lasts. I also wish the best of luck to anyone else here in NA that were given another chance. Only one_ final_ chance is given for us to reform if permanent ban is lifted, so be earnest. The account will be gone forever for even one slip-up like it was meant to be.

See you in the Fields of Justice, FinaIBossVeigar Veigar

#TL;DR

I used to be very toxic enough to skip straight to a permanent ban on my first account. I have changed in a span of over two years on other accounts and have been given another chance even though Riot had no obligation to do so.

26 Comments

ModWuks8/1/2018, 6:19:25 AM8 votes

Congrats on the opportunity! We’re counting on you to show Riot that this latest initiative is worth the time and resources. Good luck!

VitasZdN8/1/2018, 7:47:10 AM3 votes

Well of course they had no obligation but players are leaving left and right. Gotta keep the player number up somehow amirite?

I fail to see tho how releasing the top-end of toxicity into the rift is going to have a good impact on the game but Riot hasn't really been known for their great decisions lately so whatever.

Anyway I'm happy that you are reformed and got a second chance!

Aneirin8/1/2018, 6:28:36 AM2 votes

[sg-ahri-2]

im still toxic8/1/2018, 6:37:17 AM2 votes

Wonder if one of my 12 perma banned accounts has a chance to be unbanned. Kappa

BillionSun8/1/2018, 2:01:05 PM2 votes

You realize the only reason their doing this is due to the fact they finally have legitimate competition in the NA region with the rise of BR genre right? This has probably always been a part of their plan once they recognized competition for their players. This "zero tolerance" policy they preached for the past years has been total bullshit. I guess they can just just change their policy whenever they like based on their business needs.

"Permanently banned accounts will forever stay banned" - Riot 2009 - 2017

SaberRattler8/2/2018, 3:40:55 AM2 votes

{quoted}

Because it’s not just top end anymore, there system is going overboard, as are many game companies who are bending the knee to more sensitive players. My reply above has the link to the reports and surveys that give the stats and numbers of the gaming companies they surveys are really informative as to the player migrations.

I don't see how this can be anything less than a positive trial for Riot.

If the smallest hiccup occurs with these players, they lose the account that they clearly want back so much again, which will be even more crushing than the first permaban.

Bad sportsmanship, trolling, passive behavior, etc... the smallest thing that warrants a report puts their account on ice again. I can't imagine a situation where these players won't be on their best behavior for every single game they play. They are even closer to the knife's edge than someone already having a 14-day ban, because this is a pilot trial.

{quoted}

Actually this is inaccurate, I am a game developer and we will be releasing VR esports games in the very near future. We have been researching game statistics and found some very interesting things, League of Legends player base has been rapidly declining in the past year. I can not speak to Riot’s motives for this new move but it is not unheard of that they may try to reverse some of the damage of alienating their player base. If you wish to see our source for our statistics proving the decline of League of Legends player base and the reasons for it you may purchase the same analytics report that we use here: https://newzoo.com/insights/trend-reports/global-esports-market-report-2018-light/ This also addresses the decline in viewership on twitch and other streaming mediums for league of legends. I know the fan boys will jump all over me but facts are facts League of Legends player base is declining it’s not personal it’s just numbers, and according to the surveys taken from players, twitch streamers and even a few pros not all of the decline but more than you think is actually due to the pc nature of the game and how strict the policing of it is. Don’t get me wrong I love a kind community I’m just giving you a perspective from the statistics. Overwatch had the same thing happen as did other games, while I do not like people being harsh or hateful to other players when you start censoring people so hard and with such a strict system you see a decline, mute buttons seem to be sufficient in many games. Again as games get older there can be declines it is not all due to the strict policy but the numbers don’t lie that much of it is due to it.

I've been to GDC talking to other monetization peers and brand managers (devdrinkups are way more fun btw). The problem with your statistics is that its not a macro look. Every game has an inherent attrition rate and acquisition rate. And you're basically offhandedly using the equivalent of econ 101 stats to explain a global economy, when there are much greater nuisances at play here (pardon the pun) .

There is nothing to suggest this has to do with player base numbers. Riot talking about the .000x% ban would already put these players in an infinitesimal minority. Unless you're either inferring that the overzealous application of bans is scaring away casual players from the game or that the overzealous application of bans is alienating a large segment of casual the 99.99% players who empathize with those being banned. Neither of which seems to be a logical argument.

Furthermore, bare in mind that the majority of Lol's player base even if you go buy twitch numbers, youtube numbers, etc.. neither watch league esports matches or follow the pro scene to any large degree. Look at match viewership, worlds viewership and then look at the number for the entire player base. It's like 33 million viewers or something for 2017 worlds (and that's with chinese viewers). The playerbase for the chinese server alone is over 100 million. The viewers of esports is still a fragment of the greater player base. Don't forget that there are those that watch the game and don;t play. That's why Riot tries so hard to put links on esport matches within their client, contests, etc... they want greater engagement that they can drag to the esports scene.

Most people just play the game, and that's it. So even if you use the surveys taken from streamers, pro players and personalities, it doesn't reflect any sort of accurate sample that reflects the desires of the greater player base. It's the same reason why the meta is often different in solo-q and pro, even on the same patch. And why Lol reddit also reflects a minority of the population.

Simply put there are more players who play a game and don't care about esports than those that do. That universally applies to just about every game, even those games with higher engagement rate than lol but lower total playerbase (those exist- niche games like Siege).

If this had anything to do with player numbers and attrition rates (which are always seasonal), and Riot backpeddling, this would have not started in the NA region.

There are other confounding factors. We've seen a large resurgence within the AAA industry to make further or new IP inroads into the esports market (thou some rather poorly executed). With more games more attrition as other games are tried. That's just one. There are a plethora of more issues which any analyst from NPD, Forester would talk your ear off over.

{quoted}

Since you won't anwser my tickets, I will post here for all to see two accounts of mine have been wrongfully ban immidiatly after spending $200 on each account, this is fishy as I no longer talk in chat to avoid any chance of ban for toxicity. I do not troll or intent feed. So there is no grounds for me being ban, I have had a string of bad games but that happens to players and does not warrant a ban. Either fix the bans or return ALL of the money spent on both accounts, and I mean the money beyond the $200 I spent on each account if you do not return the money I will take action.

I'd also point out for two years you have been posting about Riot's foreboding doom because of their toxic enforcement policies. I highly doubt your a developer, if so, at least not one in a AAA studio. If you were, you would show a better understanding of why you were permabanned not once but twice and would show a better understanding of a EULA, rather than trying to rationalize this pilot program some sort of an about face.

Kkirill8/1/2018, 5:25:44 PM1 votes

im waiting 3 days on my ticket to get this account unbanned :( feels bad man no response for 3 days. Good luck man with the unban! u deserve it . Gz and good luck

Kkirill8/1/2018, 7:54:34 PM1 votes

how long did you wait for reply to the ticket?

ViolatedMaster8/1/2018, 8:18:20 PM1 votes

Im currently waiting for a response as ive been waiting years to get unbanned for my negative behavior in the past . At the time I didnt see how toxic i was and now I can definitely understand why i was banned and how raging in game doesn't help whatsoever.

Quinzley8/1/2018, 8:19:26 PM1 votes

Can us Europoors also get a chance?

monizor8/2/2018, 1:13:50 PM1 votes

Congratulations on being lucky. Can I ask what you said? I was told that my account was too old to be considered for this and I was banned around the same time so I'm very confused right now.

disregardable8/1/2018, 6:25:48 AM1 votes

congrats. :P should be pretty easy to not feed, at least.

genmuzer08/1/2018, 2:18:40 PM1 votes

meanwhile im still waiting for mine :( i got banned for scripting which is something i really regret i was young (13) i wasnt thinking at the time and like every kid i wanted to have an advantage over others :(. i hope riot forgives me it was just a stupid mistake im really anxious :/

genmuzer08/1/2018, 2:23:30 PM1 votes

also are u instantly unbanned or did u have to wait 2 weeks like the rest when did u put in ticket x3

Giojun8/1/2018, 4:00:28 PM1 votes

Enjoy the Fields of Justice once more! ^.^

Captain Lito8/1/2018, 4:42:05 PM1 votes

Congrats on your opportunity, hope you make the most of it! :D