https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/feeling-our-way/201401/punishment-doesnt-work
I may add more links relevant to the subject later. I can also edit in any good links others find.
So the discussion is basically, can a punishment system actually be effective?
Well, considering this article goes on about the effects on punishment on the people who are punished, it misses a few of the most important points of a punishment system.
The punishment system in league has a few goals:
The punishment of league doesn't have the main goal of reforming people, the main goal is to keep the game away from a part of the flamers/ inters/ trollers that are unfortunately in this game.
The punishment system does work because it's primary goal is removal: reform is left up to the player. Even if 90% or permanently banned players return (a high estimate for lack of data) you've still removed 10%.
Plus, part of the punishment system is designed to discourage others from taking the same action. Punishment may not help discourage future crime from an individual, but the idea of a punishment often discourages those who have not committed the crime from doing so in the first place.
I do think the system could do a little more to encourage reform, but I'm frankly not sure how to do that. It already gives numerous warnings in most circumstances, and escalates punishment slowly so your first two punishments don't actually stop you from playing the game. Short of tangibly rewarding toxic players for improved behavior, which I don't approve of because well behaved players don't get that, I'm frankly not sure what else you can do. Especially now, where rewards are tied to honor, so there is a tangible reward for behaving well. If the carrot of honor based rewards and the stick of a potential ban are not sufficient to help someone reform, I'm not sure what else Riot can do.
banning accounts makes riot money....its business.....not reform or doing what is the best for community.
One really important thing to note, is that chat restrictions do not only fall in the category of punishment, but also negative reinforcement. By taking away the player's ability to chat without limitations they have to make the conscious choice of whether to use their few messages for flaming, or whether they want to save them for something productive. If they do the latter, statistically speaking they will start winning more games and (if they're playing ranked) earn a higher rank in the process. They will be less likely to escalate situations themselves, thus perceive and experience less toxicity in the game. All of these things now actually indirectly reward the player for their changed behaviour.
Chat restrictions are really Riot's attempt to reform. Everything after that, admittedly, is just punishment. An attempt to deter people by making them afraid of a potential punishment (something that might not work on rats or possibly children, but historically most definitely works on adult humans) and ultimately an attempt to give people a "time out" to think about their actions (14-day ban) or an attempt to simply remove them from the game as reliably as Riot reasonably can (permaban).
Sometimes, of course, punishment is necessary, like when you stop a child from running into a busy street. But if you want it to stick, you have to reinforce a behavior that competes with running into the street (like stopping and waiting for the light). You cannot count on punishment alone, or your kids will run into the street when you are not with them
So... Exactly like the current system? Punished where needed, but then get access to Rewards when behavior is acceptable.
If Riot unbanned by account and added a new system, I'd clean my act up for good. Anything to get my money back.
