Boards›Player Behavior

The Psychology of the Chat Restriction System

420StackDCane·6/29/2018, 4:29:08 PM·2 votes·2,060 views

PLEASE READ THE REVISED POST: https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/player-behavior-moderation/7tujicYE-the-psychology-of-the-chat-restriction-system-new

THERE I WILL CONFRONT THE COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS AND ARGUMENTS.

This community has been asking for numerous chat restriction system reforms so I need an opinion on this formal email I sent to Riot Support. In short, I am a professional in the law enforcement / justice system and I am viewing the chat restriction system solely on moral, legal, and psychological grounds. I am NOT viewing this on grounds of Riot's Summoner Code, Terms of Agreement, or any RIOT-SPECIFIC RULES. This game reaches millions of players so I would value an opinion of a fellow psychologist on the matter. This is because I can evidently see this chat restriction system and the tendency to punish victims of crime (trolling in game, intentional feeding) is being mirrored in the real world (my encounters of domestic abuse and sexual assault victims). Punishing victims for reacting to crimes, whether virtual or physical, promotes victim blaming & shaming. Due to the large influence Riot has on its player base and its players' psychology, I am very concerned this type of victim punishment correlated to victim blaming will affect my real-world work. One cannot deny that psychologies and behaviors in virtual communities are mirrored in the real world where legal and psychological frameworks apply. Riot does not seem to adhere to these frameworks. I personally do not care about my chat restriction but rather the psychologies of the immense player base it holds. One cannot deny that virtual communities do not affect real life, evident by cyberbullying and suicide statistics. I compare real life crimes (assaults, abuse, burglary) to in game-trolling and jungle stealing. Albeit the disparity of intensity of damages done to an individual, they both have direct impact to the human body/game performance, and the victim is involuntary in both scenarios. Thus, due to the involuntary nature, the victim should not be punished if he/she reacts only verbally and does not reciprocate the exact offense.

End Suggestion: It goes a long way if Riot can implement chat restriction cases not in a vacuum but where each player’s chat logs and in game actions are considered, especially when a punishment is on the line. Issuing a punishment to a victim where the instigator’s actions are not considered is unheard of in the real legal world so why do this in online communities? If this continues, it will only promote victim blaming & shaming where the victim feels embarrassed that they reacted to an immoral behavior, even if their reaction pales in comparison to the initial offense. If you suppress one’s reaction to immoral behavior by punishing them, they will psychologically change to be immune to the initial immoral behavior/action. This is reflected by the psychology of numerous sexual assault & domestic violence victims where they become immune to the crimes done upon them.

The following is the attached email. Again, please facilitate this discussion outside of Riot’s rules, TOS, etc. but rather with the knowledge that actions/punishments in an online community can affect one’s psychological foundation and thus result in real world consequences. What are your thoughts?

(Start)

Hi, I have a question regarding my recent chat restriction based off of only one game's chat logs. I believe there needs to be a reform to the chat restriction system to include an account of everyone's chat activity to account for toxic behavior as well as in game actions to justify a chat restriction to someone or eventually an account suspension. In the match chat in question, Annie, our midlaner, called everyone "retards" after not receiving a countergank. My first lines of chat before the conflict started was a typo as well, where I typed "ff" instead of "ofc". After Annie's verbal abuse, she proceeded to follow me while I was jungling and attempting to steal my camps while leaving her mid lane empty. I proceeded to say "wtf are u doing" and "go back to lane". Sion, our support told me to stop talking and that I was going to get reported as well. On post game chat, I was mad at Sion for his intent to report me. This was because I had become a victim of intentional trolling and toxicity from Annie, calling people retards and stealing jungle camps, so I became toxic during post game. Sion believed I had no right to respond to such an offense/crime so I directed my rage at him. Feel free to review the chat logs in question.

I would like to appeal this specific restriction which resulted from only one game. If a victim of trolling and verbal abuse responds back in a toxic manner, I cannot see how that is unjustified because it is simply a response to an immoral action that should be intolerable in any virtual or real community. For example, if someone has committed a crime in the real world, a victim is never punished solely on their verbally intense reactions but only if they physically react with the intent of retribution. If the victim does not react in any form, it psychologically affects them resulting in them gradually accepting such violating behavior to be acceptable overtime. I draw from my knowledge in my degree in criminal justice and my career in law enforcement. In this scenario, I responded only verbally and not physically, for example by not trolling nor feeding, so if these concepts are mirrored in the real world, I would remain legally safe.

I do not wish to use my qualifications as a justification but I am asking for a reconsideration of this chat restriction. Being blamed by Sion for being the victim of a crime and being punished for how the victim reacts to the initial offense does not reflect correct moral nor legal proceedings in the real world. Verbal rejections to illegal physical behavior, in this scenario, trolling in game, is how many people deal with illegal behavior. In the real world legal system, this is absolutely justified as long as the victim does not react physically. I understand that you are a private company, but you still influence the psychology of its players by issuing penalties to people only verbally reacting to illegal physical behavior. I love this game and have financially contributed to your development but virtual and real-world communities should mirror each other in terms of moral and legal frameworks. Teaching children who play this game that they are not allowed to react solely on verbal grounds to unjust behavior is illogical. I am constantly surrounded by this mindset in my career and the common results are numerous victims becoming accustomed to domestic abuse and sexual crimes who have not come forth to report. I do not care much about my personal chat restriction but I am concerned with the fact that this game is reaching millions of players and thus affecting their psychology of how to respond to illegal and immoral behavior. I am afraid that this will affect my personal career and the law enforcement/justice system if such victim blaming is mirrored in virtual communities.

(End)

75 Comments

Chermorg6/29/2018, 4:33:49 PM8 votes

People who commit crimes are not excused IRL just because someone committed a crime against them first unless and only in the limited circumstance they had a legitimate fear for their life/property and reacted only with reasonable action.

There's problems with trying to translate that to League:

  1. There is no fear for your life/property in League. There is absolutely no legitimate reason to "fight back" or commit any violation of the Terms of Use/Summoner's Code as committing those violations does not protect you from the other "criminals" in any way.

  2. Fighting back with toxic chat, which affects your whole team, is hardly a reasonable action given that there is a report feature which you've seen first hand will punish those who are toxic.

usul12026/29/2018, 5:41:57 PM4 votes

Unlike (some) retaliation in real life, you flaming Annie, or really anyone Counter-flaming, will not help the situation. It does nothing to deter the original flaming, it won't stop trolling, it won't stop Inting, and it can quite possibly make it worse. If nothing else, it makes your team have to deal with 2 flamers. Hence, riot will punish it equally.

Imperial Pandaa6/29/2018, 6:20:36 PM4 votes

So, I'm just going to be completely blunt with my opinion. This, while thought out, is stupid as fuck.

Being toxic in response to:

Verbal toxicity: Congrats, you decided to sling words back at someone being toxic. Both parties can be punished for this. The real world equivalent would be a shouting match in a restaurant. Both parties will probably get chucked out. If someone wants to defend themselves, fucking mute the toxic player. The real world equivalent to that? Ignoring the dumbass. In both situations you can report it to the establishment.

Gameplay toxicity: Not only does the team have to deal with someone who MAY be a troll/inter, but now they also have to deal with someone being toxic. You want to mirror that to domestic abuse and sexual assault? Okay, then lets make this dark. What does verbally yelling at the perps do during the action? Remember, it is during and not after if we are mirroring. What does it do? It most likely excites them. It gives them a reaction that they get off on. They realize they hold the power when you them those reactions. So what is the best course of action? Get away asap and report it.

KazaJhodo6/29/2018, 5:17:38 PM3 votes

This is a really good post. Well thought out and explained.

The comparison between the verbal/physical, verbal/feeding is solid.

Riot basically doesn't react to trolling/feeding, toxic play. They only seem to care about toxic chat. You simply can't defend yourself, and this is exactly why the community is toxic in the first place. Its created.

There are massive problems, we're told that there are not, and if we take the only recourse we have- WE get punished. Which means league is mute all, watch them feed, go play a different game.

Overall, I love the post from a seeming professional. You never know on the internet, but your opinions were on point. I've arrived at the same conclusion from my own seasons of experience and thousands of games.

CiphonW6/29/2018, 6:37:22 PM3 votes

Firstly I'd like to say thanks for bringing this issue up, and I'm happy to give my thoughts on it. I'm of course open to hearing your response and appreciate the level of professionalism you've written this thread up with. You bring up a point which I think is worth discussing, so here's my response:

Trolling and inting in League of Legends are not physical crimes and cannot be paralleled as such. At worst case when they happen, you have a bad game where you are able to report the players afterwards. Trying to parallel the psychological effects of complicity in domestic abuse and violence with the effects of being exposed to an internet troll in a video game is a big leap and frankly an insult to anyone who has experienced those crimes. In the real world, when your fundamental rights of life, liberty, and property are being threatened because you are the victim of a targeted attack, it makes sense that you'd want to say whatever you have to to scare off the attacker and ensure your safety. In an online game however, there is no physical threat to you or your safety. A feeder or troll ruins the game experience, but that's the extent of their power. Thus in the real world, victims may (unfortunately) have a motivation to be complicit in the crime for their own safety and avoid reporting incidences to authorities, which I absolutely agree is an issue of psychological wellbeing as well as physical. In league of legends however, you are actively encouraged by Riot to report wrongdoers, and they ultimately have no ability to threaten your life or safety if you do report them. Thus, there's no motivation to be complicit in the system other than some personal choice not to report someone.

Now I understand why wanting to react by being toxic is tempting, however in a virtual environment it's absolutely ineffective at de-escalating the situation. Whereas in real life words may be a deterrent to an attacker, they act as fuel to anyone who's already trolling in a game and will only increase the severity of the negative game atmosphere. This no doubt effects the other players in the game as well, ESPECIALLY if they become exposed to unsolicited hate speech which you seem to think makes no difference.

KazaJhodo6/29/2018, 5:50:48 PM1 votes

The down votes on this crack me up. You guys seriously lack perception. No wonder this community is toxic and fucked up. NA brains.