Boards›Player Behavior

Permanent Ban from LONG time ago - Was told there was a way I could unban

NiNJAx Parrot··28 votes·2,333 views

Good afternoon everyone.

In November of 2011 I was perm banned for obvious reasons, I was 14 then and a complete child with my mouth. Around that time they had an option for people they believed could reform after the perm banned where they would offer in certain cases to lift the ban for people that showed they could change. I was given the chance by a Riot Employee named Rivington who said RIOT agreed to lift my perm ban as long as I could create a new account and get it to level 20 without being reported a bunch, I asked if there was ANY time limit on this and he explicitly stated in an email to me there was NO time limit. Well, now here I am 6 years later really getting back into league and wanting to get my original account back! I was looking for help from a RIOT employee or anyone really. How do I go about contacting them to LIFT my ban. I know this may not be something they currently do for people, but it was an OFFER I PERSONALLY was given from RIOT and they have to live up to their word, especially considering I even asked if there was a time limit... which he stated there was not! Could a Riot employee or someone connect me with the best steps to take? as I mentioned I am aware they may not offer this same deal to people ANYMORE, but I was indeed offered this and told no time limit.

Thanks in advance to all of you who help!

32 Comments

ModThe Djinn16 votes

This is a really, REALLY unique situation. My recommendation might be to start by sending a ticket in to Player Support, preferably with a screenshot if you have it. I know that program was discontinued for having a truly miserable success rate, but you might be able to sneak in as a result of this really odd case.

Best of luck to you!

DrCyanide9 votes

*Somewhere at Riot the whiteboard tracking the Level 20 challenge success rate gets updated *

ModThe Djinn4 votes

{quoted}

*Somewhere at Riot the whiteboard tracking the Level 20 challenge success rate gets updated *

Dude, that whiteboard is looooooong gone. Unless they kept it through their HQ move. :P

DrCyanide3 votes

They've got a hallway with pictures of a bunch of random things that the Support Team has done for people (including making an Urf hat/hoody for someone), it wouldn't surprise me if there's some reminder about the old Level 20 challenge that stuck around which could be updated.

Keylight XD1 votes

Lol xD

ModUlanopo11 votes

I was given the chance by a Riot Employee named Rivington who said RIOT agreed to lift my perm ban as long as I could create a new account and get it to level 20 without being reported a bunch

That's not technically true. There were some restrictions:

  • You had to register the account you were leveling with the program. It was never "get one account to Level 20 without being punished". It was always "get this specific account to Level 20".
  • You had to get to Level 20 without any actions being taken against your account. Back in those days, this included a warning, which was really easy to get.
  • While you were told there wasn't a time limit, the program was formally discontinued years ago. This is kind of like having a Blockbuster gift card. I can't find the announcement, but I remember seeing it.

Now, none of this should be taken as "don't put in a support ticket" and try. You should have reasonable expectations, though.

Xurreal1 votes

Unfortunate for sure. I think he should try, but not be too hopeful because since then Toxicity has gotten so out of hand that they state Permanent means Everlasting and they will not unban under any circumstances.

Later the FAQ portion of the support page regarding banned accounts was updated to reflect this.

And last year, they updated all leagal information regarding account suspensions to include the word "authorization" which basically means your rights to use League of Legends products are legally yours until otherwise stated.

Its a tough situation to be in, and I won't get anyone's hopes up. File a ticket, and see what happens.

Telephone Booth1 votes

{quoted}

That's not technically true. There were some restrictions:

  • You had to register the account you were leveling with the program. It was never "get one account to Level 20 without being punished". It was always "get this specific account to Level 20".
  • You had to get to Level 20 without any actions being taken against your account. Back in those days, this included a warning, which was really easy to get.
  • While you were told there wasn't a time limit, the program was formally discontinued years ago. This is kind of like having a Blockbuster gift card. I can't find the announcement, but I remember seeing it.

Now, none of this should be taken as "don't put in a support ticket" and try. You should have reasonable expectations, though.

Exactly. Be reasonable. This was a special program from 6 years ago! Lol. He didn't sign a contract saying there is no time limit. It was a privilege, not a right.

NiNJAx Parrot1 votes

I should also mention that I asked Rivington if I should give him the new account name, he told me not too until I had reached level 20 :) I see what you mean I just am hoping to catch a break, would be awesome to have my old account again.

ModWulf Helhammer2 votes

There isn't.

/thread

Balderdash10002 votes

Dude, they stopped that a long time ago because it encouraged toxic people to keep coming back. They don't have to keep to their word about letting you back because there's an implied limit to the offer AKA while the program is still open. If you are reformed than welcome back but you're going to have to accept that your other account is gone for good.

NiNJAx Parrot11 votes

You cant really say that there is an implied limit friend! I specifically asked the question if there was a time limit and I was told there was not. So its not even implied, they answered the question that no time limit was present :)

MadMad Sickness2 votes

The level 20 challenge thing only had like 5% rate of success if i remember correctly

themachamp2 votes

[{quoted}](name=MadMad Sickness,realm=NA,application-id=ZGEFLEUQ,discussion-id=uzi47XQc,comment-id=0003,timestamp=2017-11-09T21:41:46.572+0000)

The level 20 challenge thing only had like 5% rate of success if i remember correctly

The level 20 program was doomed from the start on riot's end. It had an alleged 5% success rate cause of riot's failure, not because players couldn't reform.

Edit: lol at the down votes by people who don't understand how to properly run a program or an experiment objectively.

Chermorg3 votes

I would like to understand why you think it is Riot's failures that caused the program to fail.

Winek Chan1 votes

Why can't they just put back that level 20 challenge but instead have a real ban inbetween? Not just wait 2 weeks then go ask a rioter, but instead a thick, lenghty and long 5-10 year ban. Generally, people have the time to mature in that time, so giving them a chance after that would be awesome.

Chermorg1 votes

If you're going to make them wait that long, might as well make it permanent and eliminate the manpower needed to verify the completion of the challenge.

Furthermore, the reason the challenge failed was because long bans weren't going to be enough for a lot of people. They came back and were still being toxic - they just acted for the camera, so to say. I don't see that being any different if they have to wait 10 years.

Winek Chan1 votes

Well, in general, maturity between a 14 years old and a 24 years old is quite very different.

And I mean, now that I think of it, that level 20 challenge isn't that relevant. Have you ever considered adding a raw and simple 10 years ban in between? Personally I'd feel that it would be worthy- and similar on how after coming from a 14 day ban, you're on thin ice, after a 10 years ban, you're walking on invisible tightropes.

Personally I'm saying this because I'm scared that if I take a wrong step and slip, I'll end up perma banned and regretting it all my life, despite I don't consider someone actively toxic. I've had a 14 days ban because I lashed out against someone who flamed me, since I was having a really shit day. Since then I haven't ever done it, but as I said I'm always really scared that I could somewhat mess up accidentally, and end up losing my account forever.

Also kicking the issue on how useless I feel chat restriction are, ESPECIALLY the second 25 games one. Right now the system goes from a 10 games chore, to a 25 games chore, to a massive 2 weeks without league, to your imminent doom of a perma. The two first are so light and carefree, doesn't help most people since you can still flame in short batch, while the last ones are just cruel (though some person deserve it).

themachamp2 votes

{quoted}

I would like to understand why you think it is Riot's failures that caused the program to fail.

  1. the sample size was way too small to give a truly accurate representation, only selected individuals got the opportunity to prove that they could do it.

  2. The fact that people were "hand picked" by riot is a flaw in and of itself. You need a process to find the best and most deserving people to try the program. Plus, it creates a bias.....in this case if riot's "chosen ones" failed, they mistakenly believe that it would apply to the general population.

  3. Riot Lyte literally cancelled the program while only being on the job for a couple of months. He also admitted the he was against the program right from the start. You can't have an experiment be a success...or even be considered a legit experiment....when the man in charge was against it from the moment he took over. That's be like if Coke hired a Pepsi enthusiast to be it's CEO....just has bad idea written all over it lol.

  4. Lyte ended the experiment early before all of the results came in. The true FINAL result is really a mystery. I mean if they had a cut off for sign up and completions....that's one thing. Instead, it was an out of the blue scrapping of the program.

  5. While being on the job for a mere 2 months Lyte concluded that 99% of perma ban players could not be reformed simply. Here is a quote from him still only 1-2 months on the job....."I come from a Psychology background and unfortunately, years of studying and a PhD in cognition teaches you that for a small subset of players... there's no reform." the small subset he is referring to are permabanned players. The level 20 was doomed on riots end the moment that man took that position at riot.

For those reasons above, I fully believe Riot sabotaged, or at the very least, unfairly skewed the results of the program.

Riot's self destruction of the program aside, the game has changed a lot since then. Getting perma'd now is far more punishing than it was back then. Losing over 120+ champions today is a hell of a lot worse than losing 50-ish or so back then. You could also get rare skins and exclusives back then....where if you get your 6 year old acct perma'd today.....you will never get back your pax jax, riot singed, pax tf, ufo corki, etc.

It is also WAY easier to get perma'd today than it was back then. A very bad day where you "went off" back in 2011-2012 would maybe get you a 3 day ban where today you could legit go right to a permaban.

Finally, it is really unfair that those of us today are paying for the sins committed by others 5-6 years ago. Why are we deprived opportunity because some people failed a flawed program so long ago :(

Riot could easily bring back a new and improved version of the level 20 challenge (or hell maybe a level 40 challenge since we have unlimited leveling) if they were willing to put in a little bit of effort. This time....at the very least..make sure the man in charge is not against the program and biased towards it right from the start because cause his psychology books said it can't work >>.

http://leaguecraft.com/redtracker/post/lyte-can-we-have-a-conversation-on-bans.xhtml?tid=2361369&pid=00000010011

Chermorg1 votes

  1. Riot handpicked the people that, based on their behavior and stories, they felt had the best chance of successfully completing the program. The success rate was still less than 5% even though they picked the people who were most likely to succeed.

  2. See number 1.

  3. The experiment was cancelled because of the abysmal success rate - and that is the reason Lyte was against it - it simply wasn't working as it took the "oomph" away from the gravity of the permanent suspension.

  4. As far as I know, they let anyone who was offered the opportunity complete the program at any time. I am unaware of them actually ever ending the program in its entirety, and I have a large feeling that they would honor any request from someone admitted to the program to reinstate their account today. Riot is not crooks, they don't go back on their word. The amount of outstanding results would not be enough to significantly increase the success rate. This wasn't really a small experiment.

  5. He's right. There are people who don't want to reform, and never will reform. The experiment was doomed not because of Lyte, but because of what he says in that quote - some people don't want to reform, and the vast majority of permanently banned players do not want to reform.

Lyte came on after the inception and after all the work was done on the program to make it how it is - it's basically impossible that he "sabotaged" it. Furthermore, at the time the "Level 20 challenge" was a thing, it was a similar punishment escalation (not exactly the same). It was not much different than it is now - the statistics that they used show that. At each level of punishment, fewer and fewer people reform.

I understand fully that you may feel you're deprived of an opportunity - but you're not at all. You're given at least one and usually 3 warnings your behavior is not acceptable before you're permanently banned - and you're explicitly warned on your last warning that the next offense will be a permanent ban. That is the opportunity afforded to all of us, and if we choose to ignore it it's our fault. There is absolutely no reason Riot should let players who have consistently ruined games for hundreds of people come back and ruin more games.

Lastly, if they were to implement that system, it would eliminate the gravity of the permanent ban. Right now, a permanent ban is a deterrent to many individuals from being toxic - or at least for reform once they hit a 14 day ban. If Riot makes a permanent ban less permanent, it would mean that a "permanent ban" wasn't really all that bad - just wait a while, level a new account, act for the camera for a while, and your main would get unbanned.

themachamp3 votes

{quoted}

  1. Riot handpicked the people that, based on their behavior and stories, they felt had the best chance of successfully completing the program. The success rate was still less than 5% even though they picked the people who were most likely to succeed.

  2. See number 1.

  3. The experiment was cancelled because of the abysmal success rate - and that is the reason Lyte was against it - it simply wasn't working as it took the "oomph" away from the gravity of the permanent suspension.

  4. As far as I know, they let anyone who was offered the opportunity complete the program at any time. I am unaware of them actually ever ending the program in its entirety, and I have a large feeling that they would honor any request from someone admitted to the program to reinstate their account today. Riot is not crooks, they don't go back on their word. The amount of outstanding results would not be enough to significantly increase the success rate. This wasn't really a small experiment.

  5. He's right. There are people who don't want to reform, and never will reform. The experiment was doomed not because of Lyte, but because of what he says in that quote - some people don't want to reform, and the vast majority of permanently banned players do not want to reform.

Lyte came on after the inception and after all the work was done on the program to make it how it is - it's basically impossible that he "sabotaged" it. Furthermore, at the time the "Level 20 challenge" was a thing, it was a similar punishment escalation (not exactly the same). It was not much different than it is now - the statistics that they used show that. At each level of punishment, fewer and fewer people reform.

I understand fully that you may feel you're deprived of an opportunity - but you're not at all. You're given at least one and usually 3 warnings your behavior is not acceptable before you're permanently banned - and you're explicitly warned on your last warning that the next offense will be a permanent ban. That is the opportunity afforded to all of us, and if we choose to ignore it it's our fault. There is absolutely no reason Riot should let players who have consistently ruined games for hundreds of people come back and ruin more games.

Lastly, if they were to implement that system, it would eliminate the gravity of the permanent ban. Right now, a permanent ban is a deterrent to many individuals from being toxic - or at least for reform once they hit a 14 day ban. If Riot makes a permanent ban less permanent, it would mean that a "permanent ban" wasn't really all that bad - just wait a while, level a new account, act for the camera for a while, and your main would get unbanned.

That's the point though...lyte came in with preconceived notions from his studies that had nothing to do with League. Also, riot's "hand picked" people were a small sample size and made the experiment subjective because "the chosen ones" failed. The program could have been handled a lot better :)

TrulyBland1 votes

Here's the thing though: A flawed experiment does not imply an experiment that was doomed to fail. The handpicked players and small sample size could easily have skewed the results in either direction. Even the knowledge of previously established scientific theories can skew in either direction, given that it can be extremely prestigious to disprove widely accepted theories.

I do admit that there were some things that made this a... not exactly scientific experiment, which means the results might not be as significant as they may look. But when previously established science support its outcome (which you massively understate as "cause his psychology books said it can't work") then that is a really big reason to takes its outcome as it is.

What I do agree with is that it is now easier to get perma'd which does somewhat inflate the percentage of permabanned players, which in turn may have reduced the percentage of unreformable players in that subset. In the end, I agree that a more thorough level 20 challenge might actually be a good idea.

So yeah, for the record: I did downvote you, even though I do know how to run an experiment objectively. While I can't speak for everybody, I did so because you very unscientifically jumped to conclusions. You could have said that the experiment was flawed, that it was not done objectively, that its results unrepresentative. Instead you decided to exaggerate beyond that for which you have evidence and state that the outcome is purely based on Riot's failures.

It might seem like a mild thing... but such small cases of exaggeration or ambiguity are the reason why people on this forum often manage to form really strong opinions on things that didn't even actually happen. (A prime example would be how many people are upset because allegedly pro players have been unbanned... even though only their ID bans were lifted.)

Telephone Booth1 votes

Yeah but that was a privilege. There's nothing in a contract saying you can do it still. So, no they don't have to do it just because they told you 6 years ago they were gonna give you a chance at it.

Keylight XD1 votes

Hi there player support here! Since the recent update yesterday you now need level 100 to keep the deal effective (2/3 to max level just like level 20 /-level 30). let us know when you get there! ;) -rito supreme

(Obvious joke I am no riot employee)

themachamp1 votes

I guess it all comes down to if Riot will actually honor an e-mail sent 6 years ago by an employee who probably doesn't even work there anymore. Honor check time for Riot.

Meteor Driz1 votes

Advice number one - paragraph breaks. Advice number two - use your internet skills to find a direct contact number

RivingtonTheTurd1 votes

Hey yes that was me 6 years ago sorry I was drunk and don't remember having that conversation.

SturmPioniere1 votes

Name checks out.

xX uruz Xx1 votes

I don't think it's likely that an account from 6 years ago would still be in their server. Even if they could give it back I'm not sure they'd have anything to give back.

xX uruz Xx1 votes

And by this point you could have made back everything you had on it a few times over, so they may not find it necessary. Best of luck to you though.

General Esdeath 1 votes

Did you make the account back then to 20? If so, I'd say send in a ticket. Riot tried this and it failed with I think 95% becoming toxic again, but if you did it the right way, I think Riot will give you a shot.

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