An Open Letter to the Community on Toxicity

Hello fellow members of the League of Legends community. Over the last month and a half I have been doing research on how toxicity effects our community. League is a game where emotions run high as each game played requires a lot of macro and micro plays as well as a time commitment. There are a lot of factors in the game that cause people to have negative, toxic outbursts. As a community we have been labeled toxic. I find that label unfair because it implies that everyone who plays the game is toxic, and while everyone might have had an angry outburst in the game that led to some negative player behavior, I for sure know this has happened to me, it does not mean that everyone should be viewed in a negative light. Through my research I have found that the system we currently have in place that deals with toxicity and negative behavior is flawed and theorized a few solutions.

In order to any change to happen there needs to be an understanding of the systems Riot Games has put into place in order to combat this issue. Up until about four years ago the system that dealt with a majority of the negative behavior was called the Tribunal. The Tribunal was a crowdsourced system that allowed any player over level twenty to be able to vote on the outcome of another player’s behavioral case. While good on paper the tribunal system was massively flawed because it was riddled with players trolling, bots automatically voting yes or no, and no way of telling these fake votes from the real votes. These reviews would often take a long time to make their way through the system leading players to be punished a long time after they were initially reported. Ultimately the Tribunal was put into “maintenance” mode ever since it and a new system took its place.

This new system that took its place is called the Instance Feedback System or IFS for short. If someone is reported after a game, that player players in game chat logs are automatically reviewed by a smart AI. If the AI finds that the reported player was engaging in negative behavior, they will be punished anywhere between a 10 game chat restriction to a permanent ban. The IFS is a major improvement over the Tribunal System especially since its decisions are almost instant, but it is not without its flaws and a few tweaks to the system could lead to more positive future in regards to toxicity in League of Legends.

1. Multiple Reports a. With the IFS system it only takes one report to have a review triggered, but what it doesn’t do is factor in multiple reports in the same game. If a player is reported multiple times in the same game by different people the bot does not take these into consideration, the only other reports the bot takes into consideration is other times the player has been reported. If a player has been reported multiple times in one game it means that the player experience for many different players in the game was ruined, rather than just one.

2. Log Reviews a. The critical issue that lies within the log reviews is that the bot only look at the in game chat and neglects pre and post-game chat rooms. Pre and post-game chats are still very much a part of the game and are an area where negative behavior is still present. A proper review should at least include the pre-game champion select chat because often times this is where the toxicity can start and champion select is a vital part of the game because it lays the groundwork for how the game will go.

3. Reporting During Champ Select a. As stated before champion select is one of the most vital parts of the game as it sets the stage for what to come. Player behavior has a huge impact here as one angry player could ruin the experience for everyone before the game even starts. Players holding champ select hostage has been a problem in League for a very long time and not much has been done to fight against it. Allowing players to report someone during champion select could lead to a review of the pregame logs and punishment to be dealt before the game even starts. This could also tie into the remake function in the game, allowing players the chance to remake in these situations.

4. Transparency a. Above all else transparency seems to be the greatest issues in regards to how player behavior is handled. Most players have a basic understanding of how Riots punishment system works where you report someone in game and they may or may not be punished, but most players don’t understand how the process actually works with the only information easily accessible and presented to the players is an FAQ on the IFS (https://support.riotgames.com/hc/en-us/articles/207489286-Instant-Feedback-System-FAQ-). The last game update on player behavior on the official League site was over two years ago, leaving this sense of silence on the developer side on this topic. With Riot being so transparent on other aspects of the game it seems only fair that they should be more transparent on the player behavior aspects of the game.

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my finding and thoughts? Do you think there are other flaws in the current system? Do you think the IFS is perfect the way it is now? Let’s discuss because while Riot may be the ones to actually change the system, the community is what drives the change.