Pro League of Legends Player Permabanned By Riot
If you play League of Legends or keep up with the game at all then it comes as no surprise how much Riot Games takes sportsmanship seriously. In the world of online gaming there can be some harsh mistreatment by other players, and it’s a serious problem. I can even attest that I’ve stopped playing games all together due to the way I was treated by other players online.
In an act of making an example out of a player, Riot Games has passed down a permaban on a pro player known throughout the eSports League. Player IWillDominate from Team Dignitas has been banned by the developer for having his harassment score raise by more than 30% since August. This has him sitting in the worst 0.7% of all the North American players noted for negative behavior in-game.
If you’re unfamiliar with how the system works, let me explain a little bit. League of Legends uses a peer judgment system called the Tribunal. Through this system the community can decide through a democratic voting system whether or not a player should be punished for bad behavior. If a player has been reported enough by the community at large they have a case built against them to be passed on through the system. This case consists of comments, chat logs, screenshots, and much more for proof of their behavior. If there are a significant amount of votes to punish a player for their behavior, actions are taken in attempts to correct it. These actions include email warnings, suspensions, and when it gets to higher solutions the Player Support will contact the player themselves.
This most recent turn of events saw IWillDominate in the hole for his ninth time. His offenses were labeled as “a persistent record of in-game harassment, verbal abuse, offensive language, and a negative attitude.” The previous eight times apparently didn’t correct the problem, so Riot saw fit to permaban the player for good. Riot does not take harassment and negativity kindly, and neither does eSports according to a statement released by the company after the incident took place.
The statement reads that the company “takes sportsmanship and player behavior very seriously, and we fundamentally believe that pro players should not be exempt from scrutiny over their behavior. In fact, we believe pros have an additional opportunity to act as positive role models for the entire community. The decision to impact someone’s career is not one we make lightly, which is why this is tough news to deliver. Unfortunately, our Tribunal recently was forced to permanently ban a pro player as a response to his persistent toxic behavior. Promoting good sportsmanship and improving player behavior is a mission that’s extremely important to Riot, and this ruling is a reflection of our commitment.”
