League of Legends Bans Pro For Bad Behavior

Marshall Honorof

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League of Legends Bans Pro For Bad Behavior


Player IWillDominate's days of verbal abuse and bad sportsmanship are over.

Remember how growing up, your elders always told you, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all?" IWillDominate, a professional League of Legends player, probably should have heeded this advice. While IWillDominate's level of play is far beyond reproach, he has had a recurring problem with verbal abuse and unsportsmanlike conduct. After persisting in this behavior, Riot Games has taken the drastic step of banning IWillDominate from the professional LoL scene, making it impossible for him to compete in the League of Legends Championship Series.

"We take sportsmanship and player behavior very seriously, and we fundamentally believe that pro players should not be exempt from scrutiny over their behavior," says Dustin Beck, vice president of eSports at Riot. According to Beck, Riot puts pro players under the microscope because they should act as role models for the rest of the community, not cautionary tales. "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." Riot has permanently banned IWillDominate's accounts, forcing his teammates on Team Dignitas to seek out a new player for this year's championships.

IWillDominate has courted controversy before - at least nine times, according to Riot. Nine tribunals have judged the player for repeated incidents of abusive language, profane outbursts, unpleasant attitude, and pointed insults. Eight times, he received punishment for his actions. Even so, IWillDominate's harassment score increased by 30% over the last few months, putting him within the top 1% of the game's most objectionable players. "It's important to note how severe and consistent the behavior of this particular individual was, as is outlined in the ruling," continues Beck. "No other professional players in NA approach this individual's harassment score."

For his own part, IWillDominate seems fairly contrite about his actions, and has done nothing to contest the ban. "Although the ruling is extremely tough, I agree with riot (sic) that player sportsmanship is a serious matter and I want to apologize to anyone that i've (sic) offended in game and my fans," he writes on Reddit. During his exile, IWillDominate plans to continue playing at an amateur level and hone his skills to someday return to the professional arena. "League of Legends is my life, and I will do everything in my power to play as long as possible." After nine tribunals, amending his bad behavior won't be easy, but he'll have the Summoner's Code [http://na.leagueoflegends.com/articles/The_Summoners_Code] to help him out.

Source: Reddit [http://www.pcgamesn.com/leagueoflegends/dignitas-pro-player-permabanned-league-legends-riot-eve-season-3-no-other-professional-players-na-approach-individual-s-harassment-score]

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Eclipse Dragon

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He's taking this with surprising humbleness considering how bad of a sport he was.
I suppose they did warn him multiple times, he had to have known this was coming.

I'm just curious as to why the sudden switch of attitude and why he was so bad to begin with.
(I don't play League of Legends)
 

JEBWrench

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DVS BSTrD said:
So when are they going to ban all the other LoL players?
I always figured being in the top 1% of objectionable LoL players earned someone a medal, not a banning.
 

Arrogancy

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Eclipse Dragon said:
He's taking this with surprising humbleness considering how bad of a sport he was.
I suppose they did warn him multiple times, he had to have known this was coming.

I'm just curious as to why the sudden switch of attitude and why he was so bad to begin with.
(I don't play League of Legends)
League of Legends is really competitive. It's not uncommon for players to get really angry at each other. It is, however, somewhat uncommon for a pro player to be so bad. From my understanding, they're mostly fairly cool about the game outside of tournaments.
 

Legion

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I have a lot of respect for them doing this. A lot of places let veterans/well known people get away with far more than other people, so it's good to see some fairness in their adherence to the rules.
 

Fappy

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League of Legends is my life, and I will do everything in my power to play as long as possible.
Someone needs to get their priorities straight IMO.

Bash Riot all day long about not knowing how to run a professional scene, but this is a win in their book. With this they have proven they aren't complete pushovers when it comes to their community getting out of hand.
 

Waaghpowa

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Fappy said:
League of Legends is my life, and I will do everything in my power to play as long as possible.
Someone needs to get their priorities straight IMO.
Exactly what I was thinking. As much as I like LoL, or any game for that matter, I could never say it's my life >.>
 

Andy Shandy

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Jun 7, 2010
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If he's as bad as the various articles and comments I've seen make out, then good on Riot for doing something about it.

Although it does seem slightly odd that it went all the way to nine tribunals for it to happen.
 

Azuaron

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Waaghpowa said:
Fappy said:
League of Legends is my life, and I will do everything in my power to play as long as possible.
Someone needs to get their priorities straight IMO.
Exactly what I was thinking. As much as I like LoL, or any game for that matter, I could never say it's my life >.>
If he's a "pro" player ("pro" being "professional" meaning "this is what I do for a living"), that's not too unusual. I mean, we wouldn't bat an eye at a Dodger saying, "Baseball is my life."
 

Waaghpowa

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Azuaron said:
Waaghpowa said:
Fappy said:
League of Legends is my life, and I will do everything in my power to play as long as possible.
Someone needs to get their priorities straight IMO.
Exactly what I was thinking. As much as I like LoL, or any game for that matter, I could never say it's my life >.>
If he's a "pro" player ("pro" being "professional" meaning "this is what I do for a living"), that's not too unusual. I mean, we wouldn't bat an eye at a Dodger saying, "Baseball is my life."
I usually have the same reaction to any sport or game. I agree that most people wouldn't have the same reaction to any other professional sport and I don't get it. They'll rag on video games for being "just a game" then turn around and go on about like it's super serious.
 

Tireseas_v1legacy

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JEBWrench said:
DVS BSTrD said:
So when are they going to ban all the other LoL players?
I always figured being in the top 1% of objectionable LoL players earned someone a medal, not a banning.

All in all, I'm for much stricter regulation of communication within public games, particularly in the hot-drop-into-party sphere (Call of Duty, Halo, League of Legends, etc.). Its about making the gaming community open and welcoming to all, and this vile black sludge of our gaming past needs to be cleansed if we are to grow up as a community. It was fun to cuss each other out when we were in the same room playing Goldeneye, but I'm sick of being forced to take the verbal abuse from random strangers on the interest just so I can play a round of Team Deathmatch (yes, yes, mute and all that, but why should I be forced to act while they get off scott-free?).
 

RaikuFA

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Thank God that these people actually did something about it.

Now if the same can be done about the FGC, XBox live and DotA players then we're all set.
 

Frostbite3789

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Waaghpowa said:
I usually have the same reaction to any sport or game. I agree that most people wouldn't have the same reaction to any other professional sport and I don't get it. They'll rag on video games for being "just a game" then turn around and go on about like it's super serious.
See, you're still talking about fans seemingly. This guy made a career out of playing LoL and was getting paid well to do it. This was his job, not just a game. So his priorities were fine, considering LoL paid his bills.
 

Scarim Coral

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Serve him right for being a douche!!!

First, Halo and now this. It make me wonder which games will going to used this policy next?
 

Waaghpowa

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Frostbite3789 said:
Waaghpowa said:
I usually have the same reaction to any sport or game. I agree that most people wouldn't have the same reaction to any other professional sport and I don't get it. They'll rag on video games for being "just a game" then turn around and go on about like it's super serious.
See, you're still talking about fans seemingly. This guy made a career out of playing LoL and was getting paid well to do it. This was his job, not just a game. So his priorities were fine, considering LoL paid his bills.
I suppose you're right. I've never been able to take the whole "pro player" seriously because of the fans.