Hello Everyone,
Heads up that I am sending this to a number of you at one time due to the high volume of tickets we received based off a recent reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/9356yc/why_are_people_in_na_having_their_permabanned/e3bbx8j/
Before I begin, if you’re receiving this message it’s because we’ve identified your ticket as being related to this issue, if you feel you received this message in error or it does not pertain to your issue please respond to it letting us know and we’re happy to treat the issue separately.
Since our post on reddit we’ve received a lot of enthusiasm to participate in this experiment and it was really encouraging to see. We feel like it’s a great sign that so many of you are interested and excited for a chance to return to League of Legends with a new outlook on the game.
Unfortunately we currently have enough players to perform this experiment and monitor the results for success or failure. I mentioned it in the thread; but we want to be able to explore this project while keeping the risk of a terrible experience low for everyone else who loves League of Legends and is able to play penalty free.
I know that this is likely disappointing for a number of you who are ready to try anew in League of Legends if only you could get the chance. If you’re one of the many who are playing on a different account since your ban and staying out of trouble, even climbing the ranks of Honor to show how much you’ve changed then I have a direct message for you; KEEP IT UP! These actions are not going unnoticed. I can not make any promises that this experiment will result in direct changes to permabans in League of Legends but we are committed to doing what makes the most sense for our players and this effort is an example of us checking our assumptions about what makes good moderation in League of Legends.
My team will be happy to respond to any follow-up questions or concerns you may reply with; but I would like to leave you with a few points that are positions we will not deviate from:
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Our current roster for the experiment is full. We will not be able to add any additional accounts; NO exceptions will be made.
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We will be unable to provide updates on this experiment’s success (or lack of success) or any updates on when we might have another experiment like it or when we might make changes in the future.
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We do not have any plans to unban or allow players to return to League on perma-banned accounts outside of this experiment. The fact that we’re running this limited experiment should not give hope that we will end up changing our policies at a later date. We are 100% committed to looking at the data we collect from this process in order to do what’s best for League and our players. We are very aware that we might find our current policies are working as intended and permabanned accounts will stay banned forever. You should be prepared for this possibility.
I want to thank you again for taking the time to reach out to us about this experiment. I’ve been working with banned LoL players for almost 8 years now here at Riot and one thing that always impresses me are the players able to hold themselves accountable for their actions and overcome the negative thoughts and behaviors that plague us in the heat of competitive gaming. Since the reddit post earlier this week we’ve found it encouraging to see such a powerful drive to be better; especially from a group of players that are all too often written off as lost causes. Even if our permabanned account rules do not end up changing; my hope is that this will not stop any of you from trying to be the best possible version of yourself in League of Legends or any other gaming community you may end up calling home.
WookieeCookie Player Support Lead - Player Behavior
This was the response I received on my support ticket just now. Feels a little crushing to those of us who didn't get in. Now some permabanned people get their accounts back, and the rest of us have the fates of our old accounts in their hands. And if it fails, some will still end up with their accounts back while others never even had the chance.
