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Riot's main goal revolves around creating a wholesome environment for LoL gamers.
In 2021, Riot implemented a new behavior system update to impose more penalties on frequent AFKers or third-party software users,... Basically targeting gamers exhibiting disruptive behavior in both casual and ranked matches.
However, that update seems insufficient to make this group mend their ways. A recent example is Faker's incident causing a stir in the LoL community. Through this incident and many others, it's evident that not only regular gamers but also professional players exhibit disruptive behavior.
This prompted Riot to once again announce an upcoming update. And with this update, Riot not only intensifies penalties but also rewards players with good behavior to encourage them.
Specifically, TimTam Monster, the new Product Director of Behavior Systems at Riot, posted on the blog on March 11th. He detailed the future plan for major changes to the Honor system in LoL.
In striving for long-term 'positive gameplay development', Riot emphasizes that besides penalizing 'game disruptors', rewarding gamers with a positive mindset to encourage the perpetuation of such gameplay is crucial. Tim also announced specific rewards for players meeting the criteria for receiving Honor: 'We're diligently working to create an exclusive interface only for players achieving Tier 5 Honor as part of end-of-season rewards.'
Additionally, beyond VFX (visual effects), Riot pledges to gift special permanent skins to players who achieve honors at the end of the season. However, there's currently no information regarding which champion will be chosen as the gift skin or what the VFX will look like. But according to Tim, he assures that information will be available soon in the end-of-season update.
Furthermore, according to the publisher's statistics, 5% of players are 'frequent troublemakers'. Meanwhile, among the remaining 95%, about 86% are cases where the reported players haven't violated any rules. However, Riot itself hasn't mentioned any penalties for disruptive gameplay. But surely, after recent incidents, Riot really needs to review its punishment measures.
One undeniable fact is that Riot's Honor rewards this time are extremely attractive and eagerly awaited. Let's hope this new behavior update will be effective enough to reduce the presence of toxic gamers out there.
