When negative behavior occurs, we know that the faster a player receives feedback, the better their chances of reforming. With that in mind, we’re building and iterating on a new instant feedback system that delivers actionable feedback and appropriate punishment to players that need it most. In the future, we expect instant feedback to take on rewards as well, but in step one we’re focused on reform-oriented feedback and punishment.
The system’s initial tests in EU kick off today and take aim at verbal harassment. The system delivers reform cards (notifications that link evidence of negative behavior with the appropriate punishment) that help players address their negative behavior. Your reports help the instant feedback system understand and punish the kind of verbal harassment the community actively rejects: homophobia, racism, sexism, death threats, and other forms of excessive abuse. These harmful communications will be punished with two-week or permanent bans within fifteen minutes of game’s end. Here’s how it works:
- Teammates or opponents of the offending player send reports and the system validates them to make sure they aren’t false
- The system examines the case and determines whether the behavior deserves rejection or punishment based on community-driven standards of behavior
- The system fires a reform card through email, sharing the chat log of the offending player (we scrub other players’ names and chat logs) and the punishment for the behavior
The player behavior team will be on deck, hand-reviewing the first few thousand cases the instant feedback system sorts through. If the test goes smoothly, we expect instant feedback to roll out to all regions shortly. Like we mentioned up top, this test marks the beginning for instant feedback. Upgrades will allow it to shoulder more reform and punishment responsibilities and even reward positive play. Here’s a peek at where we’re headed:
- In-client reform cards
- Follow-up notifications for players who reported a player who was punished
- Upgrades for chat and ranked restrictions
- Upgrades to recognize negative gameplay behaviors like intentional feeding
- Recognition of honors and rewards for positive behaviors and communication
We’ll hang around the comments to answer questions and hear your feedback. We’ll come back soon to share more about the vision for player behavior, including plans for the Tribunal.
