When on competitive online video games like League of Legends, you’ll run into toxic players. This very issue was brought to everyone’s attention last week when it was revealed that Riot Games has officially announced the permanent ban of Tyler1, a popular League of Legends streamer who is well known for his bad behavior during matches.
Tyler1 is a well-known streamer within the League of Legends community. This is one player that gained his success and views simply because of his toxic gameplay personality. Gloating over his several permanent banned accounts and even making comments about Riot Games lack of correction, the streamer quickly gained fans. Something that was quickly alarming to gamers who enjoyed a friendly competitive match within Riot Game’s popular MOBA.
During gameplay matches, it wouldn’t be unusual for Tyler1 to spew verbal abuse, randomly go AFK, or even intentionally feeding, allowing the opposing team an even easier time winning the match. This often resulted in gamers wasting at least twenty minutes of their time.
With the streamer growing in popularity, professional gamers Meteos and Doublelift began to talk against the player. Their worry was that Tyler1’s viewers would begin to imitate him and further cause League of Legends to be filled with more toxic players.
While it would be impossible to remove all toxic players, having someone grow a following because of their behavior would reflect negatively on the community. For the most part, it seems that Riot Games has decided his toxic behavior would come to an end.
Even though Tyler1 has received permanent bans in the past, it hasn’t stopped himself from creating new accounts. This time, Riot Games seemed to be taking a stricter stance on the matter as they noted that any account created by him would be banned.
“Hey all,
Instant Feedback catches the most unsportsmanlike players in League, but some people go out of their way to continue ruining games for the community. Because of a well-documented history of account bans for verbal abuse, intentional feeding, as well as account sharing/purchasing, evasion of sportsmanship systems, and player harassment, we will not allow Tyler1 to hold a League of Legends account, indefinitely. Any account definitively used by him will be banned immediately upon identification.
We know we’re not perfect, and this dragged on too long, but we want you to know when the rare player comes along who’s a genuine jerk, we’ve still got your back.”
So far there is a clear division against Tyler1’s supporters and those against him within the League of Legends forums. As for Tyler1’s public response, he’ll gladly take the exposure Riot Games has given him.
would just like 2 say thanks for all the exposure . u the real mvp @RiotSocrates
— loltyler1 (@lol_tyler1) May 1, 2016