Riot Games has announced some important updates to the AFK penalties in Valorant, but some players fear that these changes will give trolls more power.
On February 15, Riot revealed its plans to deal with players who go to the AFK in matches, along with a renewed penalty system for repeat offenders.
The changes, which are planned to arrive in the game in patch 2.04, include improved AFK detection and will be expanded to include “disruptive behavior and non-participatory play” in future versions.
That said, patch 2.03 will introduce controversial penalties that will be applied “as needed”. Penalties start small with only XP warnings and denials, but will increase in severity to include deductions from your rating for pre-game dodges, deductions from your rating for AFKing in the game, and even full game bans.
AFK will start to cost players a lot.
“Simply put, we have improved our AFK detection and management. And we look forward to bringing that to your game, ”said Riot.
In addition, targeted for patch 2.04, chat-based offenses are also being analyzed to include communication bans, rank queue bans and full game bans as well
“Let’s be clear: there is no room for violence, threats or targeted harassment in Valorant – these behaviors will not be tolerated,” explained Riot.
I don’t understand why dodges should be punished, even if the player in question has trouble afk
what is the advantage of encouraging players to remain in lobbies with trolls and harassers? can’t we just? https://t.co/D6od8uDhPq
– Dream (@Dream_val) February 15, 2021
In addition, Riot plans to expand these deductions for voice chat as well, but wants to find ways to encourage “pro-social” gameplay and detect positive behavior.
While all of this may sound good, Cloud9 coach Chris ‘Dream’ Myrick is questioning the classified penalties that some players may experience when dealing with trolls that launch games.
“I don’t understand why dodges should be punished, even if the player in question has AFK problems,” he wrote on Twitter. “What is the advantage of encouraging players to remain in lobbies with trolls and stalkers? Can’t we just? “
Players can start losing ELO by avoiding games with trolls.
The problem seems to be that these new penalties mean that players who want to avoid playing with a troll that plays games and costs them ELO cannot do so without suffering consequences.
We will have to see what Riot can do to fix these exploitable elements associated with AFK penalties, as they seem to have some players worried.