Riot’s Harsh Punishment for AFKing in VALORANT Premier Mode Causes Controversy
Riot, the developer of the popular game VALORANT, is facing backlash for the harsh punishment it handed out to a player who went AFK (away from keyboard) during a Premier mode match. The player, known as aquasolid7, received a season-long ban from participating in Premier mode, a competitive mode that requires a pre-built, registered team. The ban has raised concerns about fairness and the impact it has on teams.
In a Reddit post on September 21, aquasolid7 explained that they were banned for 625 hours, effectively preventing them from playing the rest of the season. According to the post, aquasolid7 disconnected for only 10 minutes, and their teammates had no issue with it. Despite this, the ban was still enforced, even though aquasolid7’s team went on to win the match.
Initially, aquasolid7 received a 30-minute penalty across all game modes, which seems reasonable considering the situation. However, when they logged in five days later, they discovered that the ban had been extended to hundreds of hours specifically for Premier mode. While aquasolid7 can still participate in other modes such as Competitive, they are prohibited from playing in Premier.
The player took to Reddit to seek the community’s opinion on the harsh punishment they had received, expressing their frustration and disagreement with Riot’s decision. Many players agreed with aquasolid7, believing that the ban was too severe, especially considering that the team was fully aware of the temporary disconnection and still won the match.
It should be noted that Riot had previously announced that any player who received penalties such as “Comms Restriction, Game Ban, or Vanguard Intervention” during Premier would be disqualified for the rest of the stage. This information was shared in an old FAQ post. Additionally, if a player had received similar penalties within the last month, they would not be able to sign up for the current Premier stage. It seems that some players may have overlooked this warning.
Despite Riot’s announcement, players are questioning the fairness of the bans in Premier mode. Some argue that the punishment should be left to the discretion of the team itself, as it affects the entire team when a player is banned. In this case, aquasolid7’s team is now unable to participate in Premier’s first official season out of beta due to the ban.
While it may be tempting to believe that AFKing in Premier mode should be unpunished due to the presence of pre-made parties, aquasolid7’s experience sheds light on the issue. The player shared that high-ranked Premier players are exploiting VALORANT’s economy system by teaming up with lower-ranked players and asking them to intentionally AFK in order to gain extra credits. This demonstrates that AFKing should never be tolerated in Premier mode.
Despite this, the question remains whether an entire team should be punished for a 10-minute offense. Many players feel that the ban is excessive and that Riot should consider alternative approaches to dealing with AFKing in Premier mode.
Related
Full VALORANT Premier match schedule
We hope that Riot will review aquasolid7’s appeal and reconsider the ban, allowing them and their team to continue playing in the Premier season.