Ask VALORANT - Dec 04

Q

I would love to know what exactly are you going to do about the AFKs/throwers situation? Harsher punishment? Adding a “leaver rating”?

A

Getting an AFKer in your match is definitely tilting, and we're looking into ways to lessen this type of behavior in game. To start off, you'll notice that we are implementing an update in 1.14 that changes the requirements to unlock ranked mode to "games won" rather than "games played." We hope this will force players who are just spam farming matches to actually participate in play and strive for wins. Look for more details in the upcoming patch notes.

Second, we are working on better detection of this type of behavior that will lead to harsher punishment. We're looking into things like rank penalties, experience mitigations, longer queue time restrictions, and even bans if it comes down to it. We want to distinguish between disruptive behaviors that stem from comms and gameplay, and then penalize accordingly. I can't give away our secrets in terms of what our plans for detection are, but know that we are actively working on a way to make the game more enjoyable in this regard! Hopefully you’ll be able to see some meaningful change in the coming year as we roll out these changes incrementally.

—Sara Dadafshar (Killjoy), Producer

Q

You mentioned before that part of the way you fight smurfs is to boost players who overperform. Is there any way to flag players who lose 20 games in a row?

A

If you legitimately lost 20 games in a row trying to win then my heart goes out to you. That being said, it’s far likelier that if someone has lost this many games in a row then they are intentionally feeding. You should report players for this, and this can lead to penalties for the player such as chat and voice restrictions and potentially even bans for repeat behavior.

—Ian Fielding, Senior Producer

Q

Would you consider adding the ability to block players so we can never queue with them again?

A

Interesting idea! There's some nuances we'd have to work through to ensure queue times don't significantly increase, but we understand how frustrating it is when you get matched up with someone who you just reported in the prior match. We'll think on this a bit, but know that we are currently working on better detection of disruptive behaviors in hopes of being able to appropriately administer penalties and hopefully lessen the number of players you wouldn't want to play with to begin with.

—Sara Dadafshar (Killjoy), Producer

Missed last week’s Ask VALORANT? Catch up on the previous post below:

Ask VALORANT - Nov. 19