PROBLEM

"There's a line, and that line generally is people being mean for the sake of being mean telling you what to do, telling you how bad you are. And I think we can actually fix a lot of that,. This is going to be a major focus for us. How do we actually more tangibly understand how bad the impact is, or what the impact is, or understand the problem more?"  

- Travis George Riot Games

For this case study, I focused on the issue of loyal League of Legends gamers being discouraged from playing the game due to trolling by certain players. 

 

SOLUTION

Player Rating System and Summoner Cleric Designation

The Summoner Cleric designation itself consists of a slight halo at the foot of their selecte champion as not to disrupt gameplay or spoil artwork. A “cleric” is defined as a man in holy order. The perception involved with the word,  ifelt would be aligned with an individual who looks to uphold the highest of standards. By giving LoL community members this designation of a Summoner Cleric, I felt it would be accepted and reward of Summoners who are playing according to the Summoners code.

Business Value

Riot Games is seeing instances of players being deterred from playing League of Legends due to toxic players who fail to control behavior and adhere to the Summoners Code. Development of this feature will:

  • Show Riot Games is taking a proactive approach to addressing the LOL community's concerns and complaints with regards to toxic players
  • Allow Riot Games to market the positive nature of the game in regions or communities which are more sensitive to negative behavior
  • Increase customer satisfaction
  • Align Riot Games with its goal of aspiring to become the most player focused gaming company in the world
  • Create a positive gaming experience for the entire community

 

UNDERSTANDING THE USER

I then started down the path of “What do I know about the LoL gamer and the existing business model. This led me down the path of creating the following infographic.

 

Personas

To obtain real world answers from these gamers I was attempting to buildout a feature for, I attended a few LoL meetups and asked gamers “Why they loved playing LoL”, the majority of people:

  • Praised the game for being adaptive/reactive towards the community and general health of the game
  • Appreciate that Riot game employees are real people who play the game with everyone else
  • Strong communication with community
  • Amazing player focused business model
  • Simple yet challenging game play
  • Highly accessible to communities across several regions
  • Healthy micro-sanctions - players can spend money without ruining the experiences for those that spend less

This research then led me to focus on developing in detail two key personas to focus on while conceptualizing this feature:

FEATURE DEVELOPMENT

The purpose of this feature is to allow fellow teammates a tool to rate one another based on specified criteria with the goal of incentivizing good behavior and raising awareness of the Summoners Code.

  • To implement this new feature, I identified the follow necessary steps:
  • Develop logic for weighting each of the 4 criteria
  • Develop logic for calculating and storing weighted average values for each player
  • Develop design of the rating system
  • Create a page which explains Rating System and criteria involved

To ensure that delivery of this product is in tune with the needs of Riot Games, I suggested the following features make up the MVP of the new feature.

  • Players can only rate their teammates
  • Players can only rate a person once, regardless of the amount of games they play together on the same team
  • Rating weights are determined by regions (optional)
  • Ratings will take place after the game on end of game screen
  • For players who constantly rate other players all low marks (below 1 or 2), accounts will be flagged. Players can potentially lose ability to rate teammates due to poor conduct.
  • Players will have ability to see overall ratings on end of game screen (allow users to either feel good about their level of game play/conduct or incentive them to do better on the next round)
  • Display Weighted Average Rating value next to Summoner name (persistent throughout site - pre-game, end of game, forum)
Schedule Adjusted.jpg

 

feature logic

The Rating System would live adjacent to each of the player Summoner Names to allow for quick click through on the end-of-game screen. Players will rank their teammates on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

In doing research into the existing code of conduct or “Summoners Code” I was able to find criteria already outlined which players may not take the time to read. So to get the feature out as quickly as possible, I would leverage some of the existing Summoners Code into the logic behind the Rating System.               

Teamwork

  • #1 Teamwork
  • #5 Build relationships

Conduct

  • #2 Drive constructive feedback
  • #3 Facilitate civil discussion
  • #4 Enjoy yourself, but not at anyone else’s experience
  • #6 Show humility in victory, and grace in defeat
  • #7 Be resolute, not indignant

Skill

  • Ability in gameplay against teammates
  • Familiarity with game
  • Offensive and defensive methods
  • Champion selection

Honor

  • #9 Leave no newbie behind
  • #10 Lead by example

Key items to note include, the fact that this system:

  • Would remain separate from the current existing reporting system
  • Would build and enhance the current existing "Honor" system. The Honor System would still exist to:
  • Continue to give green banners for being a good team player
  • Continue to give red banners for an honorable opponent
  • Continue to display banners in champion select
  • Continue to display banners in loading screen

 

Determining Weighted Average Values

The purpose of determining a Summoners weighted average value is to calculate one of the values used to determine whether a Summoner qualifies to become a Summoner Cleric.

Calculating Minimum Rating

Players must receive a Minimum Weighted Average Value of 4 to be considered in the running of becoming a Summoner Cleric.

 

SUMMONER CLERIC CRITERIA

All of the following criteria must be met in order to potentially become a Summoner Cleric.:

  • Minimum Weighted Average Rating of 4
  • Invest a minimum of 21 hours/week of gameplay in ranked games
  • Minimum Summoner level  of 25
  • Not currently receiving punishment or in review by the Tribunal
  • Have agreed to follow the Summoners Code
  • Own a minimum of 15 champions

If an existing Summoner Cleric for some reason fails to meet the identified criteria, the Summoner Cleric designation will be taken away. Summoner Clerics can also be flagged and undergo Tribunal review if an excessive number of flags are given and are noted as not fair or justified.

Summoner Cleric In-Game Designation

In game designation consists of a slight halo at the foot of the champion as not to disrupt gameplay or spoil art

Summoner Cleric Out-of-Game Designation

Summoner Clerics would have the ability to upload avatar for use in forums

Summoner Cleric during Gameplay

Summoner Cleric abilities consist of ability to flag teammates:

  • First flag – serves as a warning (no penalization), player is informed of flag
  • Second flag – chat disabled, player is informed of flag
  • End of game – able to flag/report player to tribunal for bad conduct. Players who are reported by Champion Clerics will be sent to the Tribunal with a specific designation. Like the current system, players will be sent to the Tribunal for review of case files and then render judgment - pardon or punishment. Player support then will use this information to help assign the right penalties.

 

SUMMONER CLERIC LOGIC

  • System must be able to associate a Summoners account with their Summoner Cleric role across any champion selection
  • System would need to filter out Summoners who may have the Summoner Cleric designation but for some reason, such as going under Review by Tribunal, need to have designation removed
  • System logic would need to allow for a Summoner Cleric to:
    • Serve a first flag (pre-game) to an offender and warn the offender that a flag has been served
    • Serve a first flag (in-game) to an offender and warn the offender that a flag has been served
    • Serve a second flag (pre-game) to an offender and warn the offender that a flag has been served and give option to Summoner Cleric to disable chat for offender
    • Serve a second flag (in-game) to an offender and warn the offender that a flag has been served and give option to Summoner Cleric to disable chat for offender
    • Report players to tribunal with a Summoner Cleric designation

 

BENEFITS OF BECOMING A SUMMONER CLERIC

  • Reward for investment in game
  • Incentives good player behavior
  • Option to participate in beta testing
  • A player's actions will dictate the outcome of whether or not they are given this opportunity
  • Less about gameplay and more about the gaming community

 

Introduction to the LoL Community

This feature, as mentioned, would give Riot Games the opportunity to not only address the needs of the current LOL community but to grow the community by entering new markets which may be more conservative or moderate. This feature can be introduced in the Middle East as a way to show:

  • Riot Games takes its standard of game play to the highest and working to introduce a game that is respectful of local customs and expectations.
  • There are 22 countries which make up the Arab speaking region. There are strict Saudi content standards which exist compared to the general decency guidelines in countries like Jordan and Egypt. This fragmentation can cause challenge to folks who are looking to use a standard in one country to apply across all.
  • Using this system, local governments and people across the Middle East can know that Riot Games has set a high standard of gameplay in which it works to promote respectful competition.

Another reason to invest in introducing and promoting these features in the Middle East would be because it is a culture where a lot of restrictions are placed on males and females socializing, gaming centers provide young males with an alternative activity to going out. This being the main reason why the Middle East gaming demographic is still skewed towards the young male gamer, with females mostly playing at home in a family context.

For entry into the ME market, it could be worth have a presence at events such as GCON and GAMES. Girls Only Gaming Convention (GCON) – aimed at bringing together female developers, artists, gamers and industry professionals. Since you may not normally find females in the traditional gaming events in the Middle East, it would be a quick and easy way to market quickly into this demographic within the middle east. Because 90% of League of Legends gamers are male, there is an opportunity here to:

  • Market the game to female crowds in the Middle East as this feature is released.
  • 47% of all players are women, and women over 18 years of age are one of the industry’s fastest growing demographics
  • Today, adult women represent a growing portion of the game-playing population

GAMES – largest ME video game show. While most of the games being featured are console, a lot of Riot Games competitors attend, as well as sponsors and so would be a good opportunity to enter the market and showcase LOL to the gaming community.

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