Popular Fornite pro and streamer Faze Jarvis was pasted with a permanent ban from the game last weekend for using an aimbot in the Solos battle royale mode. By all appearances he was just dicking around—he made no effort to hide the cheating, and in fact made a video about it—but rules is rules, as they say, and Epic was very clear that it has "a zero tolerance policy" when it comes to cheating.
It's a heavy penalty for a guy whose career relies on the game—too heavy, in the opinion of Fortnite mega-streamer Tyler "Ninja" Blevins. Speaking during a recent streaming session (clipped by Daily Clips Central), Blevins said that Jarvis' status as a high-profile content creator should entitle him to considerations, and modified penalties, not offered to typical players.
"There's a difference between a content creator who has millions of subscribers, hundreds of thousands of followers, who gets banned from what literally makes him money, and … some kid who is just a piece of shit who has absolutely zero following, has zero money that comes from Fortnite, from gaming, and hacks," Ninja said.
"You ban that kid, nothing happens to him. Nothing happens. 'Oh no, he can't cheat anymore.' You ban Jarvis, it's different. The stakes are different, it should be handled a little bit differently."
Ninja emphasized that he doesn't think Jarvis should get off scot-free, but rather than a permanent ban he suggested that a suspension in the range of three months to a year is more appropriate. "He's still super young. I think it's just a stupid kid making a stupid decision, didn't really fully think about it. It wasn't in a tournament, it wasn't a cash cup, it wasn't anything like that," he said.
Despite the ring of elitism that comes with suggesting content creators be treated differently, I think Ninja has a point. 17-year-olds aren't renowned for their decision-making capabilities, and Jarvis obviously wasn't trying to get away with using an aimbot: He literally made a public video about doing it.
"He's young. There are people who have done worse things on the internet in different areas and haven't gotten banned. I use Logan Paul as a reference, the dude literally filmed someone hanging in a forest and [his] channel didn't get banned and he's been perfectly fine. He uploaded an apology video and he was set," Ninja said.
"There are lines, man. I think this is one where it's like, Jarvis, dude, you're an idiot, six month ban, maybe three months—first offense, young kid, come on man."
Epic Games declined to comment on Ninja's opinions.
Thanks, Green Man Gaming.
