Yesterday we heard news that Riot had unleashed monstrous bans upon League of Legends pros Renegades, TDK and their owners. Renegades and its nominal owners Chris Badawi and Christopher Mykles have hit back at the ruling.
Mykles took to Twitter to protest being given 30 minutes' notice of the ban, asserting that he has been presented none of the evidence Riot cites nor that he was aware of most of the claims. Badawi chose Reddit to profess his confusion at the decision to ban him for life:
"I don't even know what to say to this. Players unsafe/unsafe environment? I can't even imagine what they are referring to. A secret deal with Monte? One simply does not exist. Not fulfilling contractual obligations? I'm beyond baffled—none of it is true. I've spoken with Alex, Alberto, RF, Flarez, Maple and Haku and they don't have a clue what Riot is talking about either. Had no warning, reading it for the first time with you. I'm just floored at the injustice and randomness of this ruling."
Regarding allegations of player mistreatment within Renegades, current and former players have come forward to extol the team's virtues. Alberto 'Crumbz' Rengifo proclaimed, "My teammates and I aren't spineless. We would not put up with even one instance of an unsafe environment."
The counter-claims, while far from absolving everyone of wrongdoing, have provoked clamours for Riot to release the evidence it reports to have gathered against Renegades. As lawyer for Renegades Bryce Blum has complained, "Riot acts as judge, jury and executioner. They write, interpret and enforce rules with no third-party input, transparency, or the opportunity to appeal."
The counterpoint to that is, of course, 'Riot's game, Riot's rules'. The Q&A on the ruling already states, "we are not disclosing evidence because we have an obligation to protect the parties involved. People have placed their trust in us by stepping forward and we need to protect them from possible retribution. Further, some of these are serious allegations that extend beyond our LCS ecosystem, and it is not our goal to affect these parties outside of LoL esports."
However, the outcry from both sides is such that Riot might plausibly revise its disciplinary process to avoid similar headaches in future, at least when communicating with involved parties.
