Riot Games plans to introduce a new Tribunal system in League of Legends where players can act as GMs by voting on punishments and reviewing cases. What are Chris "Pwyff" Tom's thoughts on the system? Read on!

Moderation  and rule enforcement within the world of online gaming has largely been a dictatorship, with GMs or administrators handing out bans and jail-time to whomever they deem fit. Typically, these punishments are not completely arbitrary but, given that the decision rests entirely in the hands of one individual who must dig through piles and piles of chat logs and server records, you can bet that moderating and enforcing a code of conduct within any online game can a nightmare at best.

This doesn’t even begin to cover the problems that can come even if you do follow through with what you feel is an appropriate punishment, as many players are more than willing to rally their troops and to bend the truth to get the ban overturned. Looking at a system like this, where only a few individuals must act on the judicial needs of the public, it’s obvious that something like this might be due for an overhaul. But how? 

Just a few days ago, Riot Games announced that a new system, called the Summoner's Tribunal, is on the way for League of Legends. This new, unique system might very well be exactly what the game needs to get a little more discipline in its player base. While it does remain to be seen how, precisely, the Tribunal will work with rewards and execution, here’s what has been announced so far.

The premise of the Summoner’s Tribunal is basic but to the point: players will have the opportunity to play GM by being presented with specific cases of problematic players within League of Legends. These examples will come with whatever evidence the Riot team can provide from their servers, so they will be able to view the game’s statistics, the reasons behind each report the player has received, the chat logs for the entire game where a player has been reported, a few of the in-game stats of the subject’s accusers, and all of the information from the summoner’s profile.

Using the Tribunal system, players will then make their way through a low daily limit of "judgings" they can access per day (Riot Games says 30), and with every case, they can render a judgment of guilty or not guilty based on the evidence given. In the end, if there are a sufficient number of guilty votes that have been cast against the player in question, he/she will be dealt with via an escalating ban system.

Interestingly, while Riot Games fully intends to reward their hard-working volunteer GMs, you will only be eligible for a small Influence Points (IP) reward if your vote matches up with the majority. In other words, if you blaze through your maximum number of judgments per day for the IP reward, but don’t put in the proper thought process to judging each individual, you may not be rewarded for your hasty efforts.

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