In recent eSports news a myriad of information has been published via ESPN, Chris Badawi, and MonteCristo himself. The ESPN article was a long-awaited write-up following the 2015 ban against LCS teams Renegades, TDK, and a ban levied against Chris Badawi.

Now I won’t get into the subject of the bans themselves as they are subjected to Riot-ideals, interpretations, and views mixed in with stipulations and clauses seemingly unbeknownst to anyone.. Really. It’s a topic with contradiction, vagueness, and filled with decisions cast down from Riot in a brute force manner. It’s safe to say, I am not a fan of the concept of in-house issued bans, including this Riot ban among others.

A historical eSports ban that to this day brings up controversy and validity for discussion. For good reason as well, for followers of eSports, there are a lot of growing concerns with companies gaining too much power with very little oversight. As I mentioned in a previous write-up there is a lack of regulation in eSports, with a small number of commissions rising up to take up the mantle as to who could regulate it faster, better, and more conveniently.

Some focus on drugs in eSports, some focus on cheating in eSports, some focus on ethics in eSports, but none focus on committee oversight in eSports. That’s a startling matter, eSports should have an independent third-party committee to ensure bans are legitimized, the process is transparent and verified, and lastly — removing the roles of judge jury and executioner.

I mention Riot but it is not limited to them, any publisher, tournament organizer, or entity that runs a tournament/circuit league which also handles internal discipline should also be held accountable. Compare the latest LoL ban to the CS:GO ban where team iBuyPower were banned indefinitely. A controversial ban which devastated the scene and questioned the authenticity of action handed down by published of CS:GO, Valve.

No real transparency, no real appeals process, no real anything. Just giants doing as they please without any ramification. Imagine the NFL without an appeals committee. Imagine NBA without an appeals committee. Imagine a judicial system without an appellate court. That would befuddle the world, but in eSports, that concept of one man one voice is one and the same and it will become the largest double-edge sword if we continue down this path. These committees are there to ensure there is no circumvention of justice and I will always advocate for an equality.

Lets talk details

Details in a nutshell revolving around the 2015 ban. Riot issued bans under the color of mismanaged, unorganized, and a seemingly chaotic process of investigating. People will talk about the end-game, the summary and the jargon used to demonize the parties in their competitive ruling, but some will forget about the internal cluster-fuck that went on during that period of time where MonteCristo was investigated.

Their communications were unprofessional, their attitude was passive aggressive, their investigation shows the friendly, trusted Riot Games truly using their authority in the play. A Reddit thread popped up to discuss a newly released vlog statement released by OGN LoL caster and former owner of Renegades, MonteCristo where he published his side, reiterated some points, and shed a new light on truly chaotic this investigation was.

A lot of points that both MonteCristo, and Chris Badawi share. Their side of the story: We did what was requested, we shared the details, we followed your rules, but we were still banned? Banned why? Oh this? Well, we handled tha-.. oh that? Can we see evidence of that? Riot: No.

Many may be wondering if this is all hearsay, but the sad truth is we will never know. Did Riot purposely collect evidence from individuals without validating evidence? Did Riot acquire any evidence or is it all a fabricated lie? If Riot truly wanted to be transparent, why did they disclose little to no evidence? There’s due diligence, sharing relevant and redacted evidence and then there’s the out-right secretive, authoritarian mentality where they feel no need to publish information or at least sharing it with the ones they convict and condemn publicly.

A harsh statement in an even harsher reality. Regardless of your stance on the subject I think many will agree that bans like these remove the precedent for transparency. Will the next ban be levied against someone just to receive the “ First and foremost, we are not disclosing evidence because we have an obligation to protect the parties involved.” quote. For those interested in fully dissecting and establishing their own decision, the documents published by MonteCristo a link is supplemented below.

Seems like there’s no R in transparency, Riot.

https://www.scribd.com/document/319603736/Riot-Renegades-Investigation

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Hi. I’m a consultancy owner. I deal with eSports, players, management and more. I occasionally write and bake awesome pies. This is an opinion piece that reflects on my ideology alone. Like my writing or want to get in contact with me? Twitter @MellowWalt or email w.sosa@esportsrda.net