- Players urge Riot to add a “block list” feature
- Riot is considering implementing such a function
- Producers explains the reasons behind Riot’s hesitation
Valorant’s community is pushing the devs from Riot to implement a “block list”, similar to other games, to be able to do something against toxic players. Riot is still hesitant to go with that suggestion.
Toxicity In Valorant
Toxicity is, unfortunately, a part of gaming, and Riot's FPS is no exception. If a player in Valorant is being toxic, other players can only mute them. However, players want to have a “block list” feature like many other games have.
Riot’s flagship, League of Legends, already has such a “block” feature. If you block another player in LoL, you won’t be able to see their Summoner Name. If by chance you queue up with them, their messages will automatically be muted.
Blizzard has also implemented a similar feature for Overwatch. One could say it is even an upgraded version. In Overwatch, you have the option “Avoid as Teammate”. You can put players on your list and you will not be able to play with them on your team until you “unban” them. There are only a few spots on that list, but it is still better than nothing.
Valorant does not have any of these options, relying only on the mute button, to allow players to do something against other toxic players.
Why Does Riot Hesitate?
Riot is hesitant to implement a similar “block” function, as the studio is afraid the feature might be abused. In a post by Reddit user UnfriedEgg, where people expressed their opinion that Valorant should have a function like that, producer Sara Dadafshar had some things to say. She wrote that discussions about this have been often brought up in Riot HQ and that the studio wants to develop something like this that protects players, yet is also difficult to exploit.
Dadafshar continued explaining how such a system can be abused:
“There's been other competitive games that have tried to implement this feature, but at high elo, folks used the block list as a way of avoiding playing against certain individuals that they would not have a good time going up against. Often times, this block would be thrown left and right against good players, causing them to be on a mass ignore list, tanking the queues that they'd join.”
Riot Games Valorant producer Sara Dadafshar
Explained like this, Riot’s concerns seem well-grounded and there is a will to do something about the toxicity problem. That being said, the studio has shown that it implements measures against immoral gaming practices, so we might be seeing changes in the future.
