Should Shoutbox/Discord/Forums messages be Ban eligible?

I've always felt this was a very easy situation to address. The Code of Conduct does make it clear on what should and shouldn't be said.

In the beginning, things were extremely lax, but as time progressed and the community got larger things got worse as well. The relaxed approach stops being affective when the league staff started to deal more conduct issues than another issued related to the league itself. Where do we draw the line?

We also have to look at "why do people play LG", or "what purpose does this site play in your life?" We have a lot of members of this community who use this website as an escape from some real-life issues. A lot of people who player here because of the competitive nature. A lot of people who enjoy the community environment we have to offer. So do we really need next level toxic comments constantly bringing down the site? It is truly amazing the number of people in this community who do not use the website to avoid those that level of drama.

Being a part of the GC program for EA has afforded me the opportunity to network with some people from EA who handle legal issues or even the social media aspects of EA. EA's legal team requires the employees who handle the social media side of things to report ANY issues where a player makes a statement of self-harm. So every comment on twitter for an example where a player says "OMG this game makes me wanna kill myself", or "OMG FUCK THIS GAME KILL ME" stuff like that is automatically reported by EA to remove any legal liability from their company so if in a situation whereby a player of that nature does harm themself, they won't be painted with the "you knew about it and did nothing" brush.

The world is changing so much, and gone are the days of "It's the internet, get over it" excuse. There are a handful of cases in Canada whereby students were cyberbullied online then killed themselves, and the people who bullied them were held accountable. There have been cases where a relationship entered, the boyfriend has shared private pictures of his ex-girlfriend online, which lead to her suicide. He was held accountable.

Now let's look at the Madden live event and how tragic all of that ended. We had some of the world's best competitors end up being killed on live stream over some trash talk during then competition. Obviously that is an extreme case and that event shocked the gaming world, but to think it won't happen again, or there aren't people in our community who have potential mental health issues in regards to depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, anger issues, etc I personally believe would be an incredibly ignorant stance for the league and site to have.

The policy in place right now is broad and it needs to address minor issues such as harassment in the CB from comments that are deemed personal attacks, all the way to more serious issues like threats or sexual harassment. The policy has also adapted over the years to be used less of a tool to gain a competitive advantage to more of a tool used to address real issues. That is why we introduced some stipulations that if a player is being threatened, that is the player who needs to file the complaint.

I respect this community has built some personal relationships among users here therefore some "chirping" that is witnessed could be friendly and joking in nature. I do have some personal relationships here with some users who I have fun with as well. The bottom line is the line is drawn in the sand already on what is not deemed okay. That line has been drawn to protect Tris, who is the sole owner of this website and would assume all of the legal liability if something ever did occur. I think we all can be thankful for what LG has added to our life. The majority of us here are die-hard NHL fans and without this website would likely not be into the game anymore for the lack of features the game has had for a few years that appeal to a competitive community of our nature. We need to respect that enough to not cause any issues that would lead to Tris shutting this down one day because it is simply not worth the headaches anymore. LG isn't a moneymaker. It isn't paying his bills or my bills. This site sustains itself with the ad revenue it makes and it allows Tris and I to enjoy having a hobby of this nature.

If we branch out and look at games and sites, others are following suit as well. A team was completely eliminated from the Cap's Gaming event for racial slurs or racist skater names. Zero tolerance. Twitch bans players all the time for threats and other conduct related issued.

When the dust settles, why should LG tolerate things of that nature? Why should we EVER accept the excuse "it's the internet" How can I allow a player to use an excuse that "I was joking" as a reasonable explanation or excuse for a conduct issue? That would simply be everyone's excuse, and no one would ever be accountable for their actions.

I like to live in a world where I am the same guy on and off the internet. I'd never send something here, that I wouldn't say to your face. The real world has a ton of personal accountability built into which is why a lot of what said on here is shock worthy because we all know keyboard heros who'd never dare cross those lines face to face. To me, it cannot and will not every be okay to simply say "it is the internet"

I've read some of the comments above where people have said, "just turn off your screen", or "close the page" etc. But the bottom line is once a comment is said, and the read by the other party, the effect has been had. None of us know what one another is going through. None of us have the right to judge or criticize the mental strength each other have. What may not bother you, might bother someone terribly. That is just the world we live in now. In my professional life I've seen the effects of mental illness, I've seen people on their worse days. Even here on LG in the ten years of being in this community, I've personally talked to people on the phone or via text who were struggling at that moment. It isn't an issue I take lightly.

Years ago we lost one of our own to his mental health issues. He was an incredibly funny guy and great to our community. He ended up in a legal situation that he felt was unfair and the walls came in on him. One night at 2 AM he jumped into the chatbox, told everyone that was online he "loved them" and then he was gone. His sister reached out to Tris and I over the next few days seeing as he was missing for a while. We were able to give her some information about when he was last online, and what IP location he was logged onto. He was found a few days later. That is an experience I'd like to never have again. And it is a reminder to me every time I look at some stupid chatbox comments, or I issue a guy a mute, I always say to myself "why?" Why was that even necessary to say? Everyone gets mad, everyone hates losing, but at the end of the day, stay within the boundaries of the rules.

I've enjoyed this open discussion media posts to see other's opinions and I've enjoyed the chance to give the community my perspective as well. Not everyone is going to always agree and be happy but at the end of the day I have to do what I believe is best for the continued growth of this league and this policy I believe does just that.