RAP Frequently Asked Questions
Common Questions and Answers
Contents
Basic Definitions and RAP Staff
What is RAP?
How does RAP work?
What is "griefing"?
What is a GM? What can they do? Who are they?
What is an SGM? What can they do? Who are they?
Which S2 Staff members are involved with RAP?
Are GMs and SGMs paid S2 employees?
I was threatened to be suspended by a GM. What should I do?
How do I become a GM?
RAP Navigation, Usage, and Reporting
How do I use RAP?
How do I know which player controls a disconnected ally?
How do I know which player controls and feeds the courier?
How do I report something that happens outside of a match or in a match I was not in (and therefore cannot submit a ticket)?
What do I do if two different people grief in the same match?
Where are the emails? What do the RAP emails look like?
How do I know if my reports are successful?
Why don't the people filing the reports get emails?
Why can you not vote-kick another player?
Bans, Suspension, and Ticket Resolution
About how many tickets does the RAP system actually handle?
How are tickets assigned?
What are the possible outcomes for reporting a player?
What does "close" mean?
What does "innocent" mean? Did he get away with it because I put an inaccurate time stamp?
What does a "warning" mean? Is it really grey-area?
What happens to a "guilty" player?
What is the "mute feature"? What does it actually do?
Why implement the "mute feature"?
Won't muting players hurt innocent people who are teamed up with them due to lack of communication?
Why does an in-game RAP ban also come with a forum ban?
How do suspensions affect sub-accounts?
Can't somebody just keep creating new accounts and continue to grief?
I am afraid that I will get reported for minor fights, or stupid things like "kill stealing" or "backdooring".
Appeals
I am suspended but did not deserve it. What do I do?
How are appeals reviewed?
Rule Clarifications
Is backdooring against the rules?
Player XYZ is verbally abusing me out of game through whispers and/or PM. Is this reportable?
Player XYZ messaged me after I was suspended to make fun of me and brag that he reported me. Is this reportable?
Why was I was found guilty in a match where another player griefed me first?
What is "illogical refusal to participate"?
Is it against the rules to have a friend protect you from being AFK Kicked by voting it down? Why?
Is wasting wards in the fountain against the rules?
Is confessing to troll/grief against the rules even if they are not doing anything explicitly ban-worthy?
How do I know if a nickname is inappropriate?
Basic Definitions and RAP Staff
Q: What is RAP?
The Report-A-Player (RAP) System is a community-based game enforcement establishment. It is run by S2Games with the strong support of volunteer Game Masters (GM) who devote their free time to improving your everyday game experience. Problematic players who have broken one of the official Heroes of Newerth Conduct Rules may be submitted via the RAP form in-game for review. The GMs will then scour through the reports and rule on each case. Offending players are then automatically punished by the RAP system.
Q: How does RAP work?
Every time a player gets reported, that ticket goes into a huge database. Each player is then automatically evaluated on their overall risk to the community. The precise algorithm is confidential, but the theory is rooted in common sense principals. Both the history of the reported player as well as the reliability of the reporting players factors in. For example, if a player has successfully reported many people in the past, his most recent ticket is likely to be valid. Similarly, if a player has been reported many times in a short period of time, it is very likely that this player is a problem. Tickets are then prioritized and assigned to our GMs based on which suspect is most likely to be guilty. The higher the risk, the quicker the report will be handled. Simple!
Q: What is "griefing"?
Griefing is a slang term for any action that intentionally causes another player grief. "Intentionally" is the key word. Please refer to the stickied thread "What is Griefing? Demystifying the Rules of Conduct and Common Reporting Mistakes" for detailed explanations and examples.
Q: What is a GM? What can they do? Who are they?
GM stands for "Game Master". They are responsible for reviewing submitted RAP tickets and deciding innocent, warning, or guilty. A GM cannot suspend a player without a attached RAP ticket, nor can they choose which tickets they review. They are identified in game and on the forums by the clan tag [GM] and maroon name color in game and on the forums. There are currently over 100 GMs and many more in training.
Q: What is an SGM? What can they do? Who are they?
SGM stands for "Senior Game Master". In addition to regular GM duties, SGMs are responsible for reviewing appeals. They may overturn GM decisions and manually suspend/un-suspend players. They can also assist with issues related to clan tags, clan names, and clan roster.
The current SGMs are:
[SGM]Imbaer
[SGM]Achsin
[SGM]dav787
[SGM]pomme_
[SGM]xannie
[SGM]Monori
[SGM]checazzovuoi
Q: Which S2 Staff members are involved with RAP?
Paranoid, Customer Service Manager
Smilie, Training and Recruitment/Head GM
Q: Are GMs and SGMs paid S2 employees?
No. They are regular community members that volunteer time to help out S2 Games. In return they are compensated with gold coins and maroon-name swag. The opinions and statements of GMs and SGMs are their own and do not reflect those of S2 Games.
Q: I was threatened to be suspended by a GM. What should I do?
Take a screen-shot if possible and contact an SGM. We have a zero tolerance policy for GM abuse of power, even for an empty threat. When taking a screen-shot, please upload it via either imgur.com or tinypic.com. Do not use imageshack (due to advertisement spam). Please note that it is impossible for our GMs to manually ban you in any way, as they cannot review their own tickets.
Q: How do I become a GM?
Apply here: http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/sh...php?t=347261#2. We get a lot of applicants, so please take the time to make your application stand out (in a good way).
RAP Navigation, Usage, and Reporting
Q: How do I use RAP?
To file a report, click the banhammer shaped button next to the name of the person you wish to report. This can be done after the match or while the game is in progress.
Reporting After the Match:
Click the banhammer button next to the player name in the match stat summary page
Select your category, select the approximate time it occurred, type in a brief description, then click submit
Success!
Reporting During the Match:
Click the banhammer button next to the player name within the kill scoreboard in game
Select the category and click submit
Once that is done, continue playing your match as normal. The regular report menu will pop up once the match completes. The player name, time of offense, and category will be automatically populated. You may then add a description if you want and click submit
Success!
Q: How do I know which player controls a disconnected ally?
Go to Options -> Sound and enable "Unit Reactions" and move the delay slider to 0
Open replay and set perspective to the player that is disconnected
Watch the match from that players view; make sure you can hear his unit reactions
Find out the point where he was controlled
Switch replay view to the player you suspect controlled the disconnected hero
Left click the disconnected hero. You will hear the disconnected hero's unit reactions when moved
If you cannot hear unit reactions, switch view to another suspect until you find the correct one
If you cannot hear unit reactions for any of the four players, you probably skipped steps 1 or 3 =)
Example: You suspect Chipper is feeding the disconnected Pebbles. After following the above steps you hear Pebbles "Two birds with one stone!" unit reaction while watching the replay from Chipper's point of view. Chipper is confirmed to be the one who was controlling Pebbles.
Q: How do I know which player controls and feeds the courier?
See this thread.
Q: How do I report something that happens outside of a match (and therefore cannot submit a ticket)?
If it happened outside of any match, you must take a screen-shot as proof. Send the screen-shot(s) to an SGM via PM and he or she will take action as necessary. If it happened in a match you were not in, you may open up the match stats page and submit a report as usual. When taking a screen-shot, please upload it via either imgur.com or tinypic.com. Do not use imageshack.
Q: What do I do if two different people grief in the same match?
Please file a separate report for each player. Due to the nature of suspensions being automatically generated from tickets, only the player that is selected in the report will be punished. For example, if your ticket is filed against Player A and says "Player A and Player B both intentionally fed!", only Player A will be punished. The GM team will NOT manually take action against the other player mentioned in the ticket description.
Q: Where are the emails? What do the RAP emails look like?
You will only receive an email from RAP if you are warned or found guilty of violating the rules of conduct. If you are not receiving emails, the email address provided when you created your account may not be correct. It is important that you provide your real email when creating a new account, as a false email cannot be recovered or changed at a later time. If your email is correct, please check your spam folder.
Warning email:
Hello MacroHard,
A Game Master (GM) has reviewed the Report-A-Player ticket filed against you and has issued you a WARNING for the following:
Ticket ID: 876543
Match ID: 98765432
GM Explanation: Please refrain from avoiding AFK detection.
Due to the results of the judgment, you have received a warning. Future rulings may increase the severity of your punishment. Please review the Conduct Rules to prevent future infractions.
Thank you,
Heroes of Newerth Report-A-Player System
GM Inquiries: http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/fo...play.php?f=148
Conduct Rules: http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/conduct.php
Ban Appeals: http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/appeal.php
Guilty email:
Hello MacroHard,
A Game Master (GM) has reviewed the Report-A-Player ticket filed against you and has ruled you GUILTY of the following:
Ticket ID: 876543
Match ID: 98765432
GM Explanation: Begins to intentionally feed at 19:35
Your suspension ends on Smarch 32 2012, 12:34:56 EST (-5 GMT). Future rulings may increase the severity of your punishment. Please review the Conduct Rules to prevent future infractions.
Thank you,
Heroes of Newerth Report-A-Player System
GM Inquiries: http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/fo...play.php?f=148
Conduct Rules: http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/conduct.php
Ban Appeals: http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/appeal.php
Q: How do I know if my reports are successful? Why don't the people filing the reports get emails?
Players get confirmation of their reports in-game upon submitting a ticket. If there is a problem with RAP the system will notify you at that time.
If your ticket was used in a guilty decision, you will receive an email notifying you of the successful ticket. All other individual ticket results, including guilty decisions under a different ticket, are not emailed because the final verdict may not be relevant to the reporter's ticket. The RAP system typically addresses players with multiple tickets, and all of them are reviewed together. If one ticket is innocent but another is guilty, the player will be suspended and both tickets will be closed. We do not want to send a guilty email to all people who submitted a ticket because it may be in error and we do not want to send any wrong messages.
Example:
Player A reports Player B in Match X for backdooring.
Player C reports Player B in Match Y for intentionally feeding.
Player B gets banned, but we do not want to send a confirmation email to Player A that his ticket was successful. We do not want Player A to think (and possibly tell others) that the offense he reported for is now against the rules. Player C, however, will receive a successful email as his ticket was the one used for the decision.
A full explanation for this policy can be found here.
Q: Why can you not vote-kick another player?
All evidence indicated the following: The average player would rather win than have a "good game". When a kick was warranted (to remove a griefing player), the enemy team would inevitably downvote it. If the kick was abusive (to remove a player you simply didn't like), the enemy team would be likely to pass it.
Vote kick was ultimately removed because it was abused far more often than it was used for its intended purpose. We considered many alternative options, including reducing the vote to team-only and then make it RAP-able to initiate an abusive kick. The problem with that proposal was that sometimes legitimate kicks are not readily proven (such as VOIP abuse), which would lead to suspending innocent players. In the end we decided it was best to remove vote-kick entirely and rely on the new RAP 3.0 (now with in-game reporting!) for exacting revenge. There is no longer temptation to use a "feature" as a tool for griefing.
Bans, Suspension, and Ticket Resolution
Q: About how many tickets does the RAP system actually handle?
We currently process about 5,000 tickets per week, on average.
Q: How are tickets assigned?
Tickets are automatically assigned to whichever GM is currently requesting another ticket. GMs are not assigned a list of tickets from which they pick and choose, and they do not skip tickets. Even if a ticket is skipped (the GM loses internet connection, for example) that ticket is then recycled and assigned to a different GM. From the reporter's point of view all griefing appears the same, but from a large-scale system view certain tickets deserve quicker attention. For example, a ticket against a new account that has also been reported by other people may be given higher priority than a ticket against a two-year-old account that has never once been reported.
Q: What are the possible outcomes for reporting a player?
"Close", "Innocent", "Warning", "Guilty"
Q: What does "close" mean?
A ticket is closed when it is removed from the GM queue (but not deleted) without a decision being made for that specific ticket.
Common causes for ticket closures:
More than one person reports the same suspect. For example, three people report PlayerX in three separate matches. If PlayerX is found guilty in one of these matches, the other two tickets are automatically closed because PlayerX is already serving his punishment.
The player is not suspended because the offense cannot be proven. Similarly, the person reporting should not be penalized for submitting an innocent ticket because the offense cannot be dis-proven. An example of this includes accidental bug exploitation.
The match replay does not exist.
Q: What does "innocent" mean? Did he get away with it because I put an inaccurate time stamp?
Innocent means no Rules of Conduct violation was found. GM's review the entire replay to find the offense described in the ticket. The time stamp is mostly used to help expedite the process. However, a vague description along with a very inaccurate time stamp may result in an innocent decision.
Q: What does a "warning" mean? Is it really grey-area?
A warning is typically the result of a first time minor offenses. They may also be used for questionable/borderline behavior, for example, highly suspicious feeding that cannot be proved to be intentional. Warnings do not result in suspension but stay on a player's permanent record. If a player has been previously warned he/she will be found guilty and suspended if similar conduct persists.
Q: What happens to a "guilty" player?
A player that is found guilty will be suspended. The suspension duration depends on type of offense and previous history as follows:
Inappropriate Account Nickname
Offense #
Duration
Other
1
Suspended until name is changed
Name Change
2
1 Day
Name Change
3
1 Month
Name Change
4+
3 Months
Name Change
Verbal Abuse
Offense #
Duration
Other
1
3 Days
3 Days Mute (after suspension ends)
2
1 Week
1 Week Mute (after suspension ends)
3
2 Weeks
2 Weeks Mute (after suspension ends)
4
1 Month
1 Month Mute (after suspension ends)
5
3 Months
1 Month Mute (after suspension ends)
6+
6 Months
1 Month Mute (after suspension ends)
All Others (Griefing, Ability Abuse, etc)
Offense #
Duration
1
3 Days
2
1 Week
3
2 Weeks
4
1 Month
5
3 Months
6+
6 Months
Q: What is the "mute feature"? What does it actually do?
The mute feature is simply an added penalty for verbal abuse cases. After the regular suspension ends, a probationary mute period kicks in. During this time a player can join and host games but will be unable to communicate; they cannot chat, send whispers, send private messages, or use VOIP. This penalty also applies to the public chat channels out of game. They will still be able to send messages to players on their friend list. Much like the suspension itself, the mute period is temporary and has its own scaling duration based on player history.
Q: Why implement the "mute feature"?
As said above, it is added punishment and therefore added deterent for verbal abuse. In addition to an extended punishment, the mute feature also serves as a rehabilitation tool. A period of self-reflection is imperitive for recovery. Players will be forced to play while simultaneously holding their tongue and containing their rage. Our studies have shown that this is a more effective tool for correcting the behavior than simply extending the suspension duration. Indeed, there have been thousands of cases where somebody has been found guilty of verbal abuse on their very first day back from serving a suspension for verbal abuse. Our hopes is that abusive players will learn that it is possible to play HON and have fun without verbally assaulting other players.
Q: Won't muting players hurt innocent people who are teamed up with them due to lack of communication?
This was a major concern of ours as well. Communication is indeed crucial for success in HON. However, upon reviewing hundreds of chat logs from players who were found guilty of verbal abuse we discovered a remarkable trend: players who are prone to abuse were not likely to communicate positively. The guy who insulted your mother was not calling missing enemies. The guy who insulted your religion was not pointing out rune spawns. The guy who tells you to kill yourself in real life was not coordinating strategy.
We found that what little communication was made contributed to the overall degradation of team morale. This is more hurtful to a team's success than any "missed call" could be. Because of this, we ultimately decided that "no communication" is better than "overwhelming negative communication with a small chance of positive communication" when it comes to these kinds of individuals.
When all else fails, players may use the in-client integrated chat system by pressing Alt and clicking the screen. This way players can still communicate at a fundamental level (such as "Enemy missing from bottom lane" or "Rune top" or "Defend middle tower") while being muted by RAP.
Q: Why does an in-game RAP ban also come with a forum ban?
If an account is suspended via RAP, that account will also be suspended from the forums. There are two reasons for this. First, we wish to avoid retaliatory rage posts (which often involves exaggeration of the truth). Second, the forum ban automatically redirects the player to appeal their suspension; without this feature many players would not know how to appeal. If you are suspended from the game and wish to view the forums you can simply log out and read the forums as a visitor.
Q: How do suspensions affect sub-accounts?
All accounts attached to the guilty player are equally punished and simultaneously suspended. A friend playing on your sub-account is no excuse!
Q: Can't somebody just keep creating new accounts and continue to grief?
We have a few protections against this.
There is a limit of how many accounts an IP can create.
In time he will run out and be forced to play with one of the accounts that had been previously banned
There are other checks to prevent multi-accounting in addition to IP
The verification system is in place to protect players against such griefers
Somebody who repeatedly creates accounts to troll, grief, or smurf will forever be matched with other trolls, griefers, and smurfs
Punishment can go beyond the account in question
Most "I'll just make another account" threats are by people who are either bluffing or own a primary account with Verified status
They play seriously and purchase cosmetics on a main account while trolling/griefing on newly created accounts
These attached accounts (even if not direct sub-account) can also be banned or even permanently disabled
IP addresses can be banned under certain circumstances
Q: Do infractions expire?
RAP infractions, when reported, do expire. After how long or how many games?... well that's proprietary knowledge. The best course of action is to grief as little as possible (or better yet never).
Q: I am afraid that I will get reported for minor fights, or stupid things like "kill stealing" or "backdooring".
While you may get reported more frequently with the new system, do remember that every ticket is still reviewed by a living breathing HON player. The assignment is automated, but the ticket review itself is still manually done. If you have not broken any rules you have nothing to fear for being reported.
Appeals
Q: I am suspended but did not deserve it. What do I do?
First review the Rules of Conduct and make sure you are in fact innocent. If you still think you were unfairly punished, you may file an appeal here:
www.heroesofnewerth.com/appeal. Be sure to log into the correct account/sub-account that was supended when filing an appeal.
Q: How are appeals reviewed?
Appeals are looked at in the order they are received by an SGM. Once an SGM has responded you have 24 hours to respond back and further explain your case before it is archived. Decisions on appeals are final and cannot be appealed further.
Rule Clarifications
Q: Is backdooring against the rules?
No.
Q: Player XYZ is verbally abusing me out of game through whispers and/or PM. Is this reportable?
Yes, but you must take a screen-shot as proof. Send the screen-shot(s) to an SGM and he or she will take action as necessary. When taking a screen-shot, please upload it via either imgur.com or tinypic.com. Do not use imageshack.
Q: Player XYZ messaged me after I was suspended to make fun of me and brag that he reported me. Is this reportable?
Yes, but you must take a screen-shot as proof. Send the screen-shot(s) to an SGM and he or she will take action as necessary. When taking a screen-shot, please upload it via either imgur.com or tinypic.com. Do not use imageshack.
Q: Why was I was found guilty in a match where another player griefed me first?
Retributive griefing is not an exception to the Rules of Conduct. Another player griefing you does not give you the right to grief back. We recommend that you ignore the player as best you can and report him/her after the match.
Q: What is "illogical refusal to participate"?
Illogical refusal to participate is a special type of AFK Abuse. Players that farm endlessly with zero intent to help their team win/defend have no more value than a player sitting behind the fountain. Be warned though! The nature of this offense makes it highly subjective! It must be obvious that the intent is to ignore the team rather than simply trying to farm in the hopes to win later. Some players simply like to farm A LOT and they are entitled to do so. For a suspect to be found guilty there must be clear incidents where continued farming is illogical (such as attacking snotters instead of defending base towers/barracks). Reporting somebody for Illogical Refusal to Participate when they haven't come out of the jungle with Wildsoul in a game that is conceded at 15 minutes will probably be found innocent. Remember, there is a difference between "farming all game with the intent to get strong and win for the team" and "farming all game with the intent to ignore your team completely."
Q: Is it against the rules to have a friend protect you from being AFK Kicked by voting it down? Why?
No. This was previously the case, but has been rendered obsolete as of Oct 26, 2012. As it now only requires two votes to kick an AFK player, players may now attempt to "save" their friend from getting a leave without consequence.
Q: Is wasting wards in the fountain against the rules?
It depends. Wasting wards is against the Rules of Conduct under "Item Spamming" as long as the match has yet to be unquestionably determined (99%+ likelihood of a certain team winning). Wards are purchased with a cooldown, so if they are available to waste within the last minute then they were not being used for productive purposes earlier in the match. We will not punish players who waste a few wards if there is zero chance of a comeback victory and the outcome of the match is entirely unaffected. Please note that whether or not the winner has been determined is decided by the GM and not decided by the player. Claiming a match is "over" does not make it so.
Q: Is confessing to troll/grief against the rules even if they are not doing anything explicitly ban-worthy?
No. Only actions matter. For example, somebody dies unintentionally after making a very poor decision. Rather than own up to "being bad" that player would rather pretend that it was intentional. Irrational? Yes. Confessing? Yes. Intentionally feeding? Not necessarily.
Q: How do I know if a nickname is inappropriate?
Names that contain any of the following are inappropriate:
Discrimination against race, color, ethnicity, creed, national original, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, marital status, or disability
Negative stereotype with regards to any of the above
Sexually explicit words or phrases
Please note that names that are sexually suggestive are not necessarily sexually explicit
English profanity, or obvious bypass thereof
Promotion of globally or historically significant societal injustices or catastrophes
Please note that names that mention or refer to such injustice are not necessarily promoting it
"AdolfHiter" will not be deemed inappropriate
"IKilledJews" will be marked inappropriate