When people from the e-sports environment are banned, it always causes a stir. This time it hit a popular Dota 2 host who has long been considered toxic by the community.
Who was banned? Popular Dota 2 host SirActionSlacks has received a ban. The Twitch streamer is one of the first well-known players to be banned by the new behavior system. He can still play Dota 2, but can no longer communicate in-game.
This is a big turning point for him, as he reveals on Reddit. Because of the ban, he will only play with friends in the future.
What does he say about it himself? SirActionSlacks commented on the incident on Reddit. He finds the ban justified and even says “I deserve the punishment.”
Lately he’s noticed that his behavior score is slowly dropping. He tried to counteract this by no longer streaming his last 15 games to prevent sniping and no longer speaking in-game. He also tried not to make any toxic comments in the chat.
But that didn’t help and he was ultimately punished by the new behavior system. From now on he can no longer communicate with other players in the game.
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New system automatically mutes toxic players
Why was he banned now? SirActionSlacks is now banned because his behavior score has dropped too low. Since the 2023 Summer Update, Dota 2 has a 0-tolerance policy towards toxic players. The new system gives each player a so-called behavior score, which is based on how a person interacts with their fellow players in the game.
As a streamer with nearly 150,000 followers on Twitch, SirActionSlacks probably gets reported every night. The messages should then be checked live by the system and ultimately have an impact on the behavior score.
The behavior score not only determines the ability to communicate in the game, but also how many item drops you receive after rounds, whether you can pause a game and which players you get into a round with.
The system is considered very strict, because once you lose points, you can only get them back with difficulty.
What does the community say about the ban? The community is somewhat divided: Most people on Reddit see SirActionSlacks as a toxic person. Others, like the streamer, find the new system far too strict.
KrisHwt has played with the streamer before and says via Reddit: “I have played on your team several times and you are by far one of the most annoying and toxic people I have ever met in this game. […] It’s no secret why you can’t improve your behavior score.”
-Richarmander- tries to understand the new system a little better, also via reddit: “15 games should be enough to improve the behavior score a little, right? I have a score of 12k, but if it were to drop I would expect 15 games with a positive mentality to increase my score a bit.”
The streamer should therefore be no stranger to toxic behavior. The fact that Valve is now taking action against this behavior in Dota 2 is a good thing in itself, even if it seems like there is still a need for optimization. A Dota 2 pro believes Valve is reducing prize money because the pros are getting too cheeky.