In the latest Ask Valorant, Riot answered questions regarding players who AFK and smurf. They also discussed that they will consider adding a “block player” feature in the future.
Here’s more on what Riot had to say on these topics, as well as what we can expect to see moving forward.
Riot addresses the Valorant AFK and smurf problems
Players going AFK is a problem in every competitive online game, and Valorant is no different. Riot is taking two steps towards reducing the amount of AFK players in games. The first step will only impact unrated matches, as Riot is changing the requirements to play rated. Players will now need to win a set amount of games instead of just playing them.
Their second plan will address AFK players for both rated and unrated. They are working on better ways to detect when players go AFK, and they are considering different punishments for when they do, such as rank penalties, experience mitigations, longer queues, or bans.
AFKers, blocking others, and smurfs. All this and more on the next Ask VALORANT. Read all about it: https://t.co/J981dGAx1R pic.twitter.com/JSCvwi1iQx
— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) December 4, 2020
As for smurfs in Valorant, Riot doesn’t seem to have an answer here as of yet. They say to report players who are intentionally feeding to derank. As for players actually in the act of smurfing or boosting their friends, they didn’t disclose anything at this time.
Blocking players may be a future option
In Overwatch, you can “avoid” three players at a time that you don’t want to have on your team in future games. It looks like Riot might consider something like this in Valorant, but needs to figure out some details like queue times.
Overall, this Ask Valorant gives us some insight into how Riot plans to handle disruptive behavior. It looks like its top priority is working on detecting this behavior and administering appropriate punishments. Hopefully Riot will be successful, and games will be of higher quality in the future.
