Regulating anti-social behavior on the Internet: The example of League of Legends

Anti-social behavior such as flaming is pervasive and problematic in many online venues. This behavior breaks established norms and unsettles the well-being and development of online communities. Therefore, regulating anti-social behavior becomes an important issue in online management. In this paper, we examine flaming in the context of an online game, League of Legends. We discuss an effort the game developer, Riot Games, presents to deal with anti-social behavior. The Tribunal System empowers players to judge misbehavior. We conducted an ethnographic study of the game to explore the reasons for anti-social behavior, and we analyzed the development of the Tribunal System.