I am being watched by the Tribunal: Trust and control in Multiplayer Online Battle Arena games

Toxic gaming and griefing in online games are part of the everyday interaction of players around the world. Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games are notorious for their players’ toxic behavior. League of Legends (LoL), one of the most popular MOBA games, uses the Tribunal system as a strategy to restrict and punish toxic behaviors. The Tribunal system is a neutral body of surveillance that influences the level of system trust for the different populations of players. In this pre-study the attitudes of two different player communities are investigated, with a focus on the Tribunal system. Through forum posts in Defense of the Ancients 2 (Dota 2) forums and League of Legends forums, we analyzed the attitudes towards the Tribunal system from two different player communities. We found a more positive attitude towards the Tribunal system amongst the posts in the LoL forum compared to the posts in the Dota 2 forum, indicating a higher level of system trust for LoL players, and a higher level of personal trust amongst Dota 2 players.