Valorant is a 5v5 competitive shooter, which means there are ten people in a single game with different personalities, agendas and psyches in a single game. Not all of them act decently. While a moderate amount of BM in a game is fun, when is this too much? Teabagging especially seems to be a way to disrespect an enemy. Recently, it has been debated whether it should be punishable or not in Valorant.
What is Teabagging In Valorant?
Teabagging has been part of Valorant. If a bound key in the game allows you to crouch, a player is open to “Teabag,” an opponent. Teabagging, if you don’t know, is when you go near a fallen enemy’s head and spam your crouch key.
The action has been a part of FPS gaming for a while. It is a way you poke fun at your competitors, and most times, it is good fun and doesn’t mean any harm. While disrespectful, the action is not intended to hurt people’s sentiments, but it does.
Other than teabagging, a healthy amount of Trash talk has always been a part of Esports and sports. With almost all team sports have some or the other form of BM’ing.
While the intention behind any form of BM is to affect a player’s psyche so that the person’s performance shakes, In recent days, it is changing as many people do it to disrespect their contemporaries.
Teabagging is a similar tactic, which translates to saying you are bad at this game and is a way to infuriate and annoy the player so that they lose focus and lose the game.
But lately, the meaning behind the action and the amount of BMing has been off the charts, with some doing it to disrespect their contemporaries and sometimes it’s clear they do not mean any good from it.
While the intention behind one’s action cannot be judged by anyone, having said that, banning something or a particular harmless activity doesn’t seem to be an answer either. With Tea- bagging being a BM, it is also a way to poke fun at people, and not all of it is disrespect, as most people who do it don’t mean it.
The sad part about this or any controversy surrounding this is that people club together intentionally disrespectful behaviour and BMing in-game together. At the same time, the latter does not mean to be disrespectful in most cases.
The increased misinterpretation of the action has to be the same reason why people get offended by comedy. While all of it is supposed to be bonafide, some cases are not, and now none of it seems to be.
Riot bans two Valorant players: Dawn and Risorah, over heated teabagging dispute
Following a dispute that started in the community as a result of some teabagging, Riot Games has suspended two Valorant Game Changers players for toxic behavior.
Riot determined that the gamers had harassed and used filthy language that targeted and isolated another player. “Dawn” (full name withheld) was prohibited for three months for using obscene language towards a member of the GALORANTS community, while “Risorah” (full name withheld) was banned for nine months for harassing a member of the GALORANTS community. Because of their behavior, the two will be barred from all official Valorant activities.
Riot Games has not revealed the name of the player who engaged community members on the GALORANTS Discord server.
On June 27th, the topic grew into an argument that spanned many Twitter posts. Dawn’s comments included a rude and pointed statement directed at the anonymous gamer.
Below you can review the timeline of the events occurred.
Risorah Valorant targets a victim many times on June 27th.
- Risorah tweeted a plethora of times aimed exclusively at the same player, in which she reproduced GALORANTS Discord discussions between themselves and Player A. Risorah then shared an altered video in which they enhanced and individually inserted filthy remarks surrounding the player.
The victim was targeted with nasty posts on June 28th.
- Risorah directly labeled and targeted the gamer as the topic of a filthy post. Riot Games analyzed detailed images and video of the alleged infractions, as well as correspondence between the accused and the victim, throughout the inquiry. Riot Games also interviewed participants, including Dawn and Risorah.
Riot Games’ decision on July 25th
- Dawn breached Rule 7.3.1 of the VALORANT Champions Tour Global Competition Policy. Dawn is barred from any association or involvement with a team in a Riot-sanctioned competition for three months, until September 27, 2023.
July 25th – Punished players acknowledge the judgment
- In a recent appearance on Charles White Jr.’s (penguinz0/MoistCr1TiKaL) stream, where they spoke at length about the matter, both players addressed the dispute. Shortly, White will probably upload a video on his YouTube account discussing the circumstance.
July 25th – The community opposes the players’ actions.
- The Game Changers community is outraged just at two players’ behavior. On Twitter, Shopify Rebellion’s Game Changers squad member Benita “bENITA” Novshadian stated that it is impossible to take the Game Changers scene seriously when there is no competition integrity and rules are disregarded. With certain players’ acts affecting players’ jobs and livelihoods, it calls into question what the Game Changers circuit stands for.
