Temp ban after spectating

[Konkey Dong]

Decided to watch a bit of a game when I loaded up. However the only option to leave the game was "abandon". Doing so resulted in my temporary suspension from matchmaking.

There are similar reports here about being banned after simultaneously queuing and spectating however this is without those steps- I just clicked on watch and was unable to leave without receiving a penalty.

 

[ninjahedge]

I had similar a few weeks ago...

I was spectating while in the queue and I went to my second monitor to take care of something.

I heard the match playing in the background and never heard any 'join' notification sound.

When I went back to the game (still spectating) it dumped me back into the lobby. When I tried to rejoin, I was on a 2hr ban.

I have said this elsewhere, I can understand Valve trying to discourage droppers so you do not get a bunch of matches being ruined by DCs... it would be good if there was a limit. The key is to discourage as many quitters as possible without punishing those that don't want to quit but were forced to.