NRG co-CEO Hector ‘H3CZ‘ Rodriguez has shared his thoughts on the recent controversy surrounding the ban that FaZe Clan‘s Jarvis Kaye received on Fortnite Battle Royale, and the former OpTic Gaming boss believes the suspension shouldn’t be permanent.
It’s been over a week now since Epic Games stunned the Fortnite community by handing a lifetime ban to Jarvis, one of the game’s biggest and well-known content creators.
And yet, the topic continues to be tossed around and discussed by many in the world of online gaming, with the biggest focus being on whether or not the punishment was fair.
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The latest to break down this issue were NRG’s H3CZ and Mason ‘Symfuhny’ Lanier, one of the more prominent pro Fortnite players in the world, as the two org-mates sat down on the November 13 episode of the Eavesdrop Podcast.
H3CZ, of course, hasn’t really been involved with Fortnite much, except for the time when he briefly signed OpTic’s first and only pro roster back in 2018. But having been around esports for as long as he has, he was bound to have a well-educated opinion on the matter.
During the conversation, the former OpTic CEO really expressed being on the fence when it came to the harshness of the punishment, especially since Jarvis was clearly only cheating for content creation purposes rather than to get a competitive advantage.
“I can argue both sides of this,” he said. “I don’t know how I feel about it. I keep hearing people say ‘cheating is wrong, and if you’re cheating in a competitive setting, you should be banned forever.’ I’m with that 100%. But if you’re doing that in a content creation setting and not for money… I don’t know.”
They then compared Jarvis’ situation to the controversy surrounding pro players XXiF and Ronaldo, who were suspended during the World Cup qualifiers for teaming but ended up qualifying after their ban ended.
“One’s for money and the other one’s for pubs and also for money because you’re making money from the content,” H3CZ explained. “That one video that he made that went viral can, in the end, put him in a position to really make millions.”
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In the end, however, the Rodriguez found himself in the position of not wanting Jarvis’ ban to be lifetime, and believing that the young content star should be given another chance down the road.
“I feel bad though, because he’s super young, and who hasn’t done a lot of stupid sh*t? […] You get caught cheating when you’re playing for money and other people are giving their f**king best, then f**k you! But it’s a pub, and you’re young. Lifetime ban? I say no. Bring that sh*t back and give him a two year ban, if anything. […] I hope young Jarvis gets a little bit of justice, because lifetime ban? Get the f**k out of here!”
You can watch the full episode #47 of the Eavesdrop Podcast below, with the section on Jarvis beginning at the 38:00 mark for mobile users.
As of now, given Epic’s official statement and response to the situation, there’s no indication that Jarvis’ Fortnite ban will be rescinded or reduced anytime soon.
The young FaZe star recently released a video discussing his plans for the future and, as things stand, the popular battle royale game doesn’t look to play a part in that.
However, nothing is set in stone when it comes to this unpredictable company, and considering the massive community outcry for them to lessen the punishment, we could see Jarvis back in the fold at some point down the road.