TL;DR:
Forced Win 10 update causes me to “leave” for 2 minutes, returned to the match, played over 5 minutes, won and got a -50 SR penalty. Did not experience this the last time I “left” (2 or 3 years ago). Has this been changed to penalize you anyways even if you came back?
Long version:
Just recently I was in a competitive match (Dorado). We started on the attack side and we pushed it to the end with 3 minutes remaining. And then it was time for the Defense round and during the hero selection screen my laptop powers off and forcibly installs a Windows 10 update (even though I always pause them). I know that isn’t important but I decided to include it for context because I have no reason to deliberately leave a winnable game.
Point is that I still managed to return to the match (enemy pushed past first checkpoint and there were 5 minutes left). We did lose the second checkpoint (adding a minute and 30 seconds) but managed to hold them off from the 3rd and thus winning the game.
I did not get the SR for the win. Instead I was penalized -50 SR and banned, despite returning to the game, and winning it and as an extra getting POTG from that round.
I have not played Competitive, having taken very long breaks, so this is the first time I “leave” a game in a while. Before if I “left” and returned and played long enough, regardless of the outcome of the match, I was not getting penalized, unless I returned too late (I’ve had instances of getting disconnected before the end of a game and returning just second before the victory/defeat screen).
My question (to you) is: has it been changed so that if you leave, you get penalized regardless if you return and played long enough?
Because I have to ask myself - should I bother returning and try to make it up to my team by trying to win at the cost of my time and nerves (depends), since I’m going to be penalized anyways, or be the worse person and not bother at all and ruin it for them and risk getting suspended for sabotage.
I have saved the replay if anyone needs proof (most likely won’t be necessary). This is what I gathered:
I was gone for ~2 minutes and 10 seconds (over the 2 minute mark before other players can leave.) This includes the setup phase. Before if I was gone for 2 minutes and returned, I did not get penalized. I’m mentioning this in case this was the change.
I have played for ~6 minutes and 40 seconds after the return.
The match was 15 minutes and 5 seconds.