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Season 5 Ranked System and the Eternal Struggle Bus

Cleon Peaches·2/3/2015, 11:36:57 PM·2 votes·889 views

Riot,

We need to have a talk. I first started playing League in January of 2014 and immediately fell in love. Aside from over 1,000 hours of playtime, I have given you my blood, sweat and money.

I began playing ranked shortly after hitting level 30 and landed in Bronze 1 with 4 wins/6 losses. Although I was unhappy with the rank, it was both fair and reflective of my skill as a player.

Hundreds of hours later I climbed from Bronze I to Silver III, and felt like I had specialized in my role and grown both mechanically and tactically as a jungler. However, after winning 7/10 Season 5 placement games, I dropped from Silver III to Silver V.

After seeing several of my gold and silver friends drop to bronze, despite winning most of their placement games, it became clear that the ranking system currently in place is driven by business, not skill. By placing players in a low rank that isn't truly representative of their skill, you force them to log more hours just to climb back up to the rank they had originally earned, in hopes that they'll buy more half-dressed Katarina skins while they're at it. On top of neglecting the hard work put in by Bronze, Silver and Gold players, it seems that you shield the high ranking players from having to deal with this issue- we don't see any pros drop several leagues after winning 7 placement matches, seeing as they generate a lot of interest in League via Twitch.

I understand that Riot is a business, and your F2P game comes at a price. Yet the arbitrary ranking system of season 5 exploits our devotion to the game for the sake of money. The shady nature of this business tactic makes me feel like you don't value me as a player, and that I'm just another pocket ready for the picking. I am compelled to take a prolonged break from the League, I might even play some RuneScape. Because while it may be an inferior game, at least it's upfront about wanting my money.

Regards, Cleon Peaches

5 Comments

turbofeed90002/4/2015, 6:16:02 PM2 votes

I'm going to tell my story.

I was diamond 4 last season. Decayed to plat 1 playing dota. I went 2-8 in placements and was condemned to gold 3. However my MMR didn't change much and is still diamond level. What this causes:

  1. I have by far the highest MMR in every game I play

  2. My teammates are stacked against me

  3. I expect my teammates to make plays they don't because I'm used to diamond teammates. I get killed because they don't know what they're doing.

  4. I try to explain the game concepts I am using but they don't listen because my score is reflective of our team performance.

  5. I get mad at teammates

  6. They get mad at me

I've actually fell from Gold 3 to Gold 5 while playing as good as I ever did.

It's just as bad for matchmaking as boosting. If boosting is illegal then you can't allow decay. That's a bunch of bullshit.

Vixanys2/4/2015, 3:26:53 PM1 votes

The ranked system is reflective of a players skill. You went 7/10 in placements, but your MMR (hidden now) reflects how you did. The 3 matches you lost were likely the difference from being Silver III and above. In those 3 matches you were likely against players that were Silver I or Gold players. You didn't win those so it impacted you in such a way.

The placement matches do not favor any player more than another. The higher tier players have a higher mmr so they go against opponents of that mmr in the their placement matches which is why they can go 9-1/8-2 and still end up in Diamond IV or up. Season wipes clear all rating but mmr is never truly wiped. Would you like to have challenger level players in placement matches against your bronze mid lane making you lose even harder?