Why ranked?: Why ranked isn't fun or rewarding right now

Calibansfury·3/20/2016, 7:23:41 PM·3 votes·714 views

Today I played four ranked games so far. Here are the results:

Game 1: Victory 9-7-14, promoted to bronze 2, no LP (thanks Riot) Game 2: Victory 9-2-2, +20LP Game 3: Loss 3-3-1, - 19 LP Game 4: Victory 8-2-8, +19LP

So, after four games and 126 minutes played, with 3 wins out of 4, a respectable 75% win rate, i'm at 20LP. In all wins I was an A or an S, in the loss I was a B.

This is discouraging, and feels like an enormous waste of time. And this is why ranked league isn't fun or, more specifically, rewarding:

The one loss wasn't just a loss, it NEGATED the previous win.

So, not only was the loss a missed opportunity to advance in ranked, it erased any success of the previous game. This is why it can take dozens of games to move from one rank to the next. It's not one step forward and one back, it's two steps back. I've played two games for basically zero total points. I could've just watched some TFS parodies, played ZERO games, and end up with the same number of points! So why play ranked at all?

Solution: Why not have grades used for more than just hextech crafting and mastery points? Grades should be used as modifiers for LP won and lost. This will encourage players to make better decisions and strive for better outcomes and discourage trolls, afks, etc

In the current system you can go 12-2 top, get an S- score, yet lose, losing just as much LP as the 0-13 zed mid.

Because...y'know...that's fair.

In a game like that, where you lose but get an A grade or higher, why not have the player only lose a fraction of the LP, or even none at all?

Grade=S IP loss: 0 (you obviously played very well, maybe did all you could, but lost) Grade=A IP loss: 3-5 (you played well and likely weren't the central cause of the loss) Grade=B IP loss: 10 Grade=C IP loss: standard 15-25 Grade=sub C IP loss: standard + additional LP loss, as your performance probably contributed largely to the loss. This would greatly penalize not only those who tend to feed due to poor / unwise gameplay, but trolls who deliberately feed.

Similarly, why not reward someone for being the carry? How many times have you gone 12-2 and carried the 1-7 top lane to victory? Does that person deserve as much LP as you? Is that really indicative of their skill in solo queue? Of course not.

Grade=S IP earned: Standard +10 Grade=A IP earned: Standard +5-7 Grade=B IP earned: Standard Grade=C IP earned: standard or standard - small amount Grade=Sub C IP earned: standard - penalty

Applying this system (and if Riot would award LP for my game 3 promo victory) I'd have played and won two with an A or S grade, putting me around 50LP, lost one with a B grade, only losing about 10LP, then winning the next, with an A or better and arriving at a much more acceptable 60-65 LP after four games played.

What do you guys think?

4 Comments

ff4sk3/20/2016, 8:17:30 PM2 votes

This is actually a great idea and would actually benefit pretty much everybody actually looking to climb. All the the rewards and stuff for doing well are slightly too high I feel the decreased LP loss based on your performance is really good and would encourage people to do better

JRobin313/20/2016, 8:36:34 PM2 votes

I don't think winning or losing the game should be the determining factor on whether or not you had "fun" but it makes sense as the determining factor of whether or not you get "rewarded".

Bravoh3/20/2016, 7:47:55 PM1 votes

Becuase you have to be held responsible for the actions of 1-4 other people who you do not know. Because its a team game, and thats riots philosophy.