@Riot Autofill Questions and request for Analysis

I want to break down my experience with AutoFill as a Plat Support Main. As of writing this post I have logged 184 ranked games and currently in Plat IV. I would like to move to Diamond this season and have been working on improving my support game to do so. Last season I reached Plat 1 failed my series and fell back to Plat IV by season end. (We don't talk about those dark days!)

TL:DR: I am looking for transparency on auto-fill rates/win rates/report rates and overall experience of play as it impacts ranked and to be a part of the discussion as to its impact on ranked.

First, I have no problem with the notion of autofill. I understand it is is to reduce queue times in off hours so that folks can play games. If a game is 20 - 40 minutes, and you have to wait 30 minutes to play...well that would be frustrating. I fully support auto-fill in the normal queue.

Recently Riot has moved to creating articles that allow for transparency of the company. Articles about character creations, reworks and the like. I would love an article on your analysis of autofill in ranked.

Please know, that being against autofill in ranked would likely result in me winning less games. The most common role that is autofilled is support, and going against a non-support player is easy. It makes the lane easy, feeds my ADC and usually can push us through to a win. Non-support mains don't know how to ward, aren't aware of bot lane gank routes and usually are easy to out maneuver with abilities.

However, I don't want to win at the expense of someones game experience. That other support doesn't want that role...and they certainly don't want to deal with the team that is getting frustrated with them as we outplay them in a role they aren't practiced with. And, if the player wanted to play that role they would. They don't, they want their main roles.

Also, for my game experience playing vs an autofill is not rewarding. I want to play against other support mains. I want to experience their play style, learn from it and improve...OR beat them and feel satisfied that I was playing vs someone else that mains their role.

I like to akin it to the Pro scene. Faker is the best mid laner in LoL? Or at least, is amazing. If another pro played him and Faker was ADC or Jungle...and the other pro won...it wouldn't be beating Faker. To beat Faker you want to beat him in the mid lane.

When I play vs non-support mains, it isn't as rewarding.

A few times this season I went back through my match history and looked at each person that fed (scores like 0/8) on both teams. Each time they were in a role they didn't play. Now, I can't know if they were autofilled...but when I see a Fiora main in the jungle as Noct (1 game played)....or a mid main that is bot lane as EZ (0 games played) then it looks like autofilled.

That is a negative impact on the game experience for both teams. Ranked is not a place to grow in a role, or to try a new champion. It is a place to play your preferred role and go against others doing the same.

Also, in promo/series you will not be autofilled....but will your team be? I have noticed on a few promo's that the other team or my team had someone going 0/5 and they are not in their preferred role based on match history. Now, they could have queued up as jungle randomly or adc randomly, but that doesn't seem right and certainly not every time.

I watch the LoL Championships...and there can be some lag between the games. The teams go back and chat/meet with their coaches. We could make that process faster, and make the games in championships go faster if we just randomized the roles of the Pro's and then had them fight each other. No need to talk to a coach when you don't know what role you will be playing next. Faker ADC.. Kami Top...mix it up. And let's face it...they would do fine in a new role.

But would the matches be as epic? No. They would be lackluster as the players hoped to get a role they can really shine in.

When autofill impacts ranked it makes the games lackluster. And I think that is a real shame.

So, my ask is...what data is there? Where is the conversation? Let's talk about it and figure it out. There must be a way and a solution and I'm sure your team is already thinking/reviewing and trying to bring something to the table. I would love to see the data and hear from that team.

If there is an article I have missed in my googling, please share it!

The only article I know if is the one that explains WHY autofill was created. It showed lag times in games and role choices.

But now that it has been created, how is it impacting wins? How is it impacting player engagement with the game? I am curious!

Thanks!