A suggested fix for ranked matchmaking, rating and end game
- The biggest issue with league of legends and most team based ranking games is the ELO system. It just doesn’t work. ELO was designed for 1v1 environments where only skill and intellect of the individual were accounted for. Chess was the first game to implement the ELO system, and it makes sense for chess rankings. Team games have multiple individuals, league has 10 people, playing the same game. It doesn’t make sense to individually rank players based on how badly teammates perform. Of course ELO, or MMR, is hidden information. The player doesn’t know why they, ranked silver 4, are playing with and against bronze 2 players. It inherently makes no sense and renders ranking useless if we continue to force players to be matched with players of similar skill based on an outdated algorithm.
I propose abandoning ELO. Instead assign each rank in a tier 1-5. So a player queuing up for a solo game will always without fail be ranked within 1 rank of their current level. For example, a bronze 3 would never play with bronze 5, or silver 5 players when queuing solo. If someone queues with a player of higher or lower rank, the higher ranked players rating wouldn’t be worth anything. For example: bronze 3 queues with silver 3, the other players in the game would be ranked bronze 2. The silver 3 player will be penalized for LP.
- Here is how I would fix LP. The game can detect when a player is going afk, so why can’t the same system fix itself for LP? Why should the rest of the players be penalised for someone going afk for the first 10 minutes of the game.
I have a couple solutions for this. First of all I would implement a feature like dota where the AFK character can be moved and used by the remaining teammates. OR I would implement, a Surrender function for only available if the player has been detected afk for longer than 3 minutes within the first 3 minutes of the game without penalty. Players might be able to game this system, so I would penalise the afk player 2 fold for LP.
As for LP, why not run a base 15 system; +15 for a win, -15 for a loss. League has recently introduced a player rating at the end of the game. Say for example a rating of S+ to A= +10 points, A- to B-=+5 points, B to C= 0 points, C- to D- = -5 or something of a similar sort. This way, a player who actually participates in the game, and does play their best even while losing would only be punished minimally. And a lousy player getting carried would not be rewarded. I say keep series and such, since that doesn’t matter as much when regarding individual skill. This would fix the problem I presented in being punished for being matched with terrible players, or trolls. If this were the case, I feel like most players wouldn’t complain about the ELO system any more because finally, we would be graded by our own performances rather than how the team plays.
I'm presenting these ideas as someone with stats in my back ground (engineering major, required to take stat classes).
The Riot Games Player Support representative SwainRen suggested I post these ideas here. So have a crack at it boys
