Suggestions for ARAM from an "ARAM Main"
Before I start let me just say a couple things about myself: I am a longtime player who played seriously back in Seasons 2 and 3. I am now just an ARAM player as the games are faster, generally a little less toxic, and for me more enjoyable than the standard summoners rift ordeal. In order to make ARAM even more fun for myself I have a couple self-imposed rules that I try to follow. I should note that I also own all champions at the moment, with the exception of Kayn. These self-imposed rules are:
- No dodging - With the exception of real life circumstances that I have no control over, I do not dodge for any game related reason. Doesn't matter if I get someone like Evelynn for the third game in a row or something. I will play it out.
- No ReRolling - This is probably the one I find the most enjoyable actually. Not rerolling a character allows me to play a variety and forces me to adapt in more situations. If I get a character I am unfamiliar with, like Kindred or a recently reworked champion, I use this as the time to figure out what they can do.
Those two things are probably what has helped keep me in ARAM, and League in general, for as long as it has. It helps break up any monotony of only playing a small group of champions over and over. Each game is new and unique.
With those in mind, there are also a couple things I would like to see changed to the ARAM system in general to make it live up more to it's name ALL RANDOM (since the all mind is kind of forced upon you). Please keep in mind that these are just suggestions. Some of these will have been mentioned before by other people. This is just my list. I will have reasons and thought processes below each of the points.
- All Champions Available
--- I realize that this may be one of the most debated topics in regards to ARAM but I feel it is also one of the most important. ARAM is, by definition, ALL RANDOM. While there are ARAM only accounts, one that only buy good ARAM champs (Lux, Ziggs, Jayce, etc), they aren't a huge problem in most games. However - having these accounts defeats the purpose of ALL random. Allow players to play new champions that they might now of before. While the overall skill level in ARAMs may go down from player playing unknown characters, you also can get someone really interested in a new character that they had only played against before. You have everyone play from the same pool of champions which could also lower the gap between people who only play on the few champions they bought just for ARAM and those who play a more widespread variety.
--- There would have to be a system in place for those people who received a champion that they did not own. My current thought is to simply not allow players to gain mastery points for champion's that they do not own. This does not impact a players progress towards purchasing a champion with IP, which won't drive players away from playing ARAM as much.
- Champion Locking upon Dodging
--- Dodging in Champion Select is a fairly big issue for ARAM players from what I have experienced. I usually have two or three dodges from people before I get a game in which everyone stays. Some of these people actually say they are dodging because of their character. ReRolls exist for a reason. The two rerolls should help lessen the amount of undesirable champions you get. The dodge mechanic should not be used as a third reroll, even with the current drawbacks. With the amount of dodging that is going on within ARAMs, the current penalties are not enough. My suggestion is that someone who dodges an ARAM will automatically be assigned that champion during their next ARAM game. They will be unable to trade with anyone else. I would suggest they also not be able to Reroll but I have a feeling that most people dodging due to character concerns have already used up their Rerolls.
--- Again - dodging should not be used as an extra reroll. If you received a champion that you do not particularly like, make the best of it and have fun. ARAMs are usually fairly quick in League terms and you will be onto the next game shortly after the current one is done.
--- EDIT w/ SUGGESTION: People pointed out that if they received champions they truly hated and didn't have reroll's they simply wouldn't play ARAM anymore, which would of course shrink the player base. I have a couple suggestions for this. The first of which is to have a self-ban option where you are allowed to have a couple champions that you will not receive as your random champion to play. Not enough to get rid of all of the undesirable champions but enough to eliminate a couple of those that you truly hate. The second is to have the champion lock wear off after a certain amount of time say... 48 hours. After that point the ban wears off and you are free to play again without having to worry about that champion.
Those are my two biggest ideas and thought processes at the moment for ARAMs. There are a couple other issues I feel should be addressed but aren't necessarily an ARAM specific issue. The biggest of these is rerolling the only tank on a team or simply not going tank when the team clearly needs it. I have a feeling that is just a pet peeve of mine and more of a playstyle thing rather than something that is a legitimate problem within ARAM which is supposed to be a more relaxed mode.
Please let me know what you think about the proposed suggestions to ARAMs. I would love to have a constructive conversation on this topic
Thanks, Kuthillick
tl;dr: All champs, if you dodge you get locked with champ
