Why am I forced into playing ONLY Support if I take it as…

Kassaapparat · 2016-05-29T11:19:15.134Z

Before going into the problem I'll tell you all that I'm a Mid main and a former Support main. These are the two roles I like playing and I am pretty good at both of them. However, whenever I try playing ranked I queue up as Mid as my primary choice and Support as my secondary choice. But because of the fact that I like playing Support and I take it as my secondary pick. I don't have any chance of playing Mid, which is my PRIMARY pick. I've currently played 14 ranked games and I've been in 25 lobbies. ALL OF THESE AS SUPPORT. How is that fair to us Support players!? Just because we like playing Support it doesn't mean that we want to play it all the time! Right now I'm getting more and more frustrated that I'm getting shafted out of playing my favorite role, just because I want to play the times I don't get it. Picking something as PRIMARY should mean that you get it most games, but I haven't gotten Mid ONCE during these 25 lobbies... Something is clearly wrong with your system Riot, since I can't even play mid once out of 25 lobbies. Why are we Support players forced into only playing Support, just because we take it as our secondary position. If this continues less and less Support players will pick Support (or fill) as their secondary. Instead opting for more popular roles (like Top/Mid) that we don't even like/want to play. JUST IN ORDER TO PLAY OUR PRIMARY PICK. I (and I assume other Support players) wouldn't mind having longer queue times in order to get our primary position, because as it stands right now, I'm getting tired and frustrated of playing ONLY Support. But I don't want to risk my ELO by playing positions I don't like and am inexperienced with...

KassaapparatMay 29, 201617 votes

Wonder why people don't pick support... Since you are forced to ONLY play it. It doesn't matter how few people there are queueing for support, just because I take it as SECONDARY I shouldn't get it 100% of the time.

a w1ld bulbasaurMay 29, 20165 votes

if you don't want support, then don't put it as your secondary.

Boom, problem solved.

RocketRelmMay 30, 20167 votes

Why do I hear this so much, as if it's actual advice? I mean I get the pure-sarcasm tongue in cheek response to just not pick support, but even that's a "dank meme" by now.

This is a coping mechanism to deal with the problem, these threads want 'solutions' to the problems.

a w1ld bulbasaurMay 30, 20162 votes

well the actual response i would give would be that so many people don't want to play support, that you have a high chance of getting it. If he doesn't want to play supp but still have it has his secondary, I would just play with friends so that one of them will take primary support if they like the role so you have a less chance of getting it. But there are just so many people thinking that support isn't fun so why should i play it? It is something the player base has to fix mainly.

AtheosisXMay 30, 20165 votes

[{quoted}](name=a w1ld bulbasaur,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=E7y4Ff2p,comment-id=00020000000000000000,timestamp=2016-05-30T00:51:32.648+0000)

well the actual response i would give would be that so many people don't want to play support, that you have a high chance of getting it. If he doesn't want to play supp but still have it has his secondary, I would just play with friends so that one of them will take primary support if they like the role so you have a less chance of getting it. But there are just so many people thinking that support isn't fun so why should i play it? It is something the player base has to fix mainly.

People keep missing the issue. Lots of people used to be fine with or even happy playing support if they couldn't get their preferred role, but since they will always get support if they take it as their secondary role, those people have simply stopped playing support altogether now.

BladegloryMay 30, 20164 votes

Unfortunately, you're both correct. When Dynamic queue came out, if support had been selected as often as other roles we wouldn't be in this mess. However, since far less people are willing to support at all, it's created a downward spiral where the people with lower tolerance for support are slowly weeded out. Or maybe it was just a quick drop and flat-line. Whatever.

My point is that it's the players' fault just as much as Riot's design's. Maybe everybody on a team has to have a 1 in 5 chance of being drafted for support unless somebody chooses it as their main. :D

David XanatosMay 29, 20162 votes

Not ripping your comment, but this is why this system(along with a lot of Riot's changes) is a complete cluster fuck. Had he put "fill" as his secondary, I could live with a statement like this. You are filling a need for the team which is probably 95-98% of the time. I'm cool with that. Putting Support as a secondary shouldn't yield the same percentage.

Baby GhoulMay 29, 20164 votes

{quoted}

Not ripping your comment, but this is why this system(along with a lot of Riot's changes) is a complete cluster fuck. Had he put "fill" as his secondary, I could live with a statement like this. You are filling a need for the team which is probably 95-98% of the time. I'm cool with that. Putting Support as a secondary shouldn't yield the same percentage.

I did read what OP said. This issue has been addressed a million times though. There are so many things that should and shouldn't be on LoL.

The support role does need to be updated, but I don't see that happening given this board's fascination with the assassin role.

The support is the most versatile role in the game, and many of the champions are top picks in other lanes like top or mid. You can easily learn another role in probably a day or two of playing normals because you already have experience playing them as support. Just simply queue up for another lane if you do not feel like playing support.

The community has snubbed the support role and that isn't something Riot can fix all on their own.

manbearswineMay 30, 20161 votes

{quoted}

I did read what OP said. This issue has been addressed a million times though. There are so many things that should and shouldn't be on LoL.

The support role does need to be updated, but I don't see that happening given this board's fascination with the assassin role.

How is hatred=fascination exactly?

The support is the most versatile role in the game,

I'd say mid lane is more versatile.

and many of the champions are top picks in other lanes like top or mid.

Like who exactly? Lulu isn't top tier anymore, and that's pretty much the only one I can think of.

You can easily learn another role in probably a day or two of playing normals because you already have experience playing them as support. Just simply queue up for another lane if you do not feel like playing support.

I don't feel like that's the case really, depends on the person, thing about the support role is that it's so easy to get you can end up playing other roles very rarely.

The community has snubbed the support role and that isn't something Riot can fix all on their own.

And when exactly did the community do that?

The GovernerMay 30, 20162 votes

{quoted}

And when exactly did the community do that?

Have you ever seen people complaining about "why am I forced into playing only <insert any role except support here> if I take it as secondary?"

That's right. A majority of the community dislike playing support role and have swept it under the rug for a very long time. That's not something Riot can resolve all on their own. The community also has to change.

Baby GhoulMay 30, 20161 votes

How is hatred=fascination exactly?

A lot of people play assassins. I don't believe they're a hard class to balance. They should return to their original glass cannon state, but everyone is asking for an assassin update around the boards.

Like who exactly? Lulu isn't top tier anymore, and that's pretty much the only one I can think of.

You can still play Lulu in top or mid.

Morgana and Zyra mid are very strong right now. You can also take Karma, Zilean, Lux, etc.

If you want to go top, you usually can't go wrong with Nautilus.

Mid lane is not more versatile, it is mages and assassins. That's not versatility.

I don't feel like that's the case really, depends on the person, thing about the support role is that it's so easy to get you can end up playing other roles very rarely.

I gave other suggestions as to why if you play support, you can easily switch to another role, and you wouldn't need to learn a completely new set of champions because so many support champions can be played in other lanes. There's also a wider variety of champions to choose from as a support, and you can still play a mage if you can't get mid and do a considerable amount of damage. As a support main, you do need to know how to play a variety of champions and that can come in handy if you're ever tired of playing support right now.

Yeah it's not perfect, but do you honestly believe Riot is going to try to make the queue times longer? The root of the problem is people are not queuing up for support. There are not enough supports anymore. It isn't hard to see why either.

That is the big issue that needs to be addressed by some people here. Riot can't fix that problem on their own. There's no will to fix the support role. We need to stop throwing bandaids on the problem and actually update the support role in a meaningful way. So much of the support role feels clunky at the moment, so I understand why people avoid it and older support mains have called it quits and gone mid/top. Something needs to be done.

And when exactly did the community do that

The queue times.

manbearswineMay 30, 20161 votes

{quoted}

A lot of people play assassins.

And even more people hate them. Hell there was even a poll here somewhere, assassins beat everyone else combined for being the most hated class if I remember correctly.

I don't believe they're a hard class to balance. They should return to their original glass cannon state, but everyone is asking for an assassin update around the boards.

They aren't, riot is simply planning one, but people aren't asking for an assassin update.

You can still play Lulu in top or mid.

She's average at best, far from top tier.

Morgana and Zyra mid are very strong right now. You can also take Karma, Zilean, Lux, etc.

People are way too liberal with the term "very strong", both are average at best, and I'm leaning more towards the "notably weaker than meta champs".

If you want to go top, you usually can't go wrong with Nautilus.

Again, far from a top tier pick right now.

Mid lane is not more versatile, it is mages and assassins. That's not versatility.

You have utility mages, adcs, burst mages, whatever the hell gp is, zone control mages, assassins, whatever chogath is/etc, the support role is currently dominated by tanks and utility supports to a lesser extent, I mean maybe zyra can give them a run for their money, but as far as serious picks go that's about it.

I gave other suggestions as to why if you play support, you can easily switch to another role, and you wouldn't need to learn a completely new set of champions because so many support champions can be played in other lanes. There's also a wider variety of champions to choose from as a support, and you can still play a mage if you can't get mid and do a considerable amount of damage. As a support main, you do need to know how to play a variety of champions and that can come in handy if you're ever tired of playing support right now.

Yeah and I don't feel that to be true, other roles are different, even if you play the same champs.

Yeah it's not perfect, but do you honestly believe Riot is going to try to make the queue times longer?

no.

The root of the problem is people are not queuing up for support. There are not enough supports anymore. It isn't hard to see why either.

That's not the root of the problem, that's somewhere in the body. The root is that the support role is unappealing to most people(ok not the root, the root would be why that is specifically, I have theories, could be the fact it's often a target for flaming(unlikely, as frankly the jungler has it worse), could be lack of gold/exp, could be reliance on another laner(unlikely, as the adc is in the same boat) or could be a combinations of these(likely, but I doubt they all have the same effect)).

That is the big issue that needs to be addressed by some people here. Riot can't fix that problem on their own. There's no will to fix the support role. We need to stop throwing bandaids on the problem and actually update the support role in a meaningful way. So much of the support role feels clunky at the moment, so I understand why people avoid it and older support mains have called it quits and gone mid/top. Something needs to be done.

I mean I don't disagree(not at all), but that does look like the problem is not the community, but the game itself.

The queue times.

Again that's just a symptom of the actual problem.

Baby GhoulMay 30, 20161 votes

I pretty much disagree with most of what you just said except for the XP part. Fixing the leveling issues is just good balance in general. I feel like most supports can do a lot on their budget, but the XP thing makes it even more difficult. Maybe Riot can go further.

I tried to get my friend to play support recently and they kept asking me why they were so far behind everyone but the enemy support. It is a big frustrating problem right now. You should not be levels behind when you're playing well simply because you're the support. I would say that stuff isn't easy to balance though.

If there was a support update I would imagine it would have less to do with kits, except for a select few, and more to do with what it means to be a support in this game. This game has morphed over the years, for better or for worse, but the support role has largely gone unchanged and is showing signs of aging.

The support role will never be the most popular role, but I can't shake the feeling that it just isn't what it used to be. The new queue system has put a spotlight on it.

RogueWillMay 30, 20162 votes

{quoted}

I pretty much disagree with most of what you just said except for the XP part. Fixing the leveling issues is just good balance in general. I feel like most supports can do a lot on their budget, but the XP thing makes it even more difficult. Maybe Riot can go further.

I tried to get my friend to play support recently and they kept asking me why they were so far behind everyone but the enemy support. It is a big frustrating problem right now. You should not be levels behind when you're playing well simply because you're the support. I would say that stuff isn't easy to balance though.

If there was a support update I would imagine it would have less to do with kits, except for a select few, and more to do with what it means to be a support in this game. This game has morphed over the years, for better or for worse, but the support role has largely gone unchanged and is showing signs of aging.

The support role will never be the most popular role, but I can't shake the feeling that it just isn't what it used to be. The new queue system has put a spotlight on it.

The XP problem is actually quite easy to fix. Similar to item 1041 and item 1039 just tie the XP to the items item 3302 item 3301 and item 3092 and make it proc whenever the item activates adjusting them accordingly.

RogueWillMay 30, 20162 votes

{quoted}

And even more people hate them. Hell there was even a poll here somewhere, assassins beat everyone else combined for being the most hated class if I remember correctly.

They aren't, riot is simply planning one, but people aren't asking for an assassin update.

She's average at best, far from top tier.

People are way too liberal with the term "very strong", both are average at best, and I'm leaning more towards the "notably weaker than meta champs".

Again, far from a top tier pick right now.

You have utility mages, adcs, burst mages, whatever the hell gp is, zone control mages, assassins, whatever chogath is/etc, the support role is currently dominated by tanks and utility supports to a lesser extent, I mean maybe zyra can give them a run for their money, but as far as serious picks go that's about it.

Yeah and I don't feel that to be true, other roles are different, even if you play the same champs.

no.

That's not the root of the problem, that's somewhere in the body. The root is that the support role is unappealing to most people(ok not the root, the root would be why that is specifically, I have theories, could be the fact it's often a target for flaming(unlikely, as frankly the jungler has it worse), could be lack of gold/exp, could be reliance on another laner(unlikely, as the adc is in the same boat) or could be a combinations of these(likely, but I doubt they all have the same effect)).

I mean I don't disagree(not at all), but that does look like the problem is not the community, but the game itself.

Again that's just a symptom of the actual problem.

Coming from a Jungle/Support main I had to change my secondary to mid so I could play my primary. Honestly my mid is limited to a rooster of 3 champions at most but now I can hold my own on the new position even if it is only with those 3 champions.

Seeing that you are a mid main I believe you are going to have a tougher time changing roles since supports usually do better on mid than any other lanes (played outside of the support role) but the tanky champions can actually top and a few of them are very decent at it. Nautilius and Taric are the best picks for that but Leona, Alistar and Braum can do decently if you have a carry jungler to feed. You other option is to do what I did and just pick a few champions that you like and learn them in your new position since is your secondary you wouldn't play them as much as you migth think

chipndip1May 30, 20162 votes

{quoted}

Not ripping your comment, but this is why this system(along with a lot of Riot's changes) is a complete cluster fuck. Had he put "fill" as his secondary, I could live with a statement like this. You are filling a need for the team which is probably 95-98% of the time. I'm cool with that. Putting Support as a secondary shouldn't yield the same percentage.

Except it implies the same thing

"You want X, but if we can't find it in a reasonable time frame or another queue has been waiting too long we'll put you on support since you said you're decently fond of that too"

Problem is that NO ONE wants to support, so the system ALWAYS needs to fill up the support spot.

RalimakMay 30, 20162 votes

LIAR! I chose support as primary, fill as secondary and got put in mid. I didn't want mid, I wanted support!

Why am I forced into playing ONLY Support if I take it as Secondary?

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