Position Locking - Solution and System Idea
Alright, so I'm sure everyone has experienced or will experience a bad call on champion selection in terms of what positions will be played, what champion will be played in that position, or even just a silly argument as to who will play which position. (Usually due to lag or simply players who just don't care)
Well, I had something on my mind and felt like sharing it with the community. I'm sure similar ideas have been brought up, but this is a more specific on the mechanics of an actual system to be placed in champion select.
For starters, as soon as everyone has accepted and entered the pre-game lobby, rather than show the champion pool right off the bat, you get a list of 5 positions; Top Lane, Mid Lane, Bot Lane, Support, and Jungle. Of course, like stated before, there may be a few players who want to play the same position. To resolve this, everyone will have a mini timer after the position has been selected. During this timer, they can opt out for another position or wait for a random roll that will decide who gets the position. Now say there is a duo party who came in to take two certain positions. Those two players will have higher chances on their rolls; however, if the other 3 players decide that the duo is not viable, they can vote them out of their positions with a "contest selection" so to speak. A similar approach can also be used to open way for other composition strategies. (i.e. duo top) On the other hand, if there's a party of 3, these player (assuming) have more communication to offer for the team than the duo or two solo players. They will obviously have the edge in selection.
To go with this system, in early levels up to 30, a recommended champion selection can be brought up for each lane. This can be done by either keeping the brightness of the recommended champions and darkening the uncommon champions played in those lanes, or by just showing the recommended champions only. If needed (wanted), seeing this in ranked games could also prove useful with a focus more on Rank or MMR.
As this IS a TEAM game, this system could be a game changer for a lot of disliked aspects. Queue dodging and AFKs could be brought down tremendously if the players are truly looking for fair game. It would also help early level players learn how to make viable decisions when choosing lanes, champions, and team composition. I hope to see some positive response.
Sincerely, Death Sequel
UPDATE
As mentioned by SimplyIntricate, Ranked Team Builder would be an easier route. As an alternative, some of the system details mentioned above could be added to Team Builder, and also as mentioned, introduce Ranked Team Builder.