Lessen the Dodge Penalty
There should definity be a penalty for dodging games at champ select. If there was no penalty at all it would be abused in ranked and que times would go through the roof even in normals. But as someone who uses the dodge mechanic very frequently, I want to explain why dodging is important and why it should be less punishing or have a different way of punishing players.
So why do I dodge games?
The most obvious reason, I get toxic players on my team. I test for toxicity as well, I'll type "how's everyone doing" and if I get a troll saying "kys" or something like that I'll dodge. The way people communicate is a good way to determine how they'll play. I'll also dodge if a teammate bans one of our teammates champions and doesn't give a reason for it. Lastly I will dodge games where our team composition is exponentially worse than the enemy teams. This last reason may seem to be bad or abusive of the system but pro players and even software like OpenAI will show how crucial champ select really is in a MOBA. This is a rare reason but I defend it nonetheless.
What is the current punishment system? Why is it flawed?
The current system will block you from playing for 6 minutes on your first dodge that day and if you are playing ranked you will lose 3 LP. The second dodge that day will prevent you from playing for 30 minutes and you'll lose 10 LP. The biggest issue with this is the reset. Your punishment only increases if you do it multiple times a day. So it's actually optimal to wait 16 hours after dodging before you que up again. This means if you don't want to play bad games (games with toxic players or games where you have a massive disadvantage before even loading in) you're going to have to wait a long time, sometimes you can go days without playing just because you dodge the first game each day, which is rare to be fair but still possible.
Overall you have two choices if you are a player that utilizes the dodge mechanic.
1. Wait the 16 hours in between each dodge and only play good games.
2. Ignore the wait period and dodge games with the understanding you will be waiting 30 minutes in between dodges and losing 10 LP each time.
The first one is the most optimal choice and is the easiest way to maintain a rank that corresponds to your MMR. The second choice will essentially ensure you become a 'smurf by rank' as you will not lose MMR and still play against people in the same MMR but find it much more difficult to rise up in the ranks. You will gain upwards of 28 LP per match, but you'll lose 1/3rd of that everytime you dodge.
What changes should be made?
Make the penalty a static 6 minute wait with a 4 LP loss. You need a temp ban and LP loss for it to not be abused, but it should not reset everyday and it should be fair enough that the mechanic doesn't turn people into low ranking smurfs with high MMR. It's silly to see gold players playing against people in their diamond promos.
