Some idea's on making SoloQ measure solo skill level

TL;DR: Base the calculations of LP change at the end of a game on the rank that the individual player has gained in the game (from D- to S+), rather than only on the outcome of the game. You can get LP gains in losses, and LP losses in wins. This makes SoloQ measure individual skill level more accurately, and most likely helps to reduce the impact 'elohell' has on the game.

As many of you probably already know and maybe even have experienced, we have something in the game that is commonly called 'elohell' (with or without a space). The fact that such a term even exists in the game, worries me quite a lot. And, as somebody who is experiencing this myself, it's also annoying me on a daily basis and taking out almost all the fun of the game.

Now then, what exactly is the problem? The fact is that in low elo games, teams are usually made up by people that are playing above their elo and people that are playing below their elo. The problem with this is that the players that are playing below their elo, can cause a game loss quite often due to their inexperience in the game (no offense indended here). This is not only unhealthy for the game, but also annoying for the entire team: The people that are playing below their elo are getting smashed in their games and cannot improve their skill due to the large skill discrepancy, while the people that play above their elo win their lanes and usually a large part of the map pretty hard, but still lose the game due to bad teamwork and cannot improve their skill either (because they far outclass the opponent).

The reason for this is pretty simple and I have experienced this myself when I first started playing ranked: New players that are still learning the game are put in divisions that are much higher than their own skill level. This causes better players to lose games quite often, while the new players are sometimes getting carried and thus stay in roughly the same division. When I first started playing ranked, I was placed in S5 (this was in Season 4) after a 3/7 provisionals series. In Season 5 and 6, I have been placed in B1 and B2 respectively, while being much, much better than I was in Season 4.

Now I get that it's really hard to measure somebody's skill level when he is first starting playing ranked. I also get that your provisionals place you below your skill level, because you have to prove again that you have what it takes to reach that skill level in ranked.

The problem is that in low elo, how fast you can reach your own skill level, almost completely depends on the performance of your team members and not on how well you play. In my opinion, such things are reserved for 5v5 ranked, not for SoloQ. SoloQ is meant to measure your own skill level, and not the skill level of the whole team combined.

Of course, a good player is capable of making his own team play better, regardless of how good/bad his team members are. However, this is practically impossible to achieve and learn, if everybody thinks what they do is the best way to play the game.

So, let's get to the point: Right now, if I'm not mistaken, the LP change (gain/loss) is based on the outcome of the game (win/loss), the combined MMR of both teams and your own MMR. If you win against a better team (higher MMR), you gain more LP than when you would have if you won against a team with lower MMR and vice versa. The problem with this is that you always lose LP whenever you lose a game, regardless of how well you played that game. In my opinion, that sounds a lot more like team ranked than solo ranked. SoloQ should measure the individual skill, not the combined skill of the team.

So, my solution to this: Don't base the calculations of the LP change on the outcome of the game alone, but also base it on how well the player played that game. Usually, this would be hard to measure, but Riot has already introduced such a thing with the champion masteries: The rank you get at the end of the game. I have noticed that a lot of different things affect the rank you get at the end of the game, and I usually agree on the rank that I gain. For example, you never get a rank below A-, if you played pretty well.

Therefore, the LP change should be based on the rank that you gain: If you gain an S- in a loss (which I have gained quite a couple of times already, so it's not impossible), this usually indicates that you played really well and thus you should be awarded for that. Of course, you shouldn't get the same amount of LP you would have gained if you won the game, but you should get some LP at least and most definitely not lose LP. And, it also works the other way around: if you gain a D+ (yes, that rank exists) in a win, it is an indicator that you played really poorly (and despite that, your team still managed to win, but that doesn't matter here) and thus you should be punished for that.

The same principle can maybe be used for promo's: They don't depend anymore on the amount of wins and losses, but on the amount of high and low ranks you have gained during the promo's.

I think this will actually solve a huge part of the so-called 'elohell' that LoL has: It forces you to play well, if you want to climb the ladder. Getting carried will not let you climb the ladder, unless you are responsible for a player's ability to carry the game. I have also seen that buying items and playing in a way that helps your team, and not just you, highly affects the rank you gain at the end of the game. (Buying support items for example greatly inproves the rank you get, meaning that people are more willing to play support, which then again shortens queue times.)

Anybody with some idea's/suggestions/comments?

PS: Posted this as well on the EUW boards.