Changing the Game's Team Dynamic to a more individualistic One
How can I reach out to the head game development team at Riot. I would like them to see this post, because I am curious to know if they have ever discussed this or even thought about it at all in this light.
Currently this game is heavily team oriented. Riot forces strangers to band together to try and beat their opponents and claim victory. Cool concept, nothing new and I think we can all agree is very enjoyable. However, like everything else in this world, there are flaws. The big flaw is that the team dynamic revolves around strangers working together as one to achieve a singular goal. Why this is a problem should be pretty obvious, but if you can't see it right away, lets compare this game to Futbol (Soccer). In Futbol, your team consists of a close knit group of friends, so if you formed a team, where the players were picked randomly off the streets and pitted them against another team, again randomly selected strangers, there is a very high chance that the entire game is going to be one big mess of people attempting to work together but failing at most instances. Eventually one team will win, but honestly, can you really call either of them a "team". This is where LOL is at, and most other games in this genre as well, a group of strangers attempting to work as a team in unison.
Where League should be at. Instead of forcing strangers to work together as one they should be forced to work together as individuals. I would like you to think of the sport of Track and Field. In Track and Field you have, what I like to call, a team of individuals. In order for your team to win, all YOU need to do is be the best individual and better than your opponent. If you have a teammate who is having a bad day and gets disqualified from his event, YOU can make up the difference and all YOU have to do is just be an even better individual. In the end the winning team is the team consisting of the best individuals. Now, It gets a little tricky trying to explain this logic in terms of LOL because, for one, the game does not follow this type of team dynamic and as a result of that, there are several different ways you would be able to implement it into the game.
My opinion, as to why this game is and never will be able to function optimally with the idea of a team dynamic where, everyone needs to work together as one, is due to a single attitude, "If it is not in my lane, it is not my problem." This attitude is prevalent everywhere in the game, no matter the ELO you reside in. If you look hard enough you will even be able to see it in professional games and of course, the lower in ELO you go the more and more prevalent it becomes. I also believe this is the biggest cause for most of the toxicity.
I have one idea I think would be able to transition LOL from a 'True Team' dynamic to one of a 'Team of Individuals'. Currently, the jungler has the most responsibilities because, aside from turrets and inhibitors, all the objectives are within the jungle. Not only are they withing in HIS jungle, but he is typically the only one to run smite. What that means is even if the jungler has an entire team working together with him, he is still the one responsible for securing Baron, Dragon, Herald. I recommend Riot assists their jungler and spread some of his responsibilities to his allies.
Take these ideas with a grain of salt. They are only meant to be something to think about in order to change the games team dynamic to one of a 'Team of Individuals' approach. In the comments you should post your own ideas on how to changing the game's team dynamic to a more individualistic one. I definitely want the head game development team to see this because I truly believe this can only improve and will improve the State of LOL.
What if the Herald gave a team buff and could only be secured by either the Mid or Top Lane? What if Herald also gave the individual whom secured it extra power? What if the Dragon gave a team buff and could only be secured by either the Bot or Mid Lane? What if Herald also gave the individual whom secured it extra power? What if there was a third jungle objective that could only be secured by the Jungle or Top Lane? Again, extra power to the one whom secured it. What if there was a fourth jungle objective that could only be secured by the Jungle or Bot Lane? Again, extra power to the one whom secured it. What if in each lane there was a miniature herald or miniature dragon that gave a smaller buff to the one whom secured it?