The case for Opt-Out Autofill (and re-examining queue dodge penalty)

Confession: I dodge when I get support. I have no experience with the role, and no real interest in playing it. I also imagine my team has little interest in having me playing support. With that out of the way.

I believe there's a case for allowing players to opt out of autofill. While there's nothing wrong with it as a matchmaking mechanic, I also think that a player who's willing to say "Eh I'll wait an extra 2 minutes to get my role" should be given that option. Some people will say that it buggers up everyone else's queue times too, but, those people can just have autofill on and get autofilled, n'est pas?

I'd like to divert for a moment to the topic of dodge penalties. I remember when those were introduced, and the scaling added. At the time it was when new champions were being released every 2 weeks, and each time it happened, there was a rush on people trying to play the new champ, and dodging when they didn't get them. It was specifically introduced to curb that, because every 2 weeks there was like a 3 day period where getting games was nigh on impossible.

We no longer live in that world, and the current dodge penalties are at this point an anachronism that's stuck around primarily due to custom and that no one has thought to change them. I don't actually really mind them myself, I can just spend 5 minutes doing other things while I wait, I think at this point they've also for the most part outlived their usefulness. Except perhaps when a new champ comes out, but, we mostly just ban those now anyway.

None of this has anything to do with LP loss for dodging, which is a separate issue I don't intend to address and don't think needs changing anyway.

At this point I think we should consider the possibility of opt-out autofill and asking ourselves why we need dodge penalties. 9 times in 10 a dodge happens and I've found I'm almost immediately dropped back into a new draft. It barely adds onto my time. The only issue I suppose is if someone dodges deeper into a draft, which is more annoying and perhaps should carry a heavier penalty than someone dodging at the start.

Personally I don't care about 'punishment' and don't think that's a good reason for queue dodge timers in and of itself. The question is, what effect would removing/reducing it have on the game. If it wouldn't be negative, it may be something worth considering.

And I much more strongly think that opt-out autofill is something we should consider. If someone wants to wait a bit longer, isn't that up to them?