Is the placement system fair? Just how "soft" are the resets?
So here's the thing everyone. . After a lot of hard work and grinding, I managed to climb my way from bronze 4 at my lowest point to gold 4. During the time I reached gold, I also made another account, leveled it to 30 and did placements. It got into silver 4. I then went back to my main until this season started. I began by playing my placements for the second account. I did this completely alone, and ended up winning 9 games in a row before one final loss. Want to know the placement? Silver 4. Again. I have clearly demonstrated my skills being that of a gold player and even won the first 9 games in a row. I was in no way carried or granted some "lucky" streak. My opponents were often former golds and even a scattering of plats. How is this fair or accurate?
Why I'm actually on this community forum is fairly simple. I'd like Riot to man up to how their "soft" resets work and demand an explanation if not some kind of a change. I demonstrated a very good streak of games and skill, yet this is how I was rewarded? The exact same placement as before. I'm sure I'm not the only person who's been cheated, because that is the only way I can describe this situation, out of any kind of advancement when I know for a fact my skill are above that of riots "placement." This game is supposed to be, at least to some degree, balanced and fair. And yet here I am again feeling like I have been wronged. I have put in a lot time on this game. I have played well into the thousands of games. I am not claiming to be a god or that I should be far above where I was placed. I am merely pointing out this clearly broken system that Riot seems to have. I know I am a gold tier player, with dreams of climbing ever higher of course, but still a gold player none the less. What I'm here for is to bring to question why I was again placed so poorly after very clear displaying improvement. Why, when I have clear evidence of having made great strides in my skills at this game received such punishment as to be placed in the exact same league after such a successful turnout for my placements?
Obviously, the fact that my smurf was placed poorly has not greatly distressed me, but I believe it's a pretty accurate example of how Riot's system is clearly flawed to the point of being outdated. Riot, if you ever get around to reading this, I'd love to hear how you manage to explain this to me. Frankly, I have much less enthusiasm for playing my main accounts placements and even bothering with this game in general when hard work is so clearly not rewarded with even a fair placement. I understand what it means to earn your rank and just how hard it can be to grind this game out, seeking those shiny borders and the diminishing honor they have. I say diminishing because it doesn't seem to me that they are worth really anything other than just what I described them as. Shiny borders with no true representation of my skill as a player. Yet I still want to enjoy this game, and grind it out and get better. But not if it is not rewarded or even properly shown.
As a member of this community and the one who is voicing what a good many of my fellow players probably have on our minds after the sheer disappointment of what we believed were successful placement games, I demand some answers. Now I speak to the community directly. If you have also had similar feelings or examples such as I have had, please, voice them here and now. This is clearly an issue that needs to be addressed if not at the very least explained to us all more clearly. I want to bring attention to this because for the first time in my nearly 3 years of playing this game, am truly beginning to wonder why on earth I put myself through the stress and hardships of ranked only for Riot to make it all seem worthless and why the mmr system seems so broken. Sure, you can claim the whole point of the system is to climb and if I really am a gold player, it should take no effort to get back to it. But how does it make sense to force players to have to climb through the elo hell that they have already spent so much time and effort to get out of? Why on earth would I want to fight my way through the entirety of silver when I know and have proven that I am a gold player. Yes, I may have not proven that the first placements of my second account but I very clearly have on the current ones.
If you made it this far I thank you for your time and attention. Again, I am not some challenger player or League enthusiast who knows every aspect of the game and has great weight behind my words. But what I do have is experience with every inch of this game and its community. I am the middle man here. A simple gold player seeking some justice and knowledge. If you take away anything from this rather long rant, let it be that I want to improve and Riot doesn't seem to be letting that happen. I'm not asking for an easier time or special treatment. I wouldn't enjoy the game if it did not give me a chance to show and improve my skills against the rest of the world. All I'm asking is.... Why? Why is my hard work not recognized by Riot? I'm interested to see what everyone has to say (that includes you too RIOT!) on this subject. I've placed a poll asking if you think the placement system is broken or not. Answer honestly and maybe we could start seeing some changes to a fairer system.
I wish you all the best and maybe I'll see you on the rift someday.
