What if your grade reflected on your ELO loss/gain?

DebosBike·Nov 2, 2015·2 votes·1,520 views

Just had a thought today..

I know and understand well that this is a team based game, but a team is built around individual contributions towards the group whole, so why not give some credit where credit is due?

What would everyone think if your grade for your selected role affected your ELO? I.E. your normal gain of 5 is now 10 because you were rated S, or inversely it could be turned into a 1 or a 2 gain for a very poor grade in a match where you essentially were a drag on the team and got carried.

Now this would also affect elo loss, perhaps with an S rating, you receive a loss of only 1 or maybe it could negate the loss entirely.

What would this mean? It would basically mean that calmly doing your best will always see your deeds rewarded. The team element would remain the ultimate ideal, but now getting mismatched with your team wouldn't always mean your entire half an hour to an hour of gameplay is now wasted.

So what do you guys think? Could this solve some issues with ELO progression? In theory, those that perform well as part of the team and in their respective roles would rise faster while those that impair their teams would settle into their proper rankings more accurately.

I had this thought because the ranking system in this game was originally intended for solo play in games such as chess so it seems like there should be an extra factor to account for the fact that it is a 5 man team. I do know that the ranking system is slightly different from the original ELO system, but it still essentially functions the same, and still garners the same complaints.

So, what does everyone think? Discuss!

9 Comments

Deep Terror NamiNov 2, 20153 votes

Discussing this gets exhausting, so I'll keep it simple;

If people get more LP based on their personal scores, then they will be playing to get a good score rather than to win the game. Good scores == winning. The nexus is the only point that matters, and how you accomplish that is irrelevant.

DebosBikeNov 2, 20151 votes

Thats why I was saying to make it for their grade, not their direct score.

I have had 17 kills, and 2 deaths before and still only got a C or a B rating. There seems to be additional criteria, that in my opinion, seemed fairly accurate. So if you get more elo or lose less for playing your role effectively (being a benefit to your team) then this could be encouraged by what I was suggesting

Deep Terror NamiNov 2, 20152 votes

The grade is based on your score, whichever one I say doesn't change it. Having a high "grade" does not mean you helped your team win.

You can steal CS and kills, run away from teamfights leaving your team to die, take outer turrets when the Nexus is open, take Dragon while your team dies at Baron, spam heals on a high hp tank instead of saving a carry, or focus damage on a tank instead of kill a priority target. All those will raise your score but lose you the game. All of those things will give you a better grade, but lose you the game. Giving you LP based on anything other than the Nexus kill only promotes harmful selfish play.

PredatoreNov 2, 20152 votes

I wish and it is a great idea.

EndlessSorcererNov 2, 20152 votes

Are you very fed while your team is fair behind? If so, would you:

Try to help your team recover to win the game, possibly sacrificing your KDA by dying against fed enemies if it doesn't work out.
Try to farm and avoid dying until the game ends to protect your score.

Unfortunately, many players would pick option 2 to minimize the loss for them personally.

DebosBikeNov 2, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Are you very fed while your team is fair behind? If so, would you:

Try to help your team recover to win the game, possibly sacrificing your KDA by dying against fed enemies if it doesn't work out.

Try to farm and avoid dying until the game ends to protect your score.

Unfortunately, many players would pick option 2 to minimize the loss for them personally.

Grade has much more to do than having feed. It involves playing your assigned role well and not feeding the enemy team kills. Sometimes that means getting assists, sometimes it means being around for team fights. I'm not entirely certain what the grading criteria is, but in my experience it has been fairly accurate.

Also, it is not that I don't feel that the system works, it does. Players with good teamwork still rise through the ranks, it just takes a long time and there is a bit of luck involved in rising quickly. This would MAINLY be helping to alleviate that dread when the game is just going poorly. There would be less raging if a player still had a goal to work towards.

I believe that positive reinforcement always works best. The threat of a ban won't always influence a player, but if they can still work towards less of a loss for their scores you may see less people going afk, feeding, or d/c'ing when the game isn't going well.

1 800 MID LANENov 2, 20151 votes

Honestly, I've always felt that it already goes by grade to some extent. I tend to lose less LP if I've gotten a decent grade than when I get a poor grade. Maybe I'm just imagining things.

Deep Terror NamiNov 2, 20151 votes

LP gains fluctuate based on your MMR and the perceived difficulty of the match (enemy MMR), and supposedly one side has a slightly higher win rate so they give that side slightly less LP (I always forget which side). If you do good and get more LP than when you did poorly, it's just a coincidence.