New player placements

tl;dr - Placements for previously unranked accounts should start in bronze, not silver

I've been playing in silver a lot lately and I've noticed something. Every once in a while there'll be a player who's so bad that I just feel sorry for him. While silver isn't known for being the best league players, we don't give them enough credit; they really have come a long way. That fact is made very clear when you put a fresh level 30 in one of their games. Ranking goes from bronze to silver to gold, and up, with bronze being the lowest. Despite that, when a new player hits level 30 and decides to try out ranked, they start off their placements in silver. Why? Are they better than the thousands in bronze? If ranked is a ladder, why are you thrown onto the middle rung instead of having to try to climb it from the bottom?

"If they don't belong in silver, they'll lose and will go down to bronze." Okay. But why is that fair to the four teammates he gets? You're playing in silver, you expect silver level of play - not bronze 5. How is it fair to suddenly have someone on your team who simply doesn't even understand the game well enough yet? And on the flip side, how is that fair to the new player? He just wanted to try out ranked, and now he's at a level he hasn't even touched yet, getting flamed at and he doesn't even understand what he's doing wrong. It's a terrible game for all 5 people involved, and a terrible first experience for him.

There's also the chance he'll win (though unlikely to be thanks to him at all). While his team is certainly relieved they were able to carry him, that's actually a worse outcome; now the ranked system will see that win and will think "okay, he probably belongs here in silver". Suddenly he's getting placed in silver, just barely winning a couple of his placements. Now that he's officially in silver, the fall to bronze takes a very long time. He continuously gets team after team that is either forced to carry him or lose because of him, and he's put in game after game where he just doesn't do well and doesn't understand why.

I suggest that this is the biggest problem with silver. This is the reason why the gap between silver and gold 4 is so high. The skill level is way too inconsistent with new players constantly getting thrown in there. What is the purpose of bronze if almost everyone is put into silver right off the bat? As it is now, it is merely a hole that you fall into if you play enough. The much needed solution is simple: if someone starts ranked and was unranked the previous season, their placements should start at the BOTTOM. Bronze 5. If they win, move up. If they lose, stay there. Over time that will help clear out the mass of players bottlenecked in silver, and will help keep silver a bit more consistent in skill level. A more level playing field makes climbing more fair.