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My experience on playing league on a new account (Gold 5 on main, started a fresh new account)

AlsoJinxBot··1 votes·1,919 views

Basically a friend of mine and i wanted to make smurf accounts so we could go into ranked together and see how placements and all that would go. Now keep in mind, i haven't played from 1-30 since my main got their 3 years ago. What we encountered was shocking to say the least... After we had reached level 3, we went into a normals game, not too long after we noticed something pretty obvious. The enemy was way higher than anyone of that level (3-12) and were smurfs. Secondly, we must have forgot how things like runes and mastery costed when your a low level, we found ourselves debating if we should get the 450 champs or buy runes.

We played until level 7 and hit a huge breaking point... We were getting team members that were legit low leveled players, however almost always the whole other team would be smurfs and ranged from level 16-30. I don't know what their matchmaking is based off at riot but i'm certain that level 7's shouldn't be fighting such high level players who have access to more runes and champions. And thats where we found that we were more frustrated than enjoying the game, keep in mind my friend is a diamond 4 and we both had trouble carrying the game due to most of our team not knowing what they are doing (which is expected) and the enemy team having golds and higher skill level.

Runes and Masteries were horrible the first time around, but playing through this game again at a low level seems... ridicules. I felt smurfing would give me and my friend a chance to duo with each other on new accounts and even if we got nowhere it would still be fun to duo queue. However i never realized how many others are actually doing this. I thought just how bad must the new players have it? if 2 experienced players are having problems winning a game in norms, how would the others who are just playing the game for the first time feeling? they get stomped and wonder if they just suck because the guy who is seemingly the same level is so much better.

After seeing this, i think Riot needs to give runes and masteries at level 1 to all players. Runes can mean a lot in a game, yet it will probably take players til level 30 to even get all the tier 3 runes they need. iv never felt masteries gave me that much accomplishment in league every level, you level up and say oh... cool? and put one in whatever skill you want and thats it...

15 Comments

MLDzXnRRR1 votes

Maybe you have played during the night? So there were no other players with similar levels.

PeachsProperty1 votes

what if Runes/masteries were locked until lvl30?

leveling accounts would be all same(except skill/items) and at 30 you could start using them.

Onegarion1 votes

I have done exactly as you did recently and its a major pain. Runes/masteries are really a big deal and because of that I'm ok with getting a mastery point per lvl, but I've been calling for Runes of T1 and T2 to be completely unlocked at their normal lvl caps. So after lvl 10 you get all the T2 runes for free and keep the T3 runes behind the IP wall we have. I'm fine with having the biggest amounts of power stuck behind an IP sink because for the casual/average player they can mess with the T2 runes enough.

I mean Flat AP Quint is 3.85 for T2 and 4.95 for T3. WHen leveling up thats not a huge deal for a new player and enough for people to make adequate rune pages for ranked when they start (since we all know people like me jumped into ranked without a full page lol back in season 3). For the most part the T2 are about 78% as effective as their T3 counterparts. This is why I think T2 and lower should be free to players so everyone has a chance to experiment with runes while they level up and not make it so guided. Let people find out what they like and what works for them and the only way I see that happening is by letting them play through as they level up to see exactly how strong runes are and how important they really are to doing well.

AlsoJinxBot1 votes

{quoted}

I have done exactly as you did recently and its a major pain. Runes/masteries are really a big deal and because of that I'm ok with getting a mastery point per lvl, but I've been calling for Runes of T1 and T2 to be completely unlocked at their normal lvl caps. So after lvl 10 you get all the T2 runes for free and keep the T3 runes behind the IP wall we have. I'm fine with having the biggest amounts of power stuck behind an IP sink because for the casual/average player they can mess with the T2 runes enough.

I mean Flat AP Quint is 3.85 for T2 and 4.95 for T3. WHen leveling up thats not a huge deal for a new player and enough for people to make adequate rune pages for ranked when they start (since we all know people like me jumped into ranked without a full page lol back in season 3). For the most part the T2 are about 78% as effective as their T3 counterparts. This is why I think T2 and lower should be free to players so everyone has a chance to experiment with runes while they level up and not make it so guided. Let people find out what they like and what works for them and the only way I see that happening is by letting them play through as they level up to see exactly how strong runes are and how important they really are to doing well.

Agreed. They should also let all summoner spells be open to everyone at level 1. I just think its unfair in general that people will have higher base stats than you and in no way can you be even with them from the start unless you fork out IP.

Onegarion1 votes

Yea I forgot to mention that. While I get not overloading players with too many summoner spells you also can't cripple them because some are flat out better than others and 1 is required for a role in the game (jung obviously). They need to let players try them out and learn what works. When you give them 1 or 2 at a time people want to try the new ones. Doesn't even matter what they do unless you are familiar with MOBAs in general. If everything is open you can get away with a lot of things and learn your own way and at your own pace. Since in most cases in most games things gated by any means tend to show strength as a whole. Something unlocked at lvl 3 is usually worse than something at lvl 10. SO to mind game peopel you could put all the good Summoners in the beginning and put the "worse" ones as you level up just for some fun lol

AlsoJinxBot1 votes

{quoted}

Yea I forgot to mention that. While I get not overloading players with too many summoner spells you also can't cripple them because some are flat out better than others and 1 is required for a role in the game (jung obviously). They need to let players try them out and learn what works. When you give them 1 or 2 at a time people want to try the new ones. Doesn't even matter what they do unless you are familiar with MOBAs in general. If everything is open you can get away with a lot of things and learn your own way and at your own pace. Since in most cases in most games things gated by any means tend to show strength as a whole. Something unlocked at lvl 3 is usually worse than something at lvl 10. SO to mind game peopel you could put all the good Summoners in the beginning and put the "worse" ones as you level up just for some fun lol

Defiantly see your point and agree with that last part for sure. But at the same time don't you think not introducing jungling to new players may cripple their knowledge later on? I found that i played really poorly when i first started through 1-30 because i didn't know all the different parts of the game unless a higher level player showed me. In fact i was very horrible at csing and warding for the longest time because you never really know the right way for the longest time. Warding locations, when to last hit and things like melee minions have more health than mage minions could help last hitting a ton. yet you have to look at other sources of media like youtube to get this info. i agree early on jungling can be super overwhelming if your really new to the game, but i think at level 3 (when you can do norms) they should at least introduce you to it more and explain all the different aspects the jungler does. I feel like more tutorials that go indepth would help new people a ton.

Onegarion1 votes

Yes they need better ways of getting players to do things. I don't like the way DotA2 does it where its like a 20 minute tutorial for something as simple as "DESTROY THE TOWER." I think they need to be optional, but give all the basics of playing a MOBA. Things like last hitting are a thing in any MOBA i've every played so I think they should have some resources from Riot (even if they use community involvement). Warding placement I feel is a bit advanced, but the benefit of warding I can see having something on. Last hitting is obvious and even teamplay. Trying to get players to know that you can't do it alone.

GaleWinUnleashed1 votes

The level barrier for unlocking Smite at least makes some sense, though. Jungling adds a whole pile of new stuff to worry about, and it's probably not a good idea to just dump everything on new players all at one time.

AlsoJinxBot1 votes

{quoted}

I have done exactly as you did recently and its a major pain. Runes/masteries are really a big deal and because of that I'm ok with getting a mastery point per lvl, but I've been calling for Runes of T1 and T2 to be completely unlocked at their normal lvl caps. So after lvl 10 you get all the T2 runes for free and keep the T3 runes behind the IP wall we have. I'm fine with having the biggest amounts of power stuck behind an IP sink because for the casual/average player they can mess with the T2 runes enough.

I mean Flat AP Quint is 3.85 for T2 and 4.95 for T3. WHen leveling up thats not a huge deal for a new player and enough for people to make adequate rune pages for ranked when they start (since we all know people like me jumped into ranked without a full page lol back in season 3). For the most part the T2 are about 78% as effective as their T3 counterparts. This is why I think T2 and lower should be free to players so everyone has a chance to experiment with runes while they level up and not make it so guided. Let people find out what they like and what works for them and the only way I see that happening is by letting them play through as they level up to see exactly how strong runes are and how important they really are to doing well.

On another point, i think the leveling system is horrible. 1-30 feels like a stupid grind all just to unlock ranked. I believe going from 1-30 won't improve your skill that much, but instead riot should have a better tutorial to explain the roles, how to play in them and what builds work the best.

MLDzXnRRR1 votes

Actually without runes you can see that the game is balanced - people can't cheese lvl 1 or 2, because they have no AD, champions that are meant to be weak early are really weak, few champions can jungle and so on.

AlsoJinxBot1 votes

{quoted}

Actually without runes you can see that the game is balanced - people can't cheese lvl 1 or 2, because they have no AD, champions that are meant to be weak early are really weak, few champions can jungle and so on.

Its defiantly balanced without depending on certain roles, however for a jungler who is level 7-8, maybe he doesn't have enough damage to clear camps and will need help for the first few minutes. That to me doesn't seem like balance, but unfair that you can't play a certain role because you lack decent enough runes to clear your way through.

MLDzXnRRR1 votes

{quoted}

Its defiantly balanced without depending on certain roles, however for a jungler who is level 7-8, maybe he doesn't have enough damage to clear camps and will need help for the first few minutes. That to me doesn't seem like balance, but unfair that you can't play a certain role because you lack decent enough runes to clear your way through.

People that can clear fast are usually not that great gankers (WW, Yi, Diana etc )... The best gankers in the game are assasins like Talon who can barely surive the jungle. Riot doesn't want the best gankers to be able to jungle - except maybe Fizz

3TWarrior1 votes

early game, nunu and evelynn wreck, late game, they're like "dude, what happened?"

3TWarrior1 votes

umm, to let you know, with your account, you get enough free RP to buy the starter pack which basically gives you all the 450 champs and you can use facebook / youtube / twitter to get free champs as well

Häßlich1 votes

Complaining about smurfs while smurfing? Classic. Draven

On a more serious note, the matchmaking uses a hidden elo rating that changes based on the team you face and the outcome: Harder games reward more and penalize less while easier games do the opposite. This is why when you smurf you find yourself against level 30s/Gold+. If you performed at a Bronze level, you would get matched against players who play similarly, regardless of their account level or total wins, because your skill is what it is no matter how much/little you play (especially for people who don't improve).

However, there is another factor in place that is ruining your experience. Riot adds an MMR modifier when you queue with other people because of the assumption that being able to communicate is an advantage. What ends up happening is that your teammates will often be less skilled than you and/or your opponents will be more skilled. This is why most top tier/pro solo queuers and streamers tell you not to do it. Another factor that will eventually come into play is that you are not likely queuing with someone of equal skill, so one of you will eventually end up holding the other back. Hence certain memes...

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