Why do promos still exist

Cunky·Oct 22, 2017·87 votes·3,905 views

If somebody can manage to get to 100 LP, they should just get to the next rank. Promos are honestly the most stressful, time-consuming things in the world. And if you get unlucky in promos, well, that sucks for you! You better play 2-4 games AGAIN! Promos make me not want to play Ranked at all. It's the most un-fun experience in the game. The stress is just too much. Just remove promos already, or at least make is to promos are only between divisions (Bronze-Silver promos, Platinum-Diamond promos, etc.). But why do you prove yourself so you can go from (for example) Silver 3 to Silver 2? If you managed to win enough games in a row to be able to get the sweet sweet 100 LP, just give me Silver 2 already! I think I can speak for everybody when I say, that promos fucking suck.

49 Comments

ForFoxSakesOct 22, 201729 votes

I totally want to play a game that's worth 1 LP to go from 99-100 then need to win 2 more worth absolutely nothing to rank up /s

DracoxdPTOct 22, 20179 votes

{quoted}

I totally want to play a game that's worth 1 LP to go from 99-100 then need to win 2 more worth absolutely nothing to rank up /s

It's funny that you say that ... just now i got to 99lp , queed up to a game .... and guess what ? i got not 1 , but 4 people 0/fuckin' 8/0 permaflmaing each otther in chat and that decided to surr at 15. FAIR.

Hèntaî Oct 23, 20173 votes

On top of that you get hit with a 3-4 game loss streak

0racle0912Oct 23, 20171 votes

Toxicity should be treated far more strict in ranked games and punished by being banned from ranked for X amount of days imo. I'm hard stuck silver 5 rn mainly because 60% of the time my teammates just don't play the game. They either flame, afk, or troll which is not fair at all.

ARAM ZooKeeperOct 23, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Toxicity should be treated far more strict in ranked games and punished by being banned from ranked for X amount of days imo. I'm hard stuck silver 5 rn mainly because 60% of the time my teammates just don't play the game. They either flame, afk, or troll which is not fair at all.

That's Silver ELO hell. You have to play the game early morning weekdays to avoid playing with the autistic children... play when they are all at school it makes a world of difference.

0racle0912Oct 23, 20171 votes

I suppose, yeah, but last night for example, I played late at night when they all should be sleeping just to have the autistic Katarina replaced with a drunk support who went afk after the first 10 minutes to go smoke some weed. I don't think I can ever escape this elo man, all hope is lost

ARAM ZooKeeperOct 23, 20171 votes

{quoted}

I suppose, yeah, but last night for example, I played late at night when they all should be sleeping just to have the autistic replaced with a drunk support who went afk after the first 10 minutes to go smoke some weed. I don't think I can ever escape this elo man, all hope is lost

LOL

I forgot about the 420 blaze it drunks... but they are usually on late not early. If you do EST 8:00am - 10:00am it is the golden window.

You can avoid the autistic MasterYi Kayn junglers and the 420 blackout drunk supports.

But yea silver 5 is the worst. So many kids get placed in Silver when they shouldn't get out of Bronze 5 and then they drag everyone around them down.

0racle0912Oct 23, 20171 votes

I suppose haha

KlydeFrogOct 24, 20171 votes

every one in this game is toxic so whats your point

0racle0912Oct 24, 20171 votes

Thats actually not true lmao

Blue MystifiedOct 22, 20171 votes

{quoted}

I totally want to play a game that's worth 1 LP to go from 99-100 then need to win 2 more worth absolutely nothing to rank up /s

This, so much. Every single time i get into ranked i end up at 90-99 LP and stop being motivated to play because the cancerous idea that i have to win 3 more games in a row after already going on a winning streak (which is already the only way to even climb LP) is just the definition of unfun.

edit: They shouldn't allow you to place between 95-100 lp. Just give me the extra 5.

notice me Sin piOct 22, 20172 votes

[{quoted}](name=Blue Mystified,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=RmFYBaNE,comment-id=00030001,timestamp=2017-10-22T18:41:03.491+0000)

This, so much. Every single time i get into ranked i end up at 90-99 LP and stop being motivated to play because the cancerous idea that i have to win 3 more games in a row after already going on a winning streak (which is already the only way to even climb LP) is just the definition of unfun.

edit: They shouldn't allow you to place between 95-100 lp. Just give me the extra 5.

if riot lowered it to 95, then people would complain about 94 LP not leading to promos. Then riot would lower it to 90. Then people would complain about 89 LP not leading to promos and so on. As u see, that doesnt solve the problem at all. I think that extra LP should be given back after promo series regardless of outcome. If promo is lost, the extra LP should be refunded even if it leads to another consecutive promo. If promo is won, then the excess LP should be transfered to next tier.

ForFoxSakesOct 22, 20174 votes

Yeah the partials to 100 will always bug ppl but I've brought up the solution for this starting 3 years ago falling on deaf RIOT ears.

Points over 100 should carry over, especially since losses in your series are negative points. So if you were at 95 LP and got +22, the 17 would carry over. If you went 2-0 in your series you'd start the next division at 17 LP.

If you went W-L-W and the loss gave -12 then it'd still buffer it so 100 - 12 + 17 = 5 LP start next division

This way you don't have huge wasted LP from going over cap, yet for some reason we're still punished with -LP on losses in a series

WingsofGulgazorOct 23, 20171 votes

you still get the mmr from the win and thats all that really matters.

ForFoxSakesOct 23, 20171 votes

Not really. If only the MMR matched your ladder rank then it would be fine, but there's a huge disconnect to it. Having a higher MMR than rank means you're likely going to get shittier allies in your following games because you have a higher MMR than the current level, so to balance out someone at G5 while MMR of G3 will find you other people at G5 but playing at a S2 level to even it out

Quality matchmaking and so rewarding right?

Blue MystifiedOct 23, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=notice me Sin pi,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=RmFYBaNE,comment-id=000300010000,timestamp=2017-10-22T19:10:15.841+0000)

if riot lowered it to 95, then people would complain about 94 LP not leading to promos. Then riot would lower it to 90. Then people would complain about 89 LP not leading to promos and so on. As u see, that doesnt solve the problem at all. I think that extra LP should be given back after promo series regardless of outcome. If promo is lost, the extra LP should be refunded even if it leads to another consecutive promo. If promo is won, then the excess LP should be transfered to next tier.

Yes, i already thought of that- and my response is that you should only be placed as far from 100lp as it takes to win one game regularly. So you should be hitting LP like 20-40-60-80-100, not 20-34-65-76-80-99. I guess what i mean is if you win onwards from 80 LP or so it should only take you one more win to hit 100. maybe they can engineer it so if you have 80 LP you get matched against an enemy team that, if you won, would give you over 20 LP. y'know, instead of leaving you at 96.

ACG Wander Jun 22, 20192 votes

you solve this problem by removing promos.

koshkyraOct 22, 201721 votes

My only problem with promos is that there isnt a demotion series as well

"Oh, you hit 0 lp, no second chances, get demoted"

"Oh, you hit 100 lp, now pray that you get a competent team for the next 3 games to be pushed up to 0 lp in your next league."

BańgOct 22, 201713 votes

nothing like getting an rage quit at 7 minutes in ur diamond 2 promos where u instantly lose and then have to play 5 more games of unfun cancerous bullshit to climb back into the glorious promos.

really makes u positive that riot knows what their game feels like when ur playing it

CunkyOct 22, 20172 votes

actually tho

ShinkoMinoriOct 22, 20174 votes

Most rioters are silvers and bronze tho... and they really suck at the game

SEKAIOct 23, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Most rioters are silvers and bronze tho... and they really suck at the game

Because designing games and playing it are different skills. I doubt most Blizzard employees are gonna be masters at Starcraft2, or that Valve employees are pro leaguers for CS:GO or Dota2, etc.

Not to mention, it's not like game devs actually have enough time to play and get better at it like their players, since they're busy making and managing the damn game.

DaxanaterOct 22, 20177 votes

i vote for remade, not removed. I feel if they were removed it would be too easy, I think for promotions there should be a different system.

Possibly IntingOct 22, 20177 votes

riot just needs to bring back the mmr/ELO system. it was perfect. who cares if it creates "ranked anxiety"

TwitchInMyPantsOct 22, 20172 votes

{quoted}

riot just needs to bring back the mmr/ELO system. it was perfect. who cares if it creates "ranked anxiety"

Who doesn't have ranked anxiety with this new system that had it with the old one?

Ranked anxiety is a general concern of having a bad experience with Ranked. Looking at a ladder instead of an ELO number isn't dealing with toxic players, winning/losing points, or anything that'd cause that. Ranked is equally stressful and it does not feel more rewarding to get winstreaks in the new system.

PsybicilinOct 23, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Who doesn't have ranked anxiety with this new system that had it with the old one?

Ranked anxiety is a general concern of having a bad experience with Ranked. Looking at a ladder instead of an ELO number isn't dealing with toxic players, winning/losing points, or anything that'd cause that. Ranked is equally stressful and it does not feel more rewarding to get winstreaks in the new system.

I'm pretty sure this comment was referring to "ladder anxiety" like in StarCraft.. In league your number is between 0 and 100 which is easy to understand, but in MMR system your number is between 0-3000, and this can kinda feel like climbing a mountain. But I'm all for MMR system because it's more efficient at getting you to your correct place on the ladder.

RazorRaijinOct 22, 20176 votes

Yeah Promo matches between Tiers is archaic and really only serves to just slow down people advancing in ranks, when lets be honest the difference between say silver 5 and 4 is so small that it really shouldn't require a "test" of winning a certain number of matches just to move on.

General Esdeath Oct 22, 20175 votes

Promos trigger me so hard. Riot, can we please get rid of these stupid promos next season? I'm fine with series, but promos should NOT be so hard by being high risk low reward. I don't want to hear about new runes, I don't want to hear about champion reworks/new releases, I want to hear Meddler come out in a new video, stroke his beard, and say, "We're reworking how the ranked system works, starting with the removal of promotional series being required to advance from each division to the next one.".

You're purposely stacked against, so your odds of winning are lower, and you ALWAYS get the most toxic people who are on a tilting lose streak. In all my games, I rarely get anyone toxic. But in promos? It just becomes a cesspool. I feel like I'm back in silver when it happens. Someone gives up at 10 minutes, another person is throwing out the "kys" to their jungler, someone else is typing "gg shit team" in all chat. It's a war zone. And what happens if you can get through all that? The rewards are bad too.

Oh you won? Here's 0 LP, don't lose or you're demoted.

You lost? Clearly you're trash, back to 64 LP with you!

It amazes me every time. Most other games, straight wins, but MAGICALLY something changes in promos. I'm not playing different champs, I've been sticking to Nasus/Shen in top lane. Hell, looking at my match history now, I have 6 wins in a row, which got me into my promos after my last one failed and I lost 2 more. Amazing, somehow nothing changed except my team mates being trolls/tilted. Hey Riot, fix your system, it's the worst one I can say I've played through. I'd say it's competing with Overwatch's system, but they don't do promo series so they got that on you.

I know someone is gonna come in with the "But how do people get higher ranks? You're not good enough" logic, and I could believe it if it happened once or twice, or I struggled to climb, but I've been climbing this whole season with what little time I get each day to play between college and work. I'm not struggling to get into Gold, I got it within a few games. I got from G5 to G3 in about a month. I get to my promos each time within 10 games. I don't think I'm the problem in this situation. I remember when streamers would do "unranked to diamond" series' but I haven't seen anyone do it now except for junglers (the most influential role in low ELO) and marksman, which have been relevant for most of these past 2 seasons. Only top laners I see play hyper carries, like Darius Riven Gangplank or an ADC. There's also one other factor, I noticed it in people who were boosted. They tend to still win games by getting carried and just providing basic things, like CC from a tank, or map pressure from a split push. Not saying everyone in high elo is boosted.

TL;DR Riot get rid of promos, they're testing luck, not skill. The games to get into the promos tested my skill, these games test my team mates.

SukishooOct 22, 20173 votes

They exist to annoy people :/

They really should be completely removed, or at least only between Tiers and not Divisions.

ElikainOct 22, 20173 votes

Promos are not redundant. Promos exist so that you can qualify to get to a higher tier/division and prove that your games weren't a straight series of lucky wins by having you win 2/3 and 3/5 games respectively to be promoted to a higher rank. You also get "rank down shielding" when you get promoted because having a few unlucky games at a higher tier shouldn't derank you immediately upon your arrival.

The reason why promos exist is exactly that. They serve as tops/bottoms of divisions/tiers to make sure players that hit these milestones, never hover in between ranks/divisions by winning/losing games on the very edge. You're either good enough to stay in a certain rank or you're not good enough to progress further.

JustSaiyan69Oct 23, 20173 votes

Yeah except if you're unlucky you drop to like 75 lp and have to play 3 more games to get to promos then hopefully get past promos the next 3, which just adds 5-6 more games for you to play to climb one division. And guess what if you fail you have to REPEAT those 5-6 games.

Yeah people definitely want to go through all that trouble JUST to go from Gold 4 to 3. The promos should only exist for climbing in rank not divisions.

ElikainOct 23, 20171 votes

You do know that your LP does count beyond 100 you can collect for the promos, right? Which means that if you win one on 100 and then lose two, it depends how much you'd have remaining. But that's beside the point. You have to play the games again to reach 100 LP for the new promos and then again 2 or 3 games to rank up. That's not 4-6 games like you say, that's still 2/3 games for the promos.

The issue you're having is that when you fail the promos, you treat the climb to 100 LP again the same as trying for the promos again, which is not how this works.

JustSaiyan69Oct 25, 20171 votes

My point still stands, if you get unlucky you drop down to a certain lp meaning you have to get back to 100 lp, let's say 1 or 2, 2 is probably the average, then you get into the promo's again and have to play another 2-3 games to get into a division, meaning if you lose promos you'd have to play another 3-5 games to get into promos and get the result, being getting into a division or repeating the process.

Promo's are there to just lengthen the climb, it's really aggravating for those who get trolled in promo's and I see it as more unhealthy then actually keeping players were they're supposed to be, if it even helps at all with the matching system being as bad as it is.

Sorry I was hypothesizing how many games you'd have to play if you actually got 75 lp might've confused you, that wasn't my argument, neither were the specific numbers just the fact it adds unnecessary padding and frustration to ranked.

PowerSlave993Oct 23, 20172 votes

Promos should be removed or at least put a better matchmaking! I get matched in promos with people who have 3/4 losing streak... and they play so badly while enemy team has bigger tiers and 90+ lp all

PhateOct 23, 20172 votes

The whole matchmaking/MMR system should be reworked. It honestly scaled really bad when LOL playerbase suddenly exploded from some hundred thousands players to dozens of millions worldwide. The are three leagues (Bronze, Silver and Gold) that group together 95% of the entire playerbase. We're talking about several millions of players in 15 divisions... No matchmaking system based on MMR algorithms could ever hope to draft balanced teams... It's just randomness!

KloqdqOct 23, 20172 votes

I have said it before and I'll say it again. Lose LP and just go to a full MMR system. There is no reason to be screwed over because you got 99 LP or you lost in your promos or some shit. Besides we already use MMR so I really have no idea why we can't just have that. Please Riot.

Synnx7Oct 23, 20172 votes

Because then 70% of the LoL community will prolly rank up to plat, destroying riot's godly thoughts about their precious LC$, making pros look not so good. And the whole concept of this is : farm our game and play the shit out of it and buy skins !

Fuck no. i gave up on ranked 2 seasons ago

AndrionarOct 22, 20171 votes

This would save a lot of time

Fargo79Oct 22, 20171 votes

what i dont understand is once u hit 0LP its instant demotion unless its something liek gold demotion to silver 1.. i dont mind the promos but they should at least notify u that if u hit 0LP that next loss will result in a demotion or have a demotion series..

YoungFarmerOct 22, 20171 votes

I'd be fine with hearthstone or rocket league ranked system. Win a set amount of games and move up.

FishlordOct 22, 20171 votes

What about promos being removed completely for tiers, but for each division you have to play 10 games and win 7/10 to go on to the next, if you don't, you will simply be put back at 100 LP in promos again.

JRobin31Oct 22, 20171 votes

Maybe promotions would be more meaningful if Divisions themselves were more meaningful... Tier promotion form Silver to Gold seems like a meaningful advancement, but going from Bronze III to Bronze II feels essentially meaningless.

Project RivenOct 23, 20171 votes

Players accumulate LP throughout a season.

0 - 99 LP - Bronze 5 100 - 199 LP - Bronze 4 200 - 299 LP - Bronze 3 300 LP - 399 LP - Bronze 2 400 - 499 LP - Bronze 1 500 - 599 LP - Silver 5 ... All the way to challenger

Simple and easy.

SB ArneemanOct 23, 20172 votes

That's such a boring system though. You should feel like you have achieved something climbing each division, not only seeing a larger number than before.

LeonerdoOct 23, 20171 votes

Eh, I'm fine with promos. They can be exciting, as long as it's not your 5th or higher attempt (rather rare).

I can understand that some people don't want that stress though.

I'm really only frustrated at some of the wonky edge-cases (like 99LP). Also the demotion protection after you go up a division is lame, because it removes half of the incentive to win for those few games.

Accepting the fact that, you essentially have a 50% chance to succeed a single promo series, has helped me quite a bit with tempering my expectations/frustration.

DaFluffyPotatoOct 23, 20171 votes

I legit just got to S2 from S3 after losing a ton of promos.

Poorly DressedOct 23, 20171 votes

Pretty sure NA ladder ranks will get franchised too and you will be able to buy a slot in your preferred (how deep your pockets are) division. LUL

SB ArneemanOct 23, 20171 votes

I won promos with an 8 win streak, ending at plat 1 0 lp. Lost 4 out of the 5 next games with some unlucky teams, and got demoted to plat 2... Now I've won 4 out of 5 games and the grand total is 2 lp in plat 1. I would say that's rather fair, with a small win streak you win promos automatically. If you struggle getting to 100 lp and then winning promos, that's a sign you cannot keep up a high winrate and that means you belong where you are.

Ginger976Oct 23, 20171 votes

{quoted}

If somebody can manage to get to 100 LP, they should just get to the next rank. Promos are honestly the most stressful, time-consuming things in the world. And if you get unlucky in promos, well, that sucks for you! You better play 2-4 games AGAIN! Promos make me not want to play Ranked at all. It's the most un-fun experience in the game. The stress is just too much. Just remove promos already, or at least make is to promos are only between divisions (Bronze-Silver promos, Platinum-Diamond promos, etc.). But why do you prove yourself so you can go from (for example) Silver 3 to Silver 2? If you managed to win enough games in a row to be able to get the sweet sweet 100 LP, just give me Silver 2 already! I think I can speak for everybody when I say, that promos fucking suck.

Agreed....But I think they should keep them for promoting to a new division. Also, when you are on a losing streak, you should also have do or die relegation "promos" for moving down.