A new idea on how to balance out AFKs

Sicarius10·8/31/2015, 2:13:57 AM·2 votes·313 views

So I had a thought in a ranked game the other day when I almost won a 4v5. I knew it was possible to win, and my teammates knew that too. We were also playing well enough that it was clear that in an even 5v5, our team's superior skill would have won the game.

If we had been 5v5, we would have won. item 3070 item 3070

I know it's super hard to program balance into that situation, but I think it's common enough that Riot should be addressing it. So here's my idea (that might not be new, idk) that will give 4v5 teams their teammate back in some form or another:

Team A = 4 players, 1 AFK Team B = 5 players

  1. Identify AFK players using a time limit for inactivity. (This is basically already in place for players who are connected but not moving.)
  2. Halt the AFK's GP10 income entirely, and boost Team A's GP10 significantly. -I'm really focusing on teamfights in particular during this thought process. -The GP10 would need to be enough to make Team A feel like they are as strong as 5 players, while not giving them so much gold that Team B loses to Team A's individual stats. -Furthermore, this would encourage Team B to group and end, as well as Team A to not give up and continue to have fun, rather than get stomped until 20:00.
  3. Similar to surrendering at 20, Team A could vote to disallow the AFK to return (this inflicting LP and queue punishments on the AFK player), and lock in the GP10 reward. -The practical enactment of this would need to be very difficult, and have very harsh punishments for players attempting to game the system. -One such punishment could be a sudden reduction of levels in the account, forcing a player to play normal games to completion before reacquiring level 30.
  4. Reduce the LP loss/gain for both teams, respectively, in the event that Team B defeats Team A. Additionally, reward Team A for winning 4v5 and punish Team B more severely for losing a 5v4. -Now, this is potentially way harder to balance than the GP10 idea. -It may also be unnecessary, were the GP10 idea to go into effect.

The result of these changes, in my humble opinion, would encourage strong team play from both sides, and here's why:

  • Team A would know that once the GP10 takes effect (since it would obviously take a few minutes to ramp up), they would once again stand a good chance at winning a teamfight and gaining objective control.
  • Conversely, Team B would feel the pressure to group and end quickly, before the GP10 effects give Team A a lot of power.
  • If the game were to go to 50 minutes, the advantage would certainly swing back in Team B's favor, as the GP10 gold advantage would be nullified by the existence of a 5th player on Team B.

All I know is that it's real sucky to get a 4v5 at 10:00 and just sit around and hope that my 5th will come back until 20:00 or until the enemy team just crushes us. Or they run around hunting kills for fun rather than ending.

What do you guys think? What are some glaring problems that you see in my solution?

Bonus fun times if you don't care about the post: Guess my position/main champ with my build! summoner 12 summoner 4 item 3068 > item 1319 or item 1324 > item 3065 > item 3742 > item 3512 or item 3060 > item 3102 or item 3143

5 Comments

Deep Terror Nami8/31/2015, 2:22:21 AM2 votes

If your team gets a gameplay boost due to an AFK, harassing a teammate to go AFK when they aren't doing good may be seen as a viable strategy. They might even try to make their support do it.

ARequestOfDeath8/31/2015, 3:41:28 AM1 votes

ur main champ is mundo or garen.