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@Riot Let's give Platinum/Diamond players a break: Remove League Decay

Eotw·8/23/2015, 11:07:19 PM·3 votes·2,361 views

Some time ago, Riot realized there was no reason to decay players from silver into bronze or gold into silver. Why can't the same break be given to platinum and diamond?

This system makes sense for Master and Challenger; there's a set number of spots in Challenger, and both are highly contested. This is NOT the case for diamond or platinum. You might brag about it to your friends, but you're not going to go pro or anything just because you're a diamond 5 player.

I already got to platinum earlier in the season. Why should I have to return every few weeks just to play a single ranked game where it doesn't matter whether I win or lose? It just adds stress that players shouldn't have to deal with. Now I'm even less likely to come back to play because I'm still burnt out from the last ranked game that I (probably) lost. The decay doesn't even mean you get matched with players who are worse to compensate for being "rusty". Your MMR is unaffected by league decay.

If you don't want to remove the decay entirely, at least remove the dropping from diamond to platinum and platinum to gold. We've already earned our border; why do we have to suffer a ranked game every few weeks to keep it? I could literally have a monkey play the "inactivity" games for an entire season without getting demoted. The only thing it accomplishes is making someone lose a game and remember why they stopped playing in the first place.

So let's allow our top 10% to take a well deserved break from league when they want to. They've earned it.

11 Comments

Irelia Bot8/23/2015, 11:11:17 PM2 votes

The idea is that players of this level should be active.

Once a month is not evne that hard to do.

Lugg8/23/2015, 11:26:51 PM2 votes

I totally agree with this and give you a great example of why. Players who are active duty military have to go on Deployments where they can't play for months at a time. Don't punish them for doing their job.

Goosetard8/24/2015, 2:27:06 AM2 votes

I agree with everything you're saying but there may be another reason: if the top 10% is where the best quality, competitive games happen, then I think there's something to be said for a system which ensures that all those players are forced to keep up with the constantly changing landscape of the game. You can take a break for months at a time and be totally blindsided by changes that Riot makes on a regular basis, much to the detriment of the team you play with.

That being said, does the system in place accomplish this well? I dunno, I'm only gold IV, and as you said your MMR doesn't decay, just your rank. I think you might be onto something and it could be more irritating than it's worth. Just throwing another explanation/viewpoint out there.

Dr Poro8/24/2015, 3:33:27 PM2 votes

I kinda agree. I've had a player in my team or the opponent's team a few times who just played so they didn't decay. They didn't care about losing and kinda turned the game into a toxic-fest on their team.

Lord Dusteon8/23/2015, 11:11:19 PM1 votes

"So let's make boosting even more enticing and make the most competitive leagues no longer require playing after you reach them"

Eotw8/24/2015, 3:28:35 PM1 votes

I don't think I can stress enough that nothing good comes of this decay. Those who wish to maintain their rank only have to lose a game every few weeks. No skill required.