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Aram and its Lack of Appreciation

InfiniteHues·1/3/2016, 8:45:34 PM·2 votes·267 views

I am a huge fan of Aram, and especially Poro King and I have to say that I am disappointed by the lack of following of this game type. Summoner's Rift is great, don't get me wrong, but I appreciate Aram's call for team fights and synergy. It has so much potential to be more than just a side game or a mini-game.

Why should Aram be appreciated more?

  1. It teaches people how to work with their team
  2. Solo carrying is not a guaranteed win, so for those who want to make it to challenger or move up in their elo, they will gain a new perspective on winning and team fights.
  3. Different type of laning phase which keeps things interesting
  4. It is much harder to put the blame on just one person, which reduces toxic chat.
  5. Games do not last as long, which can give people something else to play if they do not have as much time as it takes for the Rift.
  6. The Howling Abyss has a different theme and style from an aesthetic standpoint.

So what should be improved on when it comes to Aram?

Have a draft pick option: 1.This can create so much more depth to the game type. People can play different champs that are not popular on the Rift and with diversity comes exciting changes and more opportunities. 2. This would also make people work around team oriented comps and begin to understand the necessity to adapt while in a game (Ex. Teemo camping in the brush, and playing against a poke comp who then throw a skillshot into the brush and destroy the Teemo who thinks he is invulnerable because he is invisible. He will hopefully learn that this is not helping the team and will adapt in order to win the game) 3. It would create a more competitive side 4. People like the opportunity to play as their mains, and they may discover who they like more while in a team fight. 5. It could bring a whole new aspect to LCS and other tournaments.

Include Mastery Ranks: First off, since games are shorter the amount of mastery points you get would have to be adjusted.

  1. This could invoke players to try this game type more
  2. During Poro King I have mains that I enjoy using, if I was rewarded with mastery points I would be motivated to keep playing.
  3. You are technically playing the champ, so why are you not rewarded for it?

Questions for more Discussion:

Each Legend of the Poro King Season you see an explosion of people who enjoy playing it. Why not try to improve Aram in a way that it gets this kind of following year round?

Do you think that Aram has a larger following than most perceive?

Should Aram become more than just a Mini-Game?

Would you watch a tournament focused solely on a draft pick Aram?

1 Comments

Minarde1/4/2016, 12:04:28 AM1 votes

Have a draft pick option:

This would probably kill ARAM (well, technically ADAM if it's draft). Riot's nigh complete lack of support for alternate maps results in things quickly stagnating. A main reason that ARAM works is because the randomness mitigates stagnation, so players don't see the same champs game after game after game. ARAM-optimized accounts already greatly damage the high-MMR experience; draft pick would extend that problem to all other MMR brackets.

Include Mastery Ranks:

Yes.

Each Legend of the Poro King Season you see an explosion of people who enjoy playing it. Why not try to improve Aram in a way that it gets this kind of following year round?

Do you think that Aram has a larger following than most perceive?

Poro King probably enjoys a spike in playerbase due to its limited nature. It's much easier to drum up hype for something that lasts two weeks a year compared to something available all year-round. ARAM probably has the largest following of all the alternate maps, yet is likely still dwarfed by SR due to the aforementioned stagnation issue.

Should Aram become more than just a Mini-Game?

Meaning? It's already competitive in its own way. Having both casual and competitive players share a queue is a problem that both Dominion and ARAM have in common.

Would you watch a tournament focused solely on a draft pick Aram?

Personally, no, unless the broadcast was really enjoyable. HA is too straightforward and constrained for ADAM to seem particularly interesting to watch.