Question: what does the data say about how snowbally the game is now?

Charlie Loves U·11/12/2019, 9:19:15 AM·6 votes·3,729 views

It feels every game I play at least in mid gold elo is essentially who has the heavier teammate. Someone gets insanely snowballed and is a monster by 15 minutes. By the time I get an item the game is over. Legit have had 4 games in a row just now where neither bot lane had any impact. and this seems very common. is it just a low elo thing?

I understand that if others are getting fed then I can get fed, so I'm not blaming this on my rank or anything. I just want to know what Riot thinks about the state of how snowbally the game may be right now. Not looking to be shown the data either, just an answer to how they are reacting to it.

It just feels terribly unfun as a bot lane main for the game to be over before I even get my first item.

5 Comments

Hailfire80511/13/2019, 12:02:22 PM2 votes

A huge issue is the FF15 mentality, people are rather content these days to if they arent even with the other team at 7 minutes or if one lane gets ahead to just throw in the towel and not attempt to win it, and i get that the game can be snowbally but it seems the idea of snowball has set players up to just give up at the first sign that the game is going bad. i think 80% of my matchs end in ffs between 15 minutes and 19. and since 15 minutes represents such a notable time its when turret plates have just fallen, all the players no longer have something to focus on to distract themselves, so 15 minutes they go oh this isnt fun anymore GG, used to be no plates and you just stuck it out till 20....the whole idea of ff15 wasnt supposed to be like this it was supposed to be like oh man they have 15 kills to our 2 not eh its 14 to 16 but jinx has 5 kills cait has 0 lets ff

WTBeGirl100EUhr11/12/2019, 3:41:18 PM1 votes

What metric would you want to use? Average gold diff at 15? Game length?

Game length is longer than season 8 or most of season 9.

It is interesting your perspective, since in my elo bot lane feels like the only lane that matters. Having winning top and mid but losing bot usually feels like a loss. A 3/0 ADC out of lane feels like they can swing the game harder than a 6/0 top or mid.

8 Lamar Jackson11/12/2019, 6:22:57 PM1 votes

I think something like 70+% of games are won by whoever gets the 1st tower. It is a snowball meta, but I mean why should champs that win early.that are made to win early not be rewarded for it? I do think damage needs to be lowered slightly or tank champs should have their stats boosted a little, but overall its in a pretty good spot. Usually if one can negate a snowball champ from snowballing, they are pretty useless, so in that way it balances out.

Kryptich11/13/2019, 1:47:58 AM1 votes

I think the shutdown gold rewards have been a good way to keep the other team "in the game" even after somebody snowballs, assuming they can get the shutdown before too much damage is done. It is definitely a volatile game right now, but its actually that high pressure situation that I like about league. Champs who are designed to be strong early need to be rewarded for taking that risk and succeeding. Especially since if they miss their window it can be very difficult to stay relevant. It can be frustrating when you're on a scaling champ and your mid laner just won't settle down and stop feeding - and you see the game slipping away before you ever get to reach your impact point ... but I guess that's part of the game, and it works out both ways in the long run.

I'd be curious to see stats as well if there are any. I'd bet that a one-sided game with a fed champ @ 15 minutes goes to that team 75 or 80% of the time.

One thing that bugs me is when an opponent snowballs and my team tilts / "gg's" immediately. As if there has never been a comeback win in the history of league. I've been called "selfish" for not surrendering and "wasting time" because I generally refuse to surrender. For me, if there is still an 8% chance they make a series of mistakes and we get back in the game - then I'm going to try for it.

emarythomp211/13/2019, 1:56:42 AM1 votes

League is extremely competitive. Games that are really competitive tend to make it easier for the current winner to push their lead, and more difficult for the losing team to push their lead.

Because of this dynamic snowballing is big in this game but not in low elo. Since usually lower elo players don’t know how to use their lead snowballing holds far less meaning.

Of course there is also many things to factor into the game to truly calculate the “snowbally” state of the game and a lot of factors in your own games that lead you to type this OP because I honestly never had a problem with the snowballing.