Bring Change to the LP System!
Hello Fellow Summoners and Riot Employees, I am here to suggest ideas to change the beloved LP system. Essentially, balance it. Leave some suggestions to help improve ideas.
One thing I would like to say before I begin. If you lose a game, then you deserve to lose LP. If you win a game, you deserve to gain LP. At the extent at how much you gain or lose should be based off performance.
Improvements to Ranked Tier System.
**1. So Close, Yet So Far. **
We’ve all been here one time or another.
It is really frustrating to be forced to queue up again just to qualify for our promos. But, there is a way to combat this issue. Players with 90-99LP should be rewarded for winning. If they are in that range and they successfully qualify for their series, they should be rewarded with a victory in their promos. Now, some people will think it’s unfair but here let me try to break it down with 2 examples that you might be able to relate to or understand.
a. Let’s say Summoner A gains 19 LP a game and Summoner B gains 20 LP a game. We are not factoring in losses at the moment just purely math. So if they are both at Silver 5 0 LP (just got promoted from bronze and feeling the excitement of the climb), Summoner A after 5 games will be sitting at 95LP, whereas Summoner B will be sitting at 100LP ready to play their series. So for Summoner A to get promoted to Silver 4, they would need 8 wins; however, Summoner B would need 7 wins. Now if we allowed Summoner A to get into promos after the 6th win and already have a win, then we have reduced his 8 wins requirement to 7. So basically, players who gain 20LP(+/- 2LP) will promote with 7 games.
b. So, in school/college professors can choose to bump up your grades or not. However, as we all know, we appreciate it when they do bump us up. Summoner A and B are applying to a program where they need an A (93%) in Physics (or whatever course) to qualify. Summoner A has 100%, but, Summoner B has a 91%. Instead of the teacher instantly bumping B up, they suggest that B go to the Air and Space Museum and bring him a written assignment to get the extra 2%. Should he choose to do it he will receive the 2% and qualify for the program. Should he not, he will not get the 93% and not qualify for the program. Much like our promo series, qualifying for the program does not guarantee that either A or B will get to be in the program.
2. Oh Lord, That Player Again…
So, after most ranked games, at least half of the players from that game jump right back into queue. Now, I know LoL does randomize on who you get paired up with but there’s a higher chance of being queued with the same person from your pervious game that just finished. I did not run enough tests on it but over 100 games, I found that I was matched with someone from my previous game about 20 times. So, there was a 1/5 chance that someone from my last game was going to appear in my next game. We all know how tempting “Play Again!” is. But, before I address how I want to fix this issue, I just want to say why I want this fixed.
It really messes with players’ mentality. I can’t even fathom how many times I have gone into ranked and some guy starts bashing another guy from his last game for underperforming ONCE. By bashing on this guy, you put that guy on tilt and have made the game 10x harder. Now, here is what I found are the cases to look at. Either A or B talking about the other player occurs about 60% of the time so these scenarios will occur 60% of the time.
a. Player A and B were on the same team and won the game. Next game they are on the same team, considering that they both did well, they will be merry and everything will go well in Champ Select. If however, B underperformed, A will start demoralizing B. ChampSelect then turns into a battle royale.
b. Player A and B were on the same team and lost the game. Next game they are on the same team, hoping they both did well, they will bring up how bad one of their teammates were and chat box will be spammed with useless chatter. If let’s say B underperformed, then it once again turns into a battle royale.
c. Player A and B were on the opposing team. The winner of that game will brag of how well he did that game and/or belittle the other player. Most of the time leads to a massive war.
Now, as much as I love watching people fight, I would prefer it not to happen on my team. (Wow you are so selfish you like it when it happens on the enemy team??? No, I just don’t want it at all it ruins the experience and leads to the usage of the horrendous all chat.) Personally, I’d like it if all chat was disabled for Ranked. So, basically what I want is that we reduce the possibility of having players matched up again with/against each other. **After, each ranked game, players should be put on a rest randomization period where they will have to wait anywhere from 15-60 seconds before being able to queue up again. **This will also give a period of time for players to recollect what they did wrong/right and help them implement their learnings for their next game. BUT, SOULXPRESS IN THIS GAME NO ONE ACTUALLY CARES ABOUT LEARNING!!!! True and false. Even if I have no evidence other than myself, I think those 15-60 seconds can be used to stretch out a bit just think about LoL in general. BUT, SOULXPRESS WHAT ABOUT DUO PARTNERS. Whoever has the longest wait time will be amount they both wait. Player A has 40 seconds and player B has 20 so they wait 40. It is so simple and effective for players.
3. But I Didn’t Even Do That Poorly!
Our team simply underperformed. However, I lost 21LP for trying to win the game. I understand that I should lose LP but 21 is a bit too harsh. It’s like I spoke out of turn so instead of telling me to be quiet you start beating me. Quick Disclaimer: I was building frozen heart for Yasuo and Vayne, the amp tome I have no idea what that was for. I was duo with Lucian (S2) so that is why the players were so low ranked as compared to me. I had the highest KDA, least deaths, most wards placed compared to both teams, highest kill contribution, and a proper build path. Whereas morgana, one of the least wards placed, no sightstone, improper build path for their team, with less than 50% kill contribution, and only 1k more gold probably gained 21LP. Now, OK Morgana you can have the points I am not mad about that could have done better on the warding though. However, I who tried really hard to change the game around but yet I got punished harshly along with the teammates that did poorly. If I got punished as hard as Lee Sin, then I think it really isn’t fair. Yes, team game and I am willing to lose points, but instead of losing let’s say 21LP, I should lose 12-15LP rewarding me for my efforts. I feel like underperforming and losing and trying and losing lose the same amount of LP which makes little sense and is extremely demoralizing to a player.
To fix this issue, I think we should check performance at end game. If a player warded, had a high GPM, high kill contribution, roamed to help, etc. then he should be rewarded for trying (this also goes for players who win). OH BUT SOULXPRESS WE DON’T HAVE THAT KIND OF TECHNOLOGY. I mean http://www.lol.arenaonline.com exists and they not only rank players based on lanes but also champions. If we could use their same calculations, then we could find each players performance in a game. If you don’t like them, then lolking, lolskill, and kassad.in are possible candidates. What am I saying, LoL already has a grading system at the end of a match. S to B+/B should be punished less harshly. We could actually use the system implemented instead of leaving it there as a “Oh S- darn it.” A player who did really well, should be rewarded 1-4LP depending on performance and a player who lost should be given a grace of 1-8LP based on performance. Feel free to fiddle with the numbers or expand on this idea. Remember a loss is a loss, you could have done something earlier in the game to increase your odds of winning.
4. That’s My Main!
My main champions are Thresh, Draven, and Jinx. Now, when I say main, I mean my comfort champions. Champs I can play and know I will do relatively well in game. If a person picks a champ they have played often and decent at based off of overall KDA, number of games played, and CS/wards placed depending on role, etc and were to underperform then they should not be punished harshly. Why? By making these players lose tons of LP on a champ they love to play or are good at playing, they are discouraged to pick that champ in their following games. Do we want to discourage players from playing their best roles with their best champs? No! The amount of LP I have lost on Draven one of my best champs, has prevented me from ever playing him in ranked again. Of course people can abuse this by only playing the champ they love or trolling with it. However, that would only work for a few games but if they kept under-performing, the performance of that player on that champ would start to plummet essentially not benefiting them to lose on a champ they love. Getting out of that situation would be harder and this is what would inspire players to pick their favorite champs and make games more interesting.
5. Wait, I’ve Never Played This Let’s Pick It!
Then there are those people who have never played a champ before in ranked. if you play a champ that you do not play often or at all in ranked and lose, you should be punished more (fairly ofc). If you were to lose 19 you should lose 22. You are going out of your comfort zone with 4 other people when LoL has dominion, teambuilder, normal, custom and draft modes available. Ranked should be an environment promoting teamwork and familiar gameplay. The whole purpose of non-ranked mode is to try and improve as a player, so do your testing there and not in ranked. Of course, once you start winning on that champion and playing more and more, you will build your performance meter on that champion essentially moving it to be one of your comfort champs! Also, for those complaining that this will hurt players who recently started playing a champ, you are wrong. If you truly think that champ is your main and keep working at it, you will win games and gain those points you lost by my implementation in the 4th segment above.
I hope you guys liked my suggestions to improving the LP system and ranked in general. I had other ideas to incorporating chat as a system for LP gain/loss but it’s near impossible. I would love some help improving the suggestions and/or adding more to improving our LP system.
Sincerely, SoulXPress
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