An Idea for Riot Matchmaking Changes. Please Read and BUMP.
Before you read this, I"m going to apologize for making this such a long post. If you agree with some of the ideas posted, please bump this thread and hopefully it will gain some traction with Riot. If you don't have the patience, scroll down to the bottom where Braum is to begin reading my proposal. Thanks.
Pretty sure there have been dozens of threads on this subject. Riot ranked matchmaking is so broken currently. With the time and effort Riot is putting into the Summoner's Rift Update (SRU), it's disappointing to see just how little focus they actually put into areas that matter.
Let's not kid ourselves, the Summoner's Rift Update is not make or break, and will not fundamentally alter aspects of the game like a matchmaking overhaul. Though Riot is treating it like it's an engine swap upgrade, when in reality, it's a mere paint job/decal job. Stickers don't add horse power to the car, farting sounds coming from your exhaust don't make your car any faster. An engine swap is an engine swap, there is no substitute.
It's incredible to see all these videos made about how Riot puts an emphasis on gameplay and player experience , the reasons behind the immense effort behind SRU. Yet has largely left the game's most toxic and abusive trolls unchecked by seemingly [covertly] disabling player tribunal for a good while now.
The League Of Legends community has become infamous within the gaming realm as one that has little to zero accountability. It has become synonymous with immature players, abuse, and trolling - where there is no real way to combat it. THIS ISN'T NEW. Yet announcements for a SRU were made far earlier than the "Player Review/Punishment" Overhaul. Despite player behavior being a constant problem since the games introduction.
When Riot announced that it would be "tougher" on toxic players and griefers, Internet gaming websites and forums erupted. The fact that such an announcement could create ripples as such on the Internet should be a ominous, and shameful example of the reputation the League community has built itself to be. Here we are, 11/1/2014, mere months from the "instant" bans announcements and promises, yet everything stated in the articles and red posts on League boards have all but gone up in smoke. But the SRU updates, videos, and AMAs are going strong.
With all that being said....
The matchmaking system punishes players for the actions of others. However, this is a team game, and all teams cannot be perfect. But, when you're consecutively getting matched up with leavers and AFKers it's hard not to look toward the matchmaking system. There's no doubt in my mind that players who rage quit/AFK do it often when things aren't going their way. The same can be said for intentional feeders and those who refuse to communicate and play with the team. I would wager that if these accounts were analyzed, one would find a history of AFKs, griefing, or refusing to communicate.
Individual player skill is another aspect that is rarely considered at the end of the day. It's safe to say there are thousands of games a day where a single player on a team plays great, does his role, yet loses in the end - resulting in a loss of League Points.
The matchmaking system punishes players who play well on a consistent basis but just have bad luck with teams. Plenty of players gain only 12-16 points per win, but lose 21-22 points per loss when there's a leaver, feeder, or less skilled player. The awarding and penalizing of League Points is not scaled at all. It treats every player on a team like a good batch or a bad batch. Through this example, it seems as if only the players that are able to hyper carry can make any real difference and climb to the heights they want to climb to. However, once more, this is a team game and more often than not, a single player just doesn't have favorable odds when matched up against a better team. Again, this goes back to punishing the good players for the actions of the team. It's not like we chose our team, it was assigned to us.
*My proposal is this: *
Award League Points per win/loss based off of individual performances. A handful of sites have detailed stats that compare a player's performance to the "average performance" with a certain champion.
For WINS:
(Base amount of LP awarded per win) + (LP depending on individual performance)
(Below are examples with actual numbers I pulled off of LOLSKILL.NET off my own page and that of teammates/opponents)
(EXAMPLE 1) Ranked Solo Queue - WIN (Udyr) ------ 9/2/7 KDA ----- 157 CS ----- 12,843 gold ----- +88.4% (better than the average performance with Udyr)
(base amount of LP granted for win) + (LP awarded depending on individual performance) 15 + (+7) Total LP change= 22
(EXAMPLE 2) Ranked Solo Queue - WIN (Maoka) ------ 2/5/18 KDA ---- 95 CS ---- 10,943 gold ---- (-0.5% worse than the average performance)
(Base amount of LP granted for win) + (LP awarded depending on individual performance) 15 + (+1) Total LP change = 16
For LOSSES:
(Base amount of LP subtracted per loss) + (LP awarded depending on individual performance)
(EXAMPLE 3) Ranked Solo Queue - LOSS (Jarvan IV) ----- 2/5/2 KDA ----- 56 CS -----4,789 gold ----- (-42.8%) worse than the average performance.
(Base amount of LP granted for loss) + (LP awarded depending on indiv. performance) -16 + (+0) Total LP change = -16
(EXAMPLE 4) Ranked Solo Queue - LOSS (Jarvan IV) ---- 8/1/4 KDA ----- 198 CS ----- 10,574 ------- (+134.2% better than the average performance with J4)
(Base amount of LP granted for loss) + (LP awarded depending on indiv. performance) -16 + ( +10 ) Total LP change = -6
As you can see in EXAMPLE 3, even if a player does terrible, they can't lose more than the base amount of LP. However, players that do exceptionally well in a loss, such as in EXAMPLE 4, only lose a total of 6 LP when the final tally is made. On the other hand, players that do average to below average in a WIN, (EXAMPLE 2) are awarded little or no additional LP in addition to the base amount.
All in all, this is quite an undertaking, and I have little to no knowledge on how to code. So I can't really speak for the logistics of making this happen. However, with the success of LoL in recent years, it shouldn't be difficult for Riot to find a coder who is gifted and equally enthusiastic about League of Legends.
Thanks for reading. Bump please.
-Pat