New Player Experience and The Illusion of Popularity

Hey,

So to start I want to first mention that this is my smurf account. I've been playing on it for the past week. Based on what I've seen, I've concluded a few things that I'll explain below.

This is what I've seen as far as new player population is concerned.

• From level 1-3 I would say that 5/10 of the players in the game are new.
• From level 4-7 maybe 3/10 are new.
• Levels 8-11 1/10 players are new.

The majority of players in the lower levels are existing players making a "smurf account", or are making a new one because they got banned.

A few problems arise from this, that would make any new player hesitant on wanting to continue to play.

• Previously banned accounts. They can be extremely hostile and make it seem like the entire LoL community is psychotic.

-Smurfs. The difference in skill can cause a new player to give up, unless they have a strong will to win.

My point is, new players receive a horrible first impression of the game this way. Regardless of all the advertisements and in-game changes that are supporting new p[layers, they won't make up for the fact that it's a hell hole early on. I'll provide a few solutions after I make another point.

"The most played game in the world." In total honesty this is what got me interested in LoL nearly 1 year ago. I ended up staying because I like competition, the game has regular updates, and the diverse champion pool.

If it wasn't for my competitive nature, there would be no way in hell I would have stayed. The toxicity was way to much for me. I have considered so many times if I should stop playing or not. Eventually I made it to Silver 4 Rank and people started acting civil.

Anyway back to the point, "The most played game in the world.". This is actually based on the number of unique accounts played on each month. If 80% of "new player accounts" are smurfs and existing players, that number would significantly drop.

It may be good promotion to say how popular a game is, but the real issues aren't being dealt with. Which are previously banned accounts and smurfs.

Previously banned accounts - These can be handled by reworking the the reporting / justice systems. Instead of banning someone who is hostile in chat towards other players they could just be permanently muted. realistically pings are all the communication you need in a game.

For intentional feeders, give them a warning before temporarily suspending them. Which will give them a chance to de-tilt before the temporary ban extends their tilt.

As for players' reports, it shouldn't be used as a way to harass or threaten other people. To fix that the reporting system could be a voting system, similar to the honoring system. After a game you can open a menu asking if anyone needs to be reported. The only way the report can be accepted is if the majority of the team vote for the same thing. For example a player 1 flames all game long. It would take at least player 2 3 and 4 to submit a report. After in submitted the player can receive a notification letting them know the situation. After so many reports (maybe 3 reports in a month) A message can say you are being accused of (Insert report-able offenses here) Prepare your defense. Then it can go to a support agent or Riot can bring back the Tribunal I heard about.

Anyway, the point is to reduce the amount of bans while still making the game enjoyable for those playing with the accused.

As for the smurfs, I feel like there will always be smurf accounts no matter what you do. The best we can do is reduce the amount of smurfs that are stomping on new players. There can be an option to link an existing account, with a decent honor level, that can boost your account to level 25. This way people who just want a smurf account to have one and not rek noobs can do so. We can take it a step farther by adding a reporting system for smurfs, that with enough votes can be placed in a different queue with other smurfs once reported enough times.

Yes queue times will be longer for new players, but what is 5 minutes of waiting compared to 25 minutes of getting your ass kicked horribly.

Well there is my argument that took a lot longer then i thought it would to write. Let me know what you guys think.

Please notice me Riot. [slayer-pantheon-rainbows]