[Suggestion] The current problem with ARAM and how to fix it.
tl;dr version: ARAM should reward versatility and luck, not targeted champion purchases. ARAM-only account advantage has got to go, by making unowned champions available.
Now that ARAM has been an established queue for a really long time, we're seeing something becoming more and more prevalent that is unhealthy to the balance of the game mode. You all probably already know what I'm referring to, and it's something that even I am not entirely innocent of: Smurf accounts or accounts in general dedicated only to ARAM.
The "balance" in ARAM comes from the fact that nobody gets to pick their champion and that team compositions are entirely random to an extent, but more and more people are stacking their own decks by only buying champions known to be more powerful in ARAM such as Soraka, Sona, Nami, Lux, Master Yi, and others. This effectively gives themselves a very large chance to get an amazing champion, with only a small chance to get a free week champion that they can simply reroll off of. As the amount of people on ARAM-only accounts rise, it is creating a more and more frustrating and counterintuitive environment for the people who are not on one.
The answer to how to fix this is quite simple. Open up all champions in ARAM, regardless of whether or not the players own them.** This will award versatility and dumb luck, how ARAM is designed to be, rather than rewarding targeted champion purchases.**
This has been a growing problem since the introduction of the ARAM queue, it started out as just an annoyance at first, but now it's becoming out of control to the point where if you win a lot of ARAMS with your friends, you start getting paired consistently against these accounts. People have brought this up multiple times over the course of the past couple years, yet every time somebody speaks up they get silenced by trolls who say "It's only ARAM, why does it matter?" and people who don't want to lose their precious advantage. This has been going on too long! Vote and bump to get the attention Riot hasn't been paying to the people in the links below! Together we can make ARAM fair(ish) again!
Just a few people who spoke up and haven't been acknowleged: http://forums.euw.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=1904825 http://boards.eune.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/maps-modes-en/UqwugGh0-aram-accounts-ruined-aram?comment=0006 https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/21vq14/aramonly_accounts_ruin_aram/ http://forums.euw.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=1605143 http://forums.euw.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=1663320 https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/1uwc52/i_won_too_much_aram_and_am_now_stuck_playing/
Pros of making this change: -Perfect balance in the game mode: Every player has the same chance to get every champion. -Rewards versatility: Players who learn to play many different types of champions will be more successful. -Game variety goes up: No seeing the same dozen champions over and over and over and over... -Frustration redirected: Blame RNG for "God Teams" rather than cheaters. -More fun: Someone who owns every champion can queue an ARAM without disadvantage.
Cons of making this change: -Only One: People will, and frequently if they are new, have to play champions they don't know how to play. It IS random, after all. This is counteracted by the fact that anybody can swap anybody, and an additional reroll would also help.
One alternate solution would be to combine the individual champ pools of all players in a particular match. It still addresses the disadvantages of owning more champs, yet doesn't completely remove the purpose of buying champs for ARAM players. If a player has a specific champ they like, they can buy it to have it always be a potential roll in ARAM.
