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Dynamic Queue CAN be competetive, but is it?

jawd55·5/15/2016, 4:00:49 AM·2 votes·822 views

I have been wanting to put out my thoughts on this for quite a while. I have played a lot of varieties of sports and video games. I am going to look at Dynamic Queue's pros and cons as far as competition level is concerned as I have heard a lot of complaints about the competition level.

Dynamic Queue is an attempt by Riot to realize that they have created a team game and it is time that they push towards acting like one. Familiarity with those that you are playing with doesn't lower competition, it actually breeds it. Example: two soccer teams go up against each other. All players of each team are individually of equal skill yet one team has played with each other for several years and the other is playing with each other for the first time. The team that is familiar with its members is a far more competitive than the other. In this regard Dynamic Queue is a positive for competition.

Solo Queue actually creates a Call of Duty-esque type of gameplay where the team with the higher average individual skill will win every time. Dynamic on the other hand introduces a variable of coordinated, organized, teamplay. The team with the higher average individual skill can fall to superior teamwork. Can this happen in Solo Queue? Short answer, yes. However, Solo Queue makes it nigh impossible to coordinate plays without sheer luck. Example: Top lane has pushed his own lane to enemy tower and notices that there is a potential teleport play bottom lane that could easily snowball the lane. In Solo Queue you have pings to communicate (typing is far too ineffective a method in a quick-paced game) and mere hope that the bottom lane is paying enough attention and is competent enough to follow up. Dynamic Queue, farther than just voice communication, allows for a team member to know the propensity of the bottom lane to pay attention and follow up as well as the bottom lane knowing if the top lane has a propensity to look for teleport plays bottom.

Bottom line: Knowing your teammates creates a more competitive environment.

Now let's look at the issues that Dynamic Queue has that actually lowers competition.

Smurfing is a much bigger problem in Dynamic Queue than Solo Queue. It is a commonly known issue that if someone were to have even one friend who is better enough than the competition to carry his team mate/s through game after game then that person can be propelled into a division that they would never achieve otherwise. A nuance to this, the person will actually get better from playing with his friend who is better than him. Better enough to deserve where he ends up? Uncertain. Only time would be able to tell. As such I actually think that the flip side of smurfing is a bigger problem. It creates an unfair battlefield for those who do not have a smurf on their team. Earlier on in the post I used an example of two teams, each of equal average individual skill. Imagine that this same example is taking place but one of the players, on the team that is familiar with each other secretly has a player that is of professional level skill where the others might be of collegiate skill. Immediately this creates an unfair playing field. Unequal footing inherently creates a less competitive environment.

Unequal numbers of people on each team who are familiar with each other also lower competitiveness. The max amount of competitiveness in this game comes from five people of great skill who also have great coordination with each other. This came best from a team who knows each others play styles and abilities well. A team with less than five members familiar with each other and the rest of the members are not familiar it lowers competitiveness. The opportunity for two opposing teams to consist of differing amounts of familiar players (even though I trust Riot when they say that it is under 1% of the time that a five man goes against anything other than a five man) lowers it even more.

To sum up: Solo Queue is not the most competitive possible version of this game. It is impossible to test your skill alone against another team. There are simply too many variable coming from the members of your own team to their team. The only way to truly test your individual skill is to go one vs one against another player.

Dynamic Queue has higher potential for long-lasting highly competitive environment than solo queue, but it come with more difficulties that have to be worked through. Riot has a vision for league to become a long-lasting sport such as soccer, baseball, etc. and they are taking steps towards that vision.

I, for one, am hopeful.

16 Comments

The Whamboozler5/15/2016, 6:06:14 AM4 votes

It's not that it's more or less competitive. That's highly debatable either way, but it's not why a lot of people dislike dynamic queue. At the least, it's not why I dislike Dynamic queue. I dislike it because I'm a solo player. And as a solo player there is pretty much No up side to the queue for me. No benefit. No "Oh, but at least you get this".

The game is being focused towards these premades and riot has basically told me "you don't matter as much". Sure, you don't get them every game, but every game you do is worse for it... as you struggle to work with your team and figure out what the heck they're doing, and struggle to fight against the enemy premade who is FAR more coordinated than you. Any game with a premade in you just.... don't matter as much. You can't influence the game as much as 3 or 4 people no matter how hard you try. They will either carry you, or feed and render anything you do pretty worthless. The game is almost always in their hands. A good portion of them are prone to flaming, abusing or just plain treating the solo player on their team like crap, too.

BluePolarizer5/15/2016, 4:34:49 AM3 votes

All I have to say is:

Is the NBA still competitive if it's the Lakers vs. random street ball players?

Is university still an accurate measure of knowledge and achievement if you could have any number of people take your exams with you?

ku ni chi wa5/15/2016, 4:24:16 AM2 votes

before Dynamic q exist we had Solo q for the Public gaming ... wasn't bad because i like to climb a Ledder by myself instead of climbing with Friends. and then there was Team Ranked a little bit competitive gaming for semiprofessional players ... well and then there was the Pro Area LCS/LCK/LPL/LMS ...

with Dynamic q all this Options to in proof different styles of skill are now gone. and why? because a Riot Employee had a Vision.

WELCOME to the LEAGUE OF MONOTONOUS and FAKE SKILL

Irelia Bot5/15/2016, 8:25:15 AM2 votes

THe issue comes in that one tem often has the "premade advantage"

Where a duo and 3 solo are agaisnt a 4 man and a solo or a full 5 man.

Riot says it is rare but I have a feeling it is more common then they are letting on.

4 or 5 man ganks seem to be far more common this season and one team having the ability to coordinate team movement better is an undeniable advantage.

IN past seasons ranked teams was around for this and it put teams on an even footing if they so wanted to partake in it. Dynamic Queue does not however apply to this since an even footing in team coordination potential through skype calls or the like is anything but guarantied.