The Future of ARAM (?)
Howdy y'all, in this post I'm going to start a discussion about the possibility of creating a ranked experience for ARAM, and how I think it ought to be done. REMEMBER, THIS IS MY OPINION, and I must get feedback if we are to flesh out the idea and present it to Riot or whoever
I'm going to deviate from what you would expect me to write first, which is that ARAM games don't take as long as Summoner's Rift, and are decided in draft 95% of the time. Instead, I would like to share a bit about how standard ranked Summoner's Rift games affect me. I don't like to play ranked because it makes me feel anxious. The higher the level of play (and the stakes), the worse the anxiety is. Because of this, I enjoy playing ARAM, and the reduced level of stress it brings. However, just like everyone else, I like to win, and I want a fair and competitive experience in the less stressful mode of ARAM.
IN ORDER FOR A RANKED ARAM EXPERIENCE TO FUNCTION CORRECTLY, SOME SPECIFIC RULES AND RESTRICTIONS MUST BE IMPLEMENTED:
- EVERY PLAYER MUST HAVE AN EQUAL PROBABILITY OF GETTING ANY CHAMPION. In order to queue up for ranked ARAM, I propose that all players must be at least level 30 and have ALL champions unlocked. This way, there in an equal chance for every summoner to get every champion, and no player can create an account where they are more likely to get certain champions that are particularly strong in ARAM. (In retrospect, this might seem unfair for new players, but honestly thousands of blue essence for champions does not seem fair to new players. Perhaps every champion should be unlocked for players queueing into this mode, so this rule wouldn't have to exist. In contrast, it allows for inexperienced players to gain access to a ranked system that is designed around key characteristics of veteran players- adaptability and mechanics)
- For the first regulation to work, mirror matches must be enabled. For those of you who don't know, if one team is randomly assigned "X" champion in an ARAM lobby, it cannot be an option for the other team. Going back to #1, every player must have an equal chance to receive every champion.
- Every player (unless under penalty by restriction by Riot player misbehavior punishment? not sure about this but it's worth a thought) may re-roll one time per lobby, no matter what. This might seem redundant, because you could just place five random champions in the available champion pool for each team instead of letting everyone reroll, and it very well may be (need some feedback on this bit) Perhaps players could be incentivized not to reroll? Again, I need input on this part
ARAM not only provides a faster, less stressful environment to players, it also reduces the League of Legends experience to a single key aspect: MECHANICS
Sure, most many ARAM games are more or less decided with draft, but there is also a very strong (and dare I say interesting) argument to be made for one-tricks and high skill players. These players, if (FAIRLY) lucky enough to get to play what they're good at, will be able to thoroughly enjoy 15 minutes of doing what they're practiced heavily without having to worry about laning, wave control, objective control, warding, etc.
[and for the record, I'm not a one trick by any means, I'm just including Yasuo/Riven and other one-trick pony players]
If ARAM were to be made ranked, it would give more competitive players a reason to play it, and would result in fewer matches being won or lost in the RNG of draft (assuming my aforementioned restrictions apply), potentially because a certain player has an account dedicated solely to ARAM, with 30 champions that are all very strong in ARAM.
In conclusion, a ranked ARAM experience both can and should be made fair, and in so doing, be made into an experience enjoyable to both casual players, and those who invest much of their time into mechanical mastery of the game.
PLEASE LEAVE FEEDBACK BELOW!!! I would LOVE to hear from my fellow summoners about this! Love, GsO
