@Riot what do you think of imbalanced teams in ranked?

Uzzlegorf·Feb 6, 2014·5 votes·706 views

I just had a plat and a bronze duo-queuing in my team. The game had them all from bronze - silver - gold - plat.

Isn't ranked supposed to set my game with people at my level, give or take 1-2 divisions? If matchmaking can't make it happen, why don't you put some limitation on the possible gap between duo players?

This really ruins some of the game experience when a bronze player has to face a plat player in a solo lane (which happened now, not fun at all).

Any thoughts?

14 Comments

UzzlegorfFeb 8, 20143 votes

Here is another one. This has to stop. http://i.imgur.com/EK17hcA.jpg

KramillionFeb 6, 20141 votes

They could, but then some friends wouldn't be able to play together and that wouldn't be very nice either...

MackleDogeFeb 6, 20146 votes

Except for you can queue up with your friends in normals, there is absolutely no reason that someone who is Bronze should be queued up for ranked with someone in Gold or higher and even Silver is questionable.

TsiddiqueFeb 6, 20144 votes

I agree. This has plagued me since I started playing soloq. All of these unbelievable duo combos I either get paired up with or go up against. Unless they are either on a crazy winning streak, Bronze shouldn't go against high silvers or gold.

RoaranorFeb 6, 20141 votes

What was the overall team spread for both teams?

MackleDogeFeb 6, 20141 votes

I'm not really certain the overall spread is really relevant. Even if the matchmaking system adjusted by providing gold and silver on the side opposite of the platinum the disparity between the players is the inherent issue in the situation right?

RoaranorFeb 6, 20141 votes

True, it can cause for a huge gap in skill between certain lane matchups, but given the overall spread, the player placed at a disadvantage individually should have advantages elsewhere despite his own lane.

The teams are paired up according to the team's overall mmr. If you have a low elo player queuing up with a higher elo player, it makes sense that the average elo of the opposing team would sit somewhere in between.

I guess what I'm trying to highlight is that the disparity you're referring to should only be apparently on an individual level. If you take a step back and view the team as a whole, it would appear more balanced. For example, while there was a Bronze against a Plat in one lane which would go in favor of the Plat's team, the Bronze's team might have two Gold players going against Silver's or Bronze which would have two lanes going in favor of the Bronze's team, giving a contribution possibly equal to or greater than the contribution the Plat player brought to his team.

So, in the big picture, the overall spread can indeed be relevant. Rather then deny to players from duo queuing together, they compensate the disadvantaged party with a possibly stronger overall comp.

I've had my fair share of experience with it as well. Going against a Diamond V Kat top lane as a Bronze I Akali S3, and got my pride handed to me on a platter and it sucked. But we ended up winning due to the advantage other lanes had.

MackleDogeFeb 6, 20142 votes

Except for that causing a potentially toxic mentality. You can't tell me that the player paired up against a drastically higher MMR opponent is going to be playing in a positive mentality, they automatically start with the thought that they are being cheated out of a fair game, and I can't deny that I feel that is true. Even if they have a moderate advantage in another lane or the other two lanes that doesn't make the game fun for the person being placed in a lane they don't stand a chance in and can't do anything but their absolute best just to survive.

We have to keep in mind the OP is referring specifically to ranked and ranked divisions and tiers exist for a reason. You aren't removing any fun or ability to play with friends if you restrict duoque in some regard to stop a bronze player queuing up with a platinum player, they can do that to their hearts content in normals. In my opinion, duoqueuing in this regard cheapens the balance of the game and is often done with the intent to boost the bronze player which is a bad thing to begin with.

RoaranorFeb 7, 20141 votes

The potentially toxic mentality you're referring to only comes into play when the player intentionally goes out of their way to check their opponents ranking. Ranked play is intended to be more competitive than casual, normal play. That's why I myself strayed away from Ranked play.

Ranked tiers and divisions exist as an identifier for your skill level. Your mmr is used to determine who you play against, not your division. There will be times where you're used as an extreme to balance out the overall mmr between the teams, whether you are the extreme high or extreme low.

There are just as many risks for the duo as there are for the rest of the team. The Plat player risks losing more LP/mmr than normal while the Bronze player risks having to lane against a significantly higher skilled player. There are also a large number of players that duo queue simply to play in a higher elo than their own, so please refrain from making the assumption that people do it simply to get elo boosted. That in itself isn't even nearly as effective as it was last season as you cannot gurantee yourself a permanent spot in a higher tier due to the tier decline system.

I do agree that Ranked queue system could be tweaked some for efficiency, but I don't agree that duo queuing cheapens the balance of the game, or that the majority simply do it to be boosted. It allows you to play with at least one other person whom you trust enough to play/lane with on a team full of otherwise random players.

MackleDogeFeb 7, 20142 votes

First let me clarify that I'm not opposed to duoque play, I'm opposed to purposefully duoqueuing with someone drastically above your MMR (and therefore most likely your ranked division and tier, seriously come on). I duoque (or used to I guess) with my friends but we are all around the same MMR, that's cool, you're playing ranked with your friend. If I'm Bronze 2 and duoque with a Plat 2 friend, that isn't cool even though he is my friend. If I want to play with him, I should do it in normals. And I didn't say everyone does it to get boosted I specifically said that I thought that drastic differences like that are because of that in a lot or most circumstances, so please refrain from ignoring the fact that that sort of behavior exists in this ranked community, effective or not.

Also, everyone I know that plays ranked checks the ranking, so I don't see why you bother to point that out, even if that player doesn't there is a pretty good chance of at least one player on the team checking and being aware. I mean, are you saying that having a team with a Diamond mid versus a Silver is equaled out by having a Gold support against a Bronze? We have to account for what roles that MMR disparity exists in don't we?

UzzlegorfFeb 6, 20141 votes

Top: plat for us, Gold for enemy.

Mid: bronze for us, plat for enemy.

Jungle: silver for us (me), gold for enemy.

ADC: gold on both sides.

Support: gold for us, silver for enemy.

ÐıorFeb 7, 20141 votes

I think that they should never have put you or I in bronze but I assume they did because I'm hated by riot but hey that's just me. And yes and no for when people are duoing with there friends in ranked its probably to help them avoid being put in the depths of the hell full of trolls, idiots, and feeder like you and I where put in and no because its not all that fair to a bronze to have to go up against a Gold I player in ranked where it matters