The Real Reason Autofill Sucks

Hey guys!

So I've seen a ton of posts recently about how terrible autofill is and how supports are now feeding and flaming because they were autofilled into support. There are a couple of other reasons why people think autofill is terrible but honestly, I think it comes down to one reason.

Autofill was put in place to reduce queue times, and it succeeded. Before autofill I had queue times that went over 5 min, now I haven't had one over 2 min. However to do this, autofill will sometimes put a player in a role different from the two selected (I think it's safe to say 99% of the time that position is supp). This has led to a general hatred for autofill and some posts even requesting for it to be taken out. While many people believe that Riot screwed up again with the autofill system, I think otherwise. I think the reason why people hate autofill is because of themselves.

I realize this doesn't apply to all Americans, however the general American Philosophy is putting me first; my wants, my needs, my comforts. And this isn't always a bad thing. Kids dream of making the game winning touchdown or carrying the team on their shoulders, and this drives them to work harder and excel in that field. However this mindset is bad news for autofill.

The reason why autofill was put in place? Long queue times. Why long queue times? A lack of supports. Why a lack of supports? I've asked this question to random players who were forced into support by autofill. These were the answers. "I feel like I'm not doing anything." "Supports never carry games. I can carry in every role except for support." "It's boring and there is no reward." And so on. Most of the comments were generally the same, there is no fun, no reward, and no glory in playing support (I disagree, that's just what I gathered from the comments).

Although I was born in the US, my parents were both from Korea and I have some family who still live there. I asked my cousin who lives in Korea and plays league about this and we came to the conclusion that one of the main reasons why Koreans play better and why autofill isn't an issue there is because Koreans don't have this "me" mentality. Americans all want to be the star, the person that carries the team. But Koreans are equally content with being behind the scenes and playing roles like support. For many Americans, success comes from being on the front of a magazine. For many Koreans, success comes from their team being on the front of a magazine.

So how does this impact gameplay? Well let's jump into these two mindsets.

1. The "me" mindset. In the NA LCS, many players are known for their aggressive moves, such as wildturtle. He is known for flashing in and making huge plays. I believe it's because he wants the "big plays". Yes, there is nothing more amazing to watch than seeing wildturtle flash in and pick up a pentakill. However, that play is often not very successful and ends up in him getting killed. Also note that this play is very much a solo play. Wildturtle flashes in and he picks up the kills or dies, it's mostly on him.
2. The Korean mindset. Let's look at bang, one of the greatest ADCs. While he has made aggressive plays, he is very much known for being safe in the back line and pumping out damage. There is no denying that wildturtle has more frequent and more intense highlights, however I would argue that bang contributes more to the team by playing safe and not going in for the flashy plays (I am not saying playing safe is better, I'm saying Bang focuses on the job of the ADC, put yourself in a position to do the most damage for as long as possible. While wildturtle and his pentas are literally the most damage possible, it's not consistent. Bang consistently deals out a high amount of damage every team fight).

Yes, this is not concrete. I know Americans who love supporting and who put the team first. I also know Koreans who want those big plays and want to only carry games. However I believe that in general, Koreans put the team first while Americans put themselves first. Therefore when it comes to support, Koreans are fine with meeting the needs of the team and playing a not so glamorous role. On the other hand, Americans are not because they want to be the carry in the mid lane, they want to flash in and get pentas, they want to see their own success above the teams success.

Koreans play better because they put the team first. They product of this? More supports who know what they are doing and who weren't forced into the role, players who may not get amazing highlights yet still contribute more to the team (Faker gets the highlights because he is a God. He knows exactly what players will do before they do it, he is an outlier in this study. xD), and an overall better team experience and game due to a mindset of, "How do I make my team succeed? How do I use my talents to better the team, not my highlight folder."

Americans don't play as well because they put themselves first. The product of this? Less supports who actually know how to play the role, more supports who are toxic and don't have a clue on what to do because they were forced into the role, and more players who would be best in support playing positions like mid to get the big carry plays. Americans enjoy greater success individually (sometimes) at the expense of the team due to a mindset of, "How can I get a penta? Which Champion will give me the greatest carry potential? How can I outshine my teammates?"

How does this impact autofill? Again, Americans don't like supporting because of their mindset. A lack of supports means longer queue times. Longer queue times means complaining players. Complaining players means Riot releases autofill to reduce queue times, but force people into support. This results in toxic players who didn't get what they want, or nice players who are awful because they don't support. That's the main reason why people hate autofill.

Last notes, I understand that 1) Not all Koreans and Americans are like this and 2) The Korean mindset at times can be bad and the American mindset at times can be good. That being said, I believe for the team, for success in ranked games and for autofill to work, the Korean mindset is ten times more productive and beneficial than the American mindset.

TL;DR - Autofill sucks because Americans don't play support. Americans don't play support because they want to be the star of every game. It sounds awful in the TL;DR, just read the thing. :P

Thanks for reading and tell me what you think!