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Reasons Why it's Unenjoyable to be a New League of Legends Player

CST Resonance·1/5/2015, 3:39:50 PM·23 votes·2,984 views

I've been actively playing League of Legends since last August, and I consider myself a "new" player, being relative to most players.

Reasons why it sucks to be a new player:

In the early levels 1-15(ish) you get anally destroyed by "high elo" smurfs, or generally experienced players who know the metagame.
Once you're at level 15-20 and you've passed the smurfs, you're expected to know how to lane against specific champions when in reality, you've maybe had a handful of games you've won because of smurfs, so your team is going to get pissed at you for making mistakes
Level 20-30 similar problems to 15-20 except Riot Matchmaking thinks it's fair to throw you into a matchup with your entire team being silver except you and their team all bronze and one gold.
Now that you've had thirty levels to make it into ranked, you play your provisional games, but in reality, you're just a handicap to your entire team and cause "good" players to lose their series.

30 Comments

disregardable1/5/2015, 4:05:03 PM18 votes

Personally, levels 15-20 (ish) were the most fun I've ever had in League. It was a huge period of development for me. I learned a ton about the metagame, how to play AD Carry, what it's like to win with a real support.

People actually helped me learn to play. It was great.

Jakubrus1/5/2015, 6:20:50 PM10 votes

League is a highly complex game with a steep learning curve and a ridiculously high skill/knowledge ceiling that throws you into a team of four randoms against five other randoms. It takes probably hundreds of hours of game time to get to a decently functional level of play.

I agree that smurfs sometimes ruin the integrity of the matchmaking system. Luckily, smurfs usually pass on through your elo quickly on their way to their true skill tier. You may think you have smurfs constantly, but as a Silver IV player I meet a lot of so-called "smurfs" that are obviously lying to try to mind-game my team. Just because someone gets ridiculously fed doesn't mean smurf. Snowballing happens all the time.

Matchmaker is kinda derpy until you log a few hundred games. By then it has figured out your skill level and your games will be more stable.

A few words of advice: Don't play ranked until you've logged a couple hundred games and are decently familiar at all roles and a good pool of champions. Play Draft Normals if you want the "ranked" experience without the stress. You don't want to jump right into ranked because you're still not really familiar with the game, and you'll just trash your elo. Ranked is for earning your true skill tier, not for practicing. Never play a new or unfamiliar champ in ranked.

BakugoBestBoy1/5/2015, 7:46:08 PM5 votes

If you played your provisionals as soon as you hit level 30 I feel really bad for you. I hope you didn't get placed in Bronze. Unless you are confident on 2-3 champions in every role you are fairly unprepared for ranked and people even as high as Diamond still can't wrap their brains around the idea of just show up to the fight for the objective and our chance to win goes up exponentially. But I feel that account leveling pain, made a new account on LAN so I could feel the God Ping out here on the east coast and holy crap the toxicity even in bot games almost killed me. But being called a noob By the Jinx with 2 doran's rings at 20 minutes was fairly entertaining.

Pyrokineticmage1/6/2015, 3:20:28 AM3 votes

Back when i started league.

Play Annie People walk up to AA me I one shot them

D0nC1/6/2015, 5:34:45 AM2 votes

I can corroborate OP's story, I jump on my smurf and do what he says (destroy new players by constantly picking on them, it's easy to tell them apart) IF I am not getting annoyed by other smurfs and I do see a lot of them.

Plenty of people are usually perma/temp banned and making new accounts, sorry that Lyte's system is anti new player in behalf of the community.

Chessburger1/5/2015, 10:17:56 PM2 votes

I can see your points, it was different back when I started because everyone was a noob and smurfs were pretty much a rare occurence. But why in your right mind would you jump into ranked when you hit 30 with no actual gameplay experience. It took me over 500 normals to get a good grasp at what I was doing to the point I was confident enough to try ranked. And then I noticed most people in ranked are like you it only started getting half decent after 1500 elo (old and transparent system).

I actually really enjoyed getting stomped by high elo people in normals because I always learned something. Up to the point where I could reliably play vs 2000+ elo people (D1+ by todays standards I think) and not get shit on. See it as an opportunity to learn, if you look past the emotional part of getting your ego shattered to sub atomic particles and start noticing what the experienced player was doing and what you were doing to allow what happened to happen.

A friend of mine started playing and would play with us and always get platinum or higher enemies and got destroyed every game. Except she learned and got diamond on 2 different servers maining supports (both attempts ended in under 150 games). It took half a year for her to learn what it took me 2 years on my own.

Edit: The real issue new players face is the IP prices. There's like 50 more champs than when I started, too many are 6300 and 4800 when the 6300 were rare back then and the staple was 3150. The IP gains are on average lower now than they were. There's less free IP boosts, there's no more RP compensations for server instability (WTF happened to Riot), and runes are still using this archaic system where a rune page costs the same as a champion and some rune sets cost way too much when they should just be relatively free. I know they're an IP sink but the IP gains are already incredibly small. I've been playing for nearly 5 years sometimes on and off, got almost 3000 hours into the game and currently own 9 rune pages, most of the runes you can imagine (I like experimenting) and am missing 36 champions which are mostly in the 4800-6300 price range. That in itself is the really ridiculous part and if I didn't already owned the champs and runes I do or got banned I would not touch this game with a 5m stick.

Räd1/6/2015, 5:17:58 AM2 votes

I've only been playing since around late February of 2014, and I started with absolutely 0 knowledge. I only started playing on a whim from some friends who suggested I download the game and start playing. They were not very eager to help me, so I spent A LOT and I mean A LOT of time teaching myself the ins and the outs of the game. Looking up tutorials, watching the LCS, and experienced players in Platinum/Diamond/Master leagues on Youtube. I took loads of time and interest in every game I played. Every time I died I took what I may have done wrong and took it into consideration. (Lack of Vision, Bad Positioning or Overextending)

Taking loads of time playing, I reached level 30 around mid-late July, and boy was I not ready to jump into ranked. Which I didnt. I focused a lot on learning more and more, and opening my horizons to other roles. Buying champs that suit me, and learning the insides and outs.

I finally felt comfortable with 2 champions to every single role. That's right all 5. Mid September I decided "GO FOR IT" and jumped into ranked. Finished my provisionals and ended up in Silver. After I qualified for Silver, I really took climbing elo slowly, and I am now placed in Silver III, and I am really satisfied with where I am at. 1 year is coming up and to be decently knowledgeable and be placed in such a higher expected league than I thought whereas a lot of my friends are stuck in Bronze, I'm pretty happy.

To this day, I have a total of over 300 normal games won. (Somewhere around 330-350 to estimate) and I really do feel like I have a lot to learn climbing through Silver and promoting to Gold.

I really dont fully remember leveling to 30 because of the learning curve I had, but I did enjoy learning the game and being a doofus whilst doing so.

GeoPeter1/6/2015, 12:05:13 AM2 votes

As a lvl 12 player, I actually rarely find myself going up against players that I can definitively say are smurfs. I would say that most of the problems for new people come from lack of knowledge. Knowing what abilities champions have and how they play are a HUGE part of the steep learning curve. Understanding the meta (and when/how to break it) is another important thing for new players. When I try a new champ in bot games, I almost always see a champ in a non-meta role or lane.

Honestly, watching videos of people playing on youtube is the best way to learn the game, because you can take the time to analyze and understand the champions you see without the stress of being blown up or worrying about costing your team the win. No one is going far in ranked because they watched videos over actually playing, but they have personally helped me clear the learning curve and I can usually hold my own when I play duo with my gold-ranked friend.

Cindikle1/5/2015, 10:31:20 PM1 votes

First two I don't think Riot can do much about.

But the last two I don't know why they still exist.

If I solo Q as a level 25. I should never see someone who is ranked.

If I Q with a group of ranked players when I'm level 25. I should face only level 30's. They already have ways of normalizing MMR between teams. Me being level 25 would just dragon my friends down slightly. Not enough that there should be a huge skill gap. But enough that I should be worried I'm facing a gold+ while they're closer to equal footing.

Far as the last one. Jumping into ranked because you're 30 is only going to cause everyone problems. Being level 30 doesn't mean you know the game. There is a reason you have to have 16 champions for it. They expect you to build up your IP and experience of the game before then. The other problem is the image you are giving it and a lot of people give it. Ranked isn't normals. It's meant to play for the competition. Not just the fun. Some people find it more fun this way.

I know Ranked doesn't hold that large of a % of the player base. But it is still a good chunk. And way too many of these players treat it as a normal game. Joining for the fun as if it's a normal. But can't handle the competitiveness. There's a reason this game has team builder and normals.

FuzziestPickle1/5/2015, 11:09:37 PM1 votes

I never really had a problem with good players at low levels unless I was playing with my level 30 friends. In fact, I had a really high win rate until I reached level 24. item 3070 item 2043

Iittala1/5/2015, 11:22:48 PM1 votes

Wait... everyone doesnt play bots until level 30 and save up 40k ip?

i dont play a 5 v 5 until a friend forced me to.. I played bots a lot apparently.

Easyyy1/6/2015, 12:48:56 AM1 votes

I maybe played vs 2 or 3 smurfs that I can remember when I was 1-30. Most of the people that say they are smurfs are just getting fed and saying they are smurfs. Wait....you mean, everything people say on the internet isn't true? Whaaaa???

Joushi1/6/2015, 1:21:29 AM1 votes

Do/did you have a mentor? It's really hard to learn without a mentor because of how huge the burden of knowledge is. Without someone more experienced to teach you what is actually important can quickly get you bogged down with bad ideas, bad habits, etc.

After that, I'd recommend being liberal with the mute button. If someone is flaming it's very rare that they will say anything useful later on, so just mute them. I also play without all-chat on most of the time because what useful thing is your opponent ever going to say?

ChimeiTekinaNasu1/6/2015, 2:40:27 AM1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Cause I FEEEEEEL,realm=NA,application-id=cIfEodbz,discussion-id=3E44voE4,comment-id=,timestamp=2015-01-05T15:39:50.636+0000)

I've been actively playing League of Legends since last August, and I consider myself a "new" player, being relative to most players.

Now that you've had thirty levels to make it into ranked, you play your provisional games, but in reality, you're just a handicap to your entire team and cause "good" players to lose their series.

Yeah, I would say still new. I been playing since July 2013. Almost made it to Gold. Silver 1, and still learning. Almost 700 normal wins. At least you made it to Silver. That should be good enough for now. You should try doubling your normal wins so you can get more experience with the game before aiming for Gold. I would say about 400-500 normal wins before going for Gold unless have natural talent for the game or a very fast learner. Because trust me, the climb from the pit of Silver to high Silver, is utter crap. My duo rank partner, it took him longer to get out of Silver than what it's taking me. It took him 330+ ranked wins to get out of it. I'm almost out around 200 ranked wins. Had 61 points, needed 2 more wins for promos, but lost the next 2 instead. So taking a break.

So yeah. My advice is now that you're at least Silver, you should stick to normals for awhile and expand your pool of champions for each role and get the basics of them down. That's why I did to get out of the Silver pit. I didn't do rank in Season 4 for like....6 months. lol. So I didn't get out of Silver in time. I stopped cause I needed to use more champs than what I was using. So yeah. That's what you should work on now. =P It seems you like the support role. Thresh should be good for you, he's a god tier support.

imonly4noobcakes1/6/2015, 3:05:35 AM1 votes

This explains why there are so many noobs in Team Builder and ranked solo......and you are so right that these players do handicap those who know the game. It can get annoying having to tell people what they should or shouldn't be doing, becasue they get so offended and start with toxic talk if you try to help them out.

AGarner1/6/2015, 4:55:09 AM1 votes

I don't remember my first time playing very well (I was 9) but all I can remember was my brother telling me to play Garen and only build sunfire capes. I realize now what I have done. I also played Kayle and bought some weird items. ;-;

KirbyCake1/6/2015, 6:02:51 PM1 votes

you forgot one of the biggest things, runes

it is very hard for even one of the best players without runes to beat a smurf with runes simple because runes+masteries difference between prelevel20 and post level 20 is like a 1k+ gold difference already, 4 kill advantage.

Yeliw Morgana1/7/2015, 9:59:15 AM1 votes

I made my name before I knew there was a Morgana Morgana in the game. I was playing evelynn Evelynn and leblanc Leblanc mid. I had to have been around lvl 10-15 when someone asked why I didnt play morgana since i had her in my name so I tried her out and fed sooo hard. I had no idea what I was doing and got flamed really bad. Since then I made it a point to learn and be decent with her (I'm bronze so I'm not great) just because people assume I main her due to my name. Honestly, I just really like Merlin.

CoolKnightST1/7/2015, 11:32:39 AM1 votes

Play champs like Karma Graves Annie Janna Orianna Irelia Jinx Morgana Malphite , ... their will never be useless ones you learned their mindset.

YOU BEEN WARNED1/5/2015, 7:00:47 PM1 votes

TL;DR smurfs ruin new players' game experience, Riot permits smurfs. Therefore Riot ruins new player experience.

ImHerVoice1/5/2015, 7:09:31 PM1 votes

this game is dead thats why theres no relatively new players coming in. season 2/3 were probably the last batch of "new" plays in mass that came and stayed or left. there has been some new but... anyway when I joined back in beta/alpha everyone was geared towards learning the mechanics and having fun. That has changed over the years./ And so has the whole game with it. Now most people understand whats going on and how to react to it.

Also Theres a bunch of noobs who joined league as their first moba so they have zero experience prior. And expect riot to hand hold them or something for their lack of experience/mechanics. Its really not their top to do that.

If you're not willing to put forth the effort to improve before you complain about something... its basically like a "people help those who help themselves first"

Junkο1/5/2015, 7:53:09 PM1 votes

level 15-20 is when you get matched with level 1 and level 30 premades where one gets completely shit over where the other one stomps with runes and experience

Rew7111/5/2015, 9:12:55 PM1 votes

I can say:

1st) I didn't understand anything and no one told me what to do but I made it high in levels real fast.

2nd) No one, still, told me what to do. I just kept playing Udyr everywhere (except in the "forest" as I once called it).

3rd) I found out I could buy items with the gold I got after level 20(something). But, I only got item 1053 since it gave me back life. And helped my Tiger Stance.

4th) I played only 2 games and in my second, I made my team lose (BAD). I went Mordekaiser top, and only would get item 1053 and maybe got item 3144 . It was just 1 guy who told me that items go with certain champions. But I also felt unprepared. I haven't played Ranked but once every 2 months. I wanted to make sure I had everything learned and prepared for when I go back into Ranked.

Sypher The Poro1/5/2015, 9:32:47 PM1 votes

I kinda disagree with 15-20, as those were rather good for me. Little to no smurfs, most of the people were around my level of skill, and I managed to learn quite a bit about the meta, and what's best for breaking said meta.

HOWEVER, I agree with your other two points. I was lucky enough to be friends with diamond and platinum players who taught me the basics. I was also told why getting sucked into the money black hole that is teir 1 & 2 runes. I'm now level 30, and the journey to 30 from 20 was a hellhole. Especially with it being the pre-season and very little people playing ranked means I get all the ranked people in my games unless I'm playing with a low-level friend.

I remember one game where my team had a Silver II Vayne and a level 6 Ezreal down bottom together. While I was okay with that, the other team had a level 9 Thresh and a PLATINUM I Vayne. The ONLY reason we won that match is because I got fed as Yasuo and could out-duel Vayne 80% of the time. Just the other day was another game, the entire enemy team was Silver V-I, my team wasn't even all 30. Most of these games rely on our hyper carry getting a good match up and carrying use while we try to avoid dying as best as possible.

FarRockBF1/5/2015, 10:24:14 PM1 votes

Agree with the general sentiment. Level 15-30 best moments I've had in League.

BakedLotion1/5/2015, 10:27:15 PM1 votes

Yeah, the game is really fun when you don't know about anything. Once uget to 30 it's just horrible