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The League System is Arbitrary

Daen·10/20/2013, 4:29:16 PM·10 votes·1,204 views

I've been trying to figure out how to articulate this for a long time, but the League System just...bothers me. I'm not referring to the switch from ELO to MMR/LP nor am I referring to the system of Bronze 5 to Challenger. This is meant to be a discussion exclusively about what you see when you click on the Leagues tab in the client.

In Seasons 1 and 2, Riot had a comprehensive overall ladder that showed exactly where each player was ranked amongst the entire community. Personally I actually liked this, but a lot of people didn't so Riot implemented the League System to make it easier to see progression. I think this system has the potential to be a really great idea, but currently I feel like it's completely arbitrary and relatively meaningless. Hear me out!

http://i.imgur.com/SEdUX1e.jpg

If you look at the above picture, you'll see the Leagues page in my profile. I'm currently in Karma's Redeemers, despite the fact I've basically never played Karma (nor do I plan to). Two of my friends from my friendlist are in Gold 5 Karma's Redeemers as well, and aside from those two friends there are 97 other random people in there with us. This is where I consider the system to be extremely arbitrary. I have never nor will I ever meet the vast majority of these players, and if I do happen to meet them in-game I won't know whether they're in Karma's Redeemers or not. They are literally just filler material at the moment and have no bearing on whether I feel like I'm progressing or not.

The second really big point of contention for me with this system is the fact that I can only look at the Tier I'm currently in, and only at the League I'm currently in. If I use the button in the upper left I can look at Gold V - Gold I of Karma's Redeemers, but nothing before or after that or in any other Leagues. A lot of my friends are in high Silver or low Platinum, but I can't use my own Leagues page to go look at where they stand. I have to go to their profile and look at their Leagues page to do it, which isn't necessarily difficult to do but it's strange that I can't just do it from my own profile. I'm a relatively competitive person, and I would really enjoy being able to look at the Diamond level of Karma's Redeemers to see what I might be up against if I improve dramatically.

This being said I think the system has a lot of potential to provide some really interesting interactions, and here are my suggestions to accomplish that!

Allow players to choose which League they're in.
I feel like this is really important. As it stands currently we have no say whatsoever in which League we're assigned to, which makes it basically worthless to have any difference between Karma's Redeemers and Vladimir's Bloodslaves. Allowing players to choose a League would let groups like colleges, clans, and guilds saturate a League with their own members for more direct and relevant competition within the organization.

Allow players to see every part of their League, from Bronze 5 to Diamond 1.
It's very hard to have a metric of competition if players can't see past their current Tier. If my goal is to hit Diamond next season, I'd like to be able to see who is in the ranks between my current location and Diamond 5, not just the Divisions in my Tier.

Just like there is currently in each Division, have an overall ladder for the League.
Each Division has a 1-100 ranking system, but there's no continuity between the Divisions. I know Riot wanted to get away from the overall ladder feel, but if it's done within each League it'd be small enough to not be overwhelming. Personally I'd really like to be able to see that I need to be ranked 550 or higher to be Diamond, and at the rank of ~1550 currently in Gold 5 I need to ascend 1000 ranks. It gives me a much clearer linear progression path.

Show which League every player in a game is a part of in Champion Select and/or the Loading Screen.
The single largest flaw with the system, in my opinion, is the fact that it's impossible to know if someone in your game is in the same League as you unless you cross-reference all their names with their profiles. Allowing players to see whether someone is in their League or not could introduce some camaraderie or even friendly rivalry. I feel like this would actually be healthy for the game, because it could potentially give people a reason to interact in a way that's not just blatant trolling.

Place emphasis on matching with/against people in your League.
I'm not sure if matchmaking already does this, but it'd be very cool if I could be matched with/against people that I see in my Leagues tab. It'd create some friendly rivalry and may even create an ethos sort of like Challenger where people recognize each other. Obviously it'd have to be a loose association since it'd be abusable otherwise, but any connection to the Leagues system is better than nothing. This point directly relates to the one above, as there needs to be a way to identify players' League affiliation before this would have any meaning.

Future: Allow some sort of organized rivalry between Leagues.
I have no idea how this might be implemented, but it'd be extremely interesting if Karma's Redeemers could face off against Vladimir's Bloodslaves in a sort of grudge match setting. Just something to think about!

I do indeed like the idea of the system, but as I've outlined I feel like there can be a lot of improvements to make Leagues actually feel like a part of the game rather than unnecessary fluff. I haven't actually been able to find anyone to discuss this with that feels the current League system offers any sort of...anything, either positive or negative. Everyone I've discussed this with feels the current League system might as well not exist for all the competitive benefit it gives. It's great to be able to see a smaller slice of the community, but the slice is just too small at the moment.

TL;DR - Just go read the bolded points, but I'd really prefer you read the explanation for each!

Thanks for reading!

  • Mr T

Edit: I'd like to elucidate something that a few people seem confused on. This is assuming that the League system is reworked to be a single League that encompasses everything from Bronze 5 to Diamond 1. Essentially there'd be a ton of different Leagues as there are now, but instead of being separated into Tiers (Gold Karma's Redeemers is completely separate from Silver Karma's Redeemers, for example) it'd be comprehensive. I hope that clears it up a bit!

44 Comments

ploki12210/21/2013, 3:30:52 AM3 votes

Allow players to choose which League they're in.

This has some problems, but overall I believe it is a must. Even if you don't give 100% choice, at least picking between a few is nearly mandatory. However, I fear it may lead to a few problems. like people failing promotions until someone in Cho'Gath's Feasters frees the spot up. Also, me and my 67 fellow karma crusaders may want some friends to talk with (68 through 25 divisions).

Allow players to see every part of their League, from Bronze 5 to Diamond 1.

Why do we even have to ask?

Just like there is currently in each Division, have an overall ladder for the League.

They removed global ladders because of the psychological stress it imposes. Basically, whenever there is a ladder, you will go down if you do nothing (since on average, the ladder goes up), and that gives the message that not playing is bad. Also, losing 56 positions because you lost because your jungler AFK'd is very painful. Losing 2 spots is meaningless (but that comes with the problem that winning 2 spots is meaningless).

Show which League every player in a game is a part of in Champion Select and/or the Loading Screen.

YES. Loading is super empty, and showing the league people are in not only removes absolutely nothing, but it may actually be positive on certain persons (aka friendly banter).

Place emphasis on matching with/against people in your League.
Future: Allow some sort of organized rivalry between Leagues. More than that, not only I would try to match people with the people in their own league (with abuse detection and escape cases), but I would hold and history of "Xleague vs Yleague" to try and match them up again in the future. That way, it starts all messed up, but as time goes on, Zed's Threshers will continuously butt heads against at least 1 Vladimir's Jinxers. This obviously opens up some abuse cases, but they're already plenty, so one more or one less...

Heck, those rivalries could even be lore-driven. What if you ended up as 2 Lux' Lightbringers, 1 Garen's Rotator and 2 Jarvan's IV's Emmisaries[sic] vs 2 Zed's Assassins, 1 Swain's Ambassador and 2 Talon's Blademasters. That created a rivalry out of thin air.

Show which League every player in a game is a part of in Champion Select and/or the Loading Screen.

I felt the need to go back on this one, since this is the biggest potential that is unexplored yet. But basically, I feel that there would be so much to do with leagues. First of all, hidden passives. If you play the champion that represents your league, you get "Avatar : This summoner is on a crusade" which gives something like +1% summoner spell effects or maybe +1 dmg vs baron. Nothing big, simply something that says "I play the champion that I represent".

Another idea, give a small highlight to players of the same league on the community... maybe an icon next to the name (like the cake day on Reddit). The point is not to have a specific goal, it's to give the possibility of doing so to players.

Another option would be to have access to an extended lore of some kind on champion you are representing. Maybe the relations he have with everyone else, or his Journal of Justice (yes plz!), or some kind of first person story... Basically, giving content and making league meaningful.

Riot... Anything... Give us anything to prove to us that Leagues have a meaning other than just dodging the ladder system's problems...

TaintedTaint10/20/2013, 5:56:51 PM2 votes

SO a problem I see is because you can't ever lose a color, number V in ANY color is saturated with people that don't actually belong there, due to either duo queuing with a friend who is much better, or getting on a lucky game streak. So if you are always matched up with the same League players, they may lose every match, or at least the majority. That's why they use MMR, it matches you with like player abilities. That's why if you are in gold, you will sometimes see plat 5's or diamond 5's in the same game as you, or gold 5's vs Bronze players.

The choosing leagues things won't work, because groups could abuse it. Imagine you get a large enough group where others will throw the game just to boost their friends. Bad people ruining it for the rest of us.

Same problem kind of for showing which league players are in on champ selection. I would love it, but the jerks in the game will ruin it, by trolling and being overall rude when they see a lower division on their team. "ZOMG I AM GOLD 3 AND THIS OTHER GUY IS GOLD 5. GG WE LOSE". We get enough of that with Lolking spammers.

HOWEVER I do love the matchups between leagues. if there could be a way to emphasize camaraderie in leagues... that could be cool.

HughMyronbrough10/20/2013, 7:18:38 PM1 votes

I'm just pissed off that I'm in "Ryze's Emmissaries [sic]" and Riot didn't even spell "Emissaries" correctly.

nosafterburn10/20/2013, 7:22:51 PM1 votes

There are alot of interesting points in this thread. I would be happy to see some inter-League comradery.

also as a side note obligatory "I pity da fool!" thanks.

Cerbearus10/20/2013, 7:24:59 PM1 votes

Well you can see an overall ladder lolsummoners.com is really nice

Cerbearus10/20/2013, 7:25:41 PM1 votes

Also, remember that Riot is reworking the league system right now for season 4 so hold your breath and hope they have touched on some of these points

TSM Ashe10/20/2013, 9:25:12 PM1 votes

I agree with most of the points here, but I'd rather not be stuck in Corki's Witchhunters then progress to Corki's Urfriders, then to Corki's... you get the point lol. Maybe it's just me.

I do like the idea of being able to see who's in what division before you load the game up but I feel like if I saw like a guy in diamond before the game even started I'd go in to panic mode.

Gonsea10/21/2013, 1:25:32 AM1 votes

The league system is not a evaluation player's skill tool. It's a surgar candy system to give people false achivement and keep playing. What is the point of being in Platinum with other 100 people when it queued you with 4 other player from another league.

MMR still decide everything. If a Platinum player grouped with a Silver I since their MMR was so low, then what is the meaning of being Platinum?

F*ck the system, man

Zóló10/21/2013, 2:23:06 PM1 votes

Letting people choose their league, then putting emphasis on facing people in your league, that's a problem. It takes out the main priority of equal skill of people playing at once. The games population isn't big enough for this specific part of your idea to work yet. Other than that, I love what you had to say, and support it.

Invisible Man10/21/2013, 3:18:59 PM1 votes

I like making the idea of making the competitive system more interactive. It's healthier to provide some way for players to connect and compete while being able to familiarize themselves with one another. Otherwise you feel like you're only playing with complete strangers and therefore are more likely to see toxic behavior from a bunch of people you don't know.

LargerJackolope10/20/2013, 5:24:27 PM1 votes

You brought up some great points. However, I think it would be hard for them to implement some sort of organized rivalries, and that I don't believe that one league is from bronze 5- diamond 1. What I mean by this is that I'm in fiddlestick's cutthroats but I don't think there is that same league in bronze, silver, plat or diamond, so I don't think it would be possible to view then entire league, unless they re-did way leagues are organized. Besides these two points, I really like this idea, and would love to see it added to the game!

TheVoiceofExile10/26/2013, 4:15:48 AM1 votes

Allow players to choose which League they're in.

I believe the League itself has some relevance to the average skill of the players among it at the moment. So something like this (as far as I know) would not be possible. However if I am incorrect and skill has nothing to do with what League you are placed in, then I'd be all for this or even forcing friends all into the same League. Problem with that is not every friend has the same friends list, so some sort of comparison of people on people's friend's list would need to happen.

Allow players to see every part of their League, from Bronze 5 to Diamond 1.

I can't believe they didn't do this before. All else fails at least make a League encompass Bronze 5->Diamond 1.

Just like there is currently in each Division, have an overall ladder for the League.

I wouldn't include something like this in game. Maybe as an online ladder for those who care about it (and I do), so that we have access to this information. I'd like to have a ladder back, even if it is just to fed my ego.

--Show which League every player in a game is a part of in Champion Select and/or the Loading Screen.

--Place emphasis on matching with/against people in your League.

I feel as these would go hand in hand. If entire teams are comprised of members of the same League there could be a fancy "Karma's Redeemers vs Vladimir's Bloodslaves" on loading screen. It's the small things I like to be honest :3

Future: Allow some sort of organized rivalry between Leagues.

Yes. In particular lore related rivalries.

Overall I agree with everything you've suggested, but I could see problems evolving from some of it due to the way things work now days.

Fawlty10/20/2013, 5:34:53 PM1 votes

I agree, the league system is broken, and was a horrible idea.