Age Brackets would improve the gameplay experience immensely or older players.
Hey Riot, how about giving us the option to select an age bracket before starting a game? Matchmaking according to age brackets would be a godsend to the entire community for many reasons. I've heard arguments that a problem with this concept is that there is no way to verify someone's age. However, verification is a non-issue. The age bracket selection doesn't have to be mandatory, just optional. If a player doesn't want to chose a bracket they don't have to. If a player wants to play in a different age bracket they can do so. Some mature kids may chose to play against the adults and that would be perfectly fine. I seriously doubt that younger players would want to play in the older age brackets, but the ones that do would likely be very welcome. Most people are likely to be fairly mature and respectful if they opt to play in a bracket with older players. I believe that the majority of adult gamers play respectfully and do so to have fun. I also believe that most adults probably don't go into fits of rage and insult their teammates when things don't go their way. They start to communicate better and try to find a way to win. The game is great, but immature children are beginning to make the game nearly unplayable for people like me (I'm 39 years old). I think most would agree that solo queue ranked games are very often ruined by kids that lose their temper and either refuse to cooperate or throw the game if they don't get their way. This is frustrating enough to cause some of us to quit playing the game all together. I have several friends that quit playing for this very reason. I may be wrong about this, but I bet the older players (with jobs) spend more money as well. Why not throw us a bone and provide an option that would allow adults to play with other adults? Hell, you could even promote tournaments or league competition pitting the old fogeys against the kids. It would be fun and should theoretically be easy to implement. For example, just provide an option for the player to select an age bracket of their choice and arrange matches within the bracket (10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49). I'd also be willing to bet that the older players (yes there are quite a few) would beat the pants off of the younger more immature players who could care less about teamwork and strategy. It would also make for an interesting social experiment and may possibly increase your revenue stream. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I would honestly be willing to pay for this option. Please consider this idea. I truly believe that it would add a new dimension to the game and improve the experience for everyone, regardless of their age. I can't see any negatives with offering an additional option to improve gameplay. Feedback is welcome. I'd love to hear what the community thinks about this idea.
Sincerely,
The Old Guy.
