How can other maps be better promoted?
I think most people here know that the maps besides Summoner's Rift are relatively very underplayed, and many believe this is due, in part, to those maps not being as heavily emphasized. I would like to present some thoughts I have on what can be done, and welcome discussion, whether about my ideas or new ideas completely.
- Map selection screen - rather than the current lists, I thought about picking the Field of Justice from a map of Valoran. The Fields would have to be made obvious for clarity, but thing kind of thing is done in many games. But I'll be honest and say I'm not too sure how this idea would handle the many other options (pvp, custom, ranked, etc).
- Blocks on the client's main page - There are 7 blocks, plus the featured matches. Using at least one of these to remind players of things besides classic SR might help bring in more players for them. A complaint I see for Treeline and Dominion is that there aren't enough guides out there, so they're not as accessible as SR. There are already fan made tutorials for other modes. With some permissions, and probably updating, Riot could replace one of the blocks with a link to one of these guides. Perhaps it could alternate between a few every minute, or just switch them around every week or two.
- Featured matches - adding to my last point, the featured matched block is heavily focused on ranked SR. This isn't a surprise since it's seen as a high level of competition, but it would be nice to show off high level play in other modes as well. Dominion doesn't have ranked, but there is still a hidden MMR that could be used to determine which matches show up. Treeline has ranked teams. I believe the matches block shows 5 at a time. Reserving even 1 of these (or adding one more) to show off either other map would be nice. I am excluding ARAM since it is literally random, but I'm not against putting that in too.
- LCS - this one is huge and least likely, but imagine if the official Riot Games Twitch channel had some Dominion and Treeline games with pro shoutcasters and some of the best teams from those modes. I would love to see LCS divisions for other maps, but even just an official stream of some tournaments could help. They could be shown between SR matches if the separate divisions were to come in eventually, or some time during the week when LCS isn't going on, or after LCS. Anything would be good as long as it also gets some hype like LCS matches do. Something on the news page and the main client page a bit before then the days of, that kind of thing.
Looking back at the first World Championship compared to Season 4's, it's obvious how much this game has grown in popularity. I think Summoner's Rift will continue to grow, and would love to see things happen with other maps as well. I believe they have the potential to bring in more viewers and more fans, but Riot isn't helping them get there at the moment.