Bragging about your Rank in TFT is irrelevant

Aletheiacracy·Aug 2, 2019·2 votes·1,588 views

TFT Ranked is a broken Game Mode. And it's pretty simple to understand why.

TFT IS DESCRIBED AS A FREE-FOR-ALL GAME MODE

Ranked games are meant to calculate player skill based on the game's parameters.
Parties are in direct conflict with a "Free-For-All" platform, because it allows players to choose opponents
Allowing players to select their opponents undermines the competition, therefore it undermines the grading system in a competitive ranked game

A LOBBY OF 8 PLAYERS DOESN'T MAXIMIZE PARTY SIZE FOR EACH TEAM

It's simple really, 8 isn't divisible by 3. The fewest amount of parties allowed in a single game is 3, where one party is one player short. (Team A: 3, Team B: 3, Team C: 2)
The winning strategy means being a part of a 3-Player squad. So if EVERYONE plays to win, then NOBODY plays because there are no solo queue or duo partners willing to fill the slots.

BOOSTING

Boosting is made easy, if 2 party members agree to throw the game they can guarantee a win for their friend:
The 2 Friends use their purchasing power to buy up all the 1G and 2G champions the 3rd friend doesn't need
This depletes the pool for the other 5 Players
The 2 Friends gain more income based on the Loss bonus, and spend gold on any 1G or 2G Champions the 3rd friend doesn't need
The 2 Friends lose, but by the time they do the 3rd Friend has a huge advantage over the other 5 Players because the other 5 Players were trying to spend Gold on Champions they needed but couldn't find while 2 players were buying champions they found but didn't need

THE GAME MODE IS UNREFINED

The game just came out, it's obviously going to be bugged
Updates being made to the mode in the middle of player Provisionals
Complete lack of balance leading to restricted gameplay

IN SHORT, TO CONCLUDE

Your rank in TFT is a joke. The game mode is completely unrefined, and poorly administered. Boosting is simple. And games are won because of program bugs where Champions conveniently stop moving or attacking.

When Riot resets everyone's MMR to ZERO and disable parties in Ranked then, and ONLY then, will your rank actually mean anything. Until then. It's a joke. It's a joke that you actually think you're good at a game that doesn't actually measure skill.

18 Comments

SubdueAug 3, 20193 votes

I don't think this boosting plot works outside of Iron. Smart players constantly evaluate the board. If I see that multiple people are buying what I want, I adjust my strategy and go in a different direction.

UndustasAug 3, 20192 votes

{quoted}

I don't think this boosting plot works outside of Iron. Smart players constantly evaluate the board. If I see that multiple people are buying what I want, I adjust my strategy and go in a different direction.

Yup..but look where he's stuck at..iron!

Imagine refusing to believe you suck at a game to this extent you have to come up with some crazy theory as to why you're not winning...this is beyond delusional....

tiresAug 3, 20192 votes

I’m sorry, I’m trying to understand. How exactly is boosting capable in a game where your opponents are picked at random every round?

A party can’t single out one person as an opponent because it’s all random.

The only advantage a party could have is saving carousel options for other people (which isn’t guaranteed to help anyway due to the other players + positional ranks according to hp) or agreeing not to buy x champions from x comp so others have a better chance at 3 star (which again, isn’t guaranteed if other players build the same comps or get better rolls).

I don’t really think what you said is applicable to how tft functions from a game mechanics point of view.

Boosting isn’t simple, it’s practically not possible.

ToadwartAug 3, 20192 votes

{quoted}

Boosting isn’t simple, it’s practically not possible.

But you just listed 2 situations that can and do happen where it is possible.

So you are contradicting yourself.

It's practical and possible.

tiresAug 3, 20193 votes

I did list two ways that it could happen, you’re right. That’s why I said “practically not possible.”

It’s not a contradiction, it’s an adverb that means virtually/almost.

Apologies if the word choice made it unclear, that’s my bad. I can definitely see the mix up

AletheiacracyAug 3, 20191 votes

Okay stop for a second you went too far ahead. Slow down when you read it's okay. I find myself re-reading sentences all the time.

Put it this way: There can only be 1 winner that's why it's Free for All. Pretty simple but.. If you bring 2 friends along, then you guarantee that 2 of your opponents are friends. This leaves 5 random people.

Okay. So if the 2 friends start buying all the 1G and 2G champions that you aren't buying it does this:

The 2 friends get a losing streak, and more gold to spend. The 2 friends make it harder for EVERYONE ELSE to get their Champions because they're buying up all the 1G and 2G champs to keep players from getting them You get all your champs because your friends don't troll you. Your friends BOOST you because they removed themselves from the competition from the start, leaving 5 random people that are struggling to play the game because they can't get their champions because 2 people with hard losing streaks are just buying up all the 1G and 2G champs.

You end up winning because your friends lose first, but gave you enough leeway to dominate your opponents all game that don't understand how you got 3 3T champs so quick.

edit I added "boosting" to the OP, I can't believe I forgot it considering it was the overall point I was getting at..

CräftyAug 3, 20192 votes

Where can I find friends who are willing to waste 35 min per game, on average, on purposefully losing to make me win my games?!

They seem like really good and patient friends, I need someone like them!! So where do I find these booster friends, please? I wanna befriend them too...

[zombie-nunu-hearts]

ToadwartAug 3, 20191 votes

{quoted}

Where can I find friends who are willing to waste 35 min per game, on average, on purposefully losing to make me win my games?!

They seem like really good and patient friends, I need someone like them!! So where do I find these booster friends, please? I wanna befriend them too...

[zombie-nunu-hearts]

Link to a thread full of them Just proves that its ripe for cheating in what is supposed to be a ranked match.

SubdueAug 3, 20191 votes

{quoted}

Link to a thread full of them Just proves that its ripe for cheating in what is supposed to be a ranked match.

Did you not read the thread you posted or were you just hoping no one else would?

There are only 5 or so responses there. Three say it's worse, one says it's better because you have people to talk to, and one says one time he was able to deny a gnar, which is a highly contested unit that multiple people go for every round game anyway. No one even remotely claims that they are able to execute any sort of strategy to boost. At best, it's two people who agree to build differently from you, which is an advantage that only exists if people don't adjust their builds to what they see.

ToadwartAug 3, 20191 votes

{quoted}

Did you not read the thread you posted or were you just hoping no one else would?

There are only 5 or so responses there. Three say it's worse, one says it's better because you have people to talk to, and one says one time he was able to deny a gnar, which is a highly contested unit that multiple people go for every round game anyway. No one even remotely claims that they are able to execute any sort of strategy to boost. At best, it's two people who agree to build differently from you, which is an advantage that only exists if people don't adjust their builds to what they see.

Of course I read it, I posted the link.

4 of 5 of the responses validate that cheating is possible and some of the responses are from people that actually abuse the feature and admit to cheating themselves.

SubdueAug 3, 20192 votes

{quoted}

Of course I read it, I posted the link.

4 of 5 of the responses validate that cheating is possible and some of the responses are from people that actually abuse the feature and admit to cheating themselves.

Okay, I had hoped you'd get it just by the previous comment but it looks like you need it broken down. Here are the responses from that thread:

I'd expect that would work- Party with players that agree\prefer to go different comps. That presumably means one less person will be trying to grab your characters.

This guy is saying your best case is that you know someone is going for a different comp. However, anywhere other than Iron, what strategy you employ is based on what you're given, so this benefit is basically a big nothingburger.

I usually duo, trio if we have another, and it seems to work pretty well. Gives you another set or two of eyes looking at everything. Helps you take in more information on which units are being taken and which comps are contested. Plus, it's always nice to have other folks to talk to, get their opinions, discuss the meta, etc. Always results in a really fun time when it comes down to just you and your duo in the top two.

This guy is saying your friends can tell you what others are building. This matters if you don't have eyes I suppose. Another only in Iron benefit. I'll concede it's nicer having someone to talk to I guess... I'd hardly call that cheating though.

If there's someone highrolling the hell out of the game, you can your party can go deny that guy. I remember a game with my friends where we had 1-2 Gnars on our bench each while the initially 100HP Yordle player never found his last Yordle and he ended up at 4th or 5th place.

Okay, so this one is a possibility. Again, the further up you go in rank the less likely this is to matter, because everyone can see what the guy in the lead is doing, and will do what they can to block him. I grab Gnars away from Yordle guys every time I see a Gnar. Heck, you could say "Yo that Yordle guy is gonna run away with this if we don't block his Gnars." Chances are, at least 1-2 people will do so because they don't want to get screwed either.

I feel like it's bad. You collectively lower your mmr so that you get less lp, sometimes even making you lose points for 4th. Having to directly compete with each other essentially guarantees that one of you will lose.

This guy flat out says it's a bad idea. Not much else to say there.

When you play duo on league, you're both trying to achieve a goal that benefits both of you. On TFT you compete against each other and it's impossible to get #1 every game simply because one of the two has to lose. I would say it only makes sense if you are at a high MMR and would end up playing together anyways, so you duo just to speed up the queue.

And this guy says it's just to speed up the queues? I don't even think that's the case, but he certainly doesn't affirm cheating by queuing as a team.

So where are the ones that validate "cheating is possible?"

ToadwartAug 3, 20191 votes

{quoted}

So where are the ones that validate "cheating is possible?"

Everyone can read it for themselves. All you are doing is spin doctoring your slant into what was actually said.

You want further proof that queuing with multiple people is ripe for cheating?

Screenshot from these very Boards

You need to pull your head out of the sand. Do teams of 2-3 always cheat? No, of course not...but there are people that do and there is an image for you of a guy and his bud gaming the system.

SubdueAug 4, 20191 votes

{quoted}

Everyone can read it for themselves. All you are doing is spin doctoring your slant into what was actually said.

You want further proof that queuing with multiple people is ripe for cheating?

Screenshot from these very Boards

You need to pull your head out of the sand. Do teams of 2-3 always cheat? No, of course not...but there are people that do and there is an image for you of a guy and his bud gaming the system.

Everyone except you apparently. None of the posts describe anything that can even remotely be considered cheating.

tiresAug 3, 20191 votes

Ok, but in this exact scenario:

What is making it possible for you to get 3stars?

Are you solely buying 3+ cost units? Why is nobody else buying them?

If you were trying to 3star 1/2 cost units that your friends weren’t buying (because they were purposefully leaving them for you), why would nobody else in your game buy them?

Even in a losing streak, if the friends were buying all 1/2 cost units (which there are a LOT of), they wouldn’t have much income. Assuming they lost every match, they’d be getting what? 5-8 gold per round depending on the stage of the game + their loss streaks? And if they spend that every round to purchase champs, they’d be running out of money every round. Not to mention the gold sink of trying to refresh to get the 1/2 cost units once they clear their board.

AletheiacracyAug 3, 20191 votes

Gets downvoted because people don't want their cheating ways exposed.

UndustasAug 3, 20192 votes

{quoted}

Gets downvoted because people don't want their cheating ways exposed.

You're just bad at the game. Stop making excuses on why u lost.

You're getting down voted because you sound really stupid. You're just trying to justify why you're losing.

The easiest solution is usually the most accurate solution. You're just bad...

IllabetheAug 3, 20192 votes

Team tactics isn't cheating lol.

Neither is winning legit.

IllabetheAug 3, 20191 votes

Although theoretically possible, boosting would simply take so much brainpower the players would need 2 brains to calculate how to manipulate a game for their friends in the time spans the game gives per round.
RNG gets in the way of planning a "ally win" strategy. If you designate a friend to win and try to sabotage others, you can easily sabotage all three of you, because your picked "winner" may very well suck from a dry well of cards that either forces them to change their team, or to lose.
Sorry..... but I play solo (for the most part) and I'm Plat + on 3 accounts right now, working a 12 hour job 4-5 days a week, and going to see my mother in law with skull cancer on my days off. I'm beating your "so-called" boosters.

In reality what wins is not controlling items/cards, but knowing what others are building and building a counter strategy. It's positioning. It's not overspecializing in one build.