LoL – Season 10: Ranked mode and Matchmaking in 2020

Two months already. Two months since we re-attacked the ladder of League of Legends to hope to reach our objectives for this season 10. At the time, the development team had presented its projects and aspirations for the coming season on video. Today, the team continues in this vein and presents its main objectives for ranked mode and matchmaking in 2020.

Player expectations

The starting point for any reflection is first of all the opinions of the players. Here are the points on which the community wanted improvements or even significant changes:

• Improve the quality of matchmaking without compromising waiting time and availability.
• Improve transparency around the classified mode and matchmaking systems.
• Improve the satisfaction felt when we progress and the expression of our control in our systems.
• Make the rewards more recognizable and relevant to the time spent in League.
• Players can find people they want to play with.

Matchmaking

When starting a game, we sometimes have this unpleasant feeling of thinking of the game lost in advance. The goal of the development team here is to ensure that the current system best balances the players who oppose, in short, no longer have a feeling of immense despair at the start of certain games. Two improvements regarding matchmaking in ranked mode are in the testing phase and will soon be launched in a future patch:

• Auto fill balancing – These updates aim to balance the number of auto-fill players in each team.
• Duo line balancing – This update aims to balance the number of groups arranged in each team.

Once installed on the live servers, the developers will keep an eye on it to, if necessary, make changes and improve the system.

Adjustment for new players & autofill players

These functionalities are currently in development and at the moment, we do not know on what date they will be implemented in game. Two tracks are being studied:

• New account classification – For players playing in ranked mode for the first time, we think we can better identify their true level by observing more generally their style of play.
• Auto filling depending on the position – Even if our current system does not measure you against other potential positions, we know that efficiency per position has a considerable impact on the game. We balance the number of auto refills in each team, but we would also like to best balance the auto fill positions. We think we can make small adjustments, without jeopardizing the parts of the system that are already working well.

Other improvements

In addition to the changes mentioned above, the team also wants to change a few points for the rest of the season such as better detection of bad behavior, better transparency between rank and MMR, promotion series and flexible queue.

• Behaviors that spoil the parties – We are trying to develop better ways to manage unwanted behavior. For example, we are experiencing better detection and better punishment of behaviors such as intentional feeding, players who leave the game, rigged victories and anti-game. We also want to update you more frequently when we have sanctioned toxic behaviors that you have reported.
• Transparency in relation to rank and matchmaking rating (MMR) – The hidden link between a player’s visible rank and their matchmaking rating has caused a lot of confusion and frustration, since the launch of the tier system a few years ago. We would like to explain the ranks of the players more clearly and will keep you informed of the means envisaged to improve this difference.
• Promotion series – We know that too many promotions have become a source of frustration. We are closely analyzing the current promotion system and will make modifications to improve its place in the competitive ecosystem.
• Flexible queue and organization – Between a competitive social queue for groups and an almost competitive queue for those who wish to try new things, it is difficult to understand what the real role of flexible queue is. We are considering lowering the restrictions on group creation to make it easier for you to play with your friends and are considering how to link the flexible queue to the rest of the competitive ecosystem.