Losing LP, especially after having a good win rate, is frustrating. Even more so when you try to make the climb to the highest rank possible. Players have let their grievances known on Twitter/X and Riot has responded with a short explanation.
The climb to Challenger has started, but it seems like some players are losing more League Points (LP) after losses than they're gaining after wins. Obviously, the community is frustrated and started calling out Riot on social media, demanding an explanation on what is actually going on here.
Thankfully, players didn't have to wait too long, with Lead Gameplay Designer on the League of Legends Team Matt "Phroxzon" Leung-Harrison, giving a short explanation of what could have happened to players, even going as far as to check out their personal op.gg accounts for personalized reviews.
LoL Players Frustrated With LP Gain And Losses In Season 14
LP loss and gain has always been dodgy in League of Legends and players consistently complain about it. LoL Season 14 just kicked off a week ago and players are already letting out their frustration on social media, with Riot Phroxzon chiming in to give some context about the amount of LP gained or lost after matches.
According to Phroxzon, players in Emerald+ should either win or lose 20 LP this season, while players below Emerald are hovering around 28+-. He also added that it isn't uncommon to have short spurts of a disproportionate LP gains.
To clarify a few things: - Gains in Emerald+ will be centered around +-20 this season- Gains below Emerald will be centered around +-28 or so (we'll see if this ends up being unsustainable)- Getting short spurts of +19/-21 and +21/-19 in Emerald+ are pretty normal (typically... https://t.co/RPHDu2fytv
— Matt Leung-Harrison (@RiotPhroxzon) January 15, 2024
Getting short spurts of +19/-21 and +21/-19 in Emerald+ are pretty normal (typically there will be about equal of each), typically when losing a few times at tier boundaries.
He did note that in lower tears, under Emerald, there have been some issues with LP gains at tier boundaries, with players not demoting properly. This is leading to higher LP losses, since the system is desperately trying to match the player's hidden rank with their visible rank.
Phroxzon also explained the reasoning behind the increased negative LP gains for some players, stating that the system is trying to find the correct rank for you with every single match.
A player goes 30-0. You know they are better than the games they are playing in, but not how much better, so you put them in harder and harder games. Then when they start losing you need to start pulling back their growth, but you don't know by how much. There's a very very high chance that their rating over shoots and has to be pulled back = negative lp gains.
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So, the system is working behind-the-scenes to get you to where you need to be, especially around tier demotion or promotion games. He also added on that while it might feel bad, the only real way to treat the issue is to keep playing for now, even if it feels bad to lose more LP.