Riot has revealed that they're thinking of removing duo queue completely from the solo queue ladder. Why are they doing this though?
Riot Games is looking to make a few changes in their ranked system. Who remembers a few years ago where they decided to remove duo queue from high elos? I still do, and now it’s time for us low elo plebs to follow in those exact footsteps.
What else is Riot looking to change to the ranked mode and how will they make it easier for players to get back into the game? Let’s go over the latest dev post that Riot posted.
Removing Duo Queue from SoloQ
One conversation Riot wanted to open up is the removal of duo queue form solo queue completely. This would mean that players will only be able to go into solo queue by themselves. If you’ve got a friend who has a smurf and wanted to carry you to victory, you can say goodbye to riding the bus in solo queue.
Not only did Riot state that boosting was a problem – but seriously, there is more ways than to duo with someone when it comes to boosting – but also the current state of flex queue is also in jeopardy and because of that Riot wants to remove duo queue, so premades will join flex queue instead.
Riot writes that solo only mode would “match player intent and provide the healthiest competitive individual queue possible”.
Wanting to make solo queue more fair by taking out duo queue is fine and dandy, but what Riot has overlooked is that no one takes Flex Queue seriously. Nobody ever has. So, is it likely that moving duo partners to flex queue will make anyone take the mode more serious? Highly improbably.
Why Doesn’t Anyone Play Flex?
Flex Queue was introduced in season 6 of League of Legends and has never been taken serious by players. Many problems were associated with the game mode, some of the more notable ones being that for a time being it was the only queue that existed, it replaced 5v5 Team Queue and has since become nothing more than a ‘for fun’ mode friends play together.
Seriously, have you met or heard of anyone who takes their flex rank seriously? I sure as hell haven’t and from what I’ve read online it seems that most players will just end up playing normals rather than flex if duo queue is removed.
What is the Problem with Flex Queue?
In the dev post, Riot explained that parties of 3 often have to wait extremely long for games, due to the fact that there are almost no single players or duo players that use flex queue as a game mode. Therefore, it is difficult for parties of 3 to find games together.
Not only that but Riot also stated that boosters and account sellers are a huge problem in flex queue.
Additionally, the difficulties making quality matches for our most popular premade size amplify the impact of disruptive actors in the queue like boosters (who queue as duos with their boostee) and account sellers (who queue as solo) such that the queue itself overall becomes unhealthy, especially at the top level.
So, would you play solo queue alone or do you prefer playing with a friend?
Riot Working on Revival MMR
For players who have not played in a while and want to get back into League of Legends it can be quite draining. Many players come back to the game and have to deal with around 50 games of ‘smurf queue’ before they finally get to the level they’re supposed to be in.
What is Riot going to implement to make it easier for players to come back to the game? Revival MMR seems to be the way to go, but what does that mean exactly? Well, it basically means that Riot is “implementing a more dynamic approach to Revival MMR and MMR decay across all queues that should provide those players with fairer matches in their first 5-10 games back as they rediscover their muscle memory and game knowledge.”
This way players won’t have to grind through hours of bad games until they reach the MMR they were at previously. Hopefully this is going to make getting back into Legaue much easier. Especially after Arcane, a lot of players have decided to give the game another chance, but with the state of some champions and players it might be hard.