Riot Games Discontinues Positional Ranking in League of Legends
Riot Games has answered the prayers of many League of Legends players by announcing the discontinuation of positional ranking worldwide. Ed “SapMagic” Altorfer, the lead metagame system designer for Riot, acknowledged the widespread dissatisfaction with positional ranking due to its grindiness, lack of satisfaction in off-position games, and teammates not taking them seriously.
In a developer’s post, SapMagic stated that since the launch of positional ranking, there has been a significant decrease in player satisfaction, particularly among North American and Korean players. Riot concluded that simply tweaking LP splashing or making changes to promotion series would not be enough to create a satisfactory experience for players. As a result, Riot will be ending the positional ranks preview for all regions.
As part of this discontinuation, players’ highest positional rank will become their new rank, while retaining their rewards and promotion helper benefits. Riot is also exploring the possibility of keeping positional matchmaking, but no solid plans have been made yet.
Partial Ranked Reset for High ELO Players
Riot plans to address matchmaking issues in Diamond and higher ranks by performing a partial ranked reset for high ELO players. This reset aims to fix bugs that allowed players to reach higher ranks than they should. The reset is expected to take place in late March, but the date is subject to change.
As part of the reset, players above the Master tier will be reset to Masters with zero LP. Diamond players will be demoted one division, with the lowest division being Diamond IV. Grandmaster and Challenger ranks will be temporarily locked, with Grandmaster unlocking one week after the reset and Challenger returning the week after.
Related keywords: Riot Games, League of Legends, positional ranking, player satisfaction, high ELO, matchmaking issues