League of Legends: Ranks for Different Roles

Let's say you're an avid League of Legends player. You think you're the best mid laner in the world. While you may be the best mid laner, your support play is sub par and your jungling ability is quite average. Yet, you're still a (insert your rank here) player overall. What if you played in the mid lane like a diamond player, support like a silver player and jungled like a bronze? Having ranks for different positions could be a big deal in further differentiating the skill between players.

According to Gortok, Designer for Riot Games, there is a pair of benefits that jump off the page when thinking about implementing position ranks. "Since players have varying skills in different positions it could result in more accurate matchmaking. Right now, League's ranked system rewards specialist players, narrowing progression and achievement. A per-position rank could reward players who pursue a broad set of positions."

While there may be positives, there is also a pair of negatives that really put a halt to the progression of getting position ranks in the game. "It may feel much worse when not getting the position you want and being unable to level up your primary rank," said Gortok. "Getting put into secondary or fill could feel less meaningful, cause an increase in dodges, or just straight-up cause players to take that individual game less seriously. One solution here could be to have an overall rating (or link all existing ratings) to keep the match competitive."

Another problem would be a technical one. As of now, you can swap champions in game with the press of a button but you can't swap roles. You have to type it out in chat and hope someone agrees. There's no formal transaction like there is between champions. "By champ select the game would have been matchmade with the position you are playing in mind so if you end up trading for top after being assigned mid, it would affect the balance of the game, and we would have to account for that for both teams when handing out LP."

Before any of this happens, Gortok says that they need to figure things out in design in tech in order to track and understand skill in each position but that doesn't mean it's ruled out. "When that's in place, we'll know how best to proceed with position ranks—as long as we can find a reasonable solution that doesn't sacrifice the competitiveness of games."

Can't get enough? Want to hang out with the WWG staff? Join our community discord server and talk all things gaming and WWG!

Click this, or the image below to join.