League of Legends News: Riot backs out on position ranks, resets divisions above Diamond

League of Legends developer Riot Games announced a while ago that they were implementing a new system which would help match players with the specific roles they were hoping for. The system was being tested recently, but now Riot has decided to scrap the idea altogether.

It had a lot of good things going for it. Players were often able to fill the roles that best fit their playing style instead of being forced into something they weren't comfortable with, which would come in handy in ranked match-ups.

This wasn't the first step the company had taken in this direction. Many seasons back they implemented a system in which you'd pick your two preferred roles, although players felt that it was somewhat limiting.

Riot's new approach would flesh out the ranking system a bit, essentially ranking each individual player in every role. The idea was that each player would have an MMR (matchmaking rating) for top, middle, ADC, support and jungle, respectively. While this wouldn't guarantee that everyone got what they wanted in every match, it would affect how LP (League Points) are handled after a game.

For instance, let's say you're a jungler who doesn't really feel comfortable laning. If you somehow get stuck at top lane and lose your game, you'll lose LP for that role, but it won't really affect your MMR overall.

You may lose 15-18 points in that top lane MMR, but it would barely scratch your MMR for jungling. You'd also get matched with lower ranked opponents when playing a role you weren't comfortable with, putting you on more of an even playing field.

In theory, it doesn't sound like a terrible idea. However, bringing something off paper and into reality is often easier said than done.

Again, this is a great system for those who prefer to stick to one role in ranked. However, just like back in 2016 when Riot updated the queue system, this severely affected those who were working on multiple roles or were fine going anywhere, also known as auto-filling.

If you want to build up your MMR for your mid lane, ADC and support roles, you're going to have to do three times the work that you're normally expected to do. And that's enough to upset hardcore players of the MOBA.

That alone forced Riot's hand, and they have officially dropped the position ranking system.

Along with that, another thing that may leave players furious is the decision to reset the higher rankings. That means if you're Diamond or above, you're going to have to do a lot more grinding to get back to where you were.

Ed "SapMagic" Altorfer revealed the news late last week, announcing that Challenger and Grandmaster Tier players will be dropped down to Master tier, and those two tiers will be locked for a week. Diamond players will go down one rank each.

However, if you're at Diamond IV, you won't drop down to Platinum. Also, all players dropping to Master will reset to 0 LP, while Diamond players will keep their LP even after dropping a rank.

The reasoning behind this is that there were some serious bugs coming up in high elo matchmaking. Wins gave out way too much LP, while players on the losing end weren't punished too severely, essentially pushing too many players into the higher divisions.

There's no official date for the reset yet, but it will be coming soon.

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