Lead Producer of Gameplay at Riot Games, Jeremy “Brightmoon” Lee, is taking feedback on how to improve the League of Legends experience. As the new LoLÂ season began earlier this year, Riot staff is counting on player criticism to refine certain aspects of the game.Â
When Lee asked for feedback on Twitter, he didn’t expect so many answers to flood in. His first question was a general feedback post: “If you could improve something about the Ranked experience… what would it be?”
In less than 24 hours, he received over 2,000 answers. He mentioned the only subject that was off-limits was “fixing the client” since that is something Riot is already working on. Some common responses included improving matchmaking, the ranked system, and reporting players.
I have 2,000 comments of ideas on how to improve Ranked. You all are BONKERS and I love it. So lucky to work on a game you care about – I will spend today going through all the feedback and tomorrow will post the themes I've found
— Riot Brightmoon (@RiotBrightmoon) February 1, 2020
Riot working to fix the ranked ad promo system
The next day, Lee posted a theme he felt resonated with plenty of players. The first theme is LoL‘s promotion series system. Many followers were complaining about the inability to dodge a game without losing LP (League Points). Others mentioned they feel the game’s algorithm automatically matches you with lower-level players during promos. The biggest feedback was the number of unwanted autofills in a promo game.
Last month, Riot Games uploaded a video to communicate upcoming changes in ranked. In the video, Lee says “We’ve been listening to and absorbing your feedback around ranked and matchmaking.” He kept the same message when responding to his Twitter followers.
“There are some good reasons why promos are part of a healthy ranked system but I won’t try to convince anyone of those – message received that these can be better!”
Lee hoping to improve player behavior
Give me the power to instantly ban people
— Ovilee May (@OvileeMay) January 31, 2020
The second theme explored in his post was Player Behavior. LoL is known to have a toxic community, where players can get banned for multiple reasons relating to their behavior. Some users complain of getting banned for a few hours, while others receive permanent bans. A common theme regarding player conduct included trolling, intentional feeding, and intentional disconnecting.
Many players also complained about chat restrictions and how they aren’t strict enough. Lee responded with a straightforward answer.
“Lots of feedback about how we need to improve our reporting, detection, punishment, and transparency of players who AFK, int, go toxic, give up, or otherwise ruin the game for you … We can do better here on multiple dimensions.”
Autofilling is an issue
Many players also find autofilling to be a major concern. Many players have main roles that they play best. As such, it can discourage and intimidate players when they get placed in an unfamiliar role. Players suggested for the Jungle role to be autofilled less, as it can cause players to troll or go AFK.
“Lots of feedback around reducing autofill for jungle, prevention during promos on your team, and having equality in the fills across both teams,” Lee responded. Some responses suggested harsher punishments for those who leave or complain during the game due to being autofilled.
Hoping for change from Riot
Overall, Riot Games will likely make plenty of improvements throughout the year. Players will always have things to complain about, but sometimes there are issues more common than others. Luckily, Lee is taking the initiative to meet with his team on how to enhance the player experience. While players look forward to more gameplay improvements, they are still finding ways to deal with common issues in the system.
