League of Legends ranked has been a hot topic for Riot Games across Season 14 and despite a whole heap of changes, the developers have decided it’s still not exactly where they want it after “investigating deeply.” This means more changes—with most now coming in League Patch 14.16 this week.
In a bid to keep pushing things in a better direction, the League balance team will be taking another look at several key elements of matchmaking, including red vs. blue side balance, how players are paired together (especially when it comes to skill levels), and how the queue treats returning players. All of these, the game’s balance boss Matt Leung-Harrison has explained, should optimize things.
“We shipped changes in 14.14 to change the default camera angle on red side and noticed some improvement, but there’s still more to do,” the top dev conceded.
When it comes to how many advantages blue or red side has over the other, the Riot developers think they’ve narrowed it down: The camera angle and how Summoner’s Rift has been built over the years. While they’re staying quiet on how those could change, both are top priorities for the developers.
On top of those core changes, the League team is diving into matchmaking and the coding behind pairings in a big way. “We’ve identified improvements to how individual matches are balanced, especially at the top,” Leung-Harrison declared.
These pairings tweaks will also hone in on several other matchmaking elements that play pivotal roles in League lobbies, including off-role balancing and how long each of the ten players have been grinding already in the season. Riot is switching the code to be a bit more aggressive with how rank and skill will decay when taking a break” to avoid rusty players getting smashed in lopsided ranked matches.
These impending code changes should (and again, it’s worth remembering Riot has actually tried a lot of this once already in Season 14) promote “fairer matches.”
All of these plans are a perfect balancing act though, with the League devs also very aware anything tipped too far in the wrong direction could dramatically spike queue times; they’re keeping that in mind as they work.
These latest matchmaking changes will go live in League ranked playlists this week, with League Patch 14.16 slated to launch on Wednesday, Aug. 14.
