Reign of Gaming

Role Selection: The Biggest Change to the Game in a Long Time

      Role selection is, in my opinion anyway, the biggest change to League of Legends in a very long time.  It completely changes the nature of how many people play the game and creates opportunity for people to actually practice what champions they want, in what roles they want.  How many times have you logged on wanting to play a specific champion but never could due to pick order or instant locking in blind pick?  Want to play Cassiopeia mid?  Too bad3 is the most common answer.  It would take multiple games before you could get Cassiopeia mid in the first place and if you want to master the snake lady, you would need many games on her.  Not easy when playing her mid is so difficult with other people wanting the same role.  Role selection solves that problem and a lot of others.  I believe this is the one of the best overall addition to the continued success of LoL and so much more. 

About damn time this changed!

Champion Select is Changing! 

Champion select is a very important aspect of the game that has gone largely unchanged for years.  When I started playing in March of 2011, it is the same now as it was then. The only difference is that there are some more bans and they added a normal draft mode.  Not exactly game altering stuff but nice additions.  But now we are getting a brand new game type that actually changes how I play the game. 

Role selection is going to start as a brand new queue like blind pick or draft but I have a strong feeling this is going to become very popular.  The basic problems with champion selection has always been that it is very hard to actually play exactly what you want to play.  Regardless of what mode you pick, there are weaknesses in the selection of your role.  Blind Pick has the issue of instant locking.  Draft has the issue of pick order.  In neither case can you just play that Leblanc you have been yearning to play all day without basically getting permission or lucky.  And if you want to play 5 games in a row to practice Leblanc, you need even better luck.  Now, I can actually practice a single champion and not have to be lucky.  Though there are a few challenges.  

The "Not Enough Healers/Tanks" Problem!  

If anyone is familiar with many modern MMO's (In particular, WoW) there are dungeon finders that pair you with a group to play the dungeon.  You would also be familiar with a very common dilemma, the overabundance of "DPS" classes and the shortage of healers/tanks.  Back when WoW's dungeon finder first started, there would be some pretty horrible wait times for DPS but if you were a healer, near instant que.  Many people fear, and rightly so, that there will be a similar shortage with people who play support.  

After reading all the red posts, Riot seems to claim that they are not worried about this problem.  The indication is that there are actually quite a few people willing to play support.  Now "willing" and would que for for support is another story, but for the promise of a guaranteed champion (Like for sure I would get Thresh) and a shorter queue time, I would be tempted to play support.  So I am not entirely convinced it will be that bad, if problematic at all.  Especially with the increased likelihood of duo ques for bot lane for the same reasons as I like this new queue.  Guaranteed role choice.

We are also talking about millions of players at any given time.  Surely some want to play support!             

This Changes How we Practice

If there is one thing I want to do these days, it is practice my champions.  Especially with match-up knowledge.  Currently it is extremely hard to get in a lot of practice with just one champion and I have already talked about how hard that is. 

But one of the most important aspects of improving with champions is just about learning match-ups.  The sheer number of match-ups with any given champion is insane and if I have to flip between champions every game, how can I really learn match-ups?  Now I can learn this vital piece of information that people who have played longer posses for their champions, only in far fewer games!   

Conclusion

I am really looking forward to the new queue.  This is going to change how I play the game and if it proves popular, and I really think it will, then you can expect this to change every queue in time.  I cannot wait for it to hit the PBE!

About the Author, Emeraldw:

• Loves psychology and philosophy.  Then tries to apply it to even simple things like League of Legends. 
  
• Cookies and Ice Cream have been known to buy Emeraldw's loyalty and affection.
• Basics are the most important thing in learning anything
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If you have any comments or ideas for future articles, please send me a message and I will be happy to communicate with you!