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aka Bazner
Last night I decided to dive in and start playing solo ranked games.
For a long time I was hesitant to play ranked because I've read plenty of threads about rage in ranked and figured I should avoid ranked play.
What changed my mind was the realization that I have the ability to set a good example in game by promoting positive and constructive communication. This realization was tested in my second game when a high-skill player on a smurf account was paired with me bottom lane (I was Sona, he was Ashe). Initially he was getting frustrated by the mistakes that our team was making and was starting to rage a bit. I reminded him that the rest of the team was not playing on Smurf accounts and that we actually needed guidance to improve our play. He accepted this challenge and took on the roll of a positive team leader. We were able to win the game, which before the change, I don't feel we would have.
I am going to continue to play in Ranked games and rely on communication with my team to try and make up for my deficiency in competitive game knowledge and skill.#19 months, 2 weeks ago -
aka Bazner
157 wins in normal games. #29 months, 2 weeks ago -
aka BaznerIt's not about just telling people what to do. When you do that in-game via chat your message tend to be short and come off like commands, which people tend to perceive as negative. You need to work harder to find a leader on the team and encourage them to carry their team, not from a game-play point of view, but rather as a leader.when u try to tell people what they should do and they just answer with stfu, or go f..ck urself...u cant do anything
If you are that leader, which I am not due to my low skill level, you need to find a way to communicate strategy to your team in a way that feels supportive.
I am not naive to believe that this will be possible in every game, but even if I can achieve it 50% of the time, I would be winning a higher percentage of games than I do currently.#39 months, 2 weeks ago -
aka Bazner
she can't talk, but she can still type.
#49 months, 2 weeks ago -
aka BaznerI may have a large number of champions unlocked on my account, but I only know how to play with probably 5 or 6 of them with any level of skill. There is a lot of information to communicate in a short amount of time during champion selection, making it probably one of the biggest challenges. I am new to draft pick in general, and certainly don't have a knowledge of how to build a team comp or counter-pick, so I will need to rely on my 4 teammates to help me through that process.the difference between you and most likely the other 9 people on your team is that you've got how many runepages stocked with tier 3 runes on top of how many champions to counter-pick with?
my only problem with ranked is that my team mates counter-pick themselves at champ select due to not being able to play specific roles due to runes
and
not being able to counter-pick efficiently when they call "top" and only have akali...#59 months, 2 weeks ago -
aka Bazner
I have a lot of experience in other areas and a huge passion for League. In-game skill is not the end-all-be-all for becoming a Rioter. #69 months, 2 weeks ago -
aka BaznerI don't like losing. I understand (took a long time to learn this personally) that letting my emotions get the best of me will not make me win. In fact it makes me play much worse.How do you guys feel when games are lost? I mean, we can all say 'we play for fun' for the most part, but there's always times where you want to smash your monitor in and say 'man this sucks'. I try not to rage, but sometimes (especially if the reason we're losing is my fault), I get pretty upset.
TL;DR: Do Rioters rage?
Keeping a calm head and learning something from each game is how I win. Even with that, League is a competitive game and even the very good players should expect to lose 50% of the time.#79 months, 2 weeks ago -
eSports CoordinatorSince the question was asked more or less to me, I'll jump in.So I'm in what many call 'ELO-Hell', weather it exists or not, I'm stuck at ~800-900 ELO. Now I'm not going to sit here and say, 'omg teem feed noobz this game report roitplz'. I know that I'm not the epitome of skills (especially since despite ~500 wins, I still can't farm unless I'm Mord.), but I've always wondered what it's like to play with a Rioter.
This also isn't me saying 'hay riot pls play me out of elo hell team feed all day'. But it brings me to a question that will be introduced as a story.
A buddy of mine in a much better ELO standing was in a game with RiotTiza when they were Graves and he was a support. He started talking about how Tiza's positioning wasn't perfect, and how engagements seemed to be shaky at best. So it made me think:
How do you guys feel when games are lost? I mean, we can all say 'we play for fun' for the most part, but there's always times where you want to smash your monitor in and say 'man this sucks'. I try not to rage, but sometimes (especially if the reason we're losing is my fault), I get pretty upset.
TL;DR: Do Rioters rage?
Being passionate is normal in a setting where you care about the results. Many of us (I'd wager "most" but that's a total guess) are really passionate about LoL - we want to play and get better and win games. I can speak very safely for myself when I say I'm proud of my Elo, all 1600-ish of it, because it's a long way from where I started - I couldn't get above 1100 in Season 1. It's the product of a lot of games and a lot of practice and dedicated self-improvement. There are plenty of games that don't go my way (I think 1600 is a little bit above where I belong), and I tend to get frustrated when I'm playing badly or having trouble working together with my teammates/support (especially as an AD carry main).
I've broken controllers and cracked desks in the past (and every once in a while my desk still gets a good solid pound), but the important part about raging is how it manifests. I'll be frustrated out loud and yell at my monitor at such-and-such-is-a-stupid-champion and so-and-so-you're-so-lucky, but I get back on my god**** horse and play harder. I tell my teammates to keep focused and not give up, I keep all my communication forward-looking (talk about now-what, not that-happened) and relevant, and I start thinking about what I should have done differently and what I'm going to do next time. Ideally, nobody on my team has any idea that I'm upset. Of course, I'm not perfect, but I try almost as hard to keep my mouth shut as I do to win game.
tl;dr Yes and no.
Also for the people making comments about "oh you're a Rioter" - it's very true that people are more mindful of the rules around me. That said, I've found that since I've "gone Red" the number of ragers have gone down, but the ones who still rage are the cream of the crop for sure.
Bazner: Welcome to the ranked party! I promise it's not as bad as people make it out to be, as long as you stay positive and think long-term goals over short-term success, and keep focusing on improving. Let me know if you ever want some practice or pointers. <3#89 months, 2 weeks ago -
aka Bazner
it's my middle name. #99 months, 2 weeks ago -
aka BaznerGood luck, make sure to come back and tell us how it goes.Huh. For the longest time, I've avoided ranked simply because I don't want to have to deal with all the horror stories that I've heard surrounding it. But you make a good point: why can't I just try to positively influence the people that would otherwise be ruining said games? Thanks a bunch for making this post, I think it is time for me to overcome the hesitation and buckle down to get me some ELO. Maybe I'll even see you around!#109 months, 2 weeks ago
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eSports CoordinatorRioters use the report function and the Tribunal just like everybody else does. As long as you're being civil and following the Summoner's Code, you won't find yourself on the business end of the Punish button. To be fair though, there's something to be said about somebody who runs a red light right in front of a police car...Suddenly reds, reds everywhere. Maybe if I say 'gee I wonder if Praeco needs a friend' hard enough' then I'll get hired :P
But really, this brings up another question to you guys. Even though you're Reds, does that mean you actually watch for insta-bans? It was mentioned earlier in this thread that of course everyone respects the rules (or at least to a greater extent) around Rioters, but does that mean if I were to say "Dude (Morello), can you seriously stop engaging when the rest of us aren't ready?" then I should be worried about getting banned?
I think this occurs a lot when us players end up meeting you guys on the field. Because as you said, it really happens. A lot of us (Many, as it were) are really passionate about winning, and this often includes our own specific way of strategy.
Upon re-reading, I misspoke. I said 'us players' and 'you guys' as though we were separate. The 'Riot' tag doesn't actually separate anyone outside of general aesthetics. But the thought of 'oh **** I don't want to criticize a Rioter's play-style because it doesn't synergize with mine.' would occur. Of course, I'm only speaking from 'hypothetical experience', that is to say since I've never played with Rioters, it is only an imagined scenario that I think reflects upon the feelings of others.
TL;DR, if a miss-communication incident happened that could have gone much better, should we be afraid to say something? It's easy on the forums to say 'oh they're regular players just with a fancy red name', but seeing you guys in game puts a whole different level of fear/awkward/excitement.
I mean, I'm sure the answer is going to be 'No, we're players like you guys and we understand.', but I'm more curious as to how your reaction would be if something like that were stated.
Thanks#119 months, 2 weeks ago -
eSports CoordinatorSome people won't listen, and there's no helping them. Some people will listen, and just need a reminder that everybody isn't out to get them. Seriously, how nice is it when you get into champion select and somebody is being friendly and silly right off the bat, rather than just immediately calling positions or worse, silence?Case in point with niceness: Just played another game where Ez and Soraka fed a double kill bottom lane (Graves) as first blood. Despite the rest of the team comforting the 2 and saying it happens to the best of us, Soraka then refuses to ward anymore, so Ez is the one having to ward. They continue to overextend even when we asked them not to. They continue to die repeatedly until Graves had 6 kills before our jungler even made 1 full rotation. They gave up at the first blood and no amount of words was going to fix it. This is why being nice is pointless...because of people who go "gg" when our team doesn't get first blood and just throw the game away. These people are a pox in the community and exist EVERYWHERE.
Sometimes you can't win a game, and sometimes you can't calm a rager down. That's not a reason to never try.#129 months, 2 weeks ago -
eSports CoordinatorAnd your anecdotal evidence for "everybody is especially bull****" is just as subjective. Even if you're tracking data with an objective definition of "troll" or "rager" you aren't accounting for the specific sample of players - based on region, time of day, queue, etc, and you're naturally affecting your own experience via your personality, which could do any number of things.Good thing this approach works flawlessly for those of us who do not have Riot in our names. Even barring that, as others have pointed out, people just get their knickers in a knot any time you try to offer constructive help. Or they fight with each other and ignore you.
Face it, the in game ranked community is especially bull**** and there is only an off chance that being helpful/informative/positive will actually work. It's ego-fueled nonsense where people are too stubborn to accept any advice, and sometimes fly off the handle for the smallest, normally inconsequential things. Your annecdotal evidence for "if you just try to be nice in ranked everyone will be ****t*ng rainbows" is exactly that; an anecdote, a single case/circumstances that are difficult to replicate.
I'm putting it bluntly so you don't miss the point. And my observations are based on literally over 1000 ranked games during the course of season 1 and 2. I know this post will get ignored because it's a hard statement of fact more than anything, but I'd challenge you or any Rioter to come up with a sound rebuttal.
I would imagine that a lot of the perception of the community as being ill-tempered is confirmation bias - you don't remember the 8 other people you were in game with who didn't say a word. Our community could always be better, of course, but we have an awesome team whose job it is to make players happier and naturally more inclined to work together, and we're doing everything we can to set examples of good behavior as we go.#139 months, 2 weeks ago -
eSports CoordinatorI have led countless games (literally uncounted, probably dozens) out of my 1700 games (500 or so ranked) to a victory after staving off incoming rage from my team. Hard to say how much I turned around personally, but I know I made a difference. You cannot say that being positive doesn't make a difference - not just based off of my experience, but just human nature. People emulate what they see and people set their own actions based on what they see happening around them - how many times have you made a snippy remark to a troll about his last death that you wouldn't have otherwise made to a normal player? You are now part of the problem, but the problem only started because the troll started it. You're both doing it, and you're both accountable.It may be a bit of confirmation bias, but it doesn't change the fact that those who aren't saying anything aren't actively doing anything to fix a situation. Being complacent may be worse than raging, if the target of the rage is being bullied/harassed (especially so if racism is involved). The quote "the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality" comes to mind. Not exactly on the same level, but you probably get my point.
Not knocking you or the team that works on the game. There have been countless threads speculating on which the LoL community can be especially toxic. But I don't buy the premise being presented here: a grassroots nice guy/be a positive role model! movement will never succeed because of the prevailing culture of ******baggery that is so deeply engrained. Honestly, I've tried it, and it failed, which is why I'm especially jaded on this.
Thanks for having the balls to respond. //
Controlling your own behavior plugs both ends, one game at a time. I'll take one extra good game out of the pile every single time - why wouldn't you?#149 months, 2 weeks ago -
eSports CoordinatorNo, everybody's chance of getting trolls is the same - the actual end result is what varies. Your chance is not special to you. If you believe in some kind of force that drops bad things on your face, you may want to consider changing your mindset - either towards playing ranked or luck. It also could be a matter of perspective - everybody who puts in a moderate quantity of games will have to deal with these things at some point. Why take them personally and react badly? Getting a rager in your game is just like getting a tough opponent in your lane - sometimes it happens. Are you going to complain about how bad you have it, or are you going to adjust your playstyle and fight through it?Yeah, I had a player like that. Wanna know what he did? He politely asked for ADC, was friendly to everyone, commented on our lolking records saying they were good and asked how we felt playing certain champions. Then he picked Graves for ADC, which wasn't bad, and he had a Soraka support, so great pair. He then built fully AP and attempted to use his Smokescreen as his nuke and main source of damage. That caught the other 3 players off-guard, and it threw the game.
The issue is that just like people have a certain chance of getting trolls that is higher than others due to sheer luck, there are always going to be people that no matter how many games they play, they'll have a ton more ragers. Why try when you've recognized which category you fall in? It's just like there are players that have higher luck with getting trolls on their team more often than not. There are players who have higher luck getting teammates who cannot be helped and refuse to be helped. I am one of those people who consistently gets people who rage or do nothing to assist with their team and refuses to listen to reason. So I go into a game, glhf, ping and call mia's, and say nothing. Because you know what? **** this community. **** them in the ass. Because I've never seen a larger group of ******s in 1 place than in this community, and I lose because of their stubborn behavior and refusal to use logic or listen to good suggestions.
I remember you guys! I was being serious and I wasn't angry (although I was definitely a little skeptical) - I know that non-standard stuff can work, and I encourage it! I said in champion select that I trust you guys and that I wasn't mad you were picking it - I just wished you would have communicated that in advance so I wasn't surprised when AD Brand/AP Annie went bot lane. I could tell you meant well, so I gave you the benefit of the doubt, but not everybody will have that mindset and you'll find yourself facing the dreaded /all complaints from your teammates. As an AD carry main who's currently sitting a little higher than he deserves, I'm pretty uncomfortable outside my bot lane home, and I know what I'm giving up by letting my main role go. I put a lot of faith in you guys to make it work and that I wouldn't fail (and you did, and I didn't), but this is a perfect example of when a positive attitude kept us in contention for a win that may have gone horribly wrong if the team fell apart.I played a game a couple days ago at about 1,600 ELO where me and a friend ran AD Brand/S.Annie bot. When we did you said something along the lines of "I wish you'd have told us you were running a cheesy lane." On the inside I knew you were incredibly skeptical, and probably pretty annoyed that not only did we run an awkward lane, but claimed your favorite position of AD carry.
In the end though, you never belittled us, or got mad, and we won the game quite easily with every lane stomping. So to that, I say thanks! Most people in that position would have trolled us.
Bingo.I also find being an insufferable **** toward your teammates is much more likely to start nuclear war than being friendly to them.
I post on threads when I 1. See them, 2. Have something useful to bring to the discussion 3. Am qualified to speak on the topic. So do other Rioters.Sorry for not sugar coating my anger while Riot makes these "fairy tale threads" while ignoring other, legitimate threads.
Not everybody reads the forums, let alone posts on them. Those of us who do have a LOT of stuff to sift through. I can't answer questions about balance or artwork or champion design. I can talk about my experience as a player, my specific responsibilities at Riot, and jump into threads to crack jokes or give encouragement. It would be unfair to all of you if I attempted to respond to threads I don't have answers to. Even if I attempted to give a reasonable guess, being wrong will create more anger and unhappiness than silence would.
tl;dr Any one of us can reply to threads being happy about something, sharing a story, or telling jokes. Only a few specific people can answer certain questions.#159 months, 2 weeks ago -
eSports CoordinatorYou are making assumptions here. It seems as though you haven't seen El Presidente's discussion here.But you failing to pass on "Unanswered" threads and turn them into dead threads, for instance, is a failure on your part whether you believe that or not. No offense.
We're unfortunately reaching the point where I can't answer in much more detail than I already have. There's a lot of good insight from Tryndamere and Morello there, and hopefully you'll be able to get more answers. A quick tl;dr quote:
The real reason we don't address some of these things head on, is because often times we don't have great answers and/or are working on great long term solutions that aren't ready for daylight yet. #169 months, 2 weeks ago -
eSports CoordinatorYes. At this point, you're misunderstanding probability. It is very unlikely that something like this occurs, but it's possible. However, with a significantly high sample size, it's more likely for things like that to happen than not to happen.Lineage 2: Enchanting a weapon from +0 to +3 is 100% success rate. Enchanting from +3 to +4-20 has a 66% chance of succeeding. With that in mind:
I've had friends on Lineage 2 gather 20 of a weapon, and only 1 made it to +4, the rest broke. Is that 66%?
I've had friends who made bank on Lineage 2 by enchanting. They were able to take singular items and enchant them from 0-16 all the way through with no hiccups. They did this to 12 different weapons and ended up cashing out from the in-game currency they made selling the items. Is that 66%?
An interesting way to think about it is this: let's say a "moment" is a period of one minute - every minute is a moment in which something happens. You will have 525,600 moments over the course of a year. You can expect to have, on average, a one-in-a-million moment happen to you once every ~1.903 years, or a year and 329 days. A person who lives to be 80 will experience about 42 one-in-a-million experiences. Maybe your friend just had one.#179 months, 2 weeks ago -
aka BaznerSome Rioters do for a variety of reasons, but I personally only have one account. I changed the name when I joined Riot.well im assuming that most rioters have other accounts that they use so they should know what the community is like.
with my cop example: plainclothes cops or just off duty ones will experience society from a normal person's point of view as opposed to being in uniform.#189 months, 2 weeks ago -
aka Bazner
Ok, ranked game 3 did not go great, got caught out of position and ended up 0/7 as Sona. QQ Back into the Queue. Trying a duo queue. #199 months, 2 weeks ago -
aka Bazner
Not a good item? #209 months, 2 weeks ago -
aka Bazner
So played my 4th game. Played with Caitlyn and went 6/3/15. Our Nocturn was having computer issues and had to reboot, but we held off the 4v5. After losing 2 bad team fights, we were able to turn the game around. We got a bit discouraged for a bit, but Nocture was able to catch back up and we won. #219 months, 2 weeks ago -
aka Bazner
5th game was a loss. Played Caitlyn again, but never settled in. You know those games when your bullets don't seem to do any damage at all? Yeah, one of those.
Also, I now have an ELO - 1157.#229 months, 2 weeks ago -
aka Bazner
Gotta start somewhere. #239 months, 2 weeks ago -
aka Bazner
I'm headed to Germany for Gamescom, so I'm not sure how many games I can get in this week. Maybe I'll hope on the EU servers for a bit. I'm not level 30 yet, so no ranked. #249 months, 1 week ago -
aka Bazner
Time to necro my own thread.
I've finally had time to play a good number of ranked matches. Right now my Elo is sitting at around 800. Was as low as 700, but I have been learning jungle and as I get a hang of it, I am seeing a steady increase in wins. Not sure why it took so long, but I have discovered a love for Xin Zhao.
Since it's New Years, I'm gonna put my 2013 goal of getting 100 ranked wins next year in writing so I can come back next year and be embarrassed if I don't make it.#2512 years, 7 months ago -
aka BaznerI had a second kid and it really made it hard to play ranked until he was a bit older. He's older, so now more ranked is being played.Haha, I just checked you on LoLking a little while ago. I was like "Why Bazner no play no more?" Glad to see you're back!#2613 years, 4 months ago
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aka Bazner
Probably 1 in 10, but it's 50/50 which team is 4. #2712 years ago -
aka Bazner
With kids you play whenever you can. #2812 years, 7 months ago -
aka BaznerEspecially at low Elo people fight over top and mid. Learn support and jungle and you will win more and enjoy yourself. When you run into another jungler or support, you get a chance to play mid/top/adc. Took me a LONG time to learn this as my favorite character is Caitlyn.sigh.. just hit level 30 today and so far...
game 1 : perfectly normal match
Game 2: I somehow was convinced to not dodge when the jungler locked in nidilee..... ez rage quit after feeding 4 kills in under 10 minutes and gg..
game 3: I called top, enemy went chogath so I tried to go olaf which now I realize was a derp choice but either way we would have lost considering Mid and Bot lanes Fed even more then me early game...
Game 4 champion select : darius tried to jungle, 2 people were arguing over a previous match, and we had no ADC... anxd no one would dodge so then I had too.. now I sit waiting for an hour for another match...
people who play ranked are so much more derp then the people I met in normal games..#2912 years, 11 months ago -
aka Bazner
I don't think that behavior only occurs at low Elo. #3011 years, 12 months ago -
aka Bazner
People are defiantly more flexible on which champion you pick for a given role at 800 Elo in ranked than I even see when I play normals, as long as you clearly communicate what role you are playing and how you are building the champ so they can adjust the team to match. #3111 years, 11 months ago -
aka Bazner
I see you are at 1300 now, how long did it take you to raise up? #3212 years, 2 months ago -
aka Bazner
2013 being the year end in question. Hitting that tonight would take a miracle.
I'm usually down to play if you find me online, but with the kids I am way behind on getting games in with people. I also earned all 800 pts of Elo, so don't be surprised when my last hits are near, but not at the end of a minions life.#3312 years, 6 months ago -
aka Bazner
Exactly. #3412 years, 11 months ago -
aka BaznerMy end goal is not a higher Elo, but rather to improvement in my skill at the game. I have found that my premade team (we play normals) has been winning a lot more since I started playing ranked heavily the past few weeks.It's incredibly hard to raise your ELO at a fast pace. Some people are able to do it inhumanly it seems. Once S3 started I was doing great, my record was +6. There were shaky times and I ended up getting knocked down but carried myself up. I was rather disappointed that there wasn't a hard reset to 1200. So far the highest ELO I've gotten to was 1065, and that was around +6. Right now I'm sitting at 892, and it's really disheartening to be at this stage with a -2/-3 record when I was doing great in the beginning.#3513 years, 1 month ago
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aka Bazner
Not afraid of rage at all, more like I wanted to make sure I actually had enough skill at this game to play ranked. #3612 years, 4 months ago -
aka BaznerThere are literally hundreds of Rioters posting in these forums all the time. I may not personally post that often, but that does not mean there are not always Rioters on here.So we do have community managers!!!
http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/...php?p=32976614
These are my contributions to this goal.#3712 years, 11 months ago -
aka Bazner
When I am in game there is no way for anyone to identify me as a Red other than my ping, but I usually play ranked from home where I do not have an 8 ping. #3812 years, 12 months ago -
aka Bazner
So in light of recent events...
I have changed my in-game name.
I will undoubtably feel foolish when I have a huge losing streak.#3912 years, 6 months ago -
Technical Artist
Haha, that name is awesome! I too have just started ranked (just a few games into Season 3), and so far it's been pretty awesome. A little communication can go a long way to making the games more fun, and filled with victory. #4013 years, 1 month ago -
aka Bazner
I fill in when I can't play Xin. Historically Caitlyn and Katarina have been my favorite champs to play. I only started learning Xin when I started playing Solo Q. #4112 years, 6 months ago -
aka Bazner
It was up in the air between "do it zhao" and "xin it to win it." I was close because I am a huge predator fan, but in the end, liked the second name better.
We'll see if it sticks.
On a gameplay related note, just did a ranked duo where I played Leona. We clearly lost the lane phase, but managed to get together as a team around 15 minutes and turned the game around big-time and won. Getting good ward coverage and moving as a team proved to be way more important than the fed Katarina on the other team.#4212 years, 6 months ago -
aka BaznerThat's not true. Often you can turn someone like that around, or at least 50% of the time.when u try to tell people what they should do and they just answer with stfu, or go f..ck urself...u cant do anything
Imagine you have that guy in 1 out of 5 games and you can turn him around 50% of the time.
Now you are dealing with him in 1/10 games.
The other team has the same guy, but may not be turning him around. This is going to potentially give your 1 extra win out of 10. Over the long run that is absolutely going to raise your Elo.#4312 years, 4 months ago -
aka Bazner
I did not find it made a huge difference. #4412 years, 6 months ago -
aka Bazner
I am still him, I just changed my in-game name, which changes the forum name as well. I like to redefine myself once in a while, it's liberating.
tl;dr new year, new name.#4512 years, 7 months ago -
aka BaznerThe reported player in this case appears to be raging at his team and is generally not very helpful.
This thread is not really about reforming other players, but rather more about improving your own play and behavior (which we can actually control).#4611 years, 6 months ago -
aka BaznerA big part of playing ranked is making sure that you have enough time to commit to the experience. I find that when I am possibly going to be rushed for a game I will either play a normal game with 4 friends in case I need to leave/surrender due to life getting in the way, or I will play Dominion that has a lower average game duration. I still get a chance to refine my skill with a champion, but I do not have the same level of time commitment.So what do you tell the guy who just dropped from 900 to 700 ELO over the past 3 awful days of gaming due in a large part to people raging or afking? I was playing the only match I had time for last night, was varus with a soraka support. I overextended early and they got first blood, soraka died trying to save me. Soraka immediately starts raging, and refuses to support me any longer. She heads to top and starts bickering with top about throwing the game. All this like I'm trying to be reasonable, I apologized for the death and said I would do better. The match deteriorated pretty quickly from there and despite me going on a 4 kill spree Soraka refused to come back and help because I am a "baddie". So what I ask, is what do? This kind of situation happens to me on a daily basis and as someone who cannot play all the time due to work/school/girlfriend it can be quite disheartening. So what do I do? Continue down the path least taken and not get angry, despite the fact that my forward progress is being ripped away by adults acting as children?
Something's gotta give right? This is supposed to be a fun experience, right?
As for improving the ratio of positive games, right now playing jungle/support has MASSIVELY reduced competition for roles in the pre-game lobby.
I also recommend spending time thinking about HOW you communication. For example, after winning a team fight and grabbing a tower, it's a good idea to back off and not end up getting killed by the re-spawning enemy team. Often players will simply issue a flurry of retreat pings. This is often seen as hostile/negative by your team, as depending on how many pings occur in a game, people will take them as criticism. I instead have started typing in "shopping spree" or "swag time" which turns a negative retreat ping into a heal up and buy cool stuff message. Apply this mentality to as much in-game communication as possible and you WILL see the quality of your games improve.
I will say this does not always work, but part of any competitive game is learning to brush off a loss and learn from it. Even when it turns into a LOT of losses. When I have a REALLY bad streak, I'll play some bot games or custom games to remind myself of how fun this game is.#4712 years, 1 month ago -
aka Bazner
it's not about telling your teammates how to play their champion, it's about talking with them about how to beat the other team. It might seem similar, but one is much harder to be on the receiving end of than the other. #4812 years, 12 months ago -
aka Bazner
There is an item in the store that allows you to change your name. #4913 years, 1 month ago -
aka Bazner
Pretty interesting post about pick order on reddit:
http://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflege...mple_as_draft/
tl;dr: if everyone posts their top two roles, you are much more likely to get eveyone in a role that they are competent in.#5012 years ago -
aka BaznerI bet we could formalize this, a bit like we do with GLHF or GGWP.Since players often posts there preferred roles in the draft lobby. Do you think it will help to have a one liner tip in that particular lobby like:
Tip: What's your top two preferred roles?
For Example:
xin it to win it: What's everyone's TOP 2 roles and Champs in order of preference?
xin it to win it: We want to make sure we end up with the strongest team by getting the most 1st and 2nd choices.
xin it to win it: For me it's #1 Jungle (Xin Zhao) #2 Support (Leona)#5112 years, 8 months ago -
aka BaznerPlaying draft mode requires you to know more than just 1 or 2 champions. Until you have reached that level of proficiency, ranked does not make a lot of sense as bans would possibly create a huge flux in your game-to-game performance. At my skill level I am competent with a champ for each roll and rarely get banned into a situation where I am playing a champ for the first time in a ranked game.wait, what do you mean? matchmaking will put you up against reasonable opponents regardless of how good or bad you are.
Basically I was not interested in playing ranked until I had a baseline skill level so that I would be able to improve in a meaningful way and not have huge swings in performance based on my main being banned, or my team needing me to play a role other than my preferred/primary one.
As a direct example, I did NOT play jungle at all before I played ranked, but I had enough mastery of game mechanics to quickly pick up the role when it became apparent to me that a lot of the pre-game lobbies lacked a jungler.
Does that make sense?#5212 years ago -
aka Bazner
So my last two Ranked games were lost.
The first one I duo queued with a good friends, but he wanted to try a Twitch/Leona bottom lane, but we made a mistake by not having him (he had first pick) grab Leona. We got destroyed (level 1 double kill) in the bottom lane and the direction of the game never really turned around. This was a pretty clear case of us losing the game in the pre-game lobby. To be fair, the two of us play a lot of blind pick games, so we were not in the proper mindset for a ranked draft lobby. I played Nunu Support, I am not very experienced with him. I defiantly need to learn another support role beyond Leona. I am thinking a support Mundo could be a lot of fun.
The second game was harder. I played Xin and we were doing decent at first, but one of my early game bot lane ganks ended with me killing their carry and my carry getting a bit upset about it. I generally try to make sure that when I gank a lane, the laner gets the kills, but Xin has a nasty habit of killing fools faster than I perceive time. We recovered and had a couple of really good team fights, but we kept reverting back to farming, which in hindsight, was probably our ultimate undoing as we simply gave up too many objectives.
Hopefully I will have a couple of hours this weekend to get in a few more games.#5313 years, 2 months ago -
aka Bazner
I'm a huge fan of Lux's deeign, how would I build/play her? #5412 years, 10 months ago -
aka BaznerI love Siv HD videos. Party hard.#5512 years, 2 months ago
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aka Bazner
Just had the best teamwork I have ever seen in a non-premade game. When a game goes good, it really goes good. 861 Elo now, 64.3% win rate on Xin. #5612 years, 4 months ago -
aka Bazner
I have been asked to record them, but I don't really want everyone I play with to be subjected to that. If you add me in client you can always spectate. #5711 years, 8 months ago -
aka Bazner
Just won another game, NBD. Got a chance to play vayne adc, I miss Xin, #5812 years ago -
aka Bazner
Just when you start to feel like the god of 800 Elo, you play an weak game of support, lose all composure, fail to protect your carry, and fail in the late game.
Humbled.
Time to get back in there.
tl;dr: I got leona'ed#5912 years, 12 months ago -
aka Bazner
I do not ban people. I use reports just like everyone else. #6011 years, 8 months ago -
aka Bazner
It was, not it is Xin it to Win it.
Also, 900 Elo --> movin' on up.#6112 years, 11 months ago -
aka Bazner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVWMAgErKOA #6212 years, 12 months ago -
aka Bazner
Nothing about this thread is a joke. I may not be the worlds best player, but I enjoy the majority of the games that I play. There are a lot of different reasons to play LoL, and depending in where you are in your life they are differant. For myself, a married guy with kids and bills, LoL is a fun way to escape for a while and find some competition.
For those who feel only "skilled" players should play ranked, I say that is ridiculous. We have an Elo system that matches players of similar skill together.#6312 years, 6 months ago -
aka BaznerI was a bit worried when the other team grabbed Cait as she is my main adc, but I probably have 25-30 dominion games with Vayne.@Xin it to Win it
1. Thanks for accepting my friend invite.
2. I have watched a couple of your games and you did pretty well with Vayne. I hope to see you climb up the rank ladder, I also hope you keep enjoying your experience and not let the haters get to you. It is a tough journey through the elo ranks, keep up the good work.#6413 years ago -
aka Bazner
If you focus on getting better at the game and not about raising a number, you will enjoy yourself and the "pressure" or ranked goes away. #6512 years, 8 months ago -
aka Bazner
Kids are both sleeping, time for solo. #6612 years, 2 months ago -
aka Bazner
Here's a tip... with a spear behind it!!! #6712 years ago -
aka Bazner
Just had a really challenging loss. We had a support that grabbed blitz because he is rarely not banned, but he obviously didn't know how to play him well. This is completly understandable, but our ADC started into the noob, can't win stuff almost instantly, despite him (the adc) having obvious connction issues.
It was not a game we were likely to win, but the other team appeared to be dealing with a partial afk, so our own internal collapse prevented us from capitolizing on our 4 vs 5 advantage at one point.
I know it's not obvious, but if you are complaining about how someone else on your team is doing, you are already doing it wrong. You need to find a way to adjust and help them. You will still lose sometimes when you do that, but you will lose less.#6812 years, 9 months ago -
aka Bazner
Just typed this into chat with someone, figured I would share it here.
1. don't get discouraged
2. don't give up
3. you will suck at first
4. learn from each game, you will get better
5. takes brakes and play normals, pre-mades, dominion, treeline
6. remember LoL is a game, meant to be fun#6913 years ago -
aka Bazner
Starting to get a feel for Leona. Your ADC needs to be stupid aggressive, but willing to run sometimes. #7012 years, 4 months ago -
aka Bazner
I prefer a close game that I lose to an game where the other team has a troll or afk and I win. #7111 years, 11 months ago -
aka Bazner
I've been maxing her 'Q' first. #7211 years, 12 months ago -
aka Bazner
I tried a game on the EUW server yesterday (bazner EUW) and unfortunately my ping at 200ms is so different that my typically ping of 11ms that I was having an incredibly hard time last hitting or landing skill shots. I am sure that I could adapt to playing at 200ms (I played Quake for years via dial up at 300 ping), but I don't think I can adapt to moving between the two different ping between games and not cripple my team. #7312 years, 3 months ago -
aka Bazner
Exactly. #7412 years, 4 months ago -
aka Bazner
It just got real. Promotion Series for Bronze V to IV just started. No pressure.
Also, I am in Malzahar's Blackguards.#7512 years, 12 months ago -
aka Bazner
No pressure. #7612 years, 5 months ago -
aka Bazner
Jumping in now, playing Katarina mid. Got a Nidalee on my team, team cats. #7712 years, 9 months ago -
aka Bazner
Welcome to Bronze IV.
Bedtime.#7812 years ago -
aka Bazner
And I am back down to Bronze V.
Losing streak.
#7911 years, 11 months ago -
aka Bazner
To be fair, I blew it a couple of times myself, so I was someone else's "baddie." That;s the reason I am in Bronze V. #8012 years, 1 month ago -
Community Coordinator
I feel ya; currently sitting in Bronze IV, wondering if I'm more likely to be successful duo-queueing with my mostly-silver friends or going solo. Definitely enjoying the new wrinkle to Ranked though. #8111 years, 7 months ago -
aka Bazner
Bronze IV - Malzahar's Blackguards = Best Division NA. #8212 years, 12 months ago -
aka BaznerThe system is not designed to be easy to move up.Any word of advice? I appreciate your positive attitude and communication but I'm so sick of playing ranked. I keep losing like 20 points per match and only winning like 6 and it's getting ****ing annoying. I can't express my infinite disappointment with this system and the people I've been paired with. This community, I have no faith in at all.
I suggest you don't worry about individual games, focus on getting better over time.#8312 years, 8 months ago -
aka BaznerIt's not that you are stuck in Silver, it's that right now you are a Silver level player. I find that as I learn more strategy and get better mechanical skill, I have been moving up. Most often when I lose, I could have adjusted in some way and failed to. For example, I am doing ok mid, but bottom is losing, so I head down there and help.It's hard to do... and I mean even now, I'm stuck in Silver... Mostly because of ragers, quitters and unskilled.... I tend to win my lanes, but when I finally look at the scores and I see it's 3-17 and I'm the only one doing well... It's disheartning... Not saying it's like this every game and I am far from perfect, I just think there needs to be some sort skill test before being allowed to play ranked...#8411 years, 9 months ago
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aka Bazner
hi. #8511 years, 12 months ago -
aka Bazner
I don't know, but over 100 games in Bronze and I'm loving it. I will state that I do not suffer from any sort of anxiety. I have heard that can be a hurdle for some people. #8611 years, 6 months ago -
aka BaznerFFA on Quake, favorite maps were Claustrophobopolis, Dark Place, and House.You used to play Quake? SWEET!!! Me too!!! Not using dialup at 300 ping but I definitely had to get used to play at 100-125 ms on most servers. What game mode did you play? I was particularly involved with Quake 3's UltraFreezeTag community for many years, and some RA3 as well. I didn't play Q4 online that much but I did play for a bit. I didn't really get into QuakeLive though... ping went through the roof up to 160-200... making it impossible for me to play comfortably
...
Worry not Xin it! I'm sure you'll get back to Bronze IV in a flash... if not you can always add me so we can duo (I'm currently Silver I if that's any motivation
)
Quake 2 is was Edge with the rail gun.#8711 years, 8 months ago -
aka Bazner
Just made it to Bronze III
Might need to change my name to "De Lux Son"#8812 years ago -
aka BaznerThat's the reason I am doing this.155 wins in Normal, this thread inspired me to try Ranked.
Two wins in three games so far.There will be challenges, but stick with it.
#8911 years, 11 months ago -
aka BaznerWhat do you mean "through smurf accounts," i don't follow.i just started today after a good 2 years of normals through smurf accounts. but sadly iv been put into troll games and of course riot thinks trolls want to win too.
But they dont they want to ruin everyone elses time. and honestly if it wasnt for the extra ip i wouldnt even do it#9012 years, 3 months ago -
aka Bazner
Today has been challenging so far. I lost two games 4v5 and I was on the team with 5.
Guess it's a lesson to never give up.#9112 years, 12 months ago -
aka Bazner
Just achieved Bronze 2.
I now have 82 ranked wins under my belt in season 3.
It's been quite a humbling process learning just how difficult it is to be slammed into a pre-game lobby with 4 complete strangers and be given just a few minutes to build a viable team then take that team and face off in a game as complex as League of Legends.
If anything, it's teaching me to give my fellow players the benefit of the doubt. I'll explain. It's super easy to get upset when someone on your team is having a bad game. It's easy to blame them, and sometimes the loss can be directly attributed to their poor play, only further reinforcing the feeling that you do not control your own destiny. The problem is we don't quickly remember all the times that the one who lost the game was us. (confirmation bias)
When I know that I am blowing it, it does not make me feel any better to have my team call me a noob, feeder, or worse. It does make me feel better when someone on my team takes the time to give me constructive feedback, or at the very least, play their heart out.
It's important that I find a way to be that person when I can clearly tell that someone on my team is struggling. It's important for me to remember that I have bad games where I fall apart. It's important for me to remember how great this community is whenever I meet up with them at Events like PAX or Gamescom.
I'm rambling a bit, but that's because I am still just learning. Perhaps that's what I have been enjoying the most about playing solo ranked. When I play pre-made with my friends it's not uncommon for us to talk about our kids or plans for the weekend with League as a backdrop. We use LoL as a social gathering place online. When I play Ranked, LoL takes on a whole new character. It becomes a beast that I want to master.#9212 years, 8 months ago -
aka Bazner
In which case I will be playing Katarina. #9312 years, 11 months ago -
aka Bazner
Bronze 2 #9413 years, 2 months ago -
aka Bazner
I set a goal of playing until I had at least 100 ranked wins in season 3. Last night I hit my goal and sit at 102 wins and 96 losses. Time for a new goal, Silver V by the end of the season. #9512 years, 12 months ago -
aka Bazner
I forgot how much I love Sona. #9612 years, 11 months ago -
aka Bazner
AP Sona is a thing? How does that work? #9713 years, 2 months ago -
aka Bazner
Her stuff does not really seem to scale well with AP. #9812 years, 2 months ago -
aka Bazner
She's not the boss of me. #9912 years ago -
aka BaznerThe problem with that logic is that the support on the team you are matched against is dealing with the same randomness that you are. One way of handling this situation is to make friends and duo queue. The issue you will see with that is when your teammates ware interested in either the support or the add role and you need to negotiate in the pre-game lobby.TL;DR My point is, I'm not stuck here because I can't beat the enemy I'm given. I'm stuck here because, as a support, if my ADC cannot our lane is lost, and that doesn't test my skill level accurately.
Another way of handling this comes down to champion selection. Right now I am having much better luck with Sona that I did with Leona. I believe this is because I can play far more passive with Sona. Even if my lane phase is just reduce the number of times my adc dies, I can still make a big impact in team fights.#10011 years, 12 months ago -
aka Bazner
I am now convinced that this whole support thing is real, it just takes the right support.
I have never had this much success in Ranked or Normal play with any method. Until I start losing, I am a believer.#10112 years, 4 months ago -
aka Bazner
The pressure!!! #10212 years, 3 months ago -
aka Bazner
So I did not make it through my Bronze 1 promo series. The hardest part about this game is realizing that the world is not conspiring against you when you lose a game. The is especially hard because it certainly feels like it sometimes.
Looking at my recent match data I have realized that I am a horrible ADC. Despite probably 150 games as Caitlyn, I simply am not good at the role. I believe it is in large part because I really can't get the whole last hit thing down. Any tips on how to get the mechanical skills to last hit without spending 1,000 games? Are there any simple flash games on the internet that help with the skill?#10313 years, 1 month ago -
aka BaznerIf it is not fun for you, then don't do it. I have a couple friends who get stressed out by ranked, so they just don't do it.I always have trouble motivating myself to play ranked every season. While I know I can easily get Plat or low Diamond divisions, I find it to be unnecessary stress for me.
I personally really enjoy playing ranked, I like the social and personal challenges it presents.#10412 years, 7 months ago -
aka BaznerI have found that the more games you play, the closer the matches become, probably the Match Making Rating improving in accuracy.I started ranked just a little while ago, one or 2 weeks maybe.
And so far I have the strong impression that there are rarely any "close" matches.
One of both teams seems to always SUCK ! And I mean it.
While in unranked there are matches where they look equally matched, in ranked there seems to be always a waaaay stronger team. worst so far was something around 12-42.#10513 years, 2 months ago -
aka BaznerHow else are you going to move up if you do not play against players that are better than you?The worst part about playing in S3 ranked is that you can get paired with people from both above and below your division. It's kind of stupid.
If I'm in Bronze, I should be fighting Bronze, not Silvers or Golds. If my MMR says that I should be fighting them, why am I not at their level then? Similarly, if their MMR says they should be playing with me, why are they not in my division?
The more you play Bazner, the more this very question will haunt you
I do generally feel that when I am last pick I have a very high win rate. When I am first, I pretty much have a 100% loss rate.#10612 years, 4 months ago -
aka Bazner
Pretty interesting read on Attack Damage vs. Armor Penetration: http://www.reignofgaming.net/blogs/a...une-changes-on #10712 years, 4 months ago -
aka BaznerRioters play on the same servers as everyone else and we work hard to set a positive example with how we play, but there hundreds of Rioters and millions of players, so we can only do so much. I personally want to see the community do this. We all have the ability to create a positive experience for both new and experienced players. I've actually started reminding my team not rage or blame in the pre-game lobby and remind everyone that we are playing a game, yes we are playing to win, but we are still playing because we enjoy it.@Bazner/Xin
Has anyone at Riot ever considered an initiative to help people ease into the ranked experience by joining in the placement matches, or maybe the first handful of games after placing?
I know it could have the side-effect of being perceived as Elo Boosting or hard carrying a noob, blah blah blah... but if you think about it, not everyone at Riot is Challenger Tier, right?
Maybe it could be a fun initiative for you guys and gals to jump in with people joining ranked for the first time. You could show them a positive experience, give solid pointers on picking/counter-picking, tips during the game... keep people calm, maybe?
Positivity breeds positivity. People new to ranked need a positive experience, even if it's 10 losses in a row landing them at 9 Elo, y'know?#10813 years, 4 months ago -
aka Bazner
I started this thread at around 690 Elo, Season 3 came and I was placed into Bronze 5. Nearly 300 ranked games later I am sitting in Bronze 1. It has been challenging at times, but I have really enjoyed the experience. Thank you to everyone who has queued up with me and against me.
Next goal, Silver V.#10910 years, 7 months ago -
aka BaznerI am not a woman.Dear Xin it to Win it, can you please stop bumping your own thread. You have clogged up the Dev tracker with 120 useless posts and are also a waste of space on GD.
Good day to you, madam.
Also, bump.#11013 years, 1 month ago -
aka BaznerRiotNome posted in that thread earlier today.Are riot peeps aware of this thread? http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/....php?t=3252767
Only 5.4k replies and 1600 upvotes, every Riot post in GD without a response to this thread irks me,#11112 years, 1 month ago -
aka Bazner
I main Sona, but I love the name Xin it to Win it, so I chose to have both. Like chocolate and peanut butter. #11212 years, 8 months ago
