In 2019, League of Legends tested a system that would have changed your ranked matches forever. But Riot Games scrapped it because players were increasingly dissatisfied.
What was that system? League of Legends tested position-based rank in 2019 on North American and South Korean servers.
A position-based rank means that you are assigned a different rank depending on your position. For example, someone who primarily plays jungle could be ranked Diamond there while being Gold in top lane because they only play there occasionally and at a lower level.
What became of it? In March 2019, Riot Games announced that they would no longer be pursuing position-based rank. Further tests and the development of the system were canceled (via nexus.leagueoflegends.com)
LoL: Ranks Explained from Iron to Challenger
Player happiness dropped drastically
Why did Riot Games remove position-based rank? As the “Riot Games” employee Ed “SapMagic” Altorfer revealed, the change led to frustration among the players. For example, surveys of players showed that overall satisfaction had dropped by 20-30% at the time of testing.
According to SapMagic, players complained that the matches in the so-called off positions were too exhausting and many teammates who played in an off position didn’t try hard and took the match seriously because it didn’t affect the rank in their main position .
7 facts about LoL that only true veterans know
More videos
How would that have worked? Position-based rank would have changed LoL matchmaking forever. Today you have the same rank in every position, whether that’s your main role or you just play it once in a blue moon.
As a result, you could be playing at Master Elo in a lobby even though your skills are significantly lower for the role being played. You will still be matched to the match because your skills are at Master level in another role.
This, in turn, is food for the toxic players that Riot fights bitterly, because they are known to immediately pounce on players whose performance does not meet their expectations.
One player who is unlikely to get flamed for poor performance in LoL is esports legend Faker:
LoL: 46-second video stages the skinny faker as a badass hero like The Rock