Riot SapMagic (UX Designer) reveals Riot’s thoughts and progression on what we previously heard for the Ranked changes in 2019.

Last month, Riot SapMagic first addressed the need for improvement within Ranked. He first clarified on 4 key points on Ranked should do.

1. Give clear feedback after each placement game.
2. Surface a diverse set of challenges throughout the season.
3. Provide regular milestones and meaningful goals regardless of skill level.
4. Reward deep and ongoing investment.

On the 24th, Riot SapMagic updated the community in regards to the changes for Ranked in 2019 on the Dev Corner. In the post, SapMagic discussed on 6 focal points of change for Ranked.

The first being 'Why change Ranked now?'. SapMagic shows that there is a need to address long-time Ranked players feeling burn out. In addition, focusing on what makes Ranked fun and special. Overall, Riot SapMagic clarifies there is a need for change because the last major update to Ranked was made more than two years ago.

The next point is Riot making Ranked too grindy. With addition of position ranks, a player needs to play twice as many games to reach the same rank across two, three, four, or even five positions. In regards to 'fill' players, Riot is actively putting them into consideration.

Assumably, the biggest problem of all. Players not taking the games seriously. This problem occurs if some players won't try to win off-position games because there's less on the line. In addition, tackling how to solve players that might ruin the experience for others since they know it won't affect the rank they care about.

Similar to the previous point, there are going to be players who abuse the positional matchmaking. Issue of players queuing up for an off-position to only swap in champ select for favorable matchmaking or duo partners consistently swapping positions.

The 5th point according to SapMagic is “The good stuff”. He announced the success of smoothing out progression with extra tiers, as with revamped placements. Riot SapMagic recognized that splits and revamped rewards still need additional improvement.

The last focal point is what the next step for the Ranked development team is. Riot SapMagic notifies that the next submission will over the big concerns of the community. Looping the whole process again. Pitch. Listen. Iterate. Repeat.

Riot SapMagic was avid on collaborating with the community to successfully improve Ranked as a whole. SapMagic said: “Today, let’s talk about why we’re working on Ranked at all, what we heard from you, and lay out how we’re gonna build this together over the course of summer and fall.”.


For more information on the updated changes, click here.