Riot hints at scrapping solo queue

Solo queue was taken away from us for what we thought to be momentarily, but it looks like it might not ever return.

Oh no, here we go again with Riot giving us the short end of the stick.

Dynamic queue was released in January, and with it came the taking away of solo queue. However, Riot told us not to freak out at the time because solo queue would be brought back within a couple of weeks. They just needed the time to focus on their new system.

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Unfortunately, a couple of weeks has now turned into a couple of months and counting. As sad as that is, the most frustrating part about it all is how quiet Riot has been during the process. You would think they wouldn’t have us in the dark for so long, especially when it concerns something the majority of people are desperately waiting for. It’s also even more troubling since Riot is usually so good at keeping the community in the loop for things.

The silence was finally broken yesterday on the League of Legends boards as Riot Socrates, the game’s systems designer, made a post discussing the new champion select. The vast majority of the post consisted of Socrates trying to explain how dynamic queue isn’t that bad anymore and everyone should be happy to play it. At least that’s what it felt like.

Then, ever so smoothly, Socrates slipped in solo queue at the very end. He acknowledged that Riot lied about bringing it back after a couple weeks of the launch of dynamic queue, and said that the reasoning was because they were prioritizing improving dynamic queue and they underestimated how much work they had to do for it. He ended it by saying, “We’re concerned about the impact solo queue will have on matchmaking as a whole, and we’re assessing how to best proceed.”

We’re concerned about the impact solo queue will have on matchmaking

Oh, concerned about the impact it will have on matchmaking? You mean, maybe, just maybe, the majority of players will prefer solo queue instead of dynamic queue? You don’t say.

This all feels like the beginning of Riot backtracking on what they previously promised us. As of right now, it doesn’t look like they will be bringing back solo queue – and that’s disturbing. It wouldn’t be surprising to see an announcement from them in two weeks explaining why solo queue won’t be returning, but remember, they will be sure to tell us why that is best for the game and that we should be ecstatic about the decision. Yay, dynamic queue!

If this is indeed the road Riot is taking us on, they better be prepared for the backlash, because it’s already happening.

See, this isn’t some little deal that people will easily forgive and forget. This is huge news that frustrates everyone in the community: from the very bottom of bronze to the best players in the world.

Please, Riot, don’t take us down this road.