Riot addresses sandbox mode and dynamic queue

Riot is taking League of Legends in the direction that they want, and that direction involves dynamic queue.

Riots Games is not some poor indie game company that can get by on not having the absolute best for their players. League of Legends is a worldwide sensation that has become a staple for video games in general, and it might just be the poster child for eSports.

With that level of success comes a lot of responsibility and expectations, and Riot has been lackluster in meeting a lot of expectations by dropping the ball on some major things.

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The first thing they have handled poorly is sandbox mode (training mode). In around August of 2015, Riot came out and straight up shot down the idea of sandbox mode. That might have been an easier pill to swallow had Riot given legit reasons as to why they didn’t want sandbox mode in the game, but they made it seem like it wouldn’t be fair to have in the game because the best way for players to learn is to play against other players online. For a company that pushes the competitive aspect of their game so much, this was absolutely ludicrous to hear.

They next thing they have dropped/are dropping the ball on is solo queue/dynamic queue. Riot has been trying to push that dynamic queue is better for the health of the game, but there aren’t any obvious reasons to back that theory up. And, again, it’s crazy that Riot would think this way if they actually cared about being a strong competitive game.

Today, Riot released another addition of “Riot Pls,” where they discuss various things going on in the game. Their main message from the article was that Riot wants to be around for a very, very long time: “We want League of Legends to become a global sport that lasts for generations.”

Besides being optimistic about the future, they also addressed sandbox mode and dynamic queue.

They admitted to being wrong for dismissing sandbox mode and said that it is something that would be good for the game. However, while they do plan to have sandbox mode in League at some point, they aren’t worried about when it happens. “The internal team that would develop this feature is focused on a different project for the foreseeable future, so while we’re saying we want to do it and, one day, we will, that’s the extent of this commitment.”

So, at the end of the day, they didn’t really say anything at all. Sure, they acknowledged their wrongdoings and said that sandbox mode will happen in the future, but they didn’t give us anything to actually lean on – and that’s disappointing.

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They addressed dynamic queue, but it was literally just like every other time they have addressed it over the last few months: they think dynamic queue is the best ladder to have in the game and they aren’t willing to just chop off the head of solo queue and give it a quick death (they really want to drag this out).

The Riot team said: “Prior to the launch of dynamic queue, we felt like we had a competitive ladder that over-indexed on the raw skill and individualism parts instead of naturally promoting all-around great teamplay.” That quote is mind-boggling and honestly scary to read. It’s like the people running the game just don’t get it. Screw showing off how good of an individual player you are in the online ladder that you play as a solo player! Instead, why not show how good you can be when you and a group of people run over a handful of solo players! Hooray!

On dynamic queue, Riot stated that there are three main areas that they are looking to improve: the solo player experience against premades, lowering queue times and smoothing out role selection weight.

It’s just a crappy feeling for a lot of League of Legends players right now. Riot is taking the game in a direction that most people don’t agree with, and it would be heartbreaking if this direction leads to the downfall of the game. Riot had a good thing going with how their game was running, and they decided to completely change it for no reason at all. It might work out in the end, but things don’t look good right now.

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