Dear DrmDestryr,
What’s your take on limiting team numbers in League?
-HRTough
Dear HRTough,
For those that haven’t heard the latest, Blizzard has read many, many, many comments in regard to League and have decided to further restrict players that team up. Instead of groups of three to four, you can now only have one other person.
The main reason they cite for this is a problem we’ve all faced—being forced to play with lower level players that usually cost us the game. Though fine for QM, this is hardly fun when you’re working hard to reach Rank 1.
In addition, Blizzard has also noted that larger parties are rarer, making up only a tiny fraction of the entire League pool. In short, they’re not really going to offend that many people with this change. If anything, this will help push people to leave the crutch of fantastic players behind as they learn to play great on their own.
The downside is that the larger groups now have no access to any kind of draft. It’s either QM or find five players to create a team. Beyond this, League gives smaller teams a goal to work toward in the form of rank. Unfortunately, their whole point is that they want to play as a team which is, well, what Team League is for. It’s really not that hard to find a fifth for a night of games if players are willing to ask around in chat or throw up a “Looking For” sign.
As for my take on it, I think it’s a positive step for what League is now. As Blizzard confirms, the numbers point toward the majority of us playing solo or with only one other. By stripping away the three to four mans, we’re going to see a reduction in being ganged up on by vitriolic players. I’ve been in many situations where when one team member starts picking on another that wasn’t in their three or four man, the rest join in, devolving into a horrible experience for the poor guy that only wanted to jump on for a quick game.
Groupthink is a terrible thing.
For the three to four player groups, I hope Blizzard eventually creates a League specifically for groups of two, three or four players. That way the same kind of coordination probably going on over Skype or Curse can be matched to something similar. As of now, it is pretty depressing to be up against a four man chatting out decisions while on a team made up of individuals.
-DrmDestryr
Dear DrmDestryr,
What’s your opinion on the hidden MMR?
-Trusty
Dear Trusty,
I think players need to grow up and move on with their lives in regards to MMR. It’s fun to see on HOTS Logs, I’ll give it that, but it in no way should cause the amount of venom that spews forth from the forums of any site that dares mention it. Granted, I know these are forums we’re talking about here, places filled with those that have no life, so I guess I really shouldn’t expect too much.
Now, the reason I say this is because this habit is found everywhere. Instead of sitting down and learning how to get better, they complain. Instead of doing, they debate. One leads to advancing, the other leads to stagnating. It’s a simple fact of life. Wasting the effort needed to type out a grumpy response to Blizzard demanding they release MMRs is effort you could have spent becoming a better player by, well, playing the game.
If you take the time to look around, you’ll see this in every facet of your life. Got a coworker that keeps complaining about the work they have to do but never does it? Got a friend that always talks about eventually hitting the gym but never does? Got a family member that shares their great ideas with you but never works to make these ideas reality? These are the same people that think knowing their MMR will change their playstyle. If anything, releasing it will only give them more reason to blame everyone but themselves.
Personally, I think Blizzard should keep the MMR hidden. Rank is enough to give people a bad enough inferiority complex. And, honestly, the loudest, worst players I’ve ever had the pleasure to be teamed with were usually very low in rank.
-DrmDestryr
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