Why League of Legends Solo Queue Is SO Tilting

Playing solo queue has never been purely "for fun". In fact, it's so anti-fun that Riot's own design team has coined the term "healthy frustration" as a main component of how they design the game's balance systems. Even professional players like Faker have publicly declared solo queue so unfun that he wouldn't play it if he wasn't a professional player.

League of Legends Solo Queue

Why Solo Queue Is So Tilting

Healthy Frustration

Solo Queue? Fun? LOL.

So why do people play solo queue?

Based on Riot's concept, it's all about competitiveness. You get beat down by someone and come back stronger, with a higher desire to prove yourself and drive to regain what you feel like is owed to you. The whole League MMR system is based on this self-esteem pattern. You lose over and over again and eventually your MMR drops so low you start dominating your games and you can say to yourself I knew I was right. I'm really good and my teammates were holding me back.

This isn't meant to be a preachy post about self-reflection, we have enough of those floating around the site. Instead, this is meant to be a look at why solo queue is unfun and why...it doesn't have to be.

The Power of Ego

Most people know "Ego" as the conversational term, (pride). This is a problem in solo queue for sure but the original term ego is the middleman that balances your raw animalistic urges and instant desires with your moral compass.

That second term (middleman) is really the entirety of solo queue. It's easy to take a faceless name and scream at your teammates the way you want to but we all know if you were both in the same room you would be a lot kinder.

Let your ego run the show. Not the pride edition, the middleman. I think the only way to actually have fun in this game that's trying to ruin your day is to see it as a game and not see it as a reflection of your self-worth. You are not valuable because you're a Gold 3 player, you're valuable because you're helping your teammates have fun.

Finding Balance

The entire purpose of Riot's MMR system is to try and figure out where you belong on the ladder. For most people this isn't a specific division but instead a range of divisions. Sometimes you're feeling tired and cranky, and sometimes you're locked in. That could be the difference between dominating in Diamond gameplay and feeding in Silver gameplay. Your actual rank is just an average of all those games combined.

Ultimately one game doesn't decide where your rank sits or stays, some games are bad (thanks Rito) but that's all part of the game's intent that we signed up for. Healthy frustration and a competitive outlet are what solo queue advertises, not freelo and Challenjour MMR.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my TED Talk, I know I personally still need to work on strengthening my Ego (the right one) but just wanted to put out some thoughts.

Thanks for reading <3