Show some mercy: The answer to losing 4v5?

Something interesting showed up on the forums about a month ago, and it is just recently getting some attention. The post, found here, proposes a new voting mechanic for when the enemy team is trying their best without a player. Here is a brief visual concept.

The original author breaks down their idea in how it can be implemented in game, and how it can be used effectively. Much thought was put in to their concept, and they bring up very good points. However, with every idea to stop unfair or inconvenient matches there are possible downfalls.

First let’s take a look at the proposed ideas. A “/mercy” option would be available to the team with five players, only when the other team has had a disconnected member for a certain period of time. This command could only be used if the team has all five players active, and the other team has someone that actually dc’d. There are cases where a player may just sit in fountain for the sake of trolling, but other than that the plan sound concrete so far.

Once the mercy command was started by a player, all other team members would have the option to vote yes or no just as they would for a forfeit command. If passed, the game will immediately end. For the team that was shorthanded, their match history would read mercy rather than defeat, and they would suffer lesser consequences. The team that offered up the mercy would receive counters next to their friendly or honorable counters showing how many times they’ve given mercy.

The author also brought up many issues that may come to mind such as abuse or promoting negative behavior. They said that with the enemy team being in control, the shorthanded team could not be able to abuse the system. Also, this would promote very positive behavior with teams knowing that mercy could be granted to them. This would make them less likely to feel toxic about being outnumbered. It still would not be a pleasant way to go about a ranked game, but it will make ‘losing’ a little less bitter.

Riot NeuroCat brought up the point of possible harassment to get an unskilled player to disconnect. This could cause many problems with harassment and negative behavior in already balanced ranked games. If player did not get the position they wanted, or someone is simply not doing well, their team may try to haggle them to disconnect for a hopeful mercy. This could in return snowball into yet another toxic problem in solo queue.

My last concern is the fact that 4v5’s are not completely unwinnable. I have won many games where someone has disconnected from my team. Whether it is from the very start, or after a good chunk of the game, every game can be winnable. If you have good communication and good plays you can work past your shortfalls and win. If the enemy team realizes that they’re losing to this team that is down a man, would they be able to end the game before they lose? With the enemy team having control, this could lead to a problem with teams ending games because they are losing to a four-man team. There could be an option to accept mercy from the other team, instead of it solely relying on the enemy team.

If this concept couldn't be fairly used to lower the losses in ranked, it could serve as a tool to end the game before twenty minutes. There are those games where you're down and ADC and just can't pull through. Those twenty minutes are filled with nothing but negative energy and a whole lot of dissapointment. Sometimes it is just better to move on to the next game, and this could be used to help in those unfair situations.

Like every idea for League of Legends, there are pros and cons. I could go on about what could work, and what wouldn’t work. What are your thoughts on something like this being put in to action in solo queue? Do you think it would work, or be bad for ranked play?