Blogs
Common Bronze/Silver Problems
dhoxtot
Mon 23rd Sep 2013 - 6:29pm
There are two main reasons why some players in League of Legends are in Bronze or Silver - the two lowest ranks in LoL. For some, they believe that they are in bronze/silver because they are always queued with players who are unskilled, who are not team players, who cannot commit to their chosen role and those who "afk" or disconnect during the game. All these may be true but another reason could be the player himself as well. Yes, it could also be you.
I asked random people who are in bronze/silver division, and here's what they say:
"Lack of team communication. There are some players who easily give up as well, making them rage quit or AFK." - bbylove, Silver I
For me, lack of communication can really be an issue between players in a team. If you solo queued for a ranked game, you really don't have any idea who you will be playing with. Though there are times when some players would ask their teammates to join them on Skype or any other voice-chat software, such a thing happens rarely and players rely solely upon text chats and pings throughout the game. However, there are players who can't even call MIA.
There are those players who seem to have their audio muted and are unable to hear pings of teammates warning them of dangers or asking them for assistance. Lack of communication between players in a team can surely result to a raging player or an AFKer. If, for example, your top lane has been pinging for assistance several times already and no one's helped out. This can surely anger the player, thus resulting in a rage quit or going away from keyboard, regardless whether they'll be reported for it or not.
"Greed and tower diving for a kill." - jOmpEtZ10, Silver I
There are players who think they're immortals. That even a turret's hit won't kill them and this can cause chaos in a game unless you're executed and not slain by the enemy team. Frequent diving with unsuccessful kills can easily affect the game phase and this will surely cause other players to flame, which in the end, may end up in intentional feeding or AFKs. This will likely end up on verbal abuse as well. Although all these are reportable, other team members cannot be blamed as well, since someone is messing up with an important game. For bronze or silver players at least.
"No team work. Everyone wants the same lane as you are." - yv3z, Silver IV
As for me, team work starts during Champion Select. When there is no one arguing who will take which lane. When everyone seem to know one another and just let them play the roles they are most comfortable with. However, such an event only occurs in 1 out of 5 games, if my calculation is correct. It could also happen if one of the queued players is nice enough to give up his chosen role and opt for the role that's left. Unless someone gave way, you will surely end up with a dodge or a troll.
"No map awareness. No wards." - Huggie Bunnie, Silver I
These are just some of the most essential elements of League of Legends that some people tend to take for granted. First, some players have no map awareness. There are times when they are too engrossed with farming that they don't notice they are already overextending. There are players who want to split push so bad that they end up getting ganked and blamed by their teammates. Map awareness is of utmost importance as well, especially in times when the jungler doesn't know when to ping when ganking.
Being aware of the movement of the team is necessary so that you'd know how you can be of help. Not placing wards is another common argument. Some bronze or silver players believe that the support is the only person who can put down wards for the entire team, which is just not true. Even pro players put down wards on their own - ADCs, top laners, mid laners as well as junglers. This is to help achieve a goal without putting the team on the line.
As I've said, these are just "some" of the most common things people believe are the reasons why there are lots of LoL players in bronze or silver division.
My POV
Although most of these are true most of the time, we should also ask ourselves; are we doing things right? Are we helping our team in all possible ways? Are we playing as one with our team or we're doing things for our own benefit? There are times when players blame their junglers for not ganking them. Yes it is true that there are junglers who jungle non-stop. However, there are times when it is also our fault why our junglers cannot gank our lane. It could be due to the absence of ward or the lane is too pushed and ganking could only be a waste of time.
When we're ganked, we sometimes blame the support for not putting down enough wards. But have we considered the fact that the support might not have enough gold to purchase as much ward as possible? It could also be blamed on other lanes for not calling MIAs. Did they really forget to call? Or we just didn't notice? Or we've overextended so far that it's too late for us to retreat and we're caught? Ganks and failed ganks cannot be blamed on the player concerned alone. There are times that we have to consider that it could also be our mistake as well.
AFKs and disconnected players are reportable, yes. But, did they disconnect or AFK intentionally? Maybe not. Maybe their internet got disconnected or maybe there wass power outage, which is not impossible, or even an emergency that they need to attend to. Then again, it will be worth reporting if the player who disconnected or went AFK is someone who went in game 10 minutes before leaving for school or work. Or lastly, maybe we are really not skilled enough to play a ranked game and the team or even the team composition has nothing to do with it. :D
Remember that League of Legends is a team game. You need to blend in with your team to do well and to achieve victory. However, you cannot achieve this if you just keep whining, complaining and bossing everyone in your team. Being in bronze or silver is not the end of the world. LoL is just in its 3rd season and you still have more time to improve your game and boost your rank up. But of course, if you are not a team player, then improving your game alone won't benefit you in any way.