Needed to bookmark this, so I figured I'd share it for those who missed it. Lots of great plays in a match that was "supposed" to be lopsided.
They played another really back-and-forth match today. I'm having slight problems with the stream (or perhaps the problems are on Riot's end), but it starts at about the 28:00 on this video: http://www.twitch.tv/riotgames/b/379014096.
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
This new system makes zero sense.. I win my first game, I get to a promotion series. I win next two, and I get promoted. Okay, I'm in the new league now. I'm gaining around 27 points a win, and losing 14. Cool! Now 15-20 games later, I'm near the top of my new league, but I'm only gaining 4 points a win, making it awfully slow to get a promotion series going on. I've won 4 games in a row, and instead of gaining over 100 points, I've gained closer to 20. I'm not in a hurry to climb the ladder again, but I have no fucking idea how this thing is supposed to work..
My guess is it depends on how likely you were supposed to win each game. Weighted against how new you are.
For example, my early games I won about 25 points per win, and lost 8. But the swings are much smaller recently since I suppose I'm supposed to be closer to my "true" ELO. And in a curbstomp battle I only gained 2 points since we were expected to win it.
Basically, they're magicking their ELO system behind it all.
I found a different explanation, which makes less sense, but it's from a Riot Games employee. When you're about to get a promotion series in "I" league (moving up a tier if you succeed in the promotion series), your LP gains will be clamped significantly. You will only gain a few, but lose a ton. So you need 80-90% win rate to get to a promotion series. This is to ensure that you didn't just get lucky, since the promotion to the next tier is permanent.
(April 1st, 2013, 12:21)Jowy Wrote: I found a different explanation, which makes less sense, but it's from a Riot Games employee. When you're about to get a promotion series in "I" league (moving up a tier if you succeed in the promotion series), your LP gains will be clamped significantly. You will only gain a few, but lose a ton. So you need 80-90% win rate to get to a promotion series. This is to ensure that you didn't just get lucky, since the promotion to the next tier is permanent.
