League of Legends players are struggling to come to terms with three full splits in a single year, with many claiming they’ve now given up on the ranked mode due to time constraints or the constant grind back after a season concludes.
League players today declared they’ve felt less inclined to return to ranked after every split in a June 2 post on the game’s subreddit, with the constant push to grind and recalibrate a major concern. Some were happy to commit to a reset once or twice a year, but now with three splits a year, it’s becoming too much of a hassle.
The biggest problem was that, due to how long it takes for League‘s MMR adjustment to kick in, the first half of each of the three splits is usually spent grinding just to get to what fans see as their “actual ranks.” By the time they can enjoy the season, it ends—and so begins the grind all over again. “I’m less inclined to grind ranked every split because I have to play a lot of games to get sorted to the right MMR,” one fan wrote.
Another player said they could live with the new annual three-split League calendar but wished it didn’t take so long to calibrate. “Early season games are by far the worst time to play ranked, and that three times a year killed my motivation.” Start-of-season MMR has been a common point of discussion at Riot Games and the developers made moves to address concerns, but it’s clear some players are feeling the hurt a little more with the extra reset.
Riot announced the shift to three splits late in 2023, doing away with the preseason entirely. November and December—normally devoid of ranked competition—will now instead contain the end of split three. Coupled with the sweeping changes to League in Jan. 2024, perhaps there is such a thing as too much change in one go.
For those toughing it out in ranked, you’ve still got two months until the end of split two—and the start of split three. The League grind seemingly never stops.