The server capacities of League of Legends are tight. But professional players receive special privileges; they don’t have to wait for a spot.
The coronavirus is paralyzing public life in many countries and is causing many people to now have a lot of free time in their own four walls. This, in turn, helps certain games that are now enjoying high player numbers and thus reaching server capacity – one of these is League of Legends. Riot’s servers are almost full. Professional players and partners (streamers) are now given priority, they can play continuously while others have to wait.
What’s happening? The coronavirus is currently causing many people to turn to gaming more to have less physical contact with others and to kill time during quarantine. This leads to a massive influx in already popular games, such as League of Legends – they have even completely switched their league online. The American servers of Riot are reaching utilization rates of 90% and higher, which can result in longer waiting times. Thus, there is no shortage of players but rather a lack of available spots on the servers to create a match.
Professional players and streamers have meanwhile gotten a spot on the “whitelist”. They can find games immediately and do not have to wait for a free spot – they can bypass the queue.
“Big” problems also exist in LoL elsewhere – the champion Nasus becomes gigantic for the screen!
Why is Riot doing this? The reason behind this change was explained on Twitter. Until Riot increases server capacity, all fans of League of Legends should at least have the opportunity to watch their favorite players in exciting matches. This way, they can at least engage with exciting matches while waiting for a free spot.
Players have mixed opinions: The decision does not receive only positive feedback. While many players understand and welcome the step, there are also some voices that see such an approach rather critically. For example, Josh (@Konman81) says:
This is a terrible decision… Professional players already get free skins and more… they should sit in the queue like everyone else; there should be no favorites.
What do you think of this decision? Is it wise to give priority to streamers and professionals so that the other fans can be entertained? Or should they wait like everyone else?
Other games are even intentionally attracting more players during quarantine – like the currently free The Lord of the Rings Online.
