User blog:Warriorkalia/Support Discussion 1

Hi there. This is my first [completed] blog post, and I hope to bring a few discussions to the table that I've been pondering for a while. Hopefully you won't find my ramblings too horribly annoying. Primarily I will be discussing the support role, as it's really the only one I have any real personal experience on [aside from top, but whatever].

First on the table: Should supports be a thing?

My friend recently complained to me that the support role is too confining. His claim is that no one wants to play it, and forcing someone to do so makes them have less fun. His proposal was that they not necessarily take the role out entirely, but they should make a viable alternative, such as dual jungle.

My personal views on this matter are a bit mixed, honestly. I can understand why the average player would dislike being a support... It's the only role out of the five lane roles that has the completely opposite focus in comparison to everyone else. It's not there to kill things and push lanes- it's there to help other people perform their best, provide CC and let everyone else perform their best. A successful support is someone who can help keep people alive in addition to helping kill the opponent. [This is all my person opinion... it's entirely possible it was meant to do something else completely]

The thing is, the other four roles in the game have you kill people in varying degrees. Even Jungle can get a kill and no one will be super angry unless it happens a lot. Even then, it's considered fine if you have understanding teammates. Supports are not going to try and kill things, typically... they help other people kill things, and sometimes finish someone off if no one else is there. But rarely is their focus on score.

"But WK," you might say, "This game is about objectives and goals, not kills!" And yes, you would be correct. The thing is, kills give you more gold and experience, and your opponent less. I tend to be a very aggressive support and poke a lot- not because I want to steal kills or whatever, but because I know that the more I poke at the opponents, the more they have to worry about being whittled down. Thus when/if my ADC decide to go in for the kill, they have less time to get away to prevent it. And even if they don't, they will sometimes have to go back to base just to heal up and buy. And even if THAT doesn't happen, they tend to retreat to their turret and farm there. The end result is they are not close enough to the minions to get experience, and are going to be under-leveled as a result, which makes everyone's job easier for the rest of the game. Sure, it doesn't always work out... but it's a risk I am willing to take. [No, I don't play Ranked. inb4yourgamesdon'tmatter]

But still, helping people doesn't appear to be a good enough motivator for most people. They have to be the star, the carry, the mid or ADC who carries the game with their damage. Even a top lane or jungler, if they get fed and are the right champion, can carry a game. Sure, you can help immensely as a support, but you are largely reliant on the cohesion of the team to help them out.

Anywho, since I forgot what I was talking about [quesadillas are distracting], the question stands as is- do you all think the current meta's 'reliance' on the support role is too restrictive? Should they make a viable alternative for supporting so everyone 'has fun'?