Talk:Ranked game/@comment-98.232.158.78-20121015181736/@comment-72.28.56.143-20121224190600

^It's true. If you play the same way in both ranked and normal, after a sufficient sample size of games, you should reach the same elo in both and, therefore, play with and against players of the same exact skill level. There may be some slight differences based on champs you're forced to select in draft pick versus champs you may freely play in blind pick, but nothing significant.

The game does internally keep track of normal game elo. It just doesn't display it anywhere. And this is the major distinction between ranked and normals. Ranked is simply for players who seek to see where they stack up relative to the rest of the playerbase. Normals keep your successes and, more importantly, your failures hidden, allowing more insecure players to feel at ease about playing. They can play freely and put bad games behind them.

It's important to note that Riot seems very determined to preserve this distinction. Several programs that could show one's normal elo have emerged over the years (Jabebot, lolmatches.com), but Riot has promptly taken measures to hide the elo again each time.