The issues of the Dota 2 role queue

I was a great fan of the role queue system when it was initially introduced in Dota 2. If you don’t know it, basically you can select a role based on your position on the map, so each game will have one off laner, one mid laner, one safe laner, and two supports.

As an off laner, I thought the system was amazing because my queue time was not a lot longer, and I could finally enjoy games without several DPS heroes.

Now, a year later, the role queue is almost dead. There are certainly still players utilizing it, but if you search on the Dota 2 subreddit, you will find a massive amount of people complaining about it.

A short summary of its decline

Initially, more players used it, so the queue times were mostly acceptable, depending on your preference.

Safe and mid laners had longer queue times because the great majority of the players wants to play carries and DPS heroes.

A portion of these players was unsatisfied by the waiting time, so they started using again the standard matchmaking. Others decided to queue as the off laner, which in turn increased the queue times also for this position.

More and more people abandoned the role queue over time. For example, none of my friends use the role system in Dota 2 anymore.

DPS players playing as supports. Some heroes can be played in various ways, so many DPS players frustrated by the long queue times started to select the support role, which they played as semi-carries.

Of course, you can report the players who do not strictly respect the role lock, but it is easy to bypass the punishment. Don’t forget that all these report systems are automated - there will never be people watching entirely all the games reported daily - so if you do certain actions and/or buy supportive items during the game, the punishment system won’t detect you as a griefer, but just as a bad or inexperienced player.

This factor also contributed to the decline of the role queue because the other members of the team waited the long queue time just to find a situation similar to the standard matchmaking.

The same issue could happen easily in Overwatch as there are many support heroes who can deal a decent amount of DPS, such as Moira or a sniper Ana. You could wait 20+ minutes for a game and find Ana acting as Widowmaker for the entire match.

Actual queue times. The players at most ranks require 2-5 minutes to find a game via the standard matchmaking, but the same players need even 40-60 minutes if they try queuing as a carry or a mid laner in the current role queue. The situation is even more dramatic at very high ranks where you might have to wait over an hour.

I still hope that the role queue in Dota 2 will be improved someday, but its relative failure demonstrates that Jess Kaplan is telling us the truth: you can’t just put in place a role queue system without a massive redesign of the matchmaking and of several aspects of the game.

Note: the role queue was not introduced in Dota 2 because the pro or pub meta were stale, but just in an attempt to help pub players finding games where they could select the role they wished to play. Valve never made any direct change to improve the experience in role queue.

It is also important to mention that the Dota 2 role queue is behind a paywall: initially it was available via The International Battle Pass, while now you must be a Dota Plus subscriber to access it ($3.99/month).

It is still too early for hero bans

After reading the explanations above, I wonder how many people are still convinced that the role queue and the role lock are an easy solution to implement. Honestly, I am kinda neutral on it because I don’t know yet what to expect.

Heroes such as Brigitte and Roadhog would require a rework in order to work in such a system. For example, in a game with only two supports, Brigitte is not a viable healer for the team.

Another system that would improve the meta is the addition of hero bans. IMO, they should be added into the game independently on the implementation of the role queue.

In a stream that took place at Blizzard HQ a few months ago, Overwatch developer Geoff Goodman briefly talked about the chance to introduce hero bans in OW.