My last two Dominion games were both losses. In both games my team had a fairly large lead, and in both games my team blew it at the last minute by bunching up, and failing to defend our captured points.

The scoring system in it's current state encourages players to bunch up and swarm a single capture point instead of spreading out and defending. It encourages poor strategy. Players would rather capture a point with 4 other teammates and get the 40 points than try to eliminate high priority targets and defend critical positions, for seemingly little points in comparison. What some people fail to realize, or just ignore, is that strong defenses win games in Dominion; not offense.

To cut down on the grouping up, and point swarming that tends to happen in Dominion, I recommend a system that doesn't reward a flat 40 points for capturing or neutralizing a point, but rather a system that gives 40 points for neutralizing or capturing by distributing it over time. For example, if one champion sits and captures a neutral point, he will gain a full 40 points. However, if another champ starts capturing the point as well, the capture will go faster, and both champions will be left with less than the full 40. This should dissuade players from capping a point with 2-3 other teammates while the enemy team is pushing their capture points.

I would really like to see a ranked Dominion mode, but I feel it has a long way to go before people will take it seriously.

That's my rant for now. Anyone agree/disagree? If so, why? Any additional suggestions for how scoring in dominion could be improved to better incentivize good teamwork and strategy?

I absolutely disagree. Staying offensive is entirely the best way to keep hold of 3 points. What most players don't understand is that offense is a gradient, not a binary answer. It isn't "take base" vs "not take base". There's a real finesse to harassing the other team in a way that keeps them constantly busy without overextending your own team and opening holes in your defense. That nice middle space between your team dying on their mid and their team 4v1ing the windmill.

Whatever you do, if you don't keep pressure on the other team, they will group up. They will group up and steamroll you. I'm not saying everyone on your team should abandon ship and find some ganks in the jungle. But you have to give their team something to worry about as soon as they step past their nexus.

Also, even though I think the personal score system is currently fine, here's how you fix the system: Don't show it during the game. Don't show k/d/a, or score, or any of that. Keep it tucked away until the stats screen. Worry about it after the playing is over.

You make a very good point, and now that I think about it, I agree with you to an extent. I guess what I should emphasize is that not all offensive action is constructive. Pushing the enemy's bottom point, while a fed Jax is steam rolling your team and capping your other points unchallenged is offensive, but nonconstructive. Multiple people capping a single point at the expense of the defense of critical points is a problem in solo q. I think the scoring system needs to be adjusted to promote better team play and strategy rather than a brainless rush to the nearest enemy point to quadra cap it.

Offense and pressure are important, but it means nothing if you can't back it up with good strategy and a solid defense.

you really mean deleted...

You really should tell Sauron that, as far as I'm aware his strategy can't be beaten and it consists of "avoiding fights as much as possible.:

Hey, if the guy can make it work, the more power to him. Though I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing. "Avoid fights as much as possible," isn't necessarily identical to, "stay on the tower so you can defend when they come back." You can poke, kite, harass, and otherwise waste a player's time, yet still avoid a fight. Perhaps you didn't mean that. I would like to hear his strat sometime.

Certainly true. Though I don't believe you can make that clear through a scoring system. Unless you can create a scoring system which adapts to the ebb and flow of strategic priority within a game. Granted, like a trail of coins that ends in a pot of gold, a good scoring system will illuminate the correct actions. But it's not very feasible to create a scoring system which understands "give points when: stop capping this base because it's more important that you go somewhere else."

Let the scoring system take us a certain distance. Leave the rest up to the players. If it seems like your team has run willy-nilly with no sense of direction for the last 5 minutes, it's probably true. I almost never see people talk strategy in Dominion. Payers need to learn to communicate (without rage) in solo. If you can get that down it changes everything. I remember this from WoW, even the most simple act, like asking other players what their situation looked like, ("any trouble at the windmill?" "Can anyone see horde?" "Do you need more help at farm?") engendered a radical difference in the way the team played together. And always with a positive outcome.

i 100% agreed score system encourages terrible plays