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Don't fix what isn't broken?

dreamstalkers·11/15/2017, 6:34:19 PM·72 votes·4,223 views

This is kind of a question thread along with a statement. Did people really hate the runes and mastery system so much that they were justified to ignore every other issue people complain about to completely revamp the system? Maybe I don't check forums and Reddit enough, but I never once thought, "wow these runes are ruining the game," or "This mastery system is completely killing my gameplay and this just isn't fun."

I really didn't think this was an issue considering all I read about is how broken ADCs are , or how weak turrets are, etc.. (I could name probably 10 different issues that were voiced much more openly than the runes and masteries.) I've been playing since the end of season 2, back when TPA won worlds, and there has been ups and downs but the game has always drawn me back in because the changes were never too out of control.. and pardon me for sounding like 100 other people's posts but this might actually be my last time ever playing this game daily or even weekly as I've done for 4+ years.

Now I do assume that I am older than most of the playerbase in this game ( I'm 28 ) .. but one big reason I think I've stuck with this game for so long is because I've taken a lot of time over the years learning champions, rune builds, trial and error for mastery pages, and the only thing I've really needed to focus on is the mechanical gameplay and decision making (which is the fun part). Life for me personally really is getting more busy, and I do have much more responsibilities that take priority over video gaming.. so the idea of having to learn new masteries and runes when the system wasn't even bad before, is really a turn off.

I might have just felt like complaining publicly, because I know that to keep something new and fresh, you gotta make big changes sometimes. However I do feel like my post isn't completely out of left field, because I've been on the forums a lot more recently and 95% of the posts I see are complaints. It's possible that the people who love the changes aren't posting, but these days the forums just look like an area to complain. Heck, even Riot posts I've been seeing are getting downvoted to oblivion. I was just on a post where this Riot member posted 3 times, and each one had at least 50 downvotes.. that usually means people are just not happy at all (and remember that 50 downvotes doesn't necessarily mean 50 ppl, cause if 20 people upvoted beforehand, that's 70 downvotes)

Anyways, sorry if the post was a little lengthy, just wanted to share what I'm personally going through with these changes. I am not trying to put anyone down, or start trouble!

Please comment how you feel, maybe you can change my views on this to make me love it once again, or at least if y'all agree I'll feel better knowing I'm not alone on what I'm saying. Thank you for your time!

TL:DR - Didn't seem like runes and masteries were that big of a problem considering everything else had so many more complaints. lots of unhappy people on forums, people going against Riot employees, and people not wanting to take the time out of their busy lives to learn a whole new system, along with having the time to still play a good number of 20+ minute games to climb the rankings. Not trying to cause problems, just wondering how y'all feel about these issues I've mentioned. :) [slayer-jinx-catface]

110 Comments

kmathieu222011/15/2017, 7:18:45 PM41 votes

I personally hated the old rune system - it was soooooo expensive and always felt like more work than it was ever worth

Jbels11/15/2017, 6:47:23 PM13 votes

Mainly it was to distract from the real issue, that the game has been so irreparably destroyed by the live balance team that no amount of fixing will ever save this game from being defined by single role metas. Next up is tank meta, then assassin meta, then jungle meta, and finally ADC meta again after the mages get their time to shine. Notice how not a single balance change was made this preseason update, only a new system was introduced. Riot knows they've fucked up, and they're trying to distract us while they try to figure out how to fix it.

I'll be over here enjoying Klepto GP

Edres11/15/2017, 8:10:57 PM12 votes

Lets say you have an old TV box. It worked so it didn't need any fixing , but it is old and bland and you are still going to replace it with a 4k flat screen. Similarly, the runes worked fine, but it didn't give much player expression on how they are going to play as. Are you playing Nasus with Grasp to be tankier? Or playing him with Phase Rush to be more unkitable? Or are you going with Dark Harvest to do lots of burst damage? All these styles are viable, it is just preference of the player.

SURG1CAL11/15/2017, 6:46:54 PM10 votes

i like the changes

i respect where youre coming from but maybe these type of games aren't for u anymore, and u should play games like call of duty or sports games which don't take much time learning and u can just have fun playing in your spare time

PPPPPPPPPPPP27011/15/2017, 8:57:38 PM7 votes

Runes were actually terrible and this is a move in the right direction. It was just a way for players to be forced to spend it instead of champions to make the grind harder.

Even with the shitty BE system it's supposedly better in the long run to get all the champions now but when you make the system more confusing from IP but only to add randomness to a core progression system is pretty bad.

Drifting away11/15/2017, 6:50:17 PM7 votes

game is trash now , ill be on overwatch and cod WW2

Hella Kaiser11/15/2017, 8:34:57 PM6 votes

The only problem with the old runes was that they were too expensive.

Icega11/15/2017, 11:59:39 PM6 votes

I can totally understand you. I am in a quite similar situation (playing lol since s1, 30 yrs old, doin a phd and having a lot of work to do) but for me the problem is not about having to learn or adapt to those changes. In fact I don't care if they shake up the rune system or if the value of my IP has changed.

I simply think the balancing and the feeling of the game is horrible right now. And I think it has never been worse. 90 % of the games are a stomp. Aram, normals, rankeds .. doesn't matter. You rather snowball or the enemy does. And sometimes a fuc**** ADC can 4-shot everyone in the enemy team at lvl 8-10. Of course he has got some kills before, but in most cases a gank can still work. Or could in the past.

Why would anyone want such high dmg numbers overall? There is less room for outplays (simply because you have less cooldowns available and a much smaller timeframe before you or your opponent die) and AA-champs get so much more value out of it. But for AA-ing you don't need that much skill, do you? So why is Riot aiming in this direction? Some time ago they even explained why they lowered the snowballing-effects and with the introduction of this system they did the complete opposite.

When i had time to play some years ago I was diamond, but now I am in gold and maybe my observation is exclusively a low elo thing ... I don't know. But for me the tactics and comeback possibilities got lowered down so hard, that I am thinking about quitting lol.

Don't wanna flame here, those were just my thoughts right now.

Good night :]

Nick Da Chip11/15/2017, 7:02:02 PM4 votes

The new rune system is taking it's toll on people like you and me. I really don't feel like I have more options either way with the new system, I feel like I have a lot less. Though the new runes don't seem as impactful (well at least most of them anyways) as I thought they might feel, so that's good at least. Damage still feels as if it's been ramped up a little.

Douglas Funnie11/16/2017, 5:18:13 PM3 votes

Get rid of the god awful RNG system in the Runes Reforged and it'll be okay... But right now, League is catering heavily towards casual gameplay. The skill gap has been diminished due to random elements. This is a horrible system.

Mr Wind Up Bird11/15/2017, 10:42:56 PM1 votes

Yes, old runes were a goddamn catastrophe.

  1. 100K IP sink
  2. Welcome to league of legends! You can play the real game when you hit 30 in 200 games. Until then, enjoy not being able to jungle.
  3. Make sure you don't accidentally buy attack speed marks and damage quints instead of the other way around 3a. By the way, junglers use attack speed marks so pick those up too 3b. Oh and sometimes rune balance will change so the correct configuration changes. Make sure to pay attention!
  4. Picking the right runes was less like outwitting opponents and more like playing League of Spreadsheets
  5. Despite being boring, having the right runes was Super Important
  6. But the feedback on those decisions was really delayed and diffuse so it takes a ridiculous amount of time to learn the right ones
  7. Even with 33 slots and a dozen options for each slot, you generally had only two or three configurations for any given champion. Edge cases aside, they really failed as a customization tool.