Mejai's Soulstealer - Fixing Unhealthy Risk and Reward Patterns
I was taking a survey from Rito and they asked me this question "What is the most important improvement/change you think Riot should make, which would make your experience in League of Legends better response to the question on what one thing Rito can do to improve League of Legends. Sure, there are many other issues on the radar for Rito, be it how player banning and warnings work, eSports rulings, and legislation, client changes, item sets, sandbox mode, etc. For me, the most important thing about League is the game itself. Sure, the outlying issues are huge, but I play the game for what happens on the rift. I suffer through toxic players. I will create a 3-hour long custom game with a friend where we spend the first-hour farming and then 1v1 with different builds while trying to keep the evil 2-hour late game strength minions from killing our bases after 80 second long respawn timers. I am willing to do what it takes outside of the game to get better, and I am willing to suffer through toxic teammates (though I prefer if they were never there) if that is what it takes to enjoy the thrill of what takes place on the rift. So this is my answer as to what one thing I think that Rito can do, on the rift itself, to make the gameplay in a healthier way.
This is my response to Rito as to one thing I would like them to do to make my experience in League of Legends better.
Dear Rito,
With the changes in 6.22, this got really hard because I feel like you touched on so many things that needed to be made better, and a few balance issues that I am sure you will fix makes it hard to answer this. Know that I love your company and that I love this game. I have been constantly impressed with this game, from Beta until now.
tl;dr to follow.
I am using the abbreviation RR for all the times that I mention "Risk and Reward" or "Risk vs. Reward" to make it easier.
I think, of all the things you could do, you should remove Mejai's as an item. I understand the idea of an idea that encourages playing safe and rewards good behavior, but I think that it has the potential to really make edge case games unhealthy, in both regards. I played in beta, left, and then came back mid season 2, and my favorite lane at the time was Mundo/Gangplank duo bot, both maxing E (for over 150 AD at level 3), and as Mundo I would just grab Warmogs and Leviathan and if we got just 6-7 stacks on Leviathan I just got too tanky to deal with. Now, Season 2 had other huge issues with tankiness (cough force of nature), but this is just one of many examples of how unhealthy an item like this can be. Both Leviathan and Sword of the Occult (another scaling RR item) were removed due to issues with balance, and yet Mejai's still remains.
I had a game today earlier where I was mid as Lux vs a Vel'koz. The Vel started Dark Seal and with constant roaming had 7 kills while I only had 3 deaths. The Vel was playing very well and ended up continuing to roam and play very well and, with the help of a team who was desperate to remove his stacks resulting in Him killing them multiple times, he had no deaths, a fully stacked Mejai's, and full build before any of us had 4 items. And yet, because of the Mejai's he played way too safe for how far ahead he was. They could have won, but anytime his team went in, the Vel played too far back because of how far I could zone as Lux. Sure, the zone would have existed either way, but Mejai's created TOO much pressure for Vel to stay back, even when I was on CD, because of the Risk to his power that would result from His death. This is healthy for the early game, but not in post 30-40 minute team fights.
They lost several key team fights, despite how fed he was because he just refused to risk losing the stacks. Our team ended up winning the game, despite him ending the game 23/2/7, because Mejai's created an environment where he was very powerful and rewarded for it, and that reward was so important he threw away his team as a result and cost his team the game. Now, sure, he could have sold the item, or still played as if He didn't have it, but I don't think there is anything healthy about having an item that can make you beyond strong, but also which feels like you are being punished for having that strength, and knowing that the strength can be removed in a heartbeat from things outside of your control. It's great for the other team to have that counter play, but the counter play that exists is a key reason as to why the item is so unhealthy.
Mejai's is such an interesting item, and I really like what Dark Seal does to the early game, but I feel like the late game upgraded reward creates unhealthy play patterns. A Janna who won't flash ult to save her team because she might lose her Mejai's stacks. A Janna who lost her Mejai's stacks because her ADC's life was actually worth the trade, and now has to sell the item and just lost a lot of power and gold because she made the right choice for her team. A Leblanc (pre-rework mind you) who could one shot anyone in the game at 20 minutes and was just over because there was no way to reduce her un-attainable-on-any-other-item AP, and the mobility it provided. Anyone who has played league for more than a few months, and is aware of the enemy teams items, has multiple unhealthy stories of Mejai's either winning or losing their team the game.
With the changes you have been making, and the claims as to the changes that you want to keep making, be it implementing a healthier game state, removing unhealthy play patterns, actually banning more and more toxic people, more bans in champ select, and constant item balances, I feel like the removal of Mejai's could be a nice part of you achieving those results.
Dark Seal, however, I feel is an important part of the early game build path for many different champions. It helps Singed with proxy farming and can be very rewarding for him. The unique passive that increases healing is also powerful in the right situations, and can sometimes be what allows you to survive mid lane when you are hard countered. It encourages making an RR tradeoff, which is VERY healthy in the early game. Everything that makes Mejai's dangerous and bad for the game late game is great for the early game. I think the key reason behind more people not taking part in the RR for Dark Seal is that most people don't see the risk as worth it outside of mid lane where a Doran's start is also very common and it synergies with the refillable potion.
The risk is just too high, and playing for fear of losing that reward is even higher of a detriment to the game than then not even using it in the first place.
My suggestion is that your remove Mejai's from the game while keeping Dark Seal in the game with some changes that still provide the RR playstyle.
How you change Dark Seal upgrade so that it is just as rewarding, but shifting how the penalty works, has several different options.
The reward portion is easy. With the implementation of certain champions having a permanent reward based on a risky play style or getting kills, just like the intention behind Dark Seal and Majai's, (Kindred, Rengar, Zed, etc.) Creating a permanent boon, on a cool down, is healthy. RR (from now on referred to as RR champs) don't get penalized once they receive the reward. They make their goals transparent, part of champion identity. RR champs have play style trade-offs with strengths and weaknesses built into their kit.
When you hit a certain number of stacks it upgrades into something else. You could make it so Dark Seal has a cooldown on how often it can get a stack (similar to Rengar's passive gaining stacks) so you can't just clean up a fight and fully stack it. Perhaps make it so that it is like Poacher's Dirk, and have it upgrade into an item that can be traded for a Needlessly Large Rod, Hextech Revolver, another set price component of your choice. Even have it upgraded into a new permanent item at max stacks, while making the Dark Seal's maximum stacks greater than 10. I believe that an RR situation should be Rewarding if the risk pays off. Make the item the ultimate Risk where, if you can reach the stacks you get something that makes the trade off worth it. Make the reward large, and permanent once they achieve it, but in turn, make its Risk level play out more healthily in the early game as well as transition better into the late game.
Also give the new Dark Seal weaknesses such as the implication that it must be upgraded by X time/level or it breaks, or making it similar to the Double-Edged Sword mastery which causes it, while in your inventory, to increase the damage you take from enemy champions by X%. This will increase the RR in a healthy way by creating windows for the summoners who buy it, as well as their opponents to shut them down in an attempt to deny them their end goal.
This concept might also allow for something similar to Leviathan or Sword of the Occult did for Tanks and AD by allowing for an item that turns into, say, a ruby crystal, giants belt, pickaxe, or even a BF sword if the fully stacked item turns into a generic component with an upgrade cost.
I know how much you love the item, but I also realize the difficulties there are in providing it. I recognize the reason for removing Mejai's AD and Tank relatives, but why does Mejai's still exist in a worse state than it was back in Season 3?
Thank you for being a company that listens to its player base. While my highest rank has only ever been Gold IV 34lp, this item is more broken at lower tiers and appears almost unpurchasable at higher tiers because it isn't worth the risk outside of edge cases at the highest level of play.
Thank you for hearing me out,
HumanInDisguise
And since I am posting a copy of this letter in the forum, this request goes out to the people who take the time to read my thoughts.
Please share your Mejai's stories (or even Leviathan and Sword of the Occult stories) if it is something more than just that "they got too fed and won the game." Fed people win games, even without a broken item. Stories having to do with just how huge the RR trade-off creates an unhealthy environment. RR is healthy for the game, in fact, it is key to how the game exists in every aspect, however, I really feel like the RR in Mejai's is not in a good place most of the time.
League Community, do you think I am over exaggerating the state of the item? Please, I hope that this post can lend some meaningful discussion so that we can all help to make League of Legends into the best game possible. :)
tl;dr
Dark Seal: Good. Mejai's Soulstealer: Bad Fix: Change Dark Seal to work similar to Poacher's Dirk (while maybe still letting the stacks be lost on death) and have it upgrade into an item that can be traded for a Needlessly Large Rod, Hextech Revolver, another component, or even a new permanent item. Also, you could give the new Dark Seal weaknesses such as the implication that it must be upgraded by X time/level or it breaks, or making it similar to the Double-Edged Sword mastery which causes it, while in your inventory, to increase the damage you take from enemy champions by X%. This will increase the Risk and Reward in a healthy way by creating windows for the summoners who buy it, as well as their opponents to shut them down. This concept might also allow for a Risk/Reward item to once again exist for Tanks or AD champions by creating a better Risk vs Reward relationship.
tl;dr's tl;dr
Dark Seal: Good. Mejai's Soulstealer: Bad Either Mejai's needs removed like it's counterparts or Rito should re-examine the item and create better payoff's and healthier risks so that the item is good again.
