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I am now a Forumer, NOT a Summoner

Talh·11/26/2018, 4:32:40 PM·167 votes·24,846 views

I will preface this by saying this is simply another rant about damage creep so you've heard it before, but I want to get it out.

I am now a "Forumer" visiting the boards every day instead of spending time playing the game I grew up on. I actually grew up on League of Legends. I started in Season 1 as a 14 year old and am now 23. This is the reason I am a "Forumer" instead of just a "Quitter." I love League of Legends and want it to come back to the game I remember. Riot did always say this is a strategy game first.

I am frustrated that this strategy game with mechanics mixed in has now turned into a faster-button-masher competition. There was a time in League of Legends where macro play was just as, if not more important, than micro play. That time has passed. I am forced to play assassin characters and try to snowball harder than whatever assassin/bursty character on the opposing team in the first 10 minutes of the game. If I fail to do this, I lose. Average game time in the rank I play (platinum) is 28 minutes (https://www.leagueofgraphs.com/rankings/game-durations). I can't even give an excuse to my loved ones "Hang on, I'm in a league match." The league match is over before they even get impatient.

I love outplays and quick big damage like the rest of everyone, but there needs to be a ceiling. No matter how fed a Zed/Talon/Akali/Insert other burst champion here gets, they should not be able to 1 shot a big boi tank like Chogath DrMundo Rammus , etc. And on the same point, a champion like Garen should not be able to 1 shot Akali just because she picked up 3 kills early, is now the villain, and made 1 small misstep.

Damage needs nerfed across the board. I'm not a game developer and also question my own intelligence, so I don't know how this is done. I do know as a player though that I don't get home from work and want to sit down to play League of Legends. I don't spend time daydreaming about team compositions or strategies anymore. When I do think about League, it's thinking about the recent patch notes and trying to figure out what the next damage exploit I can use. (smite talon mid is back, btw)

I think I speak for maybe not everyone, but a large populous of the LoL community when I say "We do NOT want shorter games and more damage. We WANT Moscow 5 level of strategy back. We WANT that 45 minute baron call where Kennen and Amumu both have ults up and are looking for a big wombo combo to finish the game. We WANT the Support roaming mid at a random time for a spicy 3 man gank for a slight advantage because dragon is spawning in 2 mins."

For now, I'll be a Forumer and Patch Notes reader waiting for the core of the game to come back to strategy. If this never happen, thank you Riot for many years of a great game. I can't support this new game.

163 Comments

Death by Glamour11/26/2018, 4:45:49 PM55 votes

im in the same boat as you, the battered wife. I keep leaving this game or take extended breaks but I stupidly keep coming back for another slap from riot

420 grams11/26/2018, 4:51:06 PM22 votes

I feel like it wouldn't be that big of a deal if the game had better match making. Winning feels given and losing feels hopeless. Theres always 1 person who just seems like they don't belong in the game or is similar skill of the other 9 players.

Rαy11/26/2018, 8:43:27 PM14 votes

Big thank you for sharing your opinion.

You and me, just like thousands of other summoners, feel the same way about this game we used to love so much and I am glad these people decided to be heard.

Ferrinova11/27/2018, 12:19:21 AM12 votes

Your discussion moved my heart so much!!! I want the really long fights back! I loved league back in those days, and now it feels like an assassin death match arena. I don't feel safe playing gnar anymore with the new nerf he received, or anyone that's a yordle really unless they are teemo or kennen , mostly because i find that speed and cc is the only way i can survive other champions now.

I found myself playing more and more defensively, just hoping i don't feed the enemy that ONE kill. I even went as low as to constantly play easy meta champions so i felt like i wouldn't waste my time trying to be creative, and if i did loose, it wouldn't hurt as much because i don't main them.

I got so scared of PvP these last patches, to the point that i just started to play bot games for most of this year. I barley made it to silver 5 with 0 LP. At that point it was either getting teamed up with no trolls or making a premade and dealing with boring assassins FOREVER.

I do remember when loosing didn't hurt that bad at all, unless you were in ranked X3. It was so fun and the game had an overall feeling of enjoyment and experimentation! Please fix league Riot, and listen to us, the community. I am starting to play other games and league is getting harder and harder to come back too despite all of the skins and money I use![sg-shisa] [sg-zephyr]

HÔPÊ11/26/2018, 9:53:48 PM11 votes

I am 24 yo. Have literally the same problem, but I must tell you this ... my kouhais don't enjoy this game eather.

They are 12-16 yo and they don't enjoy playing League anymore. They are not grandpas of vid games and they are not as experienced as we are. They still hate this game. They want S7 back.

For me it is S5, for you probably S3 or 4.

This game has changed too much and I don't think that those changes were positive. I think they were mostly negative.

The game isn't strategic anymore. That is all there is to it.

Riot forgot that strategy was the most important factor of this game and they decided that flashy plays are more entertaining. Bullshit. I loved to watch how Froggen or Faker farm minions, because they were doing it perfectly. I enjoyed their exchanges in lane. Now I don't see those exchanges anymore, they are going on a full hp target and just killing it. What is strategic about that?

In S5, we actually had to poke the enemy into 40% hp to even think about going in and killing them. That was all about usage of potions, good trading and wave control. You had to actually outsmart the enemy and hit your stun when the enemy was in the minion wave or near a wall, so that he cannot juke it.

Now I don't have to use any strategies. I am just doing A LOT of dmg and they die.

deadlychuck11/27/2018, 12:30:38 AM9 votes

As a 24yo, who started playing back at the end of 2009, and having come from the boom of RTS games around that time. This is exactly what riot managed to do, and market that they managed to capture, and are now neglecting.

But the good news is that market holes rarely last, it's just a question of when the next game comes along that targets this audience that riot has abandoned. Well and when the players are willing to give up on their 8+ years of sunk cost into this game.

Princess Bunhead11/26/2018, 11:33:29 PM8 votes

Just uninstalled 3 min ago, because I had no fun the last two days, winning or not - and all I got was anger/frustration. Just not worth my time or energy after work anymore.

But, I'll lurk on the forums here and there and continue watching a few youtubers and streamers. ;)

DoktorKaiser11/26/2018, 11:29:32 PM8 votes

Couldn't have said it better myself friend. Too bad that RIOT looks like they don't give a fuck any more. I guess it was fun while it lasted and nothing in life lasts forever.

Dollie Llama11/26/2018, 10:34:17 PM7 votes

Jesus Christ! He says 23 is a grandpa in games. I am 38. I shoulda died about 14 years ago according to OP.

Doctor Shabbos12/3/2018, 8:24:45 AM7 votes

I've only been playing since the middle of Season 7, but I feel the same way that you do. Since the most recent patch, talking and complaining on the boards has become more fun than playing. Actually, I should say, more fun than playing SR. I'm playing a lot more 3v3 and ARAM since the most recent patch.

Anyway, it's not just long-time players who feel disaffected. This isn't the game that I installed 18 months ago.

Alzon11/26/2018, 9:25:53 PM5 votes

I think I’ll be the guy who points out the obvious here -

What the hell is a Summoner?

[zombie-brand-mindblown]

:^)

Searington11/26/2018, 11:00:20 PM4 votes

Since when is this "damage creep" thing plaguing LoL? Because to me it feels exactly the same as two or three years ago. Maybe slightly worse, but barely. Yet I only see people complaining now… Weird. Maybe can't tell the difference because I've always mained ADC. I'm far too used to being one-shotted and 4-man dived.

Nisaki11/27/2018, 3:07:18 AM4 votes

Basically this. Damage is insane and resistance is useless. If you want to tank hp-stacking ends up being the only real option, and there's a limit to its usage.

I've noticed the trend of increasing the work-arounds and direct nerfs to defensive play and I'm honestly surprised people call more for damage reductions and not resistance efficacy improvements, since the nerfs to counter-play both large and small-scale are so blatant. Things like shield duration/strength are confusingly inconsistent in philosophy between champion classes and positions, newer support actives/bindings dealing pretty significant damage instead of offering outplay potential (both large and small-scale, think banner splitpushing for example).

Resistances are either:

  • Overwhelming (you didn't snowball, have fun hitting a brick wall from levels behind while you get smushed by a snowball)
  • Useless (guess who has a handful of resist-ignore items and rendered your entire game worth of gold worthless, half of the enemy team!).

Anyone noticed people building straight hp-damage items can soak up tower shots (like a dedicated tank usually would) when they're fed? I feel bad just watching it tickle me without having actually done anything to counter what is supposed to be a formidable death-tower -- assuming they live long enough to even force me to take more than a couple of hits, damage creep being what it is...

I grew to love Bruiser Riven for the old-season-fights feel of slow sustained damage dealing/receiving (unlike the boring assassin builds). Now the only way going bruiser works is building like a 'juggernaut', which is a stupid concept, damage and survivability should have been fairly linear opposites balance-wise, I know it never was but that's a good indicator that balance has never had a clear direction. The existence of current PD alone is testament to how clueless Riot is rn. Passive outplay potential is more favourable than the once consciously-utilised active of the old Quicksilver Sash? Why are they discouraging agency in a video game? I have no words.

With the introduction of preseason, starting with a bunch of free early damage makes laning feel super cheesy -- but a massive disadvantage myself if I choose to opt out of my abusive runes, as burst champions absolutely decimate anything with a few poke-stacks of harvest under their belt and snowballing being encouraged by riot in each subsequent patch. That's not fun, it's bull. Why would anyone play ranked?

Very much a child's game now in terms of ease and strategic reliance, but I guess that's fine for their bottom line, so it's fine for us. Right?

Not right.

Soulpiercing42011/27/2018, 1:30:56 PM3 votes

I couldn't agree more. I have also played this game since 14 and I am also 23 now. I watched the game grow and I watched the fall to pieces. I wish so deeply this game could be fun again. I know the problem do you?

It is the Runes! They stole our runes and gave us the simplified pages to choose from. I used to love to tank. Come on here and tank for the team that was great. There is no such thing a good lol game for me anymore. I try so hard but they game is just pure misery without runes. I get it, it gave the people paid to work on this game a job to do. I get it was hard to keep it all leveled out. But they did good until they deleted giving up running away from their problems and throwing this excuse at us that it was too hard! Well screw that I never had a more favorite game in my whole life. And now I refuse to play. I came back many times. Just to get slapped and spit on.

Power Cosmic11/28/2018, 3:58:54 AM2 votes

League even looks ridiculous when watching it now.

MrStealYoGanks11/28/2018, 3:39:40 AM1 votes

I mean imaqtpie p good and he's up there...