Design Philosophy
> #Preface
A lot of people on the boards complain about the balance of the game. They use a variety of reasons, many of which are valid, but they're framed incorrectly. Riot Games has a design team, which uses Design Philosophy. A series of core ideas to determine if something is conceptually balanced. Is the idea balanced, not just the number attached to it. Often the Idea, or unique effect is more impactful than the numbers.
Take for instance, tanks, who have two distinct subclasses that define their job, and provide comparison to other champions. Wardens are the first subclass, with an emphasis on done control. Their CC is always up, and the combo they drop it in hurts. Just don't go near them. They're not likely to make it through your Frontline and get to the backline, but, a lucky blitz pull or an unlucky mispositioning, and the Warden will ruin your day. Wardens key strengths are their tankiness, low cooldowns, and their combos. Vanguards, are similar yet incredibly different, unlike Wardens, the Vanguard's are designed to go in. They have a pseudo mobility spell, often attached to some form of CC,with an additional follow up CC, then with some unique mechanic or sustain/tankiness buff on their remaining ability. Vanguard's are limited by the low damage of their combos, and their dependency on cooldowns. Examples for each category are as follows.
Warden: Maokai, Nunu, Taric, and Tahm
Vanguard: Alistar, Leona, Ornn, and Nautilus
Using the above information, I will now explain why Ornn is broken, in hopes that you will learn how to more clearly express the point you're trying to make.
Ornn is a Vanguard, particularly, he's in the subcategory of Vanguards that I like to call "Run you down" unlike Alistar which is a "Catch you out" Vanguard, Ornn doesn't have a big fast moving combo that is super impactful to land. Instead, his abilities are far more oriented towards choosing an enemy backline, and making it impossible for the to escape. Nautilus is a good example for another "Run you Down" vanguard.
Why Ornn is Good.
Like Nautilus, Ornn, especially post 6, can get to anyone, if he is withing their auto attack range. His ult is an AoE slow and a Knockup, His Q is a slow with ok range, his E is a dash that can also be a Knockup, and his W is a hard CC immunity. Ornn is going to catch you, no doubt, or at the very least force you to abandon the fight. He is very similar to champions like Nautilus, Singed, and Rammus in this way. It's a useful, and even fun champion design with clear benefits and drawbacks.
Why Ornn isn't good.
Ornn is good, in the sense that he's pwerful, but he's bad because he is conceptually unbalanced. Ornn, has the persistence in damage of a Warden tank, with potent rotations on a low cooldown.
Maokai can do damage to you, but he struggles to get you unless you've mispositined or gotten too close, Alistar can get to you, but once he's there, he need a team to kill people and get him out.
Ornn has the power of a Vanguard to get to you, but also the damage buffs, low cooldown CC, and % percentage health damage that you would only EVER see on a Warden.
Using the language and Ideas of Riot's own balance team is far more effective and civil than explaining a perception. Even if the perception is perfectly valid, often ideas and words can get lost in translation. It's best to use the same words and agree upon what they mean.
Hopefully, this helps you, and the balance team in growing a civil, respectful, and consistent discourse where both sides can be treated equally. Rather than with blame orn condescention.
