Boards›Gameplay

Problem with the "data say otherwise" argument by Riot

Lachainone·6/10/2016, 2:05:33 PM·5 votes·599 views

I feel like there's more an more post about people getting tired of league, finding that the game is not fun any more, etc. While this is a subjective point of view, I think that Riot does not understand those players properly. With the argument of "you think you know what's good, but you don't" or "we have data to prove our point" (these are not exact quote), they forget that data can never measure player satisfaction. Players might not be objectively "right", but it's still them that decide to continue playing or not. Years after years, Riot has made change that made the game more different that what it was in season 2 or season 3 which are the seasons where he got the most new players. I argue here that those changes lowered the overall satisfaction. An example: snowballing has been tuned down, because it was too frustrating to play against a 10/0 Riven at 15min of game, but what if this frustration of getting smashed was what kept us playing games after games? Some people were able to carry hard and we wanted to be those people, that what fun was. Now, the frustration is different, we can't carry and it comes down to having a 20min lane of farming where late game teamfights decide everything.

I wish that the changes in the game would not get us further and further any more from what we used to like in the game. For a lot of players I know, S2-S3 might not have had all the changes that were made to have a better experience, but they were the seasons where we were the most dedicated to the game.

Of course, this forum might not be representative, but I'm only concerned, in this post, by the player leaving the game (mainly because my friends are quitting and I like playing with them).

8 Comments

Dragfin6/10/2016, 2:15:49 PM4 votes

Bye. I love how the game is right now and would even more if they fixed the matchmaking bullshit. I want good games not snowballs one way or the other. Everything you stated makes you a solo player in a team based game. RIOT is striving for team first mentality and I love them for it. Adapt or leave. It's that simple.

ModKnightsKemplar6/10/2016, 6:08:57 PM1 votes

Well, the problem with "player satisfaction" arguments is that we don'y have any proof that the majority of players are dissatisfied.

It's entirely likely that they are doing great in terms of cash flow and player numbers, and we wouldn't know. It's very presumptuous of us to assume that they are struggling. All the info I have seen from Riot shows that they are doing fine, and they are only being cavalier about this issue because there haven't been severe consequences for them. They are happy with the direction, and they are confident it will work out.

THAT is why all these type of threads are getting ignored. Everyone leads with "the game is going to shit and Riot is gonna go under," but Riot is sitting in the corner ignoring us while they count cash and continue to please the majority of the player base.

We need to start considering the long-term here. That's often why the players disagree with Riot. Players care about NOW. Riot is thinking about a year or two down the line. And the game will be better in the long run for it, more than likely. As the blog post from Brandon Merrill stated, nearly every time Riot does something unpopular, it works out in the best possible way. To them, this is no different. They take the criticism seriously, they HAVE considered our opinion, and I'm sure many Rioters agree with us. Hell, the guys who designed this seem to agree with us.

BUT, they know that this will work out later. It always has, and they have no reason to think this time will be different. Until that changes, you can expect ALL impassioned posts asking them to revert DQ will be ignored. They know we care, and they care with us, and that's why they are sticking with it. Because it's gonna improve a lot and they believe in their vision. If they weren't like that, we wouldn't have LoL to begin with.

MLDzXnRRR6/10/2016, 6:31:36 PM1 votes

The game is 5v5, not 1v5. Even DOTA is now all about the 5v5 teamfights (in the past 4 protecting 1 carry that can 1v5 was a viable strategy). Look HOTS - the game is also about teamplay and you can't 1v5 unless something is bugged/unbalanced.

Partholonian6/10/2016, 10:45:14 PM1 votes

{quoted}

I feel like there's more an more post about people getting tired of league, finding that the game is not fun any more, etc.

Data say otherwise.

j/k, but seriously, there has always been a ton of bitching, I don't know why I should trust your feeling that there's more now than there was in the days of, say, Feral Flare. I wasn't around for League of Warmog's, but I hear it was pretty bad. This isn't even one of those really bad phases.

While this is a subjective point of view, I think that Riot does not understand those players properly. With the argument of "you think you know what's good, but you don't" or "we have data to prove our point" (these are not exact quote), they forget that data can never measure player satisfaction.

No, they don't. Riot are quite aware of the fact that things can be strong but not feel strong. Sona and Cloud Drake are two examples. They win games, but they don't make people say "AWW YEAH SUCK ON THAT OUT OF COMBAT MOVEMENT SPEED BOYZ".

Even when you win a fight because it was 5v4, you're not likely to think "the reason we reached that objective first was cloud drake"... even when the reason you reached that objective first WAS cloud drake. That's what makes it underappreciated.