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Is this new support going to be league's last new champion? If so, riot's doing something big.

Linna Excel··2 votes·913 views

Riot has been shifting away from new champs for awhile now and I have to wonder if this support riot teased at will be the last new champ the game gets. I know the forums definitely are definitely going to be happy about this. If riot does commit to just reworks, that means in about 5 years all the old champs who have issues will be modernized. So everyone should be on a roughly equal bar.

There will be downsides:

  • There won't be anything truly new in league anymore. No more new champs to shift the meta.
  • It's impossible to tell how well just reworks will keep the game fresh or bring in new players.
  • There are going to be a few bad reworks. Riot isn't going to hit everything out of the ballpark.
  • More and more things people are familiar with will be gone so for all the people who get revitalized, some people will just walk away for good.
  • If you aren't growing, you are dying. This will be the effective end of new content. How many online games stay relevant after they stop releasing new content?

My big prediction: riot is developing another game in secret and is probably going to start phasing out league as their primary game in about 5 years. Why am I saying this? First, businesses operate on a five year plan. Second, in a couple of seasons league is going to be 10 years old. That's ancient for an online game. Think of blizzard going to overwatch and hearthstone after the long run of WoW. Third, I've heard rumors that Ryze and Trynd are trying to be more active in leading game development again, that doesn't make sense for them to do unless they've got a new pet project. If they started last year, they'll have had 3 years or so to work on the new game by league's 10 anniversary and that'll give them a springboard to transition into their next 5 year plan. Fourth, riot is probably bored of league by now. People don't want to be doing the same bloody thing for 10 years anymore. Especially people in the tech industry. Again, blizzard rested on WoW for only so long before introducing Hearthstone and Overwatch. Fifth, they've probably seen the numbers and sooner or later league is going to peak in terms of user base. Riot is going to need something that can bring in new people eventually and it'll have to be a new game, maybe in a new genre. These games take awhile to develop so it's a fair assumption to say that something is in the works: you need the next game out and strong while your old game can support developing it.

When the reworks are done, they'll probably go into maintenance mode only for lol, with fewer and fewer balance tweaks and support happening. I don't think league is going to die, but this definitely seems like a key step in transitioning away from league. Let's say league is fading away into the lore of gaming, still around but more of a ghost or an echo of what it once was.

3 Comments

Pinkaj3 votes

They just said that they were slowing down the creations of new champs. They're just focusing more on reworks because they're outdated.

Kaìju1 votes

They don't plan to stop making new champs, just slow down until they can fix the old ones. Once the reworks are done, they will likely go back to releasing more new champs. It's like the opposite of the early days when a new champ came out every two weeks. This will be (hyperbole incoming) a rework every two weeks until they finish up all the old champions.

PhantomGG1 votes

Deconstructing your points and as respectfuly as possible

There won't be anything truly new in league anymore. No more new champs to shift the meta.

False: Reworks for the most part essentially are completely new champions. Just look at the latest, swain. Their is literally near nothing simliar between him and the old swain besides the ultimates. Old Swain was a snare and DOT character, New Swain is a pull and "fucking fight me" character where the moment he snares you he wants to unleash his full combo and fight multiple people at once, vs the old swain who felt more like a poison/burning type character

It's impossible to tell how well just reworks will keep the game fresh or bring in new players.

Counter: It's impossible to tell how new characters will bring in new players. For the most part while the newest street fighter addition made new character it was for the most part with focus to please fans of old to keep them inside the game. Once you have a stable audience your main focus is not exactly to bring in new faces, but more of to keep what you have. In many cases it's better for games in the long run for the "none true" supporters to leave, for this can help create better, more healthy communities. One thing I said to my friends.

"at least the one good news about league dying, is a good chunk of the toxic cry babies will leave"

There are going to be a few bad reworks. Riot isn't going to hit everything out of the ballpark.

Counter: And their hasn't been a few bad champions created this season? Zoe, Kai'sa? Ornn? season 8 has defiantly been the worse year ever for new champions.

More and more things people are familiar with will be gone so for all the people who get revitalized, some people will just walk away for good.

Counter: The large chunk of champions who have been reworked are a small minority community, of champions with beyond unhealthy toolkit, and laughable play rates. Swain, Yorick, Aatrox, Irelia, Fuck I didn't even see an Irelia player at all until the final week of old Irelia existing, that champion I legit never saw in games. Only the clunky, none popular champions get reworked. The champion who had the highest fan base that got reworked that I can recall was Shen, and Graves. Than champions who got bad minor reworks like LB and Rengar, riot openly admitted to fucking up and reverted.

If you aren't growing, you are dying. This will be the effective end of new content. How many online games stay relevant after they stop releasing new content?

Mega False: "if you aren't growing, you are dying" New champions isn't the only thing that makes league a bigger game. New Maps, new skins, new items, new in game rules, new runes, better LCS shows, these are all things that can show the game is growing and changing. Patch updates alone keep the game fresh.

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