@AskRiot: Runes give meaningful choice but need tweaks/rebalancing
Because rune benefits are passive stats, which can be easily solved by the community, it’s hard for them to ever be interesting decisions. In their current form, runes will probably always be something you just look up on the internet and copy from a guide, and that’s not awesome.
This argument could apply to anything which has the capacity to be studied and thus seems silly. Keystones don't offer more customization than before. You actually have fewer choices but they make a larger game impact. In most cases, there is one Keystone which works best for a certain champion. You're not about to see DFT, Fervor or SoA on LB.
Runes are one of the remaining areas where you actually have meaningful choices. While many runes aren't really viable (something Riot can improve without abandoning the system), there is still plenty to change based on matchup, playstyle, and powerspikes. Even if you were to study the game like a professional, differences in composition and matchups still make it unrealistic for a one-size-fits-all page to be best. I'll take Ziggs for example since he's one of my favorite champions:
Vs difficult matchups with high burst like LB: I might want to take flat MR Glyphs and even Quints if I'm really scared and they have an AP JG too like Nidalee.
Vs poke AP champions like Xerath & Fiddlesticks or Amumu JG: I'll probably want scaling MR since their kill pressure is mostly level 6+.
Vs poke & burst champions like Lux or Vel'Koz: Ideally, I'd want MS Q and scaling MR or scaling CDR. With a few levels and items, one bind or Vel'Koz E can often mean death. High MS is critical.
Vs AD champions like Zed: I'll take scaling CDR most times so that I can use my escape more and outscale. If they're weak early like Talon, I might go for AP or Scaling AP Glyphs.
When we both lack kill pressure: If I'm facing something like Taliyah or Morgana, I've found little success going for kills so I sometimes take 30% scaling CDR playing for a more late game oriented build.
These are only modest examples of customization and there's way more you can do. A Nocturne going Fervor may want ArPen marks while he'd take AD marks when going Thunderlords. There's a lot of interplay between runes and masteries.
The rune system isn't broken and offers more viable options than anything else in the game if you care to explore them. **The main issue is that some runes are simply not up to par in strength. **
I sometimes feel that Riot has too many people working to reinvent the wheel. In fact, a lot of players like the core gameplay as it is and the changes often offer more frustration than benefit. I understand the need for rebalancing but sometimes it goes too far. What if we changed the rules of tennis every year? A lot of people who actually like tennis may not like the new format and it would also create enormous difficulties for tournaments, players, trainers, and the audience as a whole. I actually bought some tennis training DVDs a few years ago and if that was League instead, the game would be so different that they'd be useless for me now. Unlike other sports, because League changes so fast, it's also less interesting to look at famous old matches. That gameplay has little to do with how it is now.
The example that pains me the most is the random Kog rework when he wasn't oppressive in either solo or competitive play. I instantly had my favorite mid laner and playstyle for 6 straight seasons deleted. 1/3 of Kog players used him as an AP poke mid and nothing else has ever quite fit his old niche. Instead of a versatile champion which supported a wide variety of builds and playstyles, I got a mindless W bot. He's not even a midlane hypercarry anymore. I fear the same thing for runes. Instead of dozens of customizations, I bet it will become a simplified system with fewer options. Will I even still be able to sacrifice laning strength and take 30% scaling CDR?
