I'm considering making a return but I'd like to know how the game is doing first. What's good, what's bad and what's trending? Are AP junglers playable? Does top lane have any influence? Is snowball bad..? Please try to be as objective as possible.
Sintama26 votesDamage is higher. Snowball is worse. 
with Conqueror can still dominate absolute everything.
Eat More Kittens5 votesirelia isnt even good right now i get the aatrox complaint tho
i piss in jugs5 votes[{quoted}](name=Eat More Kittens,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=LB20fqFy,comment-id=00000000,timestamp=2019-06-01T10:23:22.430+0000)
i get the aatrox complaint tho
Linna Excel1 votesHer mains have a 57% winrate in high elo. She's good in the right hands.
Mannny1 votesA lot of mains of champs in high elo have a win ratio equal to or higher than that percentage tho
Feel Apathy1 votes????????????????????????????????????????
[sg-lux-2]
DuskDaUmbreon5 votesAh, yes, the weak as fuck Irelia's dominating so many things right now.
Also snowball is better the fuck are you going on about? Comebacks are way more common than before.
AbiwonKenabi2 votesYeah, on the subject of comebacks, I feel its much better. We're not all the way there yet, but I think the game is improving.
AirKingNeo3 votesthat's why mostly mages are picked top at MSI right?
Naalith5 votesI wasn't aware people on these forums were all top 0.001% players with a full team of 4 equally good players.
AirKingNeo1 voteswho would balance a game on anything that wasn't the highest level of play?
Naalith4 votesPeople who want 99.99% of their players to be able to have an enjoyable time and not have their playerbase die.
AirKingNeo1 votesExcept balancing to the highest level of play is also making the game more enjoyable. If I am struggling to beat something that people better at the game than me can obviously beat, then who's the problem? My lack of skill or the company trying to make the game the best, most competitive they can?
The obvious answer is my lack of skill. If my lack of skill was compensated for, then I have no reason to improve. Not only that, the competitive scene would die because characters could be overpowered, but unchanged because "Well, in low elo he's fair."
And don't be so pretentious to think you're representing "the 99.99%". Get real. You aren't. Don't act like everyone else thinks the same as you do. According to this article, 43.24% of players reached Gold IV as of May 2019. That means almost half the players disagree with you and believe in a competitive ladder.
And in case you didn't know: A reason to climb and improve at the game keeps people playing. The playerbase would die without it.
Naalith1 votesdon't be so pretentious
Well, that's ironic.
Anyways, I've also been gold since season 3 as well as platinum for the last 3 seasons, yet that accounts for less than 1% of my playtime on the game. Why do I play so much normals? Because unless I wanted to no life this game and treat it like a full time job, I will never reach the point on the ladder where the game actually becomes balanced.
The snoozefest known as pro play would also be a lot more enjoyable to watch if the game was balanced around normal players as well by the way. I remember back in the day the clips of 1v5 Udyr and Olaf players destroying everyone were insanely fun to watch. Was it fair for the pro players? Hell no, but nowadays pros are getting to have long, strategic, close games like we used to in earlier seasons while we get to get slapped around by blatantly busted champions.
The entirety of season 8 for the average player revolved around Irelia and Kai'sa ruining the game for everyone else, with a few "fair and balanced" champions coming in and out every few patches to help those two out in making the game unfun. The entirety of season 7 revolved around Ardent supports and tank meta making all other playstyles obsolete because Riot refused to change Ardent for over half of the god damn year due to pro play even though everyone knew it was stupid.
This game is old so it has some sticking power with people who have invested years into it not wanting to leave, but having a multiyear period where everything sucks ass is not good for the game in the slightest. I guess I'm glad the 500 or so people involved in Esports get to have a good time at out expense, though.
AirKingNeo1 votesIf Gold 4 isn't the line? Then what is? Even if we'd asked that question, we would miss the point. Not everyone, or even 'just about' everyone agrees with you. Don't act like it.
nowadays pros are getting to have long, strategic, close games like we used to in earlier seasons while we get to get slapped around by blatantly busted champions.
Then get better at the game. You can't both care about the game's balance while also saying the game should be unbalanced for high-level play. I emphasize that no competitive game balanced around that isn't high-level play.
The entirety of season 8 for the average player revolved around Irelia and Kai'sa ruining the game for everyone else, with a few "fair and balanced" champions coming in and out every few patches to help those two out in making the game unfun. The entirety of season 7 revolved around Ardent supports and tank meta making all other playstyles obsolete because Riot refused to change Ardent for over half of the god damn year due to pro play even though everyone knew it was stupid.
You're mixing up "Riot's balance team being bad at their job" with "These changes are balanced for pro play". Everyone knows it wasn't balanced for pro play! Why are you pretending like it was? Not a single person said that was balanced for pro plays. 95% pickrate in pro play isn't balanced and no one would tell you it is!
AquariusGine18 votesOkay, so it's not that different than before..
22 Caliber Rifle3 votesNo changes.... and yes AP junglers are meta atm especially after the Runic Echo buffs. Eve and Elise are good picks. Other then that you should still have shit team mates either way
Nea1041 votesOkay, so it's not that different than before..
Not that different, indeed. I'd say, slightly better, about damage. It's a bit less crazy, but still "tankiness" doesn't actually exist.
Anyway, their horrible/flawed/rigged matchmaking makes everything one-sided nonetheless, so I don't think the game is more enjoyable.
Neumím Riven1 votesYep whatever game you played keep playing them.
PhearBunny17 votestheyre increasing the damage on Corrupting Potion.
Thats really all you need to know.
Sire Hippington11 votesDamage still is very high, not a jungler but i feel like the recent 
buff helped ap junglers atleast a bit, toplane has some influence but still not to much, and snowball is as crazy as ever.
The one good thig right now is that the meta feels rather open, atleast in low/mid elo. You can go for mage or bruiser bots, play about anything top as long as you know how, and mid also alows for mages, assasins and if you know what you do even bruisers, while even some tank junglers are strong atm.
GreenKnight8 votesWell, reworks are still here, so the game is in a terrible state.
Blakiepug4 votesRiot: We are slowing down production on reworks next year and focusing more on adding new champions again. Also Riot: We have decided we will rework both Fiddlesticks and Volibear at the same time.
Curious Kat8 votesJust don't.
Setup/combo champs are still useless and get out-traded by 2 autos, or 1 lock on ability, AP junglers are crap besides MAYBE Karth, and i mean MAYBE. Top lane only has an impact if you play 
or maybe 
.
Objectives don't really matter, laning phase lasts about 5 minutes before the game becomes a mindless deathmatch of kill kill kill kill push paper turrets kill kill kill "oh hey is that a dragon?" "psh ignore that shit, we can push 2 and a half turrets down by the time that thing dies". Basically trolling for doing objectives early on, best way to win, get early kill and snowball push forever.
Corrupting pot is having damage buffed and healing reduced (good one Riot) so that really shows how much Riot is paying any attention what so ever to what everyone is complaining about.
I mean unless you like playing the broken shit, and building broken shit, and having complete one sided wins or losses that don't feel rewarding at all...Then by all means come back and play. Otherwise save your mental for another 2-3 seasons lmao.
Jamaree7 votesIf you have to look for reasons and others to tell you if it is worth returning to, then no, it isn't. You will go through the same cycle and eventually just quit again as things aren't changed to a degree you like.
Schoenberg7 votesGame is fine. Reading the boards ruins it for some people. Best to hop on for a few games, give it a shot, and then decide for yourself.
AbiwonKenabi2 votesI agree. I feel like people are hyperbolic on here. I myself was thinking of leaving Boards for a few weeks just to avoid the negativity.
There will always be things that are strong and things that are weak. Best to decide for yourself if you can tolerate those things, is really what it comes down to.
Literal IRL Tree6 votesHere is a tip boards are a joke and never ask their opinion 95% of the time they are going to say STAY AWAY ITS A DUMPSTER FIRE!!! I'll answer the questions objectively
What good? Currently nearly the same as a few months back, we are shifting into a tankier meta though so maybe swap a couple picks that were good with a tank jungler.
Are ap junglers viable? Elise and Nidalee are top picks right now in JG.
Does Top have influence? Every role has influence just some are harder to pull off, imo top is the 2nd hardest role to carry from only behind support. I play Renekton in d3 and can carry quite alot of my games
Is snowball bad? Depends on what you want from this game, Personally i nearly quit the game during the enchanter meta after playing for 3 years before that with thousands of games played. I like the aspect of you get ahead you SHOULD win not if you lose 20 kills in 10 minutes you can comeback because defending is generally easier to do than attacking. Snowball currently isn't too out of the norm? I guess the best way to answer this is its the same its always been especially through this season.
Snowplosion6 votesDamage is absolutely not higher than it was last season. That being said it's still pretty fucking high. At least it feels like I have a chance of living sometimes. Snowball is pretty rough. IDK not horrible but still a lot to fix.
640509 0401476 votesDon't come back its garbage
TheGrot6 votesGame is horrible. Come back later.
DuskDaUmbreon4 votesDamage is damage - It depends on your champion and the game. Certain champions feel bullshit like always but it's just how the game is.
Good and bad depends on your tier. If you want good news out of that though Fiddle's no longer viable as a support.
AP Junglers are okay enough. Not many of them I can think of though.
Top has plenty of influence if you're willing to exert it.
Snowball is potentially greater but there are many more comeback opportunities and shit that it makes it overall better.
AbiwonKenabi1 votesThis is probably the most reasonable comment answering his questions that I've seen in this thread.
As far as AP junglers, off the top of my head, Elise is really good right now. Nidalee is fine. I've seen the rare Karthus jungle do ok, too.
I feel like we're slowly shifting towards tanks again, but IN MY OPINION, Riot makes some really weird decisions sometimes. For every few much needed nerfs/buffs, there's one or two dumb changes. A while back they buffed Sejuani by INCREASING HER DAMAGE. This patch they nerfed Rammus.
But on the whole, I agree with DuskDaUmbreon's assessment. Particularly on comeback, I feel its been improved without becoming ridiculous and making it hard to close out games.
Tuition Fee4 votes"We understand damage is too high so here's shield bash"
Jennifer4203 votes
on the pbe they nerf the heal it gives but buff the burn it does.
that should tell you everything.
GrãñðmãstêrShãçø2 votesap items are broken so yeah, but the damage is higher
Pika Fox2 votesDamage was fine then, damage is fine now. You left for no reason.
Horse Grenades4 votesL o L
xelaker2 votesEverything that sucks is getting worse with every patch. Riot has no idea what they are doing beyond spamming out anime skins to soak up weeabo money.
AetherFlow1 votesA simple search or browse would of answered this question for you.
Linna Excel1 votesIf you'd like to try coming back to LOL, why not ARAM? That's always my first objective, other than CS practice, when coming back to the game.
Praetor Notorias1 votesI built attackspeed Anivia and killed them faster with my autos than I could with my abilities.
Glaricion1 votesDamage: Dark Harvest was greatly reworked from before, no more getting <.5s killed by 90% of the champion pool, or losing 1/3rd of your healthbar w/ a single auto.
That being said, overall damage is still incredibly high. Still don't have to itemize for CDR, rune powercreep was scaled back a bit, but still focused on getting kills and whatnot, etc...
Top: TP or pray you can AFK split. Still the least impactful role in the game.
Snowball: Drakes are still here, and you can demolish a lane w/ a well placed Herald, so still there. The S8 monsters have been scaled back, so not as bad as S8.
Malix Farwin1 votesIf you wouldnt mind posting on the account you quit on i am sure you could create a much more compelling argument so that Riot could see how its effecting people.
DeadUnborn1 votesI smell a Rioter in disguise
Hemulen Magi1 votesI quit around the same time as you say you did and for mostly the same reason, and I feel like the game has improved enough to bring me back.
The cinderhulk buff and change to Scuttle Crab timing brought back tank junglers, which shifted team compositions to be more rounded and a bit less bursty. Teams with tanks have a better frontline for proper teamfight formations. I think that alone has improved the game by a huge amount. Teamfights are much more interesting than they were a couple months back, and it's because more tanks are playable again.
The meta could be better still. The damage level is still high.
Even tanks are doing too much damage and aren't durable enough. Armor feels weak except on Rammus.
Bottom lane meta is stagnant as always (all ADCs, no APCs). I think some problem champions in other positions could actually create healthy variety if moved to bot lane, like Heimerdinger (kicked out of top), Neeko (kicked out of top), Brand (kicked out of support), Karthus (kicked out of jg), etc.
Support is kind of stagnant with Thresh and Pyke being a bit overplayed. There is also the issue of full damage carry 'supports', like Brand, Zyra, Lux, Morgana, and Pyke dealing full burst levels. I think Zyra, Lux, Morgana, and Pyke support can be fine if they were dealing considerably lower damage as 'Catcher' supports, but Brand doesn't belong as a support at all in my opinion. I think Brand should be limited to carry roles in mid/bot.
Top is in a decent but precarious meta. Top still has the old problem of uninteractive ranged lane bullies, with the new addition of Neeko to their ranks. There are constant demands to nerf whichever melee top laner is top tier at a given time, but if Riot keeps caving in to cycle through nerfing all the fighters in top lane then ranged top laners may rise to dominate again. Top could also use more AP brawlers for variety. Maybe the Mordekaiser rework release will come with new AP brawler items that will bring Mordekaiser, Cho'gath, and Rumble top more.
Jungle is in pretty good shape. I am actually enjoying it a lot. Jungle tanks are strong enough to be fun to play, but they haven't caught on so much to cause people complain about a 'tank meta'.
Mid is in pretty good shape from what I can tell. I feel like if bot lane were to be opened up to APCs (which would be a good thing imo), then mid should have more marksman picks like Ezreal, Varus, hybrid Kog, Corki, roaming Twitch, roaming Quinn (kicked out of top), etc. so that marksmen don't feel pushed out of the game.
Support Position1 votes
Can be blind picked and heal over 400 damage in less than 5 seconds and kill you in 0.5
