Overpowered Versus Unfun

There is a distinction that I think would be very beneficial to make clear as regards posts about champion balance: the distinction between an overpowered champion, and an unfun champion. It's extremely common to see posts calling for nerfs to champions who are statistically simply not overpowered. Some good examples are champions like Lee Sin, Zed, and LeBlanc; none of them have a win rate above 50% at any level of solo queue last I checked (Lee Sin in particular seems rather underpowered; Diamond win rate is ~46%). I know that win rates aren't everything, and there are mitigating factors like popularity and ban rates, but the simple fact (any specific examples left to the side) is that cries for nerfs often don't line up with actual champion strength. (Did you know that Volibear has a 53% win rate?)

I would like to suggest that as a community, we should be better about distinguishing between overpowered champions and unfun champions. Even champions with poor win rates can lead to play patterns that aren't enjoyable, and Riot's main job is to make the game fun. Usually, balanced champions are more fun, but the two don't always go hand in hand.

For instance, imagine a champion who crit'ed on 50% of auto-attacks against enemy champions, but also whiffed on 50% of those auto-attacks. (I know this isn't a perfect example, but I think it makes the point nicely.) Such a champion might plausibly be balanced, since on average they deal the same amount of damage as any other champion. However, that champion wouldn't be fun, since their victories and defeats would be too much determined by luck rather than skill. It wouldn't feel like either side had really "earned" their victory. (This is the whole reason the dodge mechanic was removed from the game.)

My suggestion is this: When you prepare to make a post about a champion you dislike, first try to honestly evaluate whether that champion is overpowered or simply unfun (or both), and phrase your post accordingly. An overpowered champion needs a nerf; an unfun champion needs a rework (large or small). Because while I'm pretty much just going to dismiss everything you say if you argue that Lee Sin is overpowered, I just might listen if you tell me that he's simply unfun.

By the way, a lot of my thinking about this emerged from my recent post about Nidalee; thanks to everyone who contributed to that discussion.