More thoughts; How we got where we are, and what Riot needs to consider.

• As always, TL;DR at the end.

I focused on Top Lane a lot in my previous post, and would like to touch on other areas in this one; as well as further cover my thoughts on the game as a whole. But overall, I primarily want to touch on the fact that we've reached a point in which it's painfully obvious that the original game of LoL was not designed for the kind of pacing forced on it today. { For those that enjoy faster-paced League as well, please do read on! }

The kits, items, prices, map size, jungle, smite, drake, and support as a role were not designed in the scope of a fast-paced MOBA. It was designed in such a manner that you played out a Laning Phase with a noticeable ebb and flow, transitioned into acquring strength in numbers(as a team, as a noticeable rise in damage as burst/DPS champions, as structures) and strength in vision. From there either fighting to utilize this gain to lead it into a potential win or faltering at the meticulous maneuvers of the enemy.

But League isn't that same game today. Some may read the above paragraph and think, "Uh, yeah it is." So allow me to elaborate. Riot has made efforts, and I commend them for trying to keep the game interesting, to speed up LoL - we KNOW this - but it has come AT A COST. Every component of League was designed and balanced for years based around the slower pacing of games, and as a result, any major changes or a plethora of changes that aren't accompanied by a total overhaul will disrupt balance greatly. As Rioters have told us, balancing can tweak many other levers in the game. But what they don't seem to consider is that they're striving to balance for a faster-paced League with pace-increasing features (now) without considering the components that either HEAVILY exacerbate the strengths of new implementations or outright can't keep up.

"But that's what the balancing is for!" You're right. So Explain why Supports were buffed heavily through new items, but base stats/kit damage wasn't tweaked to compensate for the the increased utility and raw power brought THROUGH AN ENTIRE ROLE. Explain why the Jungle was severely dumbed down, EXP tweaked, smite reworked to give HEALTH; overall an amalgamation rendering the Jungle an exceedingly effective role at doing what's intended and much more. Explain why Crit/Zeal costs have been lowered, ADC given options to shred EVERY form of resistance with increased damage passives on their items so as to be Team-Wreckers rather than appliers of consistent DPS to wear down Frontlines, ON TOP of the aforementioned changes. What happened to ADCs having major noteworthy niches? Just pick what's meta, grab the items that offer the earliest powerspike, and shred, shred, shred. Not going to touch on Mages, because I feel I should wait for the AP Overhaul before I do.

#Ultimately, why are you guys doing this? Turrets are susceptible to a multitude of damage sources now; not an awful move if you wanted game pacing to increase. But you've handed players the means to acquire more power, to feel very strong, but in efforts of doing so - you've hurt the game a lot. People have the option to queue up for whatever role they choose; making each role give a player a sense of acquiring Superman-like strength isn't necessary. It's downright unhealthy for the game at this current time; it ruins the motivation and logic behind picking what you enjoy, and funnels people into picking whatever Champions are META. It allows the META champs to more heavily abuse the sources of power within the game, to be a more overbearing force for the players dealing with them; and it SHOWS at ALL elos now. The days of merely picking what you had fun playing in low elo are not here in the way they were years ago, and before a Rioter attempts to assert, "Players simply got better" -- that's not the ONLY contributing factor here. There's so much brought on by the Gameplay/Balance team that assists those seeking nothing but wins - rather than joy - that you can't confidently call that assertion an honest one.

You've seen the complaints for quite a long time now, and it's as though (sorry) after TenCent got their hands into League, the Balance team warped their entire vision of the game from THIS SHOULD BE FUN! to -exactly- what everyone else is doing with their games. It's sad to watch, man. From someone who used to gladly pour my time and heart into this game, it's so easy to step away and tend to mundane life now -- and I hate that. I'm a heavy gamer. I genuinely feel that the Art/Sound team are far more passionate about League than the people who balance it now.

#In Conclusion, Why do we have to keep altering things that are fine without giving attention to just what's downright unhealthy for a while? The Kog and Azir nerf is one of the greatest things I've seen you guys do in quite a while, and that makes me SAD to say. Is the Balance/Gameplay team just getting tired of the game? If so, maybe we need to bring in more employees to help.

Because it feels like League has become a literal money-cow to be milked rather than a product that delivers an enjoyable, satisfying experience. In truth, we never HAD to move to faster-paced games -- we had other game modes for people with less time on their hands. Even releasing an altered Rift would have been fine. In my 3.5 - 4 years of playing League, I've honestly never been more dissatisfied with the game or the Balance team themselves; and despite my 200+ upvoted post detailing what made the latter half of S7 a disgusting sight to see, with a Rioter leaving the sentiment they hoped to win me back this year, I'm not seeing the silver lining in all of this. Runes Reforged is not handling the fundamental issues we now have with League.

TL;DR: League isn't fundamentally built for the pacing it has reached today. Creeping everything solves nothing. Classes aren't given drawbacks for their new strengths/items. Balance team genuinely appears to care much less for the game today than they did in previous years.