6.16 adds objectives, but it doesn't fix Dragon

If you've been living under a rock and haven't read the 6.16 patch notes, go read them. All you really need to know is that Riot is trying to stop lane swapping by weakening bot lane turrets and staggering cannon minions.

I SERIOUSLY think that Riot is missing the big picture behind the lane swaps.

Players are lane swapping because the early game objectives suck. They're not worth fighting over compared to safe gold and map control. Riot is trying to cover this issue by adding MORE early objectives (specifically, the bot lane turrets) into the game, but this is just clumsy design that doesn't address the core problem. Basically, Riot reinvented the laning meta with their objective changes, but when players adapted, they disliked the result and are now forcing the old meta through contrived means. I'm disappointed.

In classic LoL, the point of sending two players bot lane was so your team could contest Dragon and get early team gold. The moment Dragon became an "arbitrary buff" creature that could be ignored, lane swapping became a viable strategy. Now, with Elemental Dragons, the once-formulaic arbitrary buffs are now RNG based and less consistent, making lane swapping even more lucrative. Ironically, while Riot desperately tries to remove "hidden power" from champion kits (Kayle, Taric, etc.), they've made every Elemental Dragon effect (except maybe Fire Drake) some microscopic garbage that barely does anything until it's compounded by an Elder Dragon, _ which players can't get until 35 min in._ In other words, **there is rarely any reward for an early Dragon kill, nor any penalty for giving up an early Dragon. **Killing Dragon does not give me a buff that IMMEDIATELY helps my team make a follow up play (like Baron), nor does it give my team gold that would also let us make a follow up play (via team fighting). Nowadays, trading Dragon for a safe midgame transition is well worth it for many team comps, consequently resulting in the LCS lane swaps you see today.

If Riot REALLY wants to promote early game conflict, they need to give players a Dragon worth fighting over early on. Giving early Dragons team gold, a noticeable team buff, or some combination of the two would work, but there are surely other ways to accomplish this. Pro teams aren't stupid - if Riot makes Dragon a worthy prize, players will shred each other to bits fighting for it (which is what the fans want to see, lol). In any case, making bot lane turret "the new 'old' Dragon" and breaking map symmetry is an awkward design concept that introduces too many arbitrary "answers" for a relatively simple problem.

TL;DR: Make early Dragons worth fighting over and lane swaps will disappear. Easy.