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6.16 adds objectives, but it doesn't fix Dragon

mSticky··6 votes·1,477 views
Pre-Worlds Early Game Update

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.

9 Comments

Siyther1 votes

dragon is not the reason for lane swaps. Most times it cause they picked a bad matchup in bot lane and they would lose lane terribly if they are forced into doing so, or some teams just have no confidence in their bot lane vs the enemy bot lane. Yes dragon is weak early game i conceid that point. Teams use lane swaping as a get me outta lane phase fast as possible cause our lanes suck strat. Lane swaps are boring and it looks like riot is trying to enforce standard lanes but that isnt the case. They are just making it cost something for that safety. Is it the right way to go ( maybe not ) time will tell.

mSticky2 votes

I believe I understand what you're saying and I don't think our ideas clash. Your comment is that teams lane swap because they don't want their bot lane to get stomped. I wholeheartedly agree. My argument is that the reason why teams can even consider abandoning the laning phase is because they know that they can concede the early game mid map objectives (notably Dragon) without setting themselves too far behind. My argument is an extension of yours.

TL; DR: " IF contesting Dragon < fighting a tough lane, THEN Lane Swaps == Good."

it looks like riot is trying to enforce standard lanes but that isn't the case. They are just making it cost something for that safety.

These points are not mutually exclusive. RIOT WANTS TO ENFORCE STANDARD LANES, **therefore **they want to make atypical laning (aka lane swapping) cost more. Why is Riot making bot lane turrets weaker and not top lane turrets? What makes bot lane so "special" that it gets the first catty and the weakest turret? As stupid as this might sound, what lore justifies having one gimpy outer turret on the Fields of Justice and asymmetrical minion spawns? There is no unique justification for any of this other than that Riot wants players to fight each other by enforcing the standard laning meta. To me, that is not enough to warrant screwing with map symmetry.

Look, I'm glad that Riot is making lane swapping "cost something," but I believe that they are changing the wrong thing. I think that Riot can mess with bot lane turrets and stop lane swapping. I also believe that they can change these garbage early game dragons and consequently stop lane swapping. When given a choice between "fixing something useless AND fixing a problem" and just "fixing a problem," the former should be the better choice. Again, both choices fix the problem, but one is WAY more clunky than its competitor.

We don't need that.

Atanchan1 votes

{quoted}

As stupid as this might sound, what lore justifies having one gimpy outer turret on the Fields of Justice and asymmetrical minion spawns?

I mean, in-lore, the games we play are basically just games that aren't even truly part of Runeterra and don't even directly summon Runeterran figures, but what're basically just phantoms of them, so ...

Lore-wise, it actually does sort of just write itself. Hell, even before the League got retconned from Runeterra, it still wrote itself because the higher-ups of the League could've removed the fortification enchantment on the bottom towers and staggered siege minion spawns for the exactly same purpose as Riot.

mSticky1 votes

I mean... I guess? Although doing so would imply that the League's Summoners are aware of not only LoL's meta, but also LoL's meta shifts. That would not only be mindblowing, but it would just be... Weird.

Regardless, citing lore is dumb idea I pulled out of the moment, lol. A better idea would be "the difference between static and dynamic map components," but I mean, what can you do?...

Atanchan1 votes

I mean ... it'd be their meta, too. The entire idea of both pre- and post-retcon lore is that our games do actually "happen," albeit in the post-retcon they're entire separate from Runeterra. Before that, though, they were actually there in-universe; while we never got many actual plot-relevant games ( I think only that one Noxus vs. Ionia happened? ) the others were basically exhibition or practice matches to improve the Summoner's control over, well, summoning and to entertain the populace.

Hell, even the rank system fit, considering ranked matches could be used to determine who were the best Summoners and therefore those most likely to be called upon for matches to actually settle disputes.

Which leads to the fact that, yes, the meta for us is the same for them. There's a reason why, even now, we're called Summoners; because we were meant to actually be the Summoners of the League.

mSticky1 votes

I like this kind of speculation. Seriously, it would probably make a great manga or fanfic if someone really expanded upon it. Still, with the retcon of "Summoners" as "actual in-game entities," it's hard to see Riot certifying any of this. I strongly doubt that Summoners will be reintroduced into LoL's lore, at least not without significant changes. When Riot makes a major design change, they rarely revert it, and that kinda sucks.

Without going on too far of a tangent, the original argument was meant to emphasize that a MOBA map should have consistent elements, and one of those elements are consistent stats and behaviors across turrets of equal tiers. It's a static element of LoL, like having a square map and a river that separates both teams. It is, IMO, a building block of the game, and changing a core building block for something as dumb as forcing a meta shift seems like overkill.

Siyther1 votes

of course riot almost never makes the right changes lol they should do something but i agree that this may not be the corrct answer. will upvote cause u seem like one of the few who can carry a conversation without coming across sounding like a dick lol or rging cause ppl might see things a tad diff

mSticky1 votes

Thanks man. I'm really hoping I can get a Rioter on this, so I don't wanna look like a dick, lol.

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