The Overbalance
There is another thread on here that reminded me of a simple premise of game design that RIOT seems to have forgotten. The issue that most MMORPG (really any fantasy) games have, eventually, is that the only way most game designers feel that they can continue a game forward is to escalate with each new release.
I.E.: You begin by fighting champions, then Demons/Angels, then Avatars, then Gods and Cosmic Dragons.
Well, if your LORE is rising in power level, the Champions need to rise up to meet this new enemy. Therefore you rebuff the originals, rework the ones who came in between, and nudge everyone up to the tier of your most recent blundering release of a champion mechanic. Basically... you balance upwards, not along a plane. Game designers often attempt to balance games upwards, towards the higher tiers, which means to maintain a tier system of champions one also then has to buff up the upper tiers... AKA Overbalance.
This has resulted in the releases of items, Runes, and reworked skillsets to ensure that, what used to be separated by skill level and playability of champions, all players can now compete with one another no matter what champion they happen to pick up. (Mostly, RIOT just hates some champions I think.) This allows the basic 1 day old player to pick up the basics of the game, and in two weeks feel like a pro in their respective grouping. The wish to also make tournaments flashier, and faster, is also a factor. The problem is that they've reached the upper limits of what one can do.
Poppy can remove 80% of your health with a T-Force, IE, and Firecannon (dumb, but works) using one melee attack. One of the least damaging champions that ever existed, beyond her Q smack, now can assassinate. Anyone can BUILD Assassin now, and most champions can actually pull this off to horrible effect. Due to item reworks, and the new rune system, we are no longer playing Champions, we are playing Gods...
The problem here is that there is no higher up they can push. Either the game remains here, with almost no new mechanics, items, or character changes... or it is scaled back, to where the concept of 'Oneshotting,' or '100-0,' someone goes back where it belongs... the trash. It didn't exist when this game became popular. It didn't exist when millions of us fell in love with the game. It didn't exist when RIOT was making cash hand over fist.
It exists now, however, due to the same habit found in Game Design - Overbalancing.