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What's wrong with the Blue Essence system, and how to fix it. (POLL)

Raymond Amantius·1/17/2018, 11:02:20 PM·1 votes·672 views

Honestly, I don't think anyone likes the new blue essence system much at all, at least compared to the old IP system. Here's why:

Problems

  1. It takes too many games to level up, usually feeling like too much of a grind to get any sort of rewards.

  2. Games don't individually make you feel like you earned anything due to the above point, due to not earning anything after any specific game.

  3. The shards you get are based on RNG, which means you could play 10-15 games to level up and end up with shards worth very little. Which sucks.

This system might be slightly better in the long run for people who want to unlock all the champions, and I'll give Riot that. But it just feels so FRUSTRATING to get ONE SPECIFIC champion that you REALLY want to play. Not to mention you can get shards for champions you already own, essentially nullifying any bonus the new system had over the old one. The more champions you own, the more of a chance there is of you getting a shard for a champion you already have, making you have to disenchant the shards anyway.

Solutions

  1. Reduce the amount of EXP needed to level up to make it feel like less of a chore to earn new champions. This is balanced out by the next solution.

  2. Give a small amount of Blue Essence after every game, and reduce the amount you get from disenchanting shards. This would help people feel like they wouldn't have to grind out the extra level just to get the 20 Blue Essence they need to unlock a new champion (which has happened to me several times before, by the way), and it wouldn't actually increase the amount of total blue essence earned by much, if at all. It just FEELS like more.

  3. Make shards feel more consistent. Maybe have a set champion price tier for every set number, e.g leveling to level 31 gives a 450 champion shard, level 32 gives a 1350 shard, 33 would give a 3150, 34: 4800, and 35: 6300. This would reset every 5 levels, giving every fifth level something that makes it very desirable. This would help to make it feel less random and give people a reason to level up other than a tiny chance of something useful.

3 Comments

Subdue1/17/2018, 11:10:16 PM1 votes

The main issue with BE isn't in the quantities. It's in the transparency. If you take the time to do the math, the average player (by average I mean, please a few games a day), makes more BE today than he made IP before. However, it's hard to tell just eyeballing things. What they need to do:

  1. Make leveling up require the same amount of EXP regardless of level post-30.
  2. Make the amount of BE you get per level up a constant. For example, each level you should earn 2000 BE. That could be from 1 6300 champion +800 BE or from 6 450 champions + X BE, doesn't matter. Balance the new fixed amount of BE you earn with the EXP so that the actual earn rate remains the same.

These changes don't materially change how quickly you earn BE, so they shouldn't affect Riot's bottom line, but they make it easier for a player to understand how much they have to play to achieve what they want to achieve. RNG has its uses, but this isn't one them.

Chawoora1/17/2018, 11:58:19 PM1 votes

I feel like I am getting more BE than ever just playing casually waiting for the new season (I am playing more ARAMs than I used to...and I often play a bot game to get first win and play around with runes). Since December I have unlocked 2 6300 champs (Aatrox and Bard) and a 4800 champ (Vlad). I also set aside 2-3 champ shards to use to unlock mastery. I have way more champs unlocked than I know how to play (I think I am down to 10 champs still locked).