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Champion reworks are going too far

Antonín Dvorák·4/25/2015, 9:52:31 AM·4 votes·1,128 views

There, I said it. The current trend of completely removing champions and replacing them with a new champion. Sure they'll leave in one thing that Riot considers to be 'iconic' (appearantly Sion was all about health stacking), but It's nothing more than a memento to an older champion.

I've been playing since season 2 and call me a relic or anything, but I enjoyed playing Sion Karma Xerath . I didn't play them a lot because they were considered bad for good reasons but they were unique champions nonetheless which in my opinion could be fixed by tweaking their numbers. I can still enjoy their new counterparts but not without remembering that I'll never do crazy lifesteal builds with Sion or doing the huladance wih Karma ever again. Either way I could get over it, albeit with some difficulties.

But now that there's talk about a Gangplank rework it's the first time i'm actually genuinely afraid. I've been playing GP as long as I can remember, but nowadays everytime I pick him I think for a moment that eventually the same GP won't be there anymore. And it's a horrible feeling I tell you. I know it might just be a veigar level rework (i'd still play GP even if he was underpowered) but Riot has shown that it's willing to completely overhaul a champion and the fact that I don't how far Riot is willing to with GP is what makes me so nervous.

All this made me wonder why nobody is opposing the way Riot is handling these reworks. Sure I see threads complaining about certain reworks and how they could be done better but never about the fundamental concept that Riot is willing to remove champions from the game if they conisder them outdated, toxic or whatever it is. I think people should consider that these reworks might not stop at GP or Poppy, but that in the future a lot more champions will find themselves under the chopping block. Call me overly negative but I can already see in a year or maybe 2 Udyr getting reworked for being outdated, Singed being replaced for toxic gameplay and Galio being overhauled for the heck of it because nobody plays him. (just some examples I have no idea how Riot works)

I understand that Riot has every right to alter the game however they like. However LoL has a huge playerbase that keeps growing and the playerbase gets older and more attached to the game as well. At this point even the most unpopular champions have their fanbases. I think that Riot should have more consideration to these sentiments to 'outdated' and underplayed champions when it comes to reworks.

22 Comments

Crett4/25/2015, 10:02:24 AM3 votes

Everyone enjoyed playing old Sion. No one enjoyed playing against him. Stuns you, runs up to you, chop chop dead I did many a 1v5 in the old days, and I luckily never wound up on the other end of one.

If it makes you feel better, full AD Sion is actually more viable than he seems. Nothing like old Sion though.

I personally love the rework.

EDIT: Gangplank is anti-fun too. Everyone's gotta be tired of the random crit for 2/3 of your health and then the sustain, and the bankplank, DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HIS OLD DENIAL MECHANIC, etc. Champions are fun, but sometimes they are REALLY not fun to play against.

Angry Monster4/25/2015, 10:41:24 AM2 votes

So your saying that bad kits that are unhealthy for the game should stay no matter what? The reworked champions are problems that number balance can not fix.

lB2kGRlc8y4/25/2015, 10:29:33 AM1 votes

I genuinely enjoyed the sion rework, it was masterfully done, left legitimate counterplay for his kit without making him useless. The ryze rework looks good too, the issue I have is the half-assed reworks like what hit Veig and Cass. They didn't want to put in the effort to make them viable after the rework, and simply number tweaked their only reliable abilities till they were essentially 1 button wonders. If the redo GP, I hope its a complete rework, not a relentless gutting followed by mercy buffs just to get the winrate back up.

Knight SoIaire 4/25/2015, 10:56:19 AM1 votes

sion wasnt reworked

critical fail from your side

besides that, its a hard topic from one side those champions have their playerbases, but at the same time they are unable to function well in current game

riot reworks them becuase they cant realy ballance them in any satisfying way, they can either make it op and toxic, or weakn

i do know that feel of atachment to the champion, but the question is whether preserving that is good for the game, and i think its not

MLDzXnRRR4/25/2015, 11:13:12 AM1 votes

Ap sion was the best burst mage in the game :DDDDD

Antonín Dvorák4/25/2015, 11:23:32 AM1 votes

Just some food for thought, suppose we compare LoL to the Ship of Theseus. If every evevery outdated champion would be reworked or replaced. Would LoL still be the same game?