WARNING: Monster post contained within @*AnyRed*

NEW THANK YOU THREAD: http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/gaqH4Jyv-thank-you-riot-repertoir

EDIT: Riot I was using those examples as examples. I'm not using this post to bash you about that. I just want to know why our connection with you guys has gotten smaller and smaller with good points from entire fanbases being ignored. I've made three posts about this, on three different accounts, and each time it's reached the top of the boards, but not one response from you guys (Even when I see Meddler responding to other posts at the same time).

Edit 2: I apologize for my non-productive tone when addressing some of the Red's directly. I got caught up in this post and overlooked them when rereading this monstrosity I've created. And so I've now become one of the toxic assholes here I hate, just by simply not thinking about how I was talking. Sorry Rito :/

I'm no longer addressing my complaint as player to developer. Person to person. _** Andrei "Meddler" van Roon, Hi my name is Aidan and I'm a freshman in college who has spent the past 4-5 years of his life loving this game and putting close to 8000 total games across all accounts (i just recounted). I'm in a Game Design & Development program and I love discussing the finer aspects of game design and game theory. I also love fishing and rugby. This game inspired me to become a developer, to create a game as good maybe even better than this (that would be nigh impossible).

I am a person, and so is everyone else on here. So are you. Except Canustus. He's a sneky snek. Don't ignore 98% of us. We want to be heard because we care, because we are people like you. We don't want essays to every single post made, but Red Responses being the exception specifically on Gameplay boards is a bit insulting which is why many people inappropriately turn to toxicity and venom. We just want to talk.

Months ago I made a post about communication between the Gameplay/balance/update team and the boards, and more specifically, the profound lack of it.

The recent post about listening to player feedback about updates (regarding the visual changes to Fiora) came across to a lot of people I know as basically a giant slap in the face. Not only did Riot state that they listened and cared about player feedback and how they FEEL about a champion, but they are stated how they learned a lot from it and how they respect player opinion highly. That if it didn't feel like a huge gain to the game/champion etc as a whole then it was a failed update.

The story and lore team basically butchered what many original players loved about League's unique backstory and setting and have basically given almost nothing back. So many champions are left with a few sentences of "lore" (I hesitate to call it that, it's a sad excuse for it) and I have not found a single person who isn't confused/upset about it.

HOWEVER, I still see the art team and story/lore team responding relatively frequently to the boards, About half of the posts in Red Tracker usually show up in that board (for me at least). People at least feel they are being acknowledged there.

The rare few times I see a Red respond in a Gameplay and Balance discussion is to pop in and make a funny joke or agree with someone's funny anecdotal but so rarely among the rare responses are they to a post actually discussing GAMEPLAY AND BALANCE.

Months ago I was one of a few people that made fairly noticeable posts about this exact topic, and Rioter's posts increased dramatically (from almost nothing to at least 1/5 of the discussions posted which is fairly reasonable). They were simple or they were detailed responses, but they made us feel heard. Yeah, the boards population is smaller than the entire game population, but most of the people who post and frequent the boards are here because they are the extremely passionate ones who want to see this game continue to be the (most of the time) amazing ride it has been for a long time to come.

But after a week or two the Red posts died down, and now they are even less than they were before that. And now I'm more pissed, and less understanding than I was before.

If Riot cares about player feedback and how updates feel to the players then I have some questions that I hope will actually warrant responses.

Riot Repertoir (mispelled sorry): Why is Kog'Maw still been basically shafted? Put his W on his passive like you did with Graves' autos, and make his W a unique steroid (like make his attacks unblockable or ramping damage like MF's used to be). His damage is way too low for someone who has an incredible amount of risk and reliance on his team to output any of it.

Riot Stashu: What the hell happened to Cassiopeia? We were promised updates on her and on the progress of the updates and nothing. Who she was as a champion was demolished lore-wise and gameplay-wise, and now after all her nerfs her gameplay pattern is just downright unfun for everyone involved and boring and just plain bad.

Riot CertainlyT: I know you get a lot of hate on these boards, most of it unjustified. You make really cool champions, and unique kits. Some may be unfun to play against and sometimes feel unfair, but for the most part they are relatively balanced. WHAT THE HELL happened with Mordekaiser's update? I did not see ONE post supporting Mordekaiser's rework, not ONE. EVERYONE said it would be either terribly trashy or terribly toxic. And look what happened. Mordekaiser mains have either quit or downright are miserable, his solo lane is detroyed. Old Lore: stomps across the land unstoppable and unkillable by himself, not with a frigging support. He is the definition of feast or famine, and is incredibly more toxic for everyone to play since his rework than before. i have not seen this much universal hate for a rework, well, ever. Even Karma's/Cass' reowork had less hate spewed back at Riot

Marksmen update: ADC's now all build the exact same items. diversity is WORSE than before the itemization changes. It's nothing but crit on everything and I have not seen a single phantom dancer in any game I have played. Maybe I missed one, or it danced out of sight. What used to be the quintessential ADC damage amplifying item is now virtually gone.

AD Assassin item: Really? AP mages and even assassins are hugely nerfed because of how much more AP items cost now relative to AD casters/assassins, and you're giving AD assassins yet another way to deal even more damage earlier? I don't think even Anivia will work against Zed now lol.

This is everything I've seen. From my point of view and from other's. Do you see how much hate there is? I've played this game since it first came out, and I truly have never seen a preseason more dysfunctional than this. More counter-productive to what players are asking for than this. it hasn't lasted this long with the same issues being ignored or changed FURTHER away from players want.

You value player feedback? You dare say that an update has failed if it doesn't feel like a large gain and then continue to spit in our faces? I've supported Rioters, I've helped pay your paychecks and I've helped defend you guys when everyone is raging and calling you guys "stupid pieces of shit". You aren't stupid pieces of shit, but you are acting more and more arrogantly.

We just want to be heard. We want to be listened to like you like to make a big deal about how you do. Respond to us, give us feedback. Tell us how our ideas are stupid or bad (cause most of them are). But stop ignoring us.

When Jagex ignored its large playerbase (yet again) and went ahead with a big update (EOC) because they wanted to, look what happened. Their damage control was literally going back in time 7 YEARS to avoid losing more than half their players.

I want to be told that my ideas are bad, why they are wrong, what you guys are planning on doing. It takes 30 seconds-15 minutes to make a decent informed post (probably even shorter for you guys, you have all the information at your fingertips). That's almost nothing, even in the middle of a workday. Because it should be part of your work. It IS part of your job.

Yeah the boards are a toxic place, but you're being paid from OUR wallet's to keep this game running. And when you show up and start posting, almost all of the toxicity evaporates quickly because it's mostly the build up of months of being ignored.

And if you come on to these boards and make a post, and it gets overwhelmingly downvoted and/or there's a huge outcry, maybe there's something wrong with what you are proposing. From your own words, if player's don't feel like they are gaining something big, the change is a failure.

"Now that the new year is upon us, we’ll be pushing for more communication and transparency in the coming months." Give us some basic interaction and that will be Leagues above what we are receiving now.

TL;DR:

I've seen companies start acting like this towards their customer's, and I've watched every single one of their games wither and die when they refused to change directions. I want this game to succeed like any of us, Red or player alike. But this is a partnership of trust between the two groups, and right now we feel like we are being cheated. If you want us to be happy and enjoy these changes, then listen to our feedback and/or at least give us shoutouts to know we are being heard.

Rather than upvoting or downvoting, I want to hear what you guys think!

Thank you.