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@Riot: Why do you have such motivation to change your game?

RIPxMidnight·5/9/2016, 8:43:17 PM·68 votes·4,200 views

**I'd like to begin by quoting a certain Thomas Bertram Lance: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." **

League of Legends is an undeniable and irrefutable success of a game. League has cultivated a motivated and serious competitive playerbase. League has contributed to the rise of esports in the civilized world to the point where I have seen video game highlights on weekend ESPN. I've heard it said that North America has more unique League accounts than baseball players (from MLB all the way down through little league). League, as a game, is a huge success.

**So then, why is there such motivation to change the winning formula? **

For almost five full years, there were very few major changes to the fundamentals of League of Legends. Yes, there were changes. Dodge chance didn't last very long, for example. Champions were tweaked and nerfed or buffed. Some items came and went. Artwork was updated. New champions were added. Nevertheless, these changes never felt like they changed the fundamental way that League of Legends was played. Even amidst the meta changes, It had always been the same game. That same game was, again, an undeniable and irrefutable success.

**So then why change what has worked? **

Change is necessary and natural and in many cases good. The fundamentals really changed first with the jungle: items/smite grew diverse, new camps/buffs were added. The S5 jungle changes were the first time it really felt like we needed to "relearn" how to play parts of the game. The echoes (pun intended) of that single fundamental change are still being felt; devourer has only recently been removed.

**Think about how many other major changes have been introduced in the past calendar year: ** Juggernauts ADC reworks Vision changes Jungle timers Death timers New baron, dragon, herald buffs Ranked queues Champion select Now, the Mage reworks

I'm sure there are some others that are missing and others can correct me below. Every single one of these changes has affected the fundamental way that a League game is played. I've even seen the argument that Revive would be a valuable summoner spell, should it be reintroduced, because of the new death timers.

@Riot: Why are you so adamant about changing your game in major ways? What is the underlying motivation to change, rather than preserve, the formula that won you so much acclaim?

It feels like you've spent half a decade creating the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. Sure, you've changed some things - an extra pinch of sugar, a slight adjustment of chips to dough ratio, the occasional nut or dark chocolate addition, but it's still a chocolate chip cookie and a damn good one at that. Season 6 though... it's like you're dumping in coconut and nutmeg and chili powder and caviar and all these new things. Meanwhile, you're telling us that your data supports your changes and that your product is going to be better because of it.

All I want is a goddamn chocolate chip cookie... and the fundamental League of Legends that got me here in the first place. It's the same shape as before, but it feels like a different game altogether.

52 Comments

UberAffe5/9/2016, 9:05:16 PM31 votes

Because winning formulas are often winning because they are innovative not stagnant.

Jbels5/9/2016, 9:12:49 PM10 votes

#lcsbigplays

DevlinCrow5/10/2016, 11:43:21 AM8 votes

This is such a silly thread, games need to change and evolve over time, if they didn't change it constantly you would just be making threads saying "when is something going to change it's boring"

BluePolarizer5/10/2016, 7:15:17 AM6 votes

I don't get it either. In season 3, 4 and most of 5, I felt that it didn't matter what champ I played. In season 4 I tried to 1 trick pony Nocturne then Master Yi into plat, when both were considered trash tier junglers.

I didn't succeed, but never did I feel that I lost because Nocturne and Yi were trash.

In season 5 I decided to 1 trick pony Hecarim jungle and Maokai support/top to plat, and I finally made it. Surprisingly to even myself, I kept climbing through plat. Never did I feel like I won because Hecarim and Maokai were OP. When I lost to champs like s5 Katarina, Ahri or reworked Viktor, I didn't feel like it was because they were super OP.

Ever since November 2015, I felt that the main reason I lose games, is due to 2 things:

  1. The enemy camps me in my own jungle.
  2. I'm not playing a meta champ.

Nothing else. I get rekt because my 50% win rate champ gets nerfed into the ground while a 53% win rate champ is hugely buffed into a 55% win rate champ. I get camped by a trio while my own trio isn't even on voice coms. Or I get carried by a 4 man while being flamed the entire game. So, I did the logical thing: I just stopped playing ranked except to prevent decay.

Speedphoenix5/10/2016, 3:04:34 PM5 votes

I wish they reversed EVERYTHING (good changes included) back to the patch just before the fiora rework.

the last major update before that was the mage itemization change and I personally think the the game was well balanced AND FUN TO PLAY

Gulma5/10/2016, 4:55:08 AM5 votes

Problem is, it's not a winning formula anymore. Numbers are going down and players are leaving. They wanted these massive changes to bring an influx of players but I don't think it's happening. League has peaked, riot just hasn't realized it yet. Same crap happened with Runescape and EoC

71883083DEL15/9/2016, 9:07:16 PM4 votes

Upvoted

Teridax685/10/2016, 10:13:25 AM4 votes

If League had remained in the same state as it was on launch, the game would be dead. Not for lack of new content, but because its flawed structure, limited tech and imperfect design would have eventually caused players to lose hope in seeing it fulfill its potential. The changes made to the game over time aren't perfect either (some have been flat-out terrible), but they're leading it towards a direction where it can continue to grow and fine-tune the experience it offers. It's difficult to realize this here, on the Gameplay Boards, which are mostly populated by hyperbolic complaint threads based on the most recent state of the game's balance, but League has become a significantly better game over time. Even though there are problems now, they're far less severe than the game's problems in the previous seasons (e.g. permaban Kassadin, assassins with silences, entire subclasses of champions being near-unplayable, etc.), and the changes you mentioned have significantly improved League's design over time.

Summonerrr 15/9/2016, 9:11:52 PM3 votes

because LC$$$$

SlaktarTasken5/9/2016, 8:51:49 PM2 votes

Upvoted for chocolate chips! I also want my cholocate chip back! I can't stand chili/caviar-sweetbreads!

Dantone5/10/2016, 5:50:16 PM2 votes

Having played since season 2 (including a 2 year break in the middle) I honestly think that League feels the same as when I started.

Yes, there are little nuances that change, but I don't think we appreciate how small those things are. The map is the same, most champions kits are the same, there are some new items, but by and large the game is very much the same. Anyone watching over your shoulder for the past few years would think it hasn't changed at all.

Randomonium5/10/2016, 10:44:08 PM2 votes

Because Riot learned from Starcraft. That was the first major worldwide e-sport. After 5 years or so the game became robotic because people figured out the formula. Players became less human and more machine. It became less about split second decisions and more about how perfect your macro game was.

Riot didn't want that for league, so they keep changing things so no one can ever figure out the formula. It's a risky proposition because they risk alienating their player base but it's necessary to keep the game vibrant and constantly evolving.

Old Man Teeto5/10/2016, 11:14:45 PM1 votes

League of Legends is balanced and maintained by constant a frequent changes that catapult different champions, builds, team compositions, and in game decisions.

It's held in place by having consistent and timeless basis that doesn't change even after years of being away, the game looks very much the same and is still approachable.

These two together, keep players from leaving out of boredom, and welcome players back who took a break for some reason easily.

Comparatively, DotA is significantly more balanced but rarely ever changes anything but the most minor tweaks. It was one of the most popular games back as a WC3 Mod, but has barely changed since then resulting in only the more die-hard player base and struggling to keep a casual crowd who enjoy new and exciting things to play often.

Kuroi865/10/2016, 6:44:35 AM1 votes

One reason that has been noted by one or two Reds over the years is that in the beginning Riot didn't know what direction they wanted to take League of Legends. They now have a goal for the kind of game they want to make it into. Since then they have been pushing towards this goal. A second reason is that Riot is always trying to mix things up and keep them fresh and new and crazy. Small changes only do so much to accomplish this. With larger scale changes, you can keep things a lot fresher than with small changes. One item that will help with this is the Rotating Game mode, if Riot could come out with more ideas like this that mixes up the formula on a regular basis, then they would be pretty heavily set for quite some time.

Mirkhail5/10/2016, 12:57:07 PM1 votes

When things stop changing, they die. Lol is moba and with major flaws that makes its impossible to balance for good. Few champions would become the only played at every elo, most champion would be consider trollpick or only counter. The perfect strategy will be found and everything will become boring and repetitive. Changes are needed to both keep players insterested and to improve the game.

LaserDeathBlade5/10/2016, 12:59:21 PM1 votes

Changing the game keeps it fresh

It's almost impossible to achieve balance in a game like LoL, the next best thing Riot can do is rotate the metas so at least the game feels fresh.

Admittedly Riot's changes lately have been increasingly more troll, but the absolute worst thing they can do is become Blizzard 2.0 where they just let 1 stale ass meta sit around for half a year before doing anything about it.

Mr Fidori5/10/2016, 2:44:42 PM1 votes

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

But when has is not been broke, according to some faction of players? People have, and always will, find something to complain about.

On the contrary, I've never found anything much worth complaining about.

Dr Poro5/10/2016, 4:10:38 PM1 votes

I'd like to see a "season 2" fun mode. However, I'd probably onlyplay it for a few days because I think the current situation is better.

I think the reworks are really good to clean up the lagging strands. You can chance a ton of numbers, but some champions/mechanics/items will stay inherently toxic so that they have to either be very bad in 99% of the cases or abusable. Although I have often disagreed on details, I tend to like Riot's philosophy more than any other gaming company that I have experience with.

Quepha5/10/2016, 4:21:38 PM1 votes

The meta was actually super stale by 6.8, especially when watching pro games. Just not that much fun. oh, it's kindred graves maokai ekko again oh, lane swap again oh, they're trading towers again

Poske5/10/2016, 5:24:38 PM1 votes

Because they want to improve it?

They do more good then bad

While i consider mage rework to be overall bad

I Think that Tower herald and dragon changes were fantastic

Pale Pirate5/10/2016, 5:46:39 PM1 votes

I thought today's standard were "there's always room for improvement" and "Innovation takes risk".

tubarao3125/10/2016, 7:01:59 PM1 votes

Because when I created my League account, Han Solo had not died yet...

Spacesuit Spiff5/10/2016, 10:37:52 PM1 votes

Its because theyre finally making big changes to turn the game into how they envision it in the long term, instead of just stamping out fires like theyve been doing for years. A lot of the stuff that we've gotten used to just kinda happened as a result of the meta or riot fixing abuse cases, so im glad to see them being more proactive as far as what the game looks like.

For example, the paper turrets were to stop lcs from being stallfests and we had to deal with that for ages. Now rito makes dragons and herald effective against towers explicitly or implicitly, creating a system that lets us have towers again.

UltimateDiscord5/10/2016, 10:41:13 PM1 votes

Playing league fills you with....Motivation.