The cost of "Champion Diversity".
Hello Riot and fellow League players, This is a post mostly directed towards Riot but feel free to contribute with your opinions.
Is it just me or this constant and continuos focus on champion diversity, which inevitably also means creating harder and harder champions to play and master on a micro level, is getting out of hand? I've been playing since the US closed beta, I'm a proud owner of the pre-order collector's edition and I can't help but noticing how all the new champions releases are getting more and more complex to play. (Rek'sai, Kalista, Tham Kentch etc) and all the reworks are making old champions harder and harder to play all in the name of "champion diversity".
The effect on pro-play: The result of this is more and more pro-players having to retire because of carpal syndrome (Hai and soon Bjergsen judging by the wrists braces he's wearing now) and many iconic and charismatic players who are extremely smart just end up retiring because they simply can't keep up with the micro play (TheOddOne, Krepo, Deficio, Scarra just to mention a few). This makes it really hard to grow particularly fond of a certain team or player since the turnover is so damn high. Besides, it also makes it sad to see how these guys dedicate such important years of their lives to a game just to be forced into retirement soon after because the next 15 year old is coming up and just has fresh wrists to perform all those complex combos. (Yes, I'm aware, some end up working around the game doing other things but there are just so many players who can be hired as casters or coaches).
The effect on casual and "aging" lol gamers (like myself) In my opinion, is the fact that "old" and now "casual" players like me, might ends up feeling left out and out of touch with the game. I used to buy so much stuff on League and now I don't even remember the last time I bought some Riot Points because honestly I don't even feel like trying to play champions like Tham Kentch. It becomes harder and harder for me to play ranked games because the meta keeps shifting into (harder to master-higher reward champions) and ultimately just demotivates me from playing all together. Yes, if I had 4 or 5 hours a day to play I would probably stay competitive but turns out, I might only have 4-5 hours a week sometimes.
In conclusion What I ultimately wonder is, is it really worth it? I always hear people complaining about Graves and Lucian for example, being the same champion, which besides not even being true, is it really that bad? who cares if they are? Is it that bad for wanting to pick a champion rather than another one because of the looks or because of a particular skin maybe? How far will you go with this champion diversity? After Tham Kentch and the new Gangplank barrel mechanic, will you create a champion that you can ulti with only if you can spell the alphabet backwards first? Or will you create a champion that you need to stand on one leg to play? What are you trying to accomplish by pushing so hard in the name of "champion diversity"? Have you considered all the aging players and all the casual players and the pro players who destroy their wrists after a few years of competitive play?
Thank you for your time. Peace.
