I must say goodbye - An examination into the balance of the game
I must say, LOL was pretty fun during seasons three and four. Lots of new concepts, game play improvements, and champions were introduced at a pretty consistent rate. However, the changes here at the beginning of season five are disturbing. Riot has decided to take it upon themselves to incorrectly balance the game. They have done this in three ways. The first has been to neglect a large pool of champions that are currently useless. Sure, some of these champions might get the occasional buff or rework (Sion), but the fact is that a large number of them still cannot compete with current meta champions in terms of what they bring to the table. The second has been to babysit other champions because of their popularity and ensure that these champions remain consistently strong because a large part of the player base plays them. I keep thinking about how many people would stop playing LOL (and how much money Riot would lose) if they nerfed Lee sin the same way they dumpstered KhaZix. Champions that do need small nerfs are often hit with a hammer instead of a scalpel, with examples too numerous and in depth to mention here. Lastly, Riot has dumbed down the game by removing several items, items which encouraged alternative play styles. Now, instead of wondering what my laner will build, I pretty much know exactly what item they will purchase, leading to a more boring gameplay experience overall. The severe lack of item diversity is ruining this game.
It is simply sad that Riot now basically looks at the win/ban rates and makes huge changes based off of this data alone. Take for instance Ahri who currently has a 56% win rate and Azir who has a 45% win rate. Ahri due to her new playstyle is the most mobile mage in the game. She has access to three dashes, true damage, hard crowd control on her E, and insane mobility now because of her Q. Let us keep in mind that Ahri barely registers on the ban lists right now. Regardless, of her high win rate, Riot continues to buff Ahri. Now as for Azir, who has a meager 45% win rate and who could use some buffs, is going to be destroyed (read the notes on the PBE), making a champion with an already low win rate more and more useless. The only reason Riot is doing this is because some children don't know how to play against Azir effectively, and thus he is banned 70% of the time.
Simply put, I can not stand the blind hypocrisy of the Riot balancing team. I refuse to play a game where decisions regarding the mechanics are made with little to no knowledge of what the problems are in the first place. Once Riot decides to take more time to evaluate changes before they are pushed onto live servers, then perhaps the game will get better. Until then, I will devote my time to other games and hobbies.
