I like how Riot tells us they view boards every day

19 19 19·Feb 3, 2015·34 votes·6,189 views

They say they come by and read what we say every day yet they don't put the time to respond what they read. They just comment on days they feel like doing so. The only times I've actually seen a rioter being active everyday is Riot Kateykhaos and others as well but they are more towards General Discussion and Skin & Champion Concepts but when it comes to Gameplay & Balance we rarely see Rioters who would know how to answer our questions/needs.

For example they never responded to the Ahri threads like now for days except on Reddit when Phreak showed up.

Or the question upon Ashe's passive changes.

Or Zyra's Passive or her Status of being more of a mid laner than being treated as a Support

Or properly give Cassiopeia the attention that they "promised"

Or Fiora/Dianna's status upon their kit.

Like, if a Rioter is reading this, then please, DO RESPOND and clear our minds upon these topics that has been created over and over throughout months that haven't been commented on. We don't want a "smart ass " regular community person telling us the answer to this issue. We want a REAL Rioter who could inform us.

43 Comments

RiotGhostcrawlerFeb 3, 201529 votes

They say they come by and read what we say every day yet they don't put the time to respond what they read. They just comment on days they feel like doing so.

We do try and keep up with the discussions. Making responses and tons of comments does take away time from reading all the posts though. :(

I think it's fair that our posting has dropped a little lately, and we're trying to address that.

tofutimeFeb 3, 20152 votes

{quoted}

We do try and keep up with the discussions. Making responses and tons of comments does take away time from reading all the posts though. :(

I think it's fair that our posting has dropped a little lately, and we're trying to address that.

I think it's not just quantity. It's quality. A lot of us want to discuss balance changes and whenever I go to red tracker it's usually a reply to some joke thread or concept art. While it's cool to know the rioters have personalities and can laugh with us and share our love for skins it's sad because there's hardly anyone talking about balance issues.

KeevalroyFeb 3, 201525 votes

In all fairness, you've been trying to address this for nearly a year. Yet more and more Rioters are being drawn to Reddit rather than the actual League forums.

ZykIonFeb 4, 20154 votes

To be perfectly honest with you, and this is just my opinion, BUT I think you should cut them some slack. Do you expect most of the Rioters to sit here all day and read every single discussion? That'd take a lot of time out of their lives when I'm sure they're already very busy people. We don't know their lives or their schedules but they work for one of, if not THE biggest game companies in the world. They can't just do everything and be on here all the time. I could be wrong, but maybe you should just be happy that they have a presence at all, like i am :)

MajorPain9Feb 4, 20157 votes

I expect Riot to have in depth discussions on there forums yes. If that's to much to ask for then it's not a company I will continue to support. This has been an ongoing issue for more than a year. There is no discussion only dismissals.

Drunk RummateFeb 3, 20151 votes

{quoted}

We do try and keep up with the discussions. Making responses and tons of comments does take away time from reading all the posts though. :(

I think it's fair that our posting has dropped a little lately, and we're trying to address that.

I think integrating your reddit posts with whats seen here would be a big improvement. Stuff that gets posted on Reddit often gets completely overlooked on these boards. Why not link it or integrate it somehow?

19 19 19Feb 3, 20158 votes

{quoted}

We do try and keep up with the discussions. Making responses and tons of comments does take away time from reading all the posts though. :(

I think it's fair that our posting has dropped a little lately, and we're trying to address that.

I understand this, but you're focusing on threads that are over detailed instead of the ones that just goes straight to the point. Many people here are angry so they express it in huge long context that can honestly make you eye rub a few times. But there's people around here who actually are in a calm mood and go straight to the point on what they feel what's wrong.

In the end we don't hate you, we love you honestly, we just want more communication reach like the other Rioters give the people to the General Discussion/Skins & Champion concepts.

the Anarchit3chtFeb 3, 20153 votes

I could reply to all these threads myself better than all the Rioters combined. Solution? Hire me. I'll gladly respond on the forums for you all. Joking aside, I'm actually serious. Hire one or two people to be dedicated to answering the forums. They can get the rundown from the teams that actually work on the issues and then explain it to the people on the forum. It'd certainly be a lot easier for the Balance Team to explain their stance to those two-three people and have them "run" the forums so to speak. If an issue was particularly hot, then they could bring it up to the particular Rioters responsible for that issue and have them come by and see it personally.

I doubt you will, but if you do create such a position I call dibs! From what I can tell it's not even the fact that you necessarily have terrible answers, it's the fact that we get ignored for weeks/months/years and when you finally do give us an answer it's complete and utter crap that shows you don't actually care about us at all.

AbyssphereFeb 3, 20151 votes

{quoted}

We do try and keep up with the discussions. Making responses and tons of comments does take away time from reading all the posts though. :(

I think it's fair that our posting has dropped a little lately, and we're trying to address that.

You guys should set up a rota of which people in the design/balance teams post each day/week or so. If the problem is that people don't have the time/effort to do it all the time then doing it in shifts would make it less strenuous and more satisfying for us.

RetillinFeb 3, 20151 votes

You say lately, but the last time this was an issues that was responded to was "it's the holidays, sorry we were not around". If something happens over and over, it's not a "lately" issue but a communication issue.

Lunar LightningFeb 3, 20156 votes

{quoted}

We do try and keep up with the discussions. Making responses and tons of comments does take away time from reading all the posts though. :(

I think it's fair that our posting has dropped a little lately, and we're trying to address that.

you guys need to comment on the top 5 posts each day in my opinion

Sir TiddlesFeb 4, 20153 votes

{quoted}

We do try and keep up with the discussions. Making responses and tons of comments does take away time from reading all the posts though. :(

I think it's fair that our posting has dropped a little lately, and we're trying to address that.

+1 for this, and I'd like to believe you on that, bu... How long has the Cass rework been out? How long ago did Stashu promise to "be better about communication"?

For me personally, the frustration isn't just about giving the Red Perspective -- it is about listening to the playerbase and actually changing things based on their feedback to make them happy. I can't speak for the other champs listed in the OP because I honestly never cared much for them, but for Cassiopeia in particular has not happened in the slightest. There was outrage on the forums about making Cass about single target spamming over all else, when that historically has never been the case. I remember a thread on old GD that went over a hundred pages, largely without Red Response, and most importantly this feedback was utterly ignored when it came to further Cass changes, and instead doubled down on the all important E.

Cass is in an utterly unplayable state for me because it is not the Cass that I spent money on and had played for longer than Stashu has worked for Riot. Her identity as a area denial, skirmishing, controlling, poison mage was deleted and replaced with rambo mode as the only viable play pattern (which is not at all fun for me, and why I don't generally play autoattackers).

PS You were my favorite pet in WoW.

WullfFeb 4, 20151 votes

always drop massage when you read the post.

"I was here, ghostcrawler"

(sigh, no one will get this Phantomas reference)

PryotraFeb 4, 20153 votes

If by lately, you mean since the boards went to Open beta, or since the Ambassador initiative, then OK.

Otherwise, it's not lately. Lately is me giving up the hope that you actually are community oriented. Which is 100% OK in my book. Your a big boy company now, Riot. However, like a parent that has watched a child grow up, I just wish you would stop pretending to be a little kid.

I've been a player that has been here long enough to remember the terror that was 5 turret, tower nading donger. I'm one of the most stubborn of that lot too, still maining heimer to this day. And yet, I know that Riot simply isn't the small company they used to be, and the whole thing you used to be able to easily sustain where the developers would chat with the playerbase directly on a regular basis just isn't feasible anymore. And I've finally accepted it. I just wish that Riot would too.

Why else do you think I finally kinda gave up on posting so damn often? Heck, I haunted the forums for a good year and a half without playing due to the treatment of my fav champion. It's that the old times of Riot sitting down and having a back and forth with the players is just kinda over. I'll still probably play till the servers are shut down, just super casually for nostalgia.

If I'm wrong and this isn't the case, Riot really has the poorest way to show gratitude for loyalty, and has it's work cut out for it in repairing it's image, as I've been watched every loyalty reward idea get shot down, every complaint about player interaction ignored or answered almost exactly like this, and have even been told to leave this game by a long time Rioter.

Most players that started gaming with this game might be horrified to hear that. As Someone who has been gaming since they were 5, it's what I expect out of the rest of the industry, and what I am finally seeing in Riot. It is what it is, and it's your game. Do with it what you please.

RhlaxFeb 5, 2015

If I'm wrong and this isn't the case, Riot really has the poorest way to show gratitude for loyalty, and has it's work cut out for it in repairing it's image, as I've been watched every loyalty reward idea get shot down, every complaint about player interaction ignored or answered almost exactly like this, and have even been told to leave this game by a long time Rioter.

I think a lot of tech companies support the idea of Universal Basic Income for the very reason that there is a lot of volunteering on the internet. League is what it is today because of its community.

With that said, it is insanely hard to reward the volunteers. I think they are showing gratitude (in directly) through an innovative game, and making significant progress in eSport.

PryotraFeb 7, 20151 votes

There is a very fine line between a lack of reward and a middle finger to the face. Alot of times, it feels like the latter. And in the case of being directly asked by a rioter to leave the game, I don't think you can spin it any other way.

Ex. The reason Lifetime RP rewards were canceled was because, and I quote, "It wouldn't make the Non RP spenders feel good." That feels like a slap in the face, especially when the rewards alot of us were imagining was something like a special set of Icons or maybe even a banner or something cosmetic.

RhlaxFeb 7, 20151 votes

How much money have you spent on league? Why did a rioter tell you to leave the game? Do you have the link?

PryotraFeb 7, 20151 votes

Don't know exactly, but clearly too much. I can always submit a ticket asking how much, but I see little point. I've been here long enough to see MF get released.
Because he disagreed with my point of view, or at least his interpretation of it. Never did respond when I corrected him. Probably because, like I referenced, Pendragon isn't interested in communicating with the playerbase.
http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/miscellaneous/5AidsUWx-why-is-riot-flaming-a-thing?comment=000400010014 My response. You can find the entire thing right from there.

RhlaxFeb 8, 20151 votes

I can't help but feel that you put too much soul into a game. Are you a recent grad?

PryotraFeb 9, 20151 votes

What's "soul"? ;)

If you mean I get over-invested, it's hard not to be when alot of friends and memories were made over a certain game. Easily more than any other game, with Minecraft being the only close second.

As for recent grad, no. Why do you ask?

MajorPain9Feb 4, 20153 votes

Except the only part you are addressing is commenting on your lack of posting. There hasn't been any depth to Red posts in a while.

D1rtFarmerFeb 4, 20151 votes

lol

Miku Lv99Feb 3, 201510 votes

A lot of what they have to say just seems like another veiled in fog excuse to continue doing what they're doing. So It's hard to make out much from a lot of what they say anyways.

Like if you consider what they said about Lee. They won't nerf him since they want a way to make him weaker without taking away how fun he is. It really means that they don't want to make him weaker since they like seeing a lot of him and want him to be OP. Obviously he could have lower AP ratios on at least one of his abilities and still be as fun as he is, and yet it'd make him weaker.

19 19 19Feb 3, 20156 votes

[{quoted}](name=Miku Lv99,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=eqYcEzXN,comment-id=0002,timestamp=2015-02-03T18:34:41.983+0000)

A lot of what they have to say just seems like another veiled in fog excuse to continue doing what they're doing. So It's hard to make out much from a lot of what they say anyways.

Like if you consider what they said about Lee. They won't nerf him since they want a way to make him weaker without taking away how fun he is. It really means that they don't want to make him weaker since they like seeing a lot of him and want him to be OP. Obviously he could have lower AP ratios on at least one of his abilities and still be as fun as he is, and yet it'd make him weaker.

They won't EVER nerf Lee or Zed because they want LCS Profit.

PhifeFeb 3, 20157 votes

they dont care about what you have to say.

ForgiveColourFeb 3, 20156 votes

i would care less with bronze+silver balancing LOL im just here tryin to get hydrated with their tears

KüramaFeb 6, 20151 votes

Leave please.

TotalJerkFeb 3, 20155 votes

The boards: FUCK RIOT RIOT IS SO RETARDED AND EVIL I BET I WONT GET A RED POST SEE NO RED I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT RIOT RIOT IS LITERALLY HITLER WHERE'S RED RIOT DOESN'T LISTEN WHEN I POST MIDDLE FINGERS PICS

Then a red eventually posts, and the boards immediately takes their statement out of context to keep fueling their crying and raging. Or even better: they reply to one thing, and the people who were complaining about other things get pissed because their gripes weren't addressed first.

After making a change based on feedback, the boards will either rage because it wasn't the change THEY wanted, or they'll completely ignore it and find something else to rage about.

RiotGhostcrawlerFeb 6, 20154 votes

Hire one or two people to be dedicated to answering the forums. They can get the rundown from the teams that actually work on the issues and then explain it to the people on the forum.

This can work, but I have also seen it not work well plenty of times before too. The main challenge is that the designers have to spend so much time explaining their thoughts that they might as well just post directly anyway. Now, I'll call out someone like Pwyff who is so engaged with the game and understands the designer mindset so well, that he can communicate really effectively.

19 19 19Feb 6, 20151 votes

{quoted}

This can work, but I have also seen it not work well plenty of times before too. The main challenge is that the designers have to spend so much time explaining their thoughts that they might as well just post directly anyway. Now, I'll call out someone like Pwyff who is so engaged with the game and understands the designer mindset so well, that he can communicate really effectively.

Yes, lets discuss about Shyvana and Nocturne with this.

RetillinFeb 6, 20153 votes

Well why not have this "one person" (person A) jot down ideas that he/she sees on the boards and them take them to the correct people inside Riot (person B) and show them the post. Allow Person B to write a reply either on the boards, or give the reply to Person A.

I know it's frustrating when we see "not my area of skill/knowledge". But that person is trying. For the past year communication on the boards has felt (hard to really put it into numbers) lonely. The only posts are the fun ones. When was the last time a Riot even posted on the Balance forms? (2 in the past day and again one was on a "fun" post. And one was Meddler talking about Trundle (really, trundle?). Not the large number of Lee Sin posts (at some point an explanation needs to come out as to why he's a top 3 LCS pick and allowed to be while everyone has been nerfed and had down times) that we see every day.

KüramaFeb 6, 20151 votes

Or one person from each team can take a few hours each day to post on the Boards. Or a more effective way, let multiple persons from the team read the boards to be able to respond to large volume of feedback.

SilvanossFeb 3, 20152 votes

They don't have the manpower to respond to every thread. Responding to threads deteriorates the quality of any thread, discussion comes to a standstill and it becomes riot pls almost instantly. It's better for them to sit in the darkness reading threads

KüramaFeb 6, 20151 votes

And then we feel ignored and Riot can lose customers like that.

Drunk RummateFeb 3, 20151 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNJL6nfu__Q

RetillinFeb 3, 20151 votes

When I first started coming to the boards, about 3 years ago, I just lurked without signing in. At that point I had been playing for about 1 year. Just wanted to see how things where.

When they updated the boards I started to come a bit more, and I just stayed logged in. I never really wanted to say anything, because frankly I thought those who posted were just whinny (especially in gameplay and balance).

But I have been posting a bit now. Because I've come to see that only by yelling and screaming from the mountain top do you ever get acknowledge. But the more I post the more I understand that Riot doesn't care what is posted. If you take away someone like Riot KateyKhaos you see just a hand full of posts per day. Ignoring the publicity posts (Q&A posts) that number is lower. And again the ones that do post are on "fun" non game play topics.

Riot doesn't care, Riot doesn't pretend to care, Riot could not possibly care less. There are just as many "meaningful" posts on reddit. And they don't bother to explain themselves when something gets a lot of points/views/replies.

chipi99Feb 3, 20151 votes

They have a life.

19 19 19Feb 3, 20151 votes

He hasn't come back '-'

BADxW0LFFeb 4, 20151 votes

Ummm...they have a job to do. Would you rather them work on the game? Or comment on every single individual thread?

SerageFeb 4, 20153 votes

You know how big RIOT is? They should a lot of people have there just for something like this ^^. Im selfemployed and the main job is to communicate with the customers...

Sir TiddlesFeb 4, 20152 votes

[{quoted}](name=Serage Akali Top,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=eqYcEzXN,comment-id=000a0000,timestamp=2015-02-04T09:14:05.310+0000)

You know how big RIOT is? They should a lot of people have there just for something like this ^^. Im selfemployed and the main job is to communicate with the customers...

Other large gaming companies are much better at this. It is one of the reasons Blizzard has such a die-hard fan base. On more than one occasion I posted in the forums for Diablo 2/3, WoW, Starcraft -- and I got a Blizzard response with either an in-depth explanation (or a link to the explanation that was already posted) or response saying this is good feedback here is how we will address it.

I've done my fair share of posting in the forums here, but Riot has not responded to any of them. I want to point this out again, that there was a Cass thread on old GD that was literally hundreds of pages long, and the bulk of the comments were "we do not like the direction of the Cass rework, it isn't just that she is now weak" but that sentiment, by far the largest one expressed, has yet to be even acknowledged. And beyond the first handful of pages, Stashu and other Reds simply stopped replying to anything. It is not good customer service to pointedly ignore the most common issue raised from player feedback, and instead only respond with shallow posts saying "Thanks, I'm glad you like the rework", especially when the majority of people do NOT like the rework.

BADxW0LFFeb 4, 20151 votes

Keep in mind they also aren't going to respond to every thread that is similar to another one they have already commented on.

And I don't think the employee base is as big as you think. I just searched and they have 1,000 as of 2013. So that was 2 years ago, let's assume that has grown to maybe 1,200. Cool. Take into account all of the different teams/departments that they have and the many different locations (so have to consider a language barrier at times). They may be big, but everyone has their own dedicated job. I would much rather have them work on the game more than they are on here wasting time commenting. Do they need to comment more? Yes. Do they need to comment on every single thread to let you know that they have read it? Absolutely not. I could see maybe a little notification that they can check whenever they read something to let us know. They will end up sounding like a broken record if they comment on everything.

They have also mentioned that they don't necessarily want to comment on something they aren't 100% knowledgeable on. They would rather you hear it from the source. But the source is the one doing all of the hard work so they may not have much free time on their hands. I get the feeling that a lot of people in this community don't know the amount of time and effort it takes to program every single detail of every champ/item/turret/etc in this game.

Also keep in mind that they have their jobs because they come up with good ideas on their own. It's not all about our ideas. Otherwise they could just pick up any programmer they wanted who has no vision whatsoever for the game. Sure, they may come here to get a few ideas, but they don't have to comment on every single individual thread. It gets repetitive. It makes more sense to just go to one more popular thread with similar questions and post their. But people seem to think they have to make their own post on the topic every time before looking to see if it is already being discussed. I'm sure Riot tends to look at the more "Hot" topics as opposed to every single new thread out there. And if there are multiple "Hot" topics of the same topic, they will comment on the most popular. That's how I would do it, anyway. Makes more sense to comment on something more people are following.

LeNinjaMaladroitFeb 6, 20151 votes

I think that you are confused, if the developers read every single post on the boards, they would not have time to work on the game at all. Instead they have people for that but they may not always post a reply, I know that I read many posts and dont comment on them, so cut them some slack and let them do their jobs