Thanks for the memories, League

Until recently I had been an avid League player. Support/mid main, where I enjoyed moderate success as a Silver rank. Recently though, League has done more harm than good for me, and though I've tried to play and work through my issues with the game, I find that I'm unable to. So here's my parting thoughts:

We can debate all day about the changes made in previous years about how the juggernaut meta or the adc major re-works were steps on a slippery slope to the slums (yay for alliteration). Yes Riot wanted to make each champion feel unique, but that resulted in several champs such as and (may we never forget when he was top tier in 3 positions) vastly overpowered. Then came the major item reworks in conjunction with other small patches that resulted in the great /devourer fiasco of 2016. Never since release had , , or gone so uncontested in the jungle, snowballing games and able to single-handedly carry their team to victory. And now (or at least as of 6 or so weeks ago), we are still at one of the most polar states I've ever seen in this game. I agree that in any MOBA, there are going to be some characters that are slightly stronger than others at different times, but the amount of separation between the god tier and the lower tier champs is astounding. Fan faves like , , and of course sata- I mean - are never nerfed effectively, picked constantly, and make counter play useless and the overall game boring and monotonous.

Now I'm not going to rant on Dynamic Queue, but I feel it's worth saying so it shows I'm trying to view the state of the game from all angles. Dynamic Queue was awful at first, we've basically all agreed on that. But we've come to accept the inevitable and Riot has patiently put up with our shit and fixed a lot of the problems. Not that it by any means is better than normal queue was before in my opinion, but still, it is more aesthetically pleasing and nice to have set roles.

Let's talk about community at this point though. The amount of threads people post now about how people are flaming at them in game, calling them retards, suggesting they kill themselves, hurling the constant insults at an unknown person from who knows where simply because they hit a wrong key at a wrong time? Aside from the disregard for any morality or humane treatment of fellow players, the League community is threatening to become the new DOTA community, one of disdain and harsh neglect of any who are new or inexperienced among us. League used to be a place I could go to relax and make friends, but now it's too stressful to enjoy. Especially as a support main, and now everyone flames the support for roaming, not picking a tank, trying someone new, or missing a skill shot. That just gets really old and disheartening, when I'm good at support and like to play there, but I never feel appreciated in that role.

So I guess my question is: Is League any better now than it has been recently, and if not, what are we going to do about it? I loved playing the game, and I really don't want to give it up in the long term. I could almost deal with the yasuo/zed picks every game, but the flames when I play Bard and go off to collect chimes, or pick a non-conventional support like maokai, I just am met with pessimism and frustration by teammates that makes the game not worth it. So that's why I've left League. I hope it gets better one day and I can return, but until then, thanks for the (mostly good) memories.