A Guide to Kvetching Reasonably and Charitably

This is a set of guidelines that may be helpful when calling for nerfs against the flavor-of-the-month broken champion. I've seen quite a few of these lately, and most have sounded a little bit shrill and whiny. They were very hard to take seriously, and they tended to cultivate a toxic atmosphere in the thread. My goal is to improve the discussion of balance by offering tools that will help us all sound a little bit less ridiculous and angsty.

1. If your title is in all caps, wait a day or two before posting Obviously, there are a lot of strong feelings here. Perhaps you just came out of a really rough game against a champion you find generally frustrating. It happens. But, calm down before you post about it.

2. Consider the champion in question Teemo, Blitzcrank, Heimerdinger, Master Yi. These champs all have one thing in common. They dominate players who don't know how to counter them. Consequently, we get a lot of threads exclaiming that they're OP. But there's a reason no one picks these champs at higher levels of play, and it's usually not because they've been banned. Each of these champs enforces a mechanical skill. If you're bad at that skill, you will suffer for it. For example, Blitzcrank is amazing when he can land a hook on targets that are out of position. But he doesn't offer much to his team if you position properly. Heimerdinger is great at pushing lanes, but struggles in late game teamfights, because he relies so heavily on his turrets. And so on, and so forth.

3. Consider the volume of posts on the champion in question So maybe Lee Sin is OP. But the fact that there are about 40 threads a day pointing this out means that probably every Riot employee who frequents this thread has a subconscious filter that files every thread about him in a mental spam folder. Until that filter is no longer necessary, your post just won't get through. Sorry.

4. Try playing the champion in question After a few games, once you get a feel for their abilities and play style, you'll start to notice what mistakes that champion is able to abuse. You'll also get a feel for the risks the champion takes to receive the benefits of their kit. Consequently, you'll have a better idea of what to avoid, and what to exploit, the next time you lane against that champ.

5. Do a little research I was in a blind pick normals game a little while ago as Twisted Fate. It was my first time playing him on Summoner's Rift, and I was matched against a LeBlanc. Needless to say, I fed hard, and it was miserable. But that's not a reason to come on the boards and complaining about LeBlanc being OP. Not only was it my first time trying to play mid-lane seriously, but I happened to land in a matchup where I was countered hard. I found this out, not only by playing the match, but also by talking to a friend who plays TF a lot, and by looking online to see who TF generally counters, and who counters him. You can also look into other questions, such as, what to build against that champ, what strategy works well against them, what picks work well against them, and more.

6. Always be polite It would actually be funny, if it weren't so sad, to see people accusing Riot of being incompetent, greedy garbage while simultaneously begging them to buff their favorite champ or nerf one they don't like. That's silly. Don't trashtalk the hand that buffs you! Yeah, they're a business and they want to make money. But Riot employees seem be really nice guys and gals who truly want to help this community be positive and this game be fun. Sure, they'll make mistakes. Who doesn't? And sure, it's on us to tell them what we, the players (and, incidentally, customers) think is imbalanced, and what we like. But ripping on them is usually not a good way to be heard. Raise your complaint, but do it respectfully and keep your tone friendly.

Hopefully this helps. If you have other tips, post them in the comments. If they're good, I'll add them.