A point of view from someone who has invested a lot of money into this game

First off, I'm sharing a screenshot of the total amount of money I have spent on this game. This is being done so that this post does not come off as being made by someone who is simply looking for entitlements or free handouts from Riot.

Now then, I have made it very clear that I am extremely disappointed in Riot for the changes they have made to currency gain/expense since Preseason hit. After reading the FAQ they released beforehand about the upcoming changes, I authored a post here on the forums forewarning players about how we would earn less currency under the new system. I honestly wish I was wrong, but it is all too obvious that Riot did these changes in order to make our free currencies more difficult to obtain and keep.

The following has been very clear since the preseason patch:

• We receive BE at a slower rate than we received IP if we play multiple matches a day
• The disenchant value for Orange Shards has been cut by 50%, but we receive them at the same rate
• The cost to upgrade to Mastery 6/7 has been increased by 650% for absolutely no reason at all
• The BE Emporium is a sandtrap that is meant to tempt players with large currency pools to deplete their reserves

The initial rewards from Level Up Capsules was so low that Riot had to hotfix the system so that the minimum reward would be 810 BE. However, even in most of the capsules we get now we receive multiple 450 champion shards. This means that we will have to pay full price for most of the more expensive champions, as well for Mastery upgrades unless we are lucky enough to get specific shards. This would have been absolutely fine if Riot was to nerf BE as it was under the Hextech Crafting system IF BE had remained separate from IP. In the new system, we depend on the value of the Blue Shards for our currency and for the increased cost of Mastery upgrades, so repeatedly getting 450 champions is harmful to the playerbase in the long run even if the combined value is higher.

We all understand that Riot Games is a business, and they need to make enough money in order to keep this game running and to keep supplying us with new content. However, it is very insulting when we receive a huge hit to our currency system and are then lied to about intentions, the rate that we will earn BE, the graphs and charts they show us that are very unrealistic for most of the playerbase, and especially when we are constantly told that the only thing wrong with the system is our perception of it.

I'm not sure about anyone else, but when I have time off and can spend it playing League, I can play for many hours at a time. I have been a gamer since a young child, and my first console was the original Nintendo Entertainment System. The world of video games has change a great deal since then, but my love of wasting countless hours for the simple satisfaction that I won a game has never diminished.

The point I'm getting to is that Riot's data models for how much BE we receive in comparison to IP under the old system is entirely unrealistic. I looked through my Match History and took some notes, and then did some math on the numbers I got. Basically, I was able to come up with the averages for how much XP we earn now and how much IP we earned in the old system. By finding out how much XP/IP we would earn per second, I was able to make my own comparisons. In a nutshell, if you're a binge-gamer like me and can grind out an entire level in one day, in the amount of time you spent to get the XP necessary to earn one level just to get a capsule that is likely to be valued at 810 or 900 BE, you would have earned an average of 350 more IP in that timeframe under the old currency system. 350 more IP per day adds up very quickly. [This math includes FWOTD values for both XP and IP. Final numbers are based on average gains in PvP matches with both wins and losses.]

The truth is that the new currency system hurts players like me the most: Players who love to game and are willing to sink their hard-earned money into it because they love it so much. I have already purchase much game content including skins (also all four ultimate skins), Hextech bundles, mission passes, IP boosts, and other odds and ends. The unfortunate reality is that Riot's greed is going to cost them my business, and perhaps the business of other die hard fans. Sure, I'll still play the game because I absolutely love it, but I'm not going to continue to sink my money into a game I can no longer support because the company behind it is starting to show bad business ethics.

If Riot really wants players like me - players who love the game and love to spend money on it - to spend more money on RP, then all they need to do is create content that makes me want to purchase RP. To be brutally honest, it has been a while since I've seen such content (although I absolutely had to drop $10 for the emote bundle!), and I feel like Riot is dropping the ball a little bit on the quality of the skins they put out. I think the last skin I was very excited about was Elementalist Lux, and I can't remember the last Legendary skin being released that I gave a rating higher than "meh."

Unfortunately, Riot seems to be turning to the failed model of other companies by making us depend on the mercy of RNGesus as we open our loot crates.

I truly hope that Riot can work with the playerbase to come up with a good solution for everyone. Riot has shown us time and again that they are willing to listen to us, but now we need to see just how willing they truly are to be fair and kind to their biggest supporters. I'm not a streamer who gets tons of donations (yet), and I have to work very hard for my dollar, but that doesn't stop me from supporting the game I love to play most. What will kill my desire to spend money on RP is this system that only benefits Riot and their very deceptive and condescending responses that they have given us thus far.

I have already quit one game this year because of greedy business models, and I was a 13 year veteran of that game with the same account as when I registered. I don't want League of Legends to be the next game I decide to quit playing, but Riot really needs to take responsibility for their failing replacement for the currency system and take affirmative action.