This game is slowly losing players

MOuHahaHAhahaaaa·Mar 27, 2019·12 votes·4,337 views

I’m studying at University and I knew a lot of students playing LoL and it was a lot of hours a week.

Now I barely know 5 people still playing it. Most switched over other games because Riot never took into consideration player’s thoughts and complains.

One of my friends told me that he was disgusted with last season but what made his final choice was the client state... he was hopeless with the fact that riot wins billions and can’t hire competent people to fix the client. Apparently the cow hasn’t been milked enough.

Others just say you don’t play for one or two weeks and the game completely changed which was not false last season.

Riot will not be able to milk LoL anymore without players. I expect them to use some milk to hire people to fix things like the client and people to analyse player’s complains...

Some stopped to play but still enjoy watching the game. And that’s what lol is becoming a video on demand entertainment instead of a game. Nowadays the number of players seem to decrease over the number of viewers.

43 Comments

FOR JUSTICEMar 27, 20197 votes

People have been saying this since s3.

Plus, your personal friends moving on isn't really representative of the player base as a whole. Your "a lot" could be at most like 30

MOuHahaHAhahaaaaMar 27, 20196 votes

[{quoted}](name=FOR JUSTICE,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=mKsOI3In,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2019-03-27T13:15:13.184+0000)

People have been saying this since s3.

Plus, your personal friends moving on isn't really representative of the player base as a whole.

Riot made 2.4 billions in 2017 in 2018 it only made 1.7 billions... so yeah not losing players ... season 8 was a disaster and this season feels the same way a little better...

ZephyrDrakeMar 27, 20192 votes

{quoted}

Riot made 2.4 billions in 2017 in 2018 it only made 1.7 billions... so yeah not losing players ... season 8 was a disaster and this season feels the same way a little better...

it's not like there's a whole new fad or anything that happened on 2018. You speak like absolutely nothing happened outside the game that would make people leave. You speak like only season 8 and only season 8 is responsible for Riot making less money.

MOuHahaHAhahaaaaMar 27, 20195 votes

{quoted}

it's not like there's a whole new fad or anything that happened on 2018. You speak like absolutely nothing happened outside the game that would make people leave. You speak like only season 8 and only season 8 is responsible for Riot making less money.

I see the numbers. Less people playing = less RP bought = less incomes.

1.7<2.4 = less players.

AeroWaffleMar 27, 20192 votes

You didn't address Zephyr's point at all.

ZephyrDrakeMar 27, 20195 votes

{quoted}

I see the numbers. Less people playing = less RP bought = less incomes.

1.7<2.4 = less players.

ok... did you even bother reading at all? you speak like only season 8 had anything to do with there being less players. That is not how the gaming industry works, that is not how people work. Fortnite exploded, a bunch of brand new great games were released, people catching on Pubg and overwatch happened. Most people will gravitate towards the shiny new thing on the block, that is how people work. League is an old game, a game whose fad went on for way longer than normal. The "new and cool thing" isn't MOBAs anymore but battle royal. Guess what most people will go to now? battle royal games. You severely underestimate the power of "hey dudes this is the next new cool thing on the block!" syndrome... thing and severely overestimate what season 8 did as a whole

FOR JUSTICEMar 27, 20193 votes

{quoted}

I see the numbers. Less people playing = less RP bought = less incomes.

1.7<2.4 = less players.

problem with this train of thought is that you're not considering the fact that league of legends is a free to play moba. no one is forced to buy anything. less income just means not many people bought something, not necessarily that there are less players, because the player base can remain the same size and just not buy anything. this could be due to multitudes of other factors, such as less money to spend, boring content, etc.

therefore less money cant really be correlated to less players.

The Bad TouchMar 27, 20192 votes

[{quoted}](name=FOR JUSTICE,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=mKsOI3In,comment-id=00000000000000000002,timestamp=2019-03-27T14:03:24.531+0000)

problem with this train of thought is that you're not considering the fact that league of legends is a free to play moba. no one is forced to buy anything. less income just means not many people bought something, not necessarily that there are less players, because the player base can remain the same size and just not buy anything. this could be due to multitudes of other factors, such as less money to spend, boring content, etc.

therefore less money cant really be correlated to less players.

No but my entire friends list quitting sure as hell does.

FOR JUSTICEMar 27, 20191 votes

cant correlate that to quitting either because it could just be them playing on alts or being banned and creating new ones.

The Bad TouchMar 27, 20191 votes

{quoted}

Riot made 2.4 billions in 2017 in 2018 it only made 1.7 billions... so yeah not losing players ... season 8 was a disaster and this season feels the same way a little better...

Actually it is losing players even faster than that shows.... they are charging 4x as much for skins as they used to after all.

ZephyrDrakeMar 27, 20192 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Bad Touch,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=mKsOI3In,comment-id=000000000001,timestamp=2019-03-27T15:03:59.005+0000)

Actually it is losing players even faster than that shows.... they are charging 4x as much for skins as they used to after all.

you do know that change happened this year right? and he is talking about last year? and not every place was affected by the change either...

The Bad TouchMar 27, 20191 votes

{quoted}

you do know that change happened this year right? and he is talking about last year? and not every place was affected by the change either...

When I started league even the nice skins were $10 and often went on sale. Most skins were $1.5-$5.

Pretty much the game went to hell when Chinese bought it. Hasn't been worth two shits since. The only reason it's hung on so long was they had a great game to begin with, and it took them a while to run it into the ground.

FOR JUSTICEMar 27, 20193 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Bad Touch,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=mKsOI3In,comment-id=00000000000100000000,timestamp=2019-03-27T15:11:58.421+0000)

When I started league even the nice skins were $10 and often went on sale. Most skins were $1.5-$5.

Pretty much the game went to hell when Chinese bought it. Hasn't been worth two shits since. The only reason it's hung on so long was they had a great game to begin with, and it took them a while to run it into the ground.

but you do realize it isnt always "them losing players" that makes companies drive up prices?

inflation and currency values are a thing.

The Bad TouchMar 27, 20191 votes

[{quoted}](name=FOR JUSTICE,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=mKsOI3In,comment-id=000000000001000000000000,timestamp=2019-03-27T15:16:48.915+0000)

but you do realize it isnt always "them losing players" that makes them drive up prices?

inflation and currency values are a thing.

I most certainly do. Guess what? Doesn't apply here.

$5 in 2009 is worth $5.89 in 2019.

Exactly how old are you? I remember when I started smoking a pack of Marb Reds was $1.79.

ZephyrDrakeMar 27, 20192 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Bad Touch,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=mKsOI3In,comment-id=00000000000100000000,timestamp=2019-03-27T15:11:58.421+0000)

When I started league even the nice skins were $10 and often went on sale. Most skins were $1.5-$5.

Pretty much the game went to hell when Chinese bought it. Hasn't been worth two shits since. The only reason it's hung on so long was they had a great game to begin with, and it took them a while to run it into the ground.

so... game went to hell at around the time the game wasn't even at it's peak, then reached it's peak and stayed there for quite a while. Do people just like blaming Tencent for everything? without doing the most basic of research into it? Hell it was Tencent the one who even made League happen in the first place. Thanks for your lack of basic research I guess

The Bad TouchMar 27, 20192 votes

{quoted}

so... game went to hell at around the time the game wasn't even at it's peak, then reached it's peak and stayed there for quite a while. Do people just like blaming Tencent for everything? without doing the most basic of research into it? Hell it was Tencent the one who even made League happen in the first place. Thanks for your lack of basic research I guess

They put in a couple million dollar investment. It wasn't until 2011 that they made a major investment, and 2015 before they took the reins and drove it into the ground. 2015 = when Riot sold out... and it shows.

Investment funding companies don't make for great gameplay, sorry. They got greedy, but no effort into balance, and milked LoL for every ten-cent they could. The balance team is barebones as fuck, while most of the money goes into making new skins to sell.

Thus the gameplay suffered.

When GAMERS runs a game it's Gameplay over Money. When an INVESTMENT FIRM runs a game it's Money over Gameplay. Doesn't get any more simple than that.

ZephyrDrakeMar 27, 20191 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Bad Touch,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=mKsOI3In,comment-id=0000000000010000000000010000,timestamp=2019-03-27T15:25:14.735+0000)

They put in a couple million dollar investment. It wasn't until 2011 that they made a major investment, and 2015 before they took the reins and drove it into the ground. 2015 = when Riot sold out... and it shows.

Investment funding companies don't make for great gameplay, sorry. They got greedy, but no effort into balance, and milked LoL for every ten-cent they could. The balance team is barebones as fuck, while most of the money goes into making new skins to sell.

Thus the gameplay suffered.

When GAMERS runs a game it's Gameplay over Money. When an INVESTMENT FIRM runs a game it's Money over Gameplay. Doesn't get any more simple than that.

oh right! when it's gamers the company would disappear with little trace of it ever existing. Tencent is the reason League ever got as popular as it did. You can deny it all you want. Means nothing, the facts are there. You can complain about tencent all you want. You can blame investors all you want. Hell Tencent wanted to do something else that Riot refused to do so what did Tencent did? they did it themselves and it saw pretty decent success considering it was a mobile game. Keep sending me your tencent tears please

The Bad TouchMar 27, 20191 votes

{quoted}

oh right! when it's gamers the company would disappear with little trace of it ever existing. Tencent is the reason League ever got as popular as it did. You can deny it all you want. Means nothing, the facts are there. You can complain about tencent all you want. You can blame investors all you want. Hell Tencent wanted to do something else that Riot refused to do so what did Tencent did? they did it themselves and it saw pretty decent success considering it was a mobile game. Keep sending me your tencent tears please

Right because NO OTHER COMPANY.... on the planet.. would have funded them.

What a wonderful argument you have there.

ZephyrDrakeMar 27, 20191 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Bad Touch,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=mKsOI3In,comment-id=000000000001000000000001000000000000,timestamp=2019-03-27T22:44:17.747+0000)

Right because NO OTHER COMPANY.... on the planet.. would have funded them.

What a wonderful argument you have there.

considering that no other company did at the time and it was Tencent that did it. Just like if it wasn't for Nintendo there wouldn't be a Bayonetta 2... or 3 do you have anything else to say?

The JigSAWMar 29, 20191 votes

Pre season 2016 is exactly when I pinpointed the downfall too. End of 2015 was the end of its last good year, ever since its never stopped being a bunch of bull Alistar

420 gramsMar 27, 20193 votes

I'll come back when they fix the death recap

The JigSAWMar 27, 20193 votes

I came to LOL six years back with a bunch of friends. Within three years all of them quit for something better.

At this point there needs to be management level changes made to ensure the game gets better - it has to start at the top.

ZephyrDrakeMar 27, 20195 votes

[{quoted}](name=The JigSAW,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=mKsOI3In,comment-id=0004,timestamp=2019-03-27T14:28:09.855+0000)

I came to LOL six years back with a bunch of friends. Within three years all of them quit for something better.

At this point there needs to be management level changes made to ensure the game gets better - it has to start at the top.

wow... this is a new an interesting story. Wanna bet how many times that has happened in every single game in existence? I really want to know why people think that everyone will stick to the same game. Heck from what you are saying they quit at around season 4~5 which was the peak of League. If they quit around that time then nothing anyone would have done would have changed their minds. People move on from games. Why is this such a hard concept to comprehend? I have had friends who were so into certain games but they stopped playing it within a year.

The JigSAWMar 27, 20192 votes

True, people do move on but they also said the same as so many others leaving: Riot doesn't listen, bad balance, bad matchmaking, etc.

The free market works, when a game starts to spiral downward there's many others to go to but it isn't April 23rd yet!

ZephyrDrakeMar 27, 20194 votes

[{quoted}](name=The JigSAW,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=mKsOI3In,comment-id=000400000000,timestamp=2019-03-27T14:41:57.763+0000)

True, people do move on but they also said the same as so many others leaving: Riot doesn't listen, bad balance, bad matchmaking, etc.

The free market works, when a game starts to spiral downward there's many others to go to but it isn't April 23rd yet!

"riot doesn't listen" love seeing this. They listen, most of season 8 was them listening. But ofc if it's not a change for the positive it's always "they don't listen we told them so!" no, stop even pretending. Bad matchmaking? show me proof of bad matchmaking and not just salty people who lost a game and think that they should win every single game. "bad balancing" where? you not liking something doesn't mean "it's bad balancing". This is an old game that isn't even part of the current fad. People move on. The game could be exactly the same as season X (insert your "best" season here) and people would still leave for the shiny new thing that is around which is fortnite and battle royals in general. Love when people just want to completely focus on one thing like it's only that one thing that is responsible for everything. Guess what? it's not, it never is and it never will be. That's like having the flu and just focusing on the coughing part of it. You can deal with the coughing doesn't mean you are dealing with the flu itself

The JigSAWMar 29, 20191 votes

Riot -doesn't- listen.

Nerf Yi and Yasuo
Add regular URF back to the game rotation
Return Team Builder for normals
Please stop making everything with borders/icons and over 1350 RP
Nerf movement speed bonuses on melee champs that allow them to build two items and zip faster than Lulu on her W after your champion and destroy them
Bring back the Harrowing event/lore each Halloween
Stop changing the lore/history of the champions

That's 7 examples right there.

Proof of bad matchmaking? How about an eight day period from July 12-20th 2018 when I and others got stuck in regular normal blinds against gold plat and diamond players? The majority of the teams were comprised of unranked-silver vs these people. It was reported, again and again, Riot didn't say anything, and suddenly it got resolved. Again, no communication - that's one example. I could post many examples but if you don't believe them, there is no point.

There's several factors, but the main one is a balance team that doesn't work. These are the same people who believed making an assassin a "support" champion was a good idea (as much as I love Pyke, he's an assassin period.) and class reworks all at the same time in 2016 were great ideas (juggernauts, mages, ADC, tank, assassin) - most of which were reverted like 5.0 A.S Kog'Maw, Sigil of Uselessness Leblanc, Duskblade 350 on-hit physical damage/original mini Zed ult passive, Infinity Edge, Phantom Dancer, etc etc.

MOuHahaHAhahaaaaMar 27, 20192 votes

{quoted}

wow... this is a new an interesting story. Wanna bet how many times that has happened in every single game in existence? I really want to know why people think that everyone will stick to the same game. Heck from what you are saying they quit at around season 4~5 which was the peak of League. If they quit around that time then nothing anyone would have done would have changed their minds. People move on from games. Why is this such a hard concept to comprehend? I have had friends who were so into certain games but they stopped playing it within a year.

The complain is that the gameplay from the original LoL has been alienated by changes made for the sake of competitivity and for the Asian market... 30-45min games went to 20-30min games. A strategy game went to full flashy quick plays, lots of snowball and tons of damage. Tanks became pieces of meat getting depop in 1.5 sec. New champions make old champions irrelevant because of overloaded kits...

ZephyrDrakeMar 27, 20194 votes

{quoted}

The complain is that the gameplay from the original LoL has been alienated by changes made for the sake of competitivity and for the Asian market... 30-45min games went to 20-30min games. A strategy game went to full flashy quick plays, lots of snowball and tons of damage. Tanks became pieces of meat getting depop in 1.5 sec. New champions make old champions irrelevant because of overloaded kits...

the complain is nothing. Even if everything stayed the same people would still leave the game.

real ez99Aug 4, 20191 votes

{quoted}

wow... this is a new an interesting story. Wanna bet how many times that has happened in every single game in existence? I really want to know why people think that everyone will stick to the same game. Heck from what you are saying they quit at around season 4~5 which was the peak of League. If they quit around that time then nothing anyone would have done would have changed their minds. People move on from games. Why is this such a hard concept to comprehend? I have had friends who were so into certain games but they stopped playing it within a year.

you are very narrow minded. the amount of new players should account for potential loses of old players. the point of improvement is to slow down the rate of leaving old players and increase the amount of coming new players. if the overall na player base is plummeting, than naturally it means that more ppl quitting than ppl picking the game up. that's the problem. the game is going down the toilet and there's lack of new players

The Bad TouchMar 27, 20191 votes

[{quoted}](name=The JigSAW,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=mKsOI3In,comment-id=0004,timestamp=2019-03-27T14:28:09.855+0000)

I came to LOL six years back with a bunch of friends. Within three years all of them quit for something better.

At this point there needs to be management level changes made to ensure the game gets better - it has to start at the top.

Not a single person I placed with before season 5 still plays.

Only one from season 5 still plays.

I quit myself a couple weeks ago and barely played for months before that.

ZephyrDrakeMar 27, 20192 votes

you do know that people move on from online games all the time right?

DeguellóMay 10, 20191 votes

{quoted}

you do know that people move on from online games all the time right?

If it gets any further down your throat it's gonna come out your shoe.

Ahri BakaMar 27, 20191 votes

It doesn't really matter And it won't stop people from spending money on it just because it has less players I have games that got less than 0.1% of LOL players yet I still spend my money on those games too

Dope SoloMar 27, 20191 votes

I wouldn't say it's been slow at all. There was a fairly noticeable dropoff during season 8. It picked up some when the season started, but it seems like it slumped again.

Demacıan JustıceMar 27, 20191 votes

1.7 Billion in 2018 2.4 Billion in 2017

100 Million people played roughly during the 2017 season An upwards of 120 Million people played during 2018

Your numbers of money might be correct, but your assumption to say less people play league because league made less money one year as opposed to another year is wildly inaccurate.

Demacıan JustıceMar 27, 20191 votes

32.5 million players in 2011 70 million players in 2012 11.5 million monthly players in 2011 to 67 million monthly in 2014

Edit: 90 Million in 2015 Couldn't find exact numbers for every year, but going off of what Riot has came out and publicly said

over 100Million Active Players monthly in 2016 100 Million 2017 120 Million 2018

The Bad TouchMar 27, 20191 votes

[{quoted}](name=Demacıan Justıce,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=mKsOI3In,comment-id=0007,timestamp=2019-03-27T21:07:25.126+0000)

32.5 million players in 2011 70 million players in 2012 11.5 million monthly players in 2011 to 67 million monthly in 2014

Edit: 90 Million in 2015 Couldn't find exact numbers for every year, but going off of what Riot has came out and publicly said

over 100Million Active Players monthly in 2016 100 Million 2017 120 Million 2018

The numbers only go up after 2015 due to smurf/alt accounts. Less players, more accounts. You'll likely notice a sharp increase in account numbers around the time ARAM came out as well.

ZephyrDrakeMar 27, 20191 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Bad Touch,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=mKsOI3In,comment-id=00070000,timestamp=2019-03-27T22:46:39.630+0000)

The numbers only go up after 2015 due to smurf/alt accounts. Less players, more accounts. You'll likely notice a sharp increase in account numbers around the time ARAM came out as well.

do you have any proof of this? please show numbers of alt accounts instead of tinfoil arguments

The Bad TouchMar 27, 20191 votes

{quoted}

do you have any proof of this? please show numbers of alt accounts instead of tinfoil arguments

Easy. Go play ARAM. Take a look at the champ spread. OP.gg every Morg/Raka/Sona/Ziggs/Fiddle/Lux/Karthus ect you play with/against. Look at their match history. Pretty easy to notice the sheer numbers of ARAM accounts.

Wanna see smurf accounts? Try Youtube. Not hard to find a million and one smurf vids. Hell I've had 6 or 7 accounts now myself for various reasons. Hell every time someone eats a punishment they just roll a new account to dick around on. People also made AURF accounts en-mass.

Seriously... why is it anyone using their brain is a "tin-foil" argument. You strike me as the type that would need 5 types of proof that someone was beating your ass before you'd notice you were missing teeth.

ZephyrDrakeMar 27, 20191 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Bad Touch,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=mKsOI3In,comment-id=0007000000000000,timestamp=2019-03-27T23:16:57.249+0000)

Easy. Go play ARAM. Take a look at the champ spread. OP.gg every Morg/Raka/Sona/Ziggs/Fiddle/Lux/Karthus ect you play with/against. Look at their match history. Pretty easy to notice the sheer numbers of ARAM accounts.

Wanna see smurf accounts? Try Youtube. Not hard to find a million and one smurf vids. Hell I've had 6 or 7 accounts now myself for various reasons. Hell every time someone eats a punishment they just roll a new account to dick around on. People also made AURF accounts en-mass.

Seriously... why is it anyone using their brain is a "tin-foil" argument. You strike me as the type that would need 5 types of proof that someone was beating your ass before you'd notice you were missing teeth.

show me NUMBERS! show me that the number of new accounts are what you say they are. You have said nothing and continue to say nothing. You can have all the accounts you want. You are doing nothing more than using tinfoil arguments. Nothing more nothing else. Show me numbers or don't reply to me. End of conversation

The Bad TouchMar 29, 20191 votes

{quoted}

show me NUMBERS! show me that the number of new accounts are what you say they are. You have said nothing and continue to say nothing. You can have all the accounts you want. You are doing nothing more than using tinfoil arguments. Nothing more nothing else. Show me numbers or don't reply to me. End of conversation

Show me your numbers? Other than marketing propoganda released by Riot. I want a post showing the status of every "ACTIVE" account name, with cross references proving they have all played a game recently. Unless only a tiny tiny percentage of LoL players ever play ranked.... which I highly doubt as the vast majority of of people I have ever played with have ranked games to show for their time in the game except specific and obvious ARAM accounts then any stats webpage like op.gg will very quickly debunk that 100,000,000 claim.

FOR JUSTICEMar 27, 20191 votes

the keyword being "active" accounts. 100 million in 2016.

The Bad TouchMar 29, 20191 votes

[{quoted}](name=FOR JUSTICE,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=mKsOI3In,comment-id=000700000001,timestamp=2019-03-27T23:26:27.048+0000)

the keyword being "active" accounts. 100 million in 2016.

Yeh and guess what they wrinkle cream really really REALLY works! Here is the results. Look at how they disappear in seconds!

Marketing my friend.