This isn't a post about Quinn, per say.
I just wanted to post this in a place where the community at large could see it. As many of you know, preseason 6 is just around a corner and with that new preseason many new changes are coming. Among those changes [arguably the biggest changes] are coming to the adc's, the majority of which are beneficial, however then we get to Quinn and Valor. I know, this discussion is not about her in particular, but to get to the meat of the issue here we have to go over the changes which are being pushed onto them. On live Quinn and Valor are currently off pick champions or oddball champions which aren't picked too often because of their unorthodox play style. The two of them are a tag team which work together in order to out maneuver and outplay opponents through a series of meaningful, consequential and impact-full decisions that the player makes. This is because their kit on live pushes risk reward game play greatly; For example her passive harrier puts a mark on an enemy unit allowing them to do significant bonus damage to that unit, however the catch is that they have to auto the unit in question in order to get that benefit. The decision to go after the enemy unit put Quinn and Valor in a vulnerable position due to their short auto attack range but the calculated pay off is huge. In order to compensate for this vulnerability, Quinn can have Valor blind enemies which may pose a threat to her for a short duration with her Q. Choosing when and who to blind is a decision that could result in Quinn and Valor being vaporized or getting a quadra kill. W is a skill which has Valor scouting for Quinn, helping her become aware as to what enemies could be around her allowing for better decision making rather than just rushing in to proc her passive all the time. E helps Quinn get out of a tight spot and also has Valor mark the target that she back flips off of as vulnerable so that it is easier for Quinn to retaliate against that target. Finally R is the ability that really pushes the tag team idea - as it is literally named "Tag Team". Using this ability causes Quinn to tag out with valor giving the duo a great deal of chasing power as Valor has quite a bit of increased movement speed over Quinn. Additionally, q, w, and e operate differently when Valor tags in [Q is an are of effect blind around Valor rather than being a projectile blind, w gives valor increased attack speed, e is a sort of diving move which lets valor get close to the enemy] and when Quinn tags back in She fires a hail of arrows which does a great amount of damage. Now why did I tell you all this? Most of it is common knowledge, but I wanted to illustrate how the two work together as a tag team and cover for each other's weaknesses as partners, working together to achieve a goal. Why is this important? Well it fulfills the players fantasy of having tag team champions who offer different avenues of play and alternate ways to solve a problem, which honestly feels really good. It feels amazing to be able to flank the enemy team as Valor and pick off their ADC and Ap carry while bursting into a hail of arrows and cutting off the enemies escape route. It feels amazing to outplay the enemy jungler because you held onto your blind until the last possible second and stopped them from killing you which allowed you to back flip and kill them with a vulnerability mark. It felt amazing to trick the enemy team into assuming that you tagged out to Valor only to run away when SURPRISE you're back and they don't know where their carry went. And the main thing about this is that no other champions in this game fulfill this fantasy, doing which was one of riot's main goals as they've stated previously.
http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=3293551 http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=3197509&page=354#post35673339
Now why am I bringing that up? Because with this rework they are killing the tag team fantasy. And the vast majority of the player base [thus far] is being critical to riot for them doing this.
For those who are interested, here is the PBE thread in which the rework is listed, there's quite a bit of discussion going on in there about how this is a negative change for a champion who really didn't need it, but that's not the point of this discussion; what is the point is player feedback, fantasy fulfillment, compromise, and meeting expectations that were agreed upon.
When it comes to fulfilling player fantasy, riot has made it a point as to saying that their champion design is aimed at fulfilling player fantasies on multiple occasions. Why is it that, when the vast majority of the player base of certain odd ball champions like Quinn, Valor and Karma is that objective completely ignored? Why was Karma turned into a very typical Ap Carry? Why are Quinn and Valor being turned into a more stereo typical AD carry with a move steroid? Odd isn't it that when certain champions fall out of line [can't wait till the eventual urgot updates gut his defining characteristics completely] they are changed into a way that fits into the meta, instead of letting them change it. Why is that? Because I don't understand why there's this double standard when it comes to popular and unpopular picks. Why is it that the defining characteristic of Graves [being a shotgun classic western type] is enhanced and when Caitlyn's sniper fantasy is being enhanced, why is it that Quinn and Valor's defining characteristic of being a tag team is being thrown away in favor of being a mid lane roamer? and isn't the mid lane roamer idea filled by the likes of Kassadin, Twisted Fate, and Leblanc well enough? Even Hecarmin fulfills the roaming ganker very well.
When the Quinn and Valor players came into this rework they were told that they'd be worked with in order to achieve a Quinn and Valor who [ weren't the same as the old ones but] still fulfilled the tag team fantasy. They came into this rework with the understanding that they would be heard out and that their concerns wouldn't fall on deaf ears just like the concerns of the Karma fans [game play wise], and yet, somehow, here we are again with changes being shoved down our throats like some kind of sleeping pill that we could do without. And I understand, this is Riot's game and they can do with it and their characters what they want to do, however when you present yourself as a company or game developer which listens to its fans, perhaps you should actually do that when they are opposed to your changes rather than only when it aligns with your opinion. And yes, one could argue that Riot really doesn't listen to its fans and one would have a fair point, as the evidence of it is all over the place [Karma rework, Xerath Lore change, Khazix nerfs, Lore Retconn, Deletion of the League without context, etc]. They regularly make it a point to acknowledge and discard player feedback as the PBE Quinn boards are showing and as Riot has shown in the past.
Which is a problem for a company which claims otherwise and also a problem for the fans and consumers of their products. Which finally brings me to a concluding sentence. In previous changes that Riot has made to their game, we have had small portions of the community oppose the changes, however those small portions of the community were the players who those changes affected the most. Because the community at large didn't oppose the changes collectively, Riot simply pushed the opinions of those minorities aside with the blanket statement that they can't get a good read as to how many people actually like the change in question. And the problem with this is that it could happen with any champion or any aspect of the game that we like. So let's not let this happen again. When this new Quinn hits live, please try it. Try the other Adc's as well and compare her to them. If you are in the PBE please let riot know how you feel about this rework despite the disheartening removal of Valor being confirmed and having Quinn gutted. Because this kind of thing could happen to any aspect of the game and clearly the opinions of the people who will regularly be affected by the coming changes doesn't matter at all, but perhaps it will matter more if the player base supports those opinions - at the very least so that Quinn and Valor can be the last casualties of needless change.
