I think it's time to retire the IP system for unlocking new champions (warning: math)

Ok, I get that a roster as big as we have is intimidating to a new player, and having them gradually unlock champions is a good way to learn the game.

The idea of unlocking champions with in game currency was a good one, but only up to a point. Back when we had ~50-60 champions, the roster was large enough that starting out with all of them is too overwhelming, but small enough that you could feasibly unlock all the champions in a year.

We currently have 133 champions.

32 6300 IP champions, 43 4800 IP champions, 24 3150 IP champions, 21 1350 IP champions, 13 450 IP champions.

That totals up at 517800 IP to be able to play this game optimally.

This does not include things like runes, rune pages, hextech crafting materials, and those special event icons for 250 IP.

How long does it take to generate this much IP?

You earn about 100 IP each time you win, and about 60 for each loss. You also get about 150 extra IP for your first win every day.

Say that a hypothetical person was to play 4 games a day, averaging out to a 50/50 winrate, but always cashing in on the first win of the day bonus.

This totals out to about 470 IP per day.

517800 / 470= 1102

It takes 1102 days, or about 3 years and 2 months of 4 games per day to unlock every champion through IP purchases.

Yes, you can technically do a work around by buying all the 6300 champs last, and doing it with hextech crafting shards, to save 1200 IP per champion purchase. This takes the time down to 1020 days, or about 2 years and 9 months, but forces the player to not only save the 6300 champs for last, but be unable to choose which one they get.

If those numbers seem unrealistic, I point to myself. I have been playing this game since about when Lissandra was released, so I have been playing for about 3 and a half years. This is even longer than my hypothetical person (likely because I actually bought runes) and I am still not done; I have yet to buy Ivern.

You shouldn't have to play for 3+ years to have access to the roster of a competitive game; it's like if the only people who were allowed to shoot 3-pointers in basketball were the players with seniority.

And I know that a few of you are going to say that I should just whip out my wallet and buy them with cash, support Rito and all that.

Champion RP purchases aren't where they get their money (not most of it, anyways).

They get that from skins, merch, and pro play.

Should they replace the IP system for buying champions, the people who would like to play but had been driven away by the 3 years of grinding would play more, spend more.

It should definitely still be a gradual system; 133 is overwhelming to start, for sure. However, you should have access to all the champions by the end of your first year playing, at the very least.