Why LoLer’s really don’t want Balance

Chess! Chess is the most balanced game I can think of, where the pieces matter less and where the Strategic and tactical prowess of the player take precedence.

I Say this because I constantly see; “X item/champ is OP needs to be Nerfed”. However, I think the translation is:

“I can’t play the way I want, so whatever prevents me from playing that way is OP and should be changed” with that kind of thinking any hope of balance is unlikely.

Consider if we take these same complaints and apply them to Chess, especially at lower Ratings--

For example – the Sicilian Opening is OP (a very complex opening seen at all levels of play) We need to nerf this opening the win rate of this opening is above 55% in Class E and D levels (akin to Bronze).

Or this, “We need to nerf the Queen; it’s not fair that I have to pay attention to her so much! It is really affecting my game”. It sounds ridiculous in that context right?

Or better yet— “playing the same opening all time is BORING. We need to change how openings work so I don’t have to play the same one over and over again DESPITE it resulting in me winning at over a 50% rate”. I’m thinking of the complaints of having to build Locket and Redemption here.

What about Baseball? “The Fastball is OP, we should put a 3 inning cool down on it so Pitchers can’t ABUSE it.”

If LoL is supposed to be about Strategy and the Skill of the actual player than let it be that. I think that means that Items/builds/Champs, once normalized should be fairly stable and not changed based on what players consider OP. And if you want to build off Meta, then you must understand what you’re giving up.

Another Chess example, most everyone plays E4 or D4 openings. But then you get the swashbuckler’s who play nothing but Gambits and Trap oriented openings, because they find it exciting. And I say to those players BRAVO!

These players accept by giving up a pawn in the opening they get minor compensation in initiative. Meaning they can develop their pieces faster, thus completing their attack plan before the other side has time to build a defense, (because they’re too busy accepting the Gambit piece) Likewise the other side who accepts the gambit is mentally stating. “Sure, I’ll accept your gift, because I think a) you can’t take advantage of your MINOR initiative bonus and b) I think I can fend off your attack. Or you get players like me, that have trouble for gambits, so I transpose most games back to a familiar opening , which puts the game back if familiar waters.

I concede that in video games like LoL there isn’t a direct comparison to Chess/baseball and issues do crop up from time to time. Likewise, when they give too much power (or take too much away) from an item or champ. I’m not sure what a balanced MOBA looks like (or RTS/FPS) but I would bet a lot of money that if ever achieved a lot of players would hate it. I further concede I have no idea of LoL is close or not close to being balanced. The downside to my argument with Chess is, that for every move/opening on the chess board there are multiple counter moves that give equal chances.

Saying all that I conclude that Players wouldn’t really want total balance because at that point I bet we’d see “BORING” Posts everywhere.