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IMO, these are the issues that will bring about the end of League

Boogie Disco·9/22/2015, 8:45:01 PM·3 votes·298 views

Now, I started playing League through my friends' invitation around the time Yasuo was relased.

I've never been a super-focused player as I played during time squeezed in between work and social life, but my passion for the game is very strong as it is literally the first game I got into ever since I was a kid.

Another special aspect about me might be the fact that I've played in 3 servers: Korea, NA, and EUW.

Though these jumps weren't intentional, having to start over on these three servers has given me certain opinions about what problems League is facing in terms of creating a sustainable future. These are the reasons categorized into 3 parts:

  1. New players are being kicked out of the game by smurfs

Fresh blood is absolutely essential to sustainability no doubt. But with ANY server, it's almost impossible to see ANY actual newbies in the below-level 30-range. This is especially bad in EUW, where you'll only see maybe one actual new player in every 10 games. No, it's not an exaggeration and yes, it IS that bad. Additionally, the overwhelming number of smurfs makes the newbies stand out. It really is an ironic situation where newbies are harassed by smurfs left and right for their lack of understanding for the game.

I have never seen anyone but myself defending newbies or trying to help them. Though I never know what happens to them after the game, I can't imagine them sticking around.

  1. Metas are for players to change, NOT the admins.

I understand that Riot tries to create new, creative ways to influence the game, but for casual players like myself, it really is hard to keep track. But this isn't even the main issue.

Every time it's the same: you release/rework/buff a champion. For several weeks, players suffer from wayyyy OP champions (the juggernaut patch was ridiculous. Even for me, a tank main), you spend the next few patches nerfing the hell outta the champs.

I understand the kinks of it all are difficult to work out until it's tested, but what exactly is the PBE for? Could you not balence changed before they're relased on the live server? Are balence changes not supposed to be minimal and should be avoided if not completely essential for the game?

This obviously in no way applies to seasonal changes, but I truly believe that the unnecessary trend setting by the admins of Riot are a waste of effort and should be avoided.

IMO, rock should crush scissors, scissors should cut paper, and paper should beat rock.

The job of admins should be to make sure these equations work. Whether rock or scissor or paper is trending among users is surely a meta for USERS to influence.

  1. The ever-so-endearing flaming and trolls.

I really, really love league. I plan on teaching it to my kids to set up a father-son (daughter) duo. But the other day, I almost gave up playing after playing 4 consecutive games where my teammates did at least 3 of the following in each game: A. Changed their mind about the lane after locking in and decided to go two top/mid/jungle B. Cursed their brains out about how the other teammates weren't acting to their satisfaction. C. Decided to go AFK D. Decided to feed the enemy team intentionally.

Now, I understand Riot's positive approach to enforce positive gameplay, and I understand that according to the statistics, these malicious players compose a small portion of the community.

But I just don't feel it. I don't understand where Riot gets their statistics from, and I don't understand whenever I run a normal Q, I have to wait until everyone else has claimed a position to their liking to avoid the 100% (not an exaggeration) chance of someone raging about their position in the game.

Everyone I know that plays the game, now only plays ARAM for this reason.

That is all for my long, elaborate worries about the game that I love so much.

As much as I understand that these are all very difficult issues to address, I wrote this post in the hopes that bringing it out into the light all compiled into one post may increase the chances of positive change for the game.

Thanks for reading, everyone. :)

2 Comments

Cowgirl Ed9/22/2015, 8:55:55 PM2 votes

fuk i hope it will never end because i spent a shitton of money on this retarded game

Helmight9/22/2015, 8:53:36 PM1 votes

I agree with you on point #2. Riot I think spends too much time playing whack-a-mole instead of trying to find a niche for every champion. Hell, I always see threads along the lines of "Champion X is suffering from the (insert role here) meta! Can they get buffs?" and finding a Red response talking about how Champion X is slated for some PBE changes. Let champions have unique niches and let players decide what the meta is. If a champ that SHOULD be present in the current meta isn't, that's an opportunity for Riot to buff - but not until then.

I honestly haven't seen problem #1 crop up to the extent that you've said. I've been smurfing with a friend who's been learning the game over the last two months or so and haven't seen more than 2-3 smurfs per game (counting myself). Now, I'm not intending to invalidate your experience, but offering a counterpoint. I feel as though there is more Riot could do to help curb the smurf problem, but for the moment I am reasonably happy with how things work.

Problem #3 is an active issue with no easy solution. I have rarely had issues with flamers/ragers/AFKers in my games, but I see enough of these threads created to know that they're still a problem. I honestly believe that Lyte and his team are doing the best they can, but managing online interactions is tricky. Are there any changes you can think of that might help curb the problem?

In summation, League has its issues. However, we're blessed with a dev team that's far more communicative and helpful than most other companies that I've seen. These problems will get fixed, have no fear of that.