An open letter to Riot regarding champion reworks

Watching the ability previews for Akali's new rework, I couldn't help but let out a sad chuckle. I didn't want to believe that this is an actual rework that multiple human brains collectively agreed "this is a good idea".

Why? Why is Akali so complex now? Why did Akali get reworked? Why is Irelia the new Yasuo? Why did Irelia get reworked? Why does Riot feel the need to abandoned every "old" champion's playerbase? Why is Aatrox now Riven? Why did Aatrox's voice change? Why did MAOKAI's voice change? Why is Gangplank edgy? Why is Galio a homogenized, generic tank? Why does Swain look like Vladimir? Why are you so out of touch with what Ryze is? Why is Shen tethered to the ground by an irrelevant, boring, spirit anchor? Remember Mordekaiser?

Riot, please just slow down. People have spent many years of their life playing this game, and in that time, the players have grown attached to their favorite champions. This goes further than just the abilities of a champion. People are invested into the looks, voices, and lore of a champion. The biggest offender, in my opinion, was the completely necessary Maokai "tweaking". New Maokai's voice is... bad. There are no redeeming qualities of his new voice - heck, I'm pretty sure everyone's favorite lines are the ones that reference his old voice. His old voice was cool. Whenever he talked, it sounded like a wise, ancient Ent. The same can not be said for his new "constipated African American grandpa" voice. I know I don't speak for everyone, but Aatrox as well. His old voice was so soothing; it added a layer of depth to his character that made Aatrox what he was, a badass force of evil that craves war and bloodshed. It reminded me of the snake from The Jungle Book (1967) - he had a soothing voice that hypnotized his victims the same way Aatrox kind of hypnotized people to commit atrocious acts in war. Now? His voice is obnoxious and he talks like an angry toddler - sure, it was kind of amusing with Rhaast, but I didn't want to see it copy/pasted on to Aatrox. I realize that these voice changes were for your own "story" reasons - we don't care. We are the players. We are the consumers. I don't care that Gangplank got his arm blown off, I want to hear a walking pirate trope talk about why his Roger is so jolly. That was the Gangplank I loved, and you changed it because you had your own agenda without taking into any consideration that people love what already exists.

It was a similar case with the whole Frostblade Irelia controversy, but I feel like there is little I can contribute because everything has already been said about that. But the attachments that you sever with every rework spans far beyond just the voices, is all I'm saying.

However, I must give credit where it's due. The Warwick rework was amazing. I would like to say "try to make every rework as good as that one", but the reality is, there are very few champions remaining that actually need a rework as much as Warwick did - most of the recent reworks are just change for the sake of change. Poppy needed the same amount of help, and also received a pretty good rework as well (I still hate her though, sorry). Some of the reworks are pretty decent, but I feel guilty because I know I will never love this reworked champion as much as the old mains loved their unreworked champion (Urgot).

But I'm not oblivious either.

Don't think I don't know why these changes take place: It's all about money.

I get it. It's a business that needs to make money, and in a business like this you have to consciously make a decision:

Do we want to make the best game possible?

or

Do we want to make the most money possible with our game?

Please Riot. Please try to make the best game possible. Please elevate yourself to a higher standard than what is the norm for video game companies.