Why can Riot never WAIT to put changes through?

Biff Manly·2/17/2016, 5:13:00 AM·13 votes·723 views

So Riot decided Xin Zhao needed a bit more oomph to stay relevant. They gave him massive buffs on the PBE. Many people in the community expressed worry that these buffs were pushing him over the edge, and perhaps could be toned down. Riot released it as it was.

Now, less than a week after the changes hit live, the same ability they buffed- the same ability the community was worried would be too strong- is lined up for some nerfs.

Why did they release this to live before deciding it needed to be toned down? Why not let it sit in the PBE, where they're supposed to test these changes, for an extra 3-4 weeks, just to be sure the changes felt right? Come on, Riot.

11 Comments

Meriipu2/17/2016, 6:36:14 AM12 votes

Because PBE is a reddit circlejerk at this point that is only really good for testing whether the game crashes or not.

Balance is out the window.

Dªy2/17/2016, 5:02:21 PM5 votes

I have to wonder because look whats happening with soraka right now shes had multiple changes to her Q and passive which have been pushed back 3 PBE patches already without hitting live. But the stuff like Xin crit+heal goes through without any hesitation even though there has been big community response to why it shouldn't. Really odd.

BottleCapster2/17/2016, 5:03:27 PM2 votes

They tend to do things frantically i agree, but they don't always nail down instantly

Soraka's gutting for instance has been 4 patch cycles in the iterative process by now mind you

WadeWilson13372/17/2016, 8:00:01 AM1 votes

PBE is honestly just bug testing. It takes OVERWHELMING amounts of community response to make Riot change things (like where they were going to absolutely gut skarner even though he was already medicore at best, absolutely nonexistant in masters+), and then they still nerfed him quite hard. They did tone down Xins number slightly, but honestly, even if its a tap on the hammer Riot will give themselves a pat on the back thinking they listened to the community. Lets be 100% real here, Riot WANTS champions to be op, it sells skin. Remember Patch 5.22-5.24 or the Era of Miss Fortune? The #1 skin the ENTIRE TIME from what i saw was Arcade Miss Fortune, a 1350 rp skin. And i think 2 waves of skins came out in that time. It was absolutely insane. Edit: TLDR OP = $$$$$

Jungle Lux God2/18/2016, 3:16:43 AM1 votes

This is honestly like using an indoor swimming pool to try out your new surfboard before going to the beach. It gives a poor representation of what's actually happening while also giving an illusion that makes it seem like everything is happening perfectly.

The smaller pool of players on the PBE and the lack of balance in regards to player skill levels keeps people from actually understanding how good or bad something is when it is on the PBE. You bring it to live, and you actually get a good representation of how good or bad something is.

Also, the last time Riot listened to feedback on the PBE to balance a champion, that champion was reworked into (arguably) the most broken champion ever to appear in League of Legends.