Farewell from an insignificant player
I guess it's been building up for some time now. Wall of text incoming
I'm probably leaving LOL for some indefinite time and here is why. These reasons may or may not be valid. Who knows. I know for sure that just 1 player leaving isn't gonna make a dent in the giant money-making machine that LOL is.
I started around season 5 on another account(which has been lost sadly), not sure when, but about 2 months before the juggernaut rework. Had a chance to play old Skarner. I instantly fell in love. Loved playing him and loved his lore and personality. I suppose that was my mistake, but I just can't bring myself to like Ahri and Yasuo. Then the rework came and he was ruined. Still kept playing him, have mastery 7 and a decent winrate. While he is objectively powerful, and a pick/ban in the LCS at the time of writing, he's just not compelling to play. Feels very sluggish and the spire minigame isn't fun for the player, enemy or allies. But so far, I didn't mind.
But then, season 8 comes. Riot says they wanna diversify roles and builds for their champs. But at this point, it's incredibly frustrating to see every champ in the game get mini-reworks, reverts and QoL changes and skins while Riot completely and utterly neglects Skarner. I dare say that no champ is as neglected as Skarner. You can bring up Mordekaiser, but he is very high priority for a VGU, and I have a feeling he will get his long awaited VGU this year. Just a gut feeling though
In the recent weeks, I've seen Riot talking about how they wanna diversify roles and builds, and improve their "neglected" champs. And I know Skarner is also up for a VGU but other champs in line for VGU have gotten QoL changes and mini-reworks before their VGUs. And at this rate, I have a feeling that one of Yorick's ghouls are gonna get a VGU before Skarner does. I don't mind that. I didn't even mind that Skarner was neglected before, but after seeing how Riot pays attention to every champ except Skarner, I kinda realized that he's the red-headed stepchild. In the gameplay thoughts, Meddler refuses to answer anything related to Skarner. Personally, just a "we don't have any plans for the moment".
I might sound entitled here, but I'm not claiming he should get the same treatment that Ahri and Yasuo gets. He's not popular enough to warrant that kind of treatment. But it seems Riot has no interest in making him fun and compelling to play. And I dare claim that mains and non-mains alike don't like his current passive. It's almost universally disliked. But nope, while other champs get to be viable in other positions, he is hardstuck in the jungle. I don't care if it's a revert or giving him a new passive, but I just can't enjoy him anymore.
But hey, it's your game and you decide how you wanna design it. Still, I can't help but admit I kinda feel left out, laid by the wayside. Kinda like when some popular guy hosts a party and invites everyone except for you.
The last drop came with the upcoming jungle changes. I main jungle and one of you said explicitly that you wanna move away from farm-to-6 style of jungling. Well, that's the style I like to play. I like playing farm-to-6 junglers. That doesn't mean that I won't help my teammates or that I'm not helpful. If I see a good opportunity to gank, I will of course gank. But I'm not the type of jungler who ganks 24/7 or who wants to go invade the enemy jungler all the time. I guess with time, I could learn to adapt, but I don't have the time or energy to relearn the jungle.
Don't know when I'll come back to LOL. Again, it's your game and you decide what you wanna do. You'll keep raking in cash from making Ahri and Lux skins, which is what you're supposed to do. That being said, I can't help but to feel punished for maining Skarner. I suppose if I had mained any other champ, I would probably keep loving this game.
I'll probably still lurk on the boards and keep an eye out for lore updates (I love the lore). But as for playing and spending money, not at this time. I'll probably play again "soon-ish" in the future