I've tried the ranked ladder for a year; not planning on doing it again
This was my first season in ranked and I'm planning on making it my last. I used to play this game because it was fun, but now I'm doing this for the border/rewards and even then it's not really feeling worth it. This is just my standpoint, I'm not saying everyone should quit ranked (just an FYI). It's also an extremely long post, so try to bear with me throughout it all, I had more fun typing this out than playing the game (not a joke).
I'm going to start out by saying I'm quite an odd player. Some games I'll play like a god, landing nearly everything and missing next to none and then the very next game I suddenly won't be able to hit anything. It's not because the enemy player was better at dodging than the person in the first game, it's just that my brain tends to blank out and press Q without even thinking 'I have to aim before I press this'.
It's really frustrating when you are playing at your peak and then the very next game you are comparable to a degenerate (and get called one, many, many times by teammates and enemies alike). I thought about it for awhile and now, if I had to say for the cause, I'd probably pinpoint it on stress or simple boredom (I can't focus if I'm bored) and I think that says a lot about the game.
What game should make you stress that much, either from toxic players or misplays and also bore you to the point of not wanting to play anymore? A game should be fun, competitive or normal, if it's not, doesn't that just defeat the overall purpose of games? Every match I have moments where I go 'I was hit by a single CC, guess I'm dead' and honestly, why should a single, 0.5 second stun be enough time to take you from 100 -> 0? I don't know about you, but getting one-shot at level 2 is honestly not the way a game should be designed.
I seriously miss the times when mages actually went mid (ones without mobility) and it was viable. You never see a Vel'koz mid anymore and if you do, expect him to go night-night-goodbye in practically all 4 corners of the map, each time at speeds of likes that would shame the Flash. Lux? Rarely, but still, dead before she can move. Syndra? Basically forgotten. Xerath? Same boat as Vel'koz, except it's on the bottom of the League's Community Ocean (get it? It's a crappy joke, but I'm trying to keep you interested lol). Veigar? May work, but with all the teleporting abilities in the game, he's more likely to fail than succeed. What are the mages that work mid? Ahri. Why? She has a dash. Leblanc? Can dash 2 times in quick succession followed by the ability to teleport 3 times with the inclusion of Flash. Cassiopeia? She has a counter-dash ability. Vladimir? (S)He can wet his(er) pants and spill into an untargetable blood pool (bad girl joke sorry) with literally infinite sustain. Zoe? High damage Spell Thei--(HA. Can this champion even be considered a mage?) You can sort of see a trend here right?
I feel like the structure of the game has changed so much, it's almost to the point of no return. Everyone is so hyped and addicted to damage, even if Riot manages to revert damage levels back to acceptable levels in S9, I'm sure many people will then think there is too little damage. They probably would be so normalized to 100 -> 0 combos that once they figure out it's not possible anymore, they'll find the game boring.
As for toxicity, for obvious reasons, the flame hammer seems to come down much, much harder in ranked matches than blind. I get it, it's an important match for you whether it be for LP or a promotion, but do you seriously have to curse all kinds of colorful in every corner of the chat for the entirety of the game simply because I missed a Q? I know it's difficult to stay positive when you are on the side of likely defeat, I've been there and done that, but could you not be more of a degenerate than the person you are calling one?
My goal for my first and only ranked season is Diamond V, higher would be better, but I'm thinking of setting that as my ceiling (I don't want to stay in that kind of environment any longer than necessary). At the present, I don't feel more compelled to play the game than I am doing the dishes. It's become a chore, but a necessary one for me to reach my goal. I plan to either never touch ranked again after this season (unless the game really does do a 180) or play just enough to reach Gold (I still like rewards, they just don't feel as rewarding as they should).
I just really hate that I'm playing the game for virtual rewards rather than for the game itself. League used to be fun, maybe still is fun for some of you, but it's terrible for me. Each game is just a back-and-forth one-shot match, whoever can do it faster wins. How are 4 assassins on a team a viable composition, one that absolutely stomps a normal team? You build armor and they build lethality. Lethality early on is broken and beats out armor stats, hence, you snowball to god-like levels and become an unstoppable one-shot 1V5 assassin.
I don't know about you, but even tanks are downright assassins. Most of them can one-shot ADCs with a single spell rotation and at the same time have enough health to counter the class that's supposed to be the counters. Garen? HA. That guy is a failed champion. Darius? Can out-lane any melee champion. Renekton? Ruddy alligator (or is he a crocodilly?) just smashes and dashes--literally. Tryndamere? He's a whole 'nother class of (ass)(ass)(sin--to even exist). He has 35% crit chance at level one and slaps you with it 7 lucky times in a row. Late game, he practically 1V5s. Unkillable and at the same time whacking you with a billion damage crit every 2.5 seconds.
Turrets? What turrets? Oh, the ones that fell in a record time, comparable to that of Vel'koz getting his butt (he doesn't have one--I think--let's just say he does) stabbed by Rengo the "everyone's favorite cat because who cares about Katarina" guy? Yeah, those things are just over-glorified, legs-broken-so-I-can't-move minions. What? Protect you? HA. In your dreams (actually, if you dream about League, I seriously urge you to uninstall. It's not good for your health to be dreaming about the saltiest ocean on Earth even during the nights. Sleep should be peaceful, not stress-inducing).
Riot's problem, at least for me, is that they've seem to have lost the "nerf hammer" in a void somewhere and are just slamming things around with the "let's-buff-this-guy-to-the-point-of-insanity-sledgehammer". What? [ X ] is too strong against [ Y ] champion? Let's buff [ Y ] champion. What? Now [ Y ] champion is too strong against [ Z ] champion? Let's buff [ Z ] champion and so on (there are no letters after Z, but shut up because I'm making a point here). They also have a habit of creating champions that are extremely fun to play as, but max-level frustrating to go against. They release new mechanics and abilities that break fundamental game rules--all for the sake of 'uniqueness'. When was the last time they released a 'simple' champion? For me, by all means necessary, quit changing/adding things into the game with the standard for 'new' being 'unique'. Just because it's 'unique' doesn't mean it's all that good.
Anyways, my basic point is: League is not serving its intended purpose. I'm tired of one-shooting. I'm tired of getting one-shot. I'm tired of one-shotting with complete safety inside enemy turret range because I can simply teleport out. I'm tired of getting one-shot from inside my own turret and having the enemy stroll out with 50% health. I'm tired of this meta. I'm tired of the toxic people playing in this meta. I'm tired of this game period. It just tires me out instead of giving me something to look forward too. I don't know if very many of you felt this, but I used to feel a thrill when going into game. It was like a shiver, but inside of you because of how excited you are. I don't now and that's what sucks.
