Boards›Live Gameplay Balance

Rune Combiner Rework Submission

Righteous Savant·7/21/2014, 6:11:55 PM·10 votes·1,557 views

Lately, we have been seeing old, outdated and useless aspects of the game being addressed, either live in-game, on PBE or Red posts stating it is either on the table or the to-do list. All of this is worthwhile and very welcome. However, there are still plenty of areas in need of improvement. There has been the grand request to allow players to sort their runes and mastery pages, which I wholeheartedly endorse. That point was made very well, and I do look forward to Riot's response to it. So, instead of duplicating a most recent and very well poignant suggestion, I have one of my own.

The Rune Combiner has never made much sense to me. I understand you can put 5 low tier runes in to upgrade to a random next tier rune, which is helpful to get rid of your Tier 1 and 2 leftovers. What about Tier 3 rune owners? I took it upon myself to do some experimenting on PBE and found a few interesting yet disappointing findings. The first was you could get truly any random rune. Turn two cheap glyphs into a pricey quintessence? Sounds great. The second finding was that it is any random rune..even if you already own 9 of that specific type.

The Rune Combiner is grossly dated, serves no genuinely useful purpose and needs an overhaul. It just so happens that I have been pondering such matters, and of course, I never give a suggestion as deep as a significant feature without giving a plausible solution.

Tier Rune Upgrades!

Does anyone really buy Tier 1 and 2 runes? Most friends of mine who start the game are quickly told: "Do not buy runes until after Level 20!" It is actually very sound advice. Too bad no one gave me this at my onset. With the current system in place, it is a complete waste of Influence Points. You currently have to forfeit 5 runes to upgrade to the next tier, and you may not get the same type you need. Why would anyone logically get runes in order to play a lottery and get a completely different rune they will most likely never need or use? Sure, it clears your rune stash a bit. I did this myself to get rid of all of my leftover Tier 1 and 2 runes. The result? I have a few runes I will never need given their current type, value and the builds I personally follow.

The solution here is simple: Only 3 runes are needed to upgrade to the next tier rune. After all, you will only have 3 Marks, 3 Seals and 3 Glyph slots at Level 10 along with a Quintessence slot. This will encourage low level players to buy Tier 1 and 2 Runes, expanding the IP sink a bit to offset the remainder of my proposal. Also, if the runes are the same, exact type, the upgrade is instantly the same. If they are different, then the second part of my suggestion will cover that like a clean blanket fresh out of the dryer on a freezing winter's morning. C'mon, you know you smiled when you thought of it!

No more randomness!

Many games use the "mystery box" business model, or as I like to call it, "You want me to pay for what again!?" I understand the Mystery Skin Gift Box option in the Store, as that works as intended. No, I would not use it..alright, one time, and I got a Sion skin. But for runes, it's not a sound idea nor was it ever. If I want to roll the dice, then there is a casino nearby that will fetch me more personal gain, and there is the all-you-can-eat buffet.

The Rune Combiner can be changed to a dedicated rune trade-in system. When entering the Combiner, you first select which rune you want to receive. Let's use Greater Glyph of Mana Regeneration, priced at 410 Influence Points, for this example. The game will then ask me to trade in any runes I no longer wish to own. The trade-in value for our runes should be a 3:1 ratio. So, I must turn in at least 1,230 Influence Points in value of runes in order to get my desired Glyph. Using my own, current Rune stash, I decided to pay the following:

3 x Greater Mark of Attack Speed 3 x 410 IP ÷ 3 = 410 IP

I have just traded in 3 Marks that I have no further need of and have gained a Glyph I will fully utilize in future games.

If I wanted something pricier, for example, a Greater Quintessence of Health, I will need to submit far more runes to acquire one worth 2,050 Influence Points. Let's use this example further. What if I don't have enough runes to trade in for this Quintessence? Let's pay the difference! I have 9 Marks and Seals totaling a value of 3,690 Influence Points. Yes, this means a graphical re-work of the Combiner Menu. The trade-in ratio cuts this to a value of 1,230. The difference is 820 Influence Points. A notice message within the Combiner Menu would appear letting me know this difference and gives me the option (shiny green button please?) to pay it directly, if I have exhausted all of the runes I wish to part with. An "Are you sure?" window would be appropriate here.

With these key changes, the Rune Combiner will be a worthwhile tool, encourage rune purchasing throughout a player's leveling and allows us to tidy our rune stashes to eliminate unwanted rocks. Thank you for reading this, Riot and players, as this was simultaneously submitted as a Riot Support Ticket.

12 Comments

FantasySniper7/22/2014, 4:55:28 AM3 votes

I'm against the random return policy completely.

It's like a 50% refund, but returned product may vary and may not actually match correct values...

TGMrFlibbles7/23/2014, 3:06:42 AM2 votes

[deleted]

Rhlax7/23/2014, 7:42:09 AM2 votes

I feel Runes could use a complete rework to be honest.

I use 1 rune page for every champion I play.

Jbels7/22/2014, 2:43:51 AM1 votes

Completely agree. This is a completely useless thing to have, and I'd go so far as to say any rune below tier 3 is useless as well. I really think Riot needs to look into the Rune situation as a whole. There are some runes that are VERY outrageously priced in my opinion. A full set of Hybrid Pen marks is over 7300 IP. THAT'S A CHAMPION ON RELEASE!!! And considering we aren't allowed to buy Runes with RP, or any other method, buying Runes is in and of itself a freaking chore, ESPECIALLY when you have VERY many useless Runes in the store! A new level 20 player isn't going to know that quints of Health Regen are absolute GARBAGE on 98% of all champs in this game! And let me just say something about Quints.

As if earning enough IP to complete one rune page wasn't hard enough, you go and make these three GIGANTIC runes that cost a hell of alot. I understand that the reasons Runes cost so much IP is so that new players in solo queue won't have to constantly play against people who are of higher level AND better rune standing, but when you look at it, it hurts player's wallets more than it helps new player's experiences.

Righteous Savant7/25/2014, 8:51:44 PM1 votes

Still no word from Riot outside of the e-mail I received:

Hello Scott,

Thank you for taking the time to send this feedback to me. Although I am not able to handle feedback reports here in Player Support, Riot Games has established a set of forums for our players to be able to submit their feedback and advice. Rioters check these forums every day for suggestions and insight directly from our community.

NA Forums: http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/index.php

Please know that because our teams receive so many feedback reports daily, we are unfortunately unable to respond to every entry individually. This does not mean your suggestion has been overlooked. We are sorry that we are not able to respond to every post.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me with your thoughts. Your passion for League of Legends and participation are a big part of what makes our community so awesome.

Please let me know if I can assist you with any other requests. Best of luck on the Fields of Justice!

Lord Rayne Player Support Specialist

I did fill out the ticket as feedback. It should have been transferred to the proper department. So, let's hope they give a response here about this. Fingers crossed! :-)