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Custom game IP

Arechon Gend·9/22/2013, 8:41:04 PM·23 votes·2,404 views

I still don't particularly care for the new community platform, but if I ever am going to be sold on it, its going to be in how it helps address important issues. One such issue has been the removal of IP from custom games.

There has been a thread on GD for some time now talking about this. http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=3832701

Basically, it seems that IP was removed due to abuse of the Refer a Friend system. It also seems that Riot wasn't aware of a portion of their own player base, and their preferences in gameplay. The linked thread is full of stories of people who's preferred way of gameplay has been ignored by Riot.

Also in that thread were several suggestions on how to fix the problem so that IP could be returned to custom games. You should also remember that the amount of IP earned through custom games even before was drastically less than in normal games, so its really not asking much to ask for the return of IP to custom games.

It seems that after Riot's initial response, they have ignored the issue. I'm not sure if its because of the world finals, or work on this community platform, but as far as we can tell, nothing has been done. IP should be returned to custom games ASAP, otherwise it proves how out of touch Riot truly is with the more casual players of League of Legends.

39 Comments

Slave359/26/2013, 6:34:21 PM15 votes

Dear Riot Games,

I am a powergamer and own a level 30 account. I have spent exactly zero dollars and zero cents on your game.

My girlfriend is level 23 and has bought numerous skins for her characters that she NEVER, EVER plays in PvP. She just CANNOT deal with the absolutely disgusting community you have fomented. She is level 23 because we've played a lot of Customs and occasionally vs AI to earn First Win.

I have absolutely no compunctions about playing PvP. However, I'd rather play with my girlfriend. I would love to see her continue to play this game with me but with this absolutely incomprehensible change to Customs, you have basically lost a major proportion of your player base.

It seems that what you have implemented is a Lose-Lose-Lose "solution" to an extremely minor issue.

-Lose 1: Casual gamers that love the mechanics and art, characters and gameplay, yet because one of DOZENS of fully legitimate reasons, choose not to play PvP.

-Lose 2: PvP gamers. Casuals will have to enter their games to earn IP/XP, acting like idiots and basically making a gigantic mess of things.

-Lose 3: Riot Games. I cannot imagine that so arrogantly dismissing the entirety of the vast PvE community is doing wonders for their bottom line.

There are literally ten better changes I can think of just off the top of my head that would have been more effective and less damaging to the players that pay your wages.

Furthermore, the lack of timely or even delayed good-faith response from Riot is extraordinary in the sea-change of character that it appears to represent. I had always heard that Riot got where it was by listening to the players. That is now demonstrably false. It remains to be seen whether that will herald a downfall in their financial fortunes as well, but if history is any judge of such things, the only thing in doubt is how rapidly they will decline.

RolliTessar9/24/2013, 11:46:33 PM11 votes

I posted this in the discussion area of the patch notes (http://beta.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/game-updates/patch/patch-311-notes) and it still stands:

SOB...I hate when they eff with a good thing. here i was, minding my own business, happily playing bot games, when...BAM...I lose my ability to level up any more. ffff!

Suck up and play player populated games, you say? Screw that. I've played enough other games where I get paired with a team that ALWAYS includes a troll. I'm done with dealing with punks that should have had their backsides tanned enough times to instill the idea that ruining the world for others is unacceptable!

Get a team of people together to play with you, you say? If i had the social skills to have that many friends, I wouldn't be playing video games.

Your just a grinder, you say? HAH! HAHA! HAHAHA! I've been at this for months and have only reached lvl 24. I don't have the work ethic to be a grinder. I enjoy playing, so i burn through the allotted 2 hours with only 2-3 games completed.

You can still play without the XP and IP, you say? HUH? We playing the same game? leveling is a part of the fun of the game. In fact, I had set a goal of reaching lvl 30 without spending any MONEY to help me do it. Then I was going to spend the MONEY to treat my self to the heroes I liked/loved to play when they came up on free rotation...not going to happen now, of course. Now I have no motivation to play.

In short...NO MORE XP-IP, NO MORE ME...NO FUTURE MONEY FROM ME, EITHER.

Tsuki Sasaki9/23/2013, 1:26:16 AM10 votes

Maybe with this post they'll stop ignoring us. It's been a week since we last heard from them and I forget how long since the change was implemented. Come on, Riot, we'd love an update. ~Tsuki

ZeroBlacktip9/25/2013, 2:53:40 AM10 votes

I'm hoping this gets fixed immediately after Worlds, but I enjoy not having to deal with people after working a 13 hour day, and not having to console my emotional friends because they feel like the entire team hates them.

Riot, making better tutorials and rewarding people for being good would help your community, but giving a decent option for players to go to when they don't want to deal with your occasionally toxic community is the least you can do for retention. Tutorials and other training techniques take time and coding, all we're asking is you give us back something you already have written. If referral abuse is the problem, remove than until it's fixed.

Don't break what's working, fix what's broken, and according to your own response, that's the Ref system, not custom games.

lorewise9/23/2013, 5:57:00 AM9 votes

I get that they want to prevent abuse but that's not looking at the whole picture. I can't speak for anyone else but when I play PvP games I like to have as much mechanical experience and knowledge as possible. With regards to League Of Legends, that means playing lots of different champions and getting as much practice as possible.

I know it could be argued that we should / could be getting experience in normal games and that we shouldn't worry about losing those but I don't like to be the person keeping my team down. That makes me feel shitty. To avoid feeling shitty, I will find whatever way I can to become proficient enough before I go into a game that requires every teammate to be performing at their best.

In order to get the champions and runes needed to be viable as a teammate (in ranked), I want to be level 30 and have a good selection of champions and runes available. I can, and have bought champions and skins, but I can't buy runes and certainly can't afford to purchase every champion I want to be proficient with.

Custom games gave me a perfect place to play by myself and learn the ropes, while also leveling my account and gaining IP. Anyway that's my take on it, and I'm sure some of this is because of social anxiety but that's probably a story for another day.

In any case you know what I'd love? Just a small PvE subsection of the game where I could take on challenges and earn IP / experience. I'm thinking something like a game mode that tracks CS or requires you to perform functions while also keeping an eye on the mini-map. I love this game, but I don't always love other people. I mean I stopped playing for a long while until they implemented the tribunal and other features for a reason.

ohgeegeo9/25/2013, 6:45:32 PM9 votes

Riot doesn't owe us anything - they don't owe us IP for any game modes and they can charge real money for all skins and champs and everything else, it's their right.

Only question is, what's best for business (i.e. happy, active, involved player base).

My son is seven and my nephew is nine. Every night I would set them up on a custom game with/against bots and they had a blast. I would've never considered putting them in a game with other players.

They LOVE playing the game and are super excited when they get to purchase a new champion with the points they've earned.

Now I have to tell me son - sorry, you can't afford any Champions because we're not earning any IP. My best option is to put him in a Co-op vs. AI, according to Riot. Doesn't seem great for the other players on the team, but what choice do I have if he wants a chance to earn some IP and get new characters?

By the way, the IP system is a GREAT way for a kid to learn the value of currency, how you have to earn it from effort, and how once you spend it it's gone. Unfortunately the change has removed that possibility.

Pretty disappointed in Riot's decision on this.

Rykerr9/23/2013, 8:02:57 PM6 votes

If I had to guess, this removal of IP was kind of a double win for them; they addressed a perceived threat, and this also opened up more game space for their servers, since obviously tons less people happen to fire up custom games anymore.

I used to do custom games with bots in order to learn characters to avoid being flamed nonstop for failing while I'm trying to learn the basic limits of my characters AND get some IP along the way so it's not a complete waste of my time. Now I just queue up normal and get to hear three petulant children say "REPORT AKALI FOR FEED/NO SKILL" which isn't very helpful to anyone at all. But at least I get some IP out of it.

I'd much rather not ruin nine other players' games.

Shinova9/24/2013, 6:10:12 AM4 votes

I would normally never use this new reddit style crap, but for custom game to reward ip again I guess I will have to. Riot give us an update already!

Warlor9/25/2013, 9:44:37 PM4 votes

Any word from Riot yet or are they still ignoring us?

papahowz10/1/2013, 3:22:17 AM4 votes

Nothing in the patch notes about this. Hope they don't let this just be forgotten about. Miss my custom games....

Omiata10/30/2013, 1:14:55 PM3 votes

Well I ran to the patch notes to see if there was any news. Here is the stellar changes in the up coming patch for casual players to get excited about......

Tutorial, Co-op vs. AI, Custom Games with bots The following changes are for bot game modes only

Turrets in bot game modes (Tutorial, Co-op vs. AI and custom games with bots) now display an indicator of their attack range and their current attack state. You can disable this feature in the Game menu

WOW! Um Riot. FYI I went from playing like 4 bot games a night (each over 30 minute) on your game to playing Dungeon Siege because it was more fun. Not Dungeon Siege 3, not 2, but the original one that was released in 2002.

Like I said, I'll keep checking back. Until then 16 bit graphics FTW.

Arechon Gend11/21/2013, 3:31:14 AM3 votes

Still nothing after patch 3.14. Pi in the face....

Warlor9/28/2013, 4:52:47 PM3 votes

Bump

Warlor9/24/2013, 8:46:58 AM3 votes

Since i have been active in the previous thread found here: http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=3832701&page=39 I feel its necessary to voice my concerns here as well.

It seems to me that Riot doesn't give a damn about what their players want. As a company they care only about the bottom line and effectively taking away IP from custom games has probably given some executives at Riot some very fat bonuses at the expense of the players.

The solution to their alleged RAF problem could have been dealt with in a much less obtrusive manner. A few suggestions were: Game time of 30 minutes or NO IP, NO XP but award IP, make harder bots to not allow players to just roflstomp their way to victory in 5 seconds, etc... Instead the people who make the decisions at Riot blatantly chose the way that they would make a fatter bottom line, thus attracting even more money to themselves. The end result of this as it stands is a pissed off community but hey who cares about the scrubs who play LoL? We're Riot and we're making more money! Classic corporate greed is what is going on.

Furthermore I have kept a support ticket opened since September 4th. The responses I have been getting from support have been out of context, evasive and neglectful. Basically I feel like I am dealing with a troll by talking to Riots support people.

Most likely the higher ups are telling the developers and the support staff to brush us off at every turn so that we eventually give up and let the matter die and they get to keep all the money!

As such, we should not let them ruin a great game like League of Legends with such vile and selfish tactics. Lets press on and get the word out. Lets NOT let this thread die, Lets create more threads, support tickets, get word out through social media, youtube, gaming news websites/agencies.

The more noise we make the less that they can ignore us.

Warlor9/24/2013, 9:51:11 PM3 votes

Bump

Warlor9/27/2013, 11:40:20 PM3 votes

Bump

Warlor10/2/2013, 12:06:57 AM3 votes

RIOT LOOK HERE --> http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=3832701&page=43

Amberdust10/8/2013, 6:34:18 AM3 votes

Hey, everyone!

If you haven't done so yet, please go to the bottom of the page, click on "Help us Improve", and fill the survey. It will only take you a few seconds, and you will help a lot in letting Riot know that many players are still quite concerned about the IP/XP removal from custom games. Tell them how you feel and how this has affected you, but be polite, since that is the best way to ensure that they will listen to you.

papahowz10/9/2013, 3:14:09 AM3 votes

Bump

GreyDwarf10/15/2013, 12:28:38 AM3 votes

I am new to LOL. I was looking forward to earning IP and XP while practicing. I was told by my buddy that I'd be able to do that. (He also told me to come here and post my opinion as well as some forum, too.) I didn't get much time to play when I first signed up. Now that i can play, that perk is gone. I don't have any desire to enter PVP without practicing, but i don't want that time to feel like a waste. I have very little invested emotionally or monetarily so I'm perfectly willing to move on. There are many other games out there that would like my money, I'm sure. I'll leave all this to you and Riot.

Good luck.

GreyCorbin10/25/2013, 3:36:20 AM3 votes

I hope this hasn't gone dead. Need to keep it going and try to get more traffic here.

Omiata10/25/2013, 6:21:44 PM3 votes

Well, I think I'm finally giving up hope on the ip for customs revert. After some initial hope and comments from Riot. It has gone SILENT. I'm pretty sure the battle is lost like new skins for under 975rp. Where is the 10-15% new skins at 720rp they promised?

I'll keep checking in, but I've started playing other games. If Riot ever figures it out after looking at their quarterly sales. I'll jump back in to what was a fun game casually to play. Glad they could free up their servers by shunning the casual community. +1 Ethics.

RolliTessar5/15/2014, 1:28:31 AM2 votes

too bad this post didn't get the traffic of the general forum posting.

GreyCorbin10/10/2014, 3:29:34 AM1 votes

Well, it appears as this is the only place we have left to be heard from.

How do we go about getting it noticed, now? Seems like it will be even easier to ignore when it can't pop into view on a front page, like the forums.

Nahath10/13/2014, 11:57:52 PM1 votes

A bump and some thoughts:

  1. There is no downside to putting the IP back in custom games (as long as it's low enough to not be abuse-able). It's like we're saying "Here, Riot, have more players," and you're saying "No."

  2. In addition to putting them back in for low numbers of players, there should also be IP rewards for unbalanced teams as long as it's to the players' disadvantage. If my friends and I go 3v5 vs bots, we get no IP, even though we're setting up a much harder challenge than doing a co-op vs. AI where we get players in those empty slots.