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Riot and Stagnation: Why failing April Fools is actually a good thing.

ModCaptainMårvelous··217 votes·8,597 views

I'm going to be presenting this from the PoV of someone who has played since season one, so if some of this doesn't make sense I'll do my best to explain. However, I'm actually very happy with the event because it showcased Riot actually trying something new/different, even if it failed. To understand why, I want to talk about what both is and used to be Riot's biggest problem: Stagnation.

If you remember champion design and releases from Season 1 and 2, they're some of the worst in the game. In fact, almost every major champion of problem comes from those eras. No, I'm not talking about "ugh kench is so broken" or "gg zed 2 stronk" as the boards complain. No I'm talking about something far more sinister: Repetition of design.

For all the jokes we make about three-stack procs and %HP Damage, Season 1 and 2 was far worse simply because of design stagnation. Anyone remember original Sejuani? Outside of her E, she was pound-for-pound the same as Amumu in almost every regard. She played the same, she did the same stuff, she brought little new to the table. How about Darius, who we joked about because he was an almost carbon copy of Garen. Original Fiora was Yi with breasts. Season 1-2 was the age of the metagolem and the flood of generalists that League is STILL dealing with. Because of this, Riot has to devote many resources they should be putting elsewhere to fixing these old problem children.

This is the error of stagnation: A moment of misjudgement in the past that makes the future harder to accomplish. However, this does not just apply to champion design. Event stagnation was also something Riot has been struggling with. April fools, outside of the last years, was simply an event to sell more skins. "Oh but what about-" No. I mean it. All they literally did was sell skins. URF Rider Corki and URFwick. Hell for all the complaining about Riot screwing with Halloween, they were events made to sell skins more than anything else. Only in the earliest of seasons did they do something and that was the icon changes/map recoloration (Side note: I'd like to see this back but I get that it was discontinued due to the map change).

As a company and as a game, Riot should always be willing to try and fail new things. It's why I wasn't upset during Burning Tides when GP was disabled for like a week. Yeah, it sucked and it was a bad idea, but they TRIED something new. They did something of impact for an event and, even if it didn't work out, they could move forward with new ideas. This is why I'm not upset with this event. Is it bad? Yeah, I'm pretty underwhelmed by the whole thing, but I'm glad they tried something else with it. Having URF yet again would be the easy way out, having URF would just be stagnation. I don't want stagnation, I want them to try new things even if it doesn't work.

I'm likely the minority on this but I'd rather see League evolve than stagnate. If anything I felt that the Winter event was a bigger disaster than April Fools because it was a copy-paste job of the previous event. Poro King. Skins. Only new thing was a shop with custom discounts. Ho hum. At the end of the day, I want Riot to fail in doing things like this so they can learn for the future. Asking for stagnation is worse than anything I could ever imagine.

131 Comments

SofaKingHi42063 votes

[deleted]

ModCaptainMårvelous32 votes

I'll have to agree with you that the event didn't go as far as it could have and the aesthetic change was eh.

As for humor, I'd have to disagree. There are still people I've met and know that find the Draven joke hilarious. People make comments about how the showmatch, to them, was hilarious. So there is a market for it. Would I say that it's a particularly large market? Probably not. I still like Draven on basis of kit but I don't think his joke is as funny as it used to be. Maybe if this event had come out in 2013 when Draven was only a year old or had hit the mark when Draven was at the height of his popularity it wouldn't have been bad. Sadly, this felt like trying to bring a 2012 meme into 2016. Still glad they tried though.

It Hertz When IP4 votes

I think the annoyance was more that the in-game Draven head joke (for some, at least) actually interfered with gameplay. TBH I didn't log in in time to see it in action, so I'm just going off all the salt posts about it.

EvilMerodach42 votes

the tl;dr- http://www.quotesvalley.com/images/73/the-men-who-try-to-do-something-and-fail-are-infinitely-better-than-those-who-try-to-do-nothing-and-succeed-2.jpg

Seriously. All the people complaining about no urf mode. You know how boring that would have been for an April Fool's joke? It's not a joke..it's just doing the same thing they'd done for 2 years now. A 3rd time would have just been horribly unoriginal and not in the spirit of this 'holiday' at all.

At least the Draven thing was funny...till you played it in a game. But it's still far more in line with what April Fools is than just scheduled yearly re-release of a game mode.

Weathered11 votes

In regards to that top quote. Men who do something and succeed are better than both of those. There is also a quote "if it ain't broke don't fix it". Having URF on April 1st was in fact successful, and, if you ignore the fact that the game mode was meant to be "broken", was not broke and needed no change.

ModCaptainMårvelous13 votes

Unfortunately, you're incorrect in some regards.

Foremost, you assume that success is the only desired outcome. While this would be wonderful if it was true, this isn't the case. Success and failure happen all the time and go hand-in-hand. Very, very few people strike success on their first go. Life itself is a process of success and failure. Along with this I, and others, do have problems with URF and would like to see difference made to it. "If it ain't broke don't fix it" is a rather old term and doesn't really fit when you have something as evolving and changing as a video game.

And let's be frank, Urf DID get balance adjustments. In fact check your files right now: Champions have abilities altered for Urf due to the CDR and broken potential. As much as you and others would like to tout "URF NEVER CHANGES AND IT HAS NO BALANCE", Riot themselves have changed the game due to balance predicament.

Weathered3 votes

I never said it didn't have balance problems. I also didn't say that people never fail. However "Very, very few people strike success on their first go" isn't necessarily accurate to this because this isn't Riot's first event.

ModCaptainMårvelous9 votes

and, if you ignore the fact that the game mode was meant to be "broken", was not broke and needed no change.

You might wanna reword this then because it sounds like you're saying URF shouldn't get balance changes and doesn't need any changing.

True, it's not their first event, but it is the first time they tried doing some mass model change for every character in the game and to try and play up "<name> takes over the game". Again, this could have been MUCH better and the work they did was subpar but I can't say they've ever tried to do some massive cosmetic change for every single queue and champion.

Rumak3 votes

Okay i like this its a good argument against URF but if your ARE going to try something new you should know that it better be on the same level as something you have previously released. If they wanted to do Draven they should have went all out. Draven towers, Draven Baron, Draven Dragon. Draven one for all mode, free draven skin if you got an S on Draven, screen that said "Draven" instead of victory or defeat. Everyones icon changed to draven head before the game started. These are some of the ideas off the top of my head that i can think of... Instead we get an event that is put best as "underwhelming".... It feels like they didn't try and that's what pisses me off so much because if you look at last years urf mode they REALLY got us into it and made it feel amazing and they could have done that with a different mode but they didn't.

Its a very common business practice that you never give your customers something worse than what you have previously released. YOU WILL get torn to shreds. RIOT set the expectations high with last years amazing event on april 1st now they have to live up to or exceed it to succeed, thats how business works.

Mimy13 votes

I really hope they do map skins. I've been playing for 2 years and I never seen a map skin.

I would care if it was half ass.

ModCaptainMårvelous20 votes

But you have!

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WJtbX0E7k08/maxresdefault.jpg

EROTIC RAID BOSS7 votes

It really annoys me they made an awesome new aram and took it away lol

They should definitely do more stuff like this though, even if just for holidays

Bobo1135 votes

One of the reasons why Riot said that the new SR was significantly better is because it would be easier to re-skin for holiday events. Of course, this has not happened, and they also said they had invested interest in making Howling Abyss and the Butcher's Bridge interchangable, but alas.

VladimirSnakeyes12 votes

[deleted]

ModCaptainMårvelous10 votes

Unfortunately, my friend, you're incorrect. Ultra Rapid Fire only originated in 2014 before making a reappearance in 2015. However, Urf the manatee has made an appearance in every April Fools since the original inception in 2010. You could argue "omg no Urf didn't appear this year because he's only a skin" but, again, last year Urf appeared in the Urf the Nami-tee skin which was about the same caliber of skin as the Tahm Skin.

Urf wasn't taken out of April Fools, URF was. And I'm going to double down and say Urf is hardly the most known tradition. Teemo's Hatred, Gems, League of Draven and otherwise all vastly predate Urf. I've talked with both players of League and non-players, all of them knowing several of these other characters and memes far more than Urf which is something of a League-only thing. Urf, while many have an attachment to it, is hardly League's biggest joke and isn't anywhere close to the strongest tradition League has.

One last thing: I'd hardly call something that was two years a tradition. That would be like me arguing that it's tradition that we get a massive lore event every year. After all, we've had Shurima/Freljord/Bilgewater billed as massive events and those predate URF as well. Overall, I think people only grow attachment to URF because it's something that only happens infrequently. In the same way that people "loved dominion" when Riot announced it was being remove, people only make a huge deal about Urf because they don't have it.

While URF is important, labeling something that's happened for only two years as a "tradition" is a bit of a stretch. Especially compared to holidays spanning hundreds of years.

Pelasgon2 votes

I agree with most of your statements, but something that lasted 2 years could actually become a "tradition" if you're talking about video games. There are video games that don't even survive 2 years, and I doubt that the game will last even next 10 years. Plus, not everyone started playing league in S1. It is true that URF only started in 2014, but if you compare the number of monthly players, it was 11.5 million back in 2011 and over 90 million in April 2014. For many players who started playing league as early as 2013 the URF mode could be a LoL tradition to them.

luzz4 votes

I expect, Christmas; Hanukkah in December, Halloween in October, labor day (us) in september, Memorial day (us) in May, urf and tax day (us) in April. I hate the IRS, but don't feel so bad after having URF.

VladimirSnakeyes3 votes

[deleted]

ModCaptainMårvelous2 votes

First and foremost, thanks for having a great discussion with me. So far I've had arguments ranging from "nerd" to "fuck you" to "ur garbage" so it's nice to meet someone who is willing to hash it out with words, heh.

Moving on: My mistake for assuming the argument was about the event as a whole. When I think of Urf, I always thought of the mantee and the running gag of the champion that never was. That's likely because I'm an old player and the event means differently to me. That said, Urf has been in this event in the Tahm skin and in the other holidays as quick skins. Hell, it's pretty much tradition for April Fools to have a poorly made skin of Urf. (See: Nami-tee, Urfrider Corki, Urfwick, etc. Although the Corki skin is way higher quality than almost any other urf skin).

As for the Urf as a league meme, first and foremost you're moving the goal post. Originally you said it was the best known LoL meme. Even among league players, there are other stronger and longer running jokes. I still see "Better nerf irelia", "ok" and "morde es #1" and Draven jokes thrown around. Urf is high up in the top ten, sure, but he's hardly the most well known or well resounding meme/joke/etc in the league community. So while there is the incentive to do right by Urf, he's hardly the biggest joke I can think of when it comes to League. Sure, Draven may not have been as old as Urf himself but his joke and overarching meme are way higher on the list. Do I think this event would have been better if they had done this sooner? Sure, but I'd hardly argue that Urf is more of an icon than Draven.

For the argument that "the game is now only a serious sport", that's just blatantly wrong. While I'm not going to attest that they're anything like their original incarnation (Becoming some big company will do that to you, sadly), Riot's always focused on the casual players and on the majority playerbase than the minority. Why do you think they focus on balancing the game around the casual player in most cases? Why do you think there's a rotating game mode coming out before more pro-centric things like replays or sandbox? While it could be mismanagement, there's definitely a focus on the casual. As a counter-example, look at how DOTA goes about balance. Sure, they sometimes make changes for the casual, but by and large it's always been about the tippy-top-tier of play. Unfortunately for lore and music, players really don't care about that. I speak as someone who has watched and grown extremely fond of Lore. Players want things they can hold, players want static things. It's why Shadow and Fortune was such a failure of a halloween event, people didn't want lore they wanted kooky Halloween stuff.

While you may argue that this is all about Draven's personality, it ties further back into new players and old players better than Urf does. New players aren't going to ask about who Urf the manatee is because of a game mode. They'd do that with Corki or Nami skins more than a mode. Draven, as a comparison, not only draws in new players who've never played League but (if it had been done better) would have been the crowning achievement of a joke several years in the making.

Unfortunately, the "majority of the community" doesn't account for boards nor reddit. Comparative to league's playerbase, both boards and reddit make up a measly 1-5% at best. A thousand upvotes for URF sounds nice on paper but when you have around a hundred-million players, that number is a paltry sum. Still, it should be something that players look to. A comparatively-handful of people disliked the event so Riot pulled it. And when it comes to tradition, there are longer running jokes, memes and legacies you can pull out other than Ultra-Rapid-Fire. Could they have encorporated Urf himself better into this event? Sure. Is this some slap in the face of a grandstanding tradition? Well, when the most Urf gets is a skin every year, I can't see the impact that a lacking game mode provides.

VladimirSnakeyes2 votes

[deleted]

ModCaptainMårvelous2 votes

Ah, alright dude. Didn't mean to give you finger cramps. And yeah, we disagree with each other on fairly subjective matter so debate really isn't going to accomplish much for either of us.

On the other side: Wasn't trying to be condescending. You're not being rude or confrontational or anything! I just had poor choice of words so, in that regard, sorry if I came off as talking down to you. For what it's worth, I really enjoyed our conversation.

luzz2 votes

Thank you.... very well put.

TheSequelsRBad10 votes

I do kinda agree...

But I still miss urf...

lightdragoon889 votes

Clap Clap Clap

Well said.

RQ Amiable8 votes

can i upvote this 20x

Yash Gautam5 votes

I agree with most of these things, but champion design and game modes are two different things.

Wezz5 votes

To me, people don't seem to think how quickly event game modes become anti-fun when people meta it up, urf in particular has many more champion picks that need to be addressed and I wasn't going to bother playing yet another gamemode that katarina has to be banned, but this is aside the point of the thread, Draven Day sounded like a very great idea but very poor execution, I like that they tried

Ravio the Coward4 votes

I love this perspective. I've only been playing since late Season 4 but I have mixed feelings on URF. On one hand, yeah, I want it! But on the other, exactly the point you made.

To me, the community outrage is one of a bunch of kids still in middle/high school who, well... There's a lesson in psychology about feeding feral raccoons. If you fed them regularly then suddenly stop, they become aggressive and attack you. They feel entitled to the food.

I guess what I'm saying is imho Riot should have been better prepared to beat the raccoons back.

Monkey D Luffy4 votes

tldr downvoted for too long

ModCaptainMårvelous9 votes

That's ok. Words are too difficult for many people.

BoundaryBreaker4 votes

https://media.giphy.com/media/vSR0fhtT5A9by/giphy.gif

Wahre Gesicht4 votes

Tradition is different from stagnation.

LessChatMorePlay3 votes

lol, you don't make any sense, you got any idea why they have pbe test server ? think about it

ModCaptainMårvelous36 votes

I'm actually making quite a bit of sense but let's address the PBE:

As Riot and others have said before, the PBE is not a testing ground for new ideas. "LOL BUT-" No. Stop. The PBE is a place to make sure that there are no gamebreaking bugs/crashes that are released when the patch goes live. Do we still have bugs? Yeah. Do we have bugs so severe that the entire game breaks and you are crashed out of the client? No.

Riot's new ideas have to be tested in a global context and from the angle of an event that's already done. The PBE is a handful of people compared to the playerbase and doesn't fit what Riot needs to know. As another aside, the event has to be 100% done to test it. You can't put a half-finished product in the game without consequence. (Something something Azir joke goes here).

LessChatMorePlay4 votes

ok so you are saying that riot is full of dumb people who think that this draven garbage would be enjoyable ? plz stop

ModCaptainMårvelous31 votes

Ooooh. I see, you don't understand the basic argument. Let me enlighten you:

The basic premise is that Riot employees thought to themselves "What can we do for April Fools"? Someone said "Well we could do URF again" and people shrugged and nodded. Rioter Johnny said "Wait hold on what if we had a massive Draven event and played up that joke about Draven?" Some people thought this would be funny so they went with it.

Humor is subjective. There are people who are saying the showmatch is the funniest thing they ever saw. There are some who say it's the worst. Just because your sensibilities don't line up with another doesn't mean you're the defining word on humor or choice. Personally I think the mecha skins are getting old. That doesn't mean others don't like them or they don't sell. I hope this cleared things up for you.

LessChatMorePlay3 votes

screw the showmatch, only small part of players even watched or knew about that match, most of them were waiting for something fun and special, but there were only bad changes, like that draven face over whole champion when you cant tell what champ hide under the draven face. also full homepage with purchaseable stuff and some useless text, it is miserable

ModCaptainMårvelous22 votes

And like I said, it's better to have tried and failed something new than to repeat the same event without any change or new material to it.

LessChatMorePlay2 votes

then i hope they try and fail 1000 times in a row, lets see how many people keep playing this game then.

ModCaptainMårvelous19 votes

Well that's just not going to happen.

Would you consider URF a failure? Would you consider Bilgewater a failure? How about the Shurima/Freljord events? Failures?

You seem to be under the impression that failures are the only thing that happens when you try something new...

LessChatMorePlay3 votes

do you fix a working car engine ? why fix something that is proven to work great ?

Jari8 votes

The point is that they tried something and it didn't work. They can use that for the future to not repeat it. Draven event didn't go well? Alright, we don't do that again. Simple as that. And Riot knows that because they tore the thing down.

It could be worse, where a company does something bad and then repeats it until people love it coughblizzardcough

LessChatMorePlay1 votes

i bet they had a team of 150 experts to figure out that this is not working. Do they even test stuff they are making ? i played 1 aram game and i see that i don't like it at all. Riot is just cruel, they disappoint their community like this and they still keep the draven screen to get as much money out of this fail joke as possible

UrPalAl9 votes

You're impossible to talk sensibly to, sorry.

Tangrowth Hat18 votes

It was an aging car engine at that. Last year people complained about how urf wasnt the same within a day or two. So that isn't the best analysis as the engine needed tuning, which riot is attempting to do with the rotating queue

Odinakos9 votes

Oh i remember last year. "URF again?! It became boring, give us something new!". This year "No URF?! WTF Rito? Give us URF!"

MrWasjig2 votes

Proof that the playerbase has no fucking idea what it wants.

SquirrelyLemming3 votes

well like some people i dont think a half ass draven face mod is a event,its barely a 1 day troll with kiddie meme sprinkles on top,but then agian when i was 11 i put a bucket on top of my sisters door slightly ajar for aprill fools and only i laughed guess this is kinda the same thing*[zombie-brand-clap]*

luzz2 votes

{quoted}

I'm actually making quite a bit of sense but let's address the PBE:

As Riot and others have said before, the PBE is not a testing ground for new ideas. "LOL BUT-" No. Stop. The PBE is a place to make sure that there are no gamebreaking bugs/crashes that are released when the patch goes live. Do we still have bugs? Yeah. Do we have bugs so severe that the entire game breaks and you are crashed out of the client? No.

Riot's new ideas have to be tested in a global context and from the angle of an event that's already done. The PBE is a handful of people compared to the playerbase and doesn't fit what Riot needs to know. As another aside, the event has to be 100% done to test it. You can't put a half-finished product in the game without consequence. (Something something Azir joke goes here).

I didn't see the draven day whatsoever in pbe.... unfortunately that's a bad place to test it.... simply put, the cat will be let out of the bag.

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