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Rioters should have to play the game

slippykitten·4/28/2015, 4:36:50 PM·4 votes·2,187 views

Before you jump down my throat saying "but they do!" i want you to consider my point.

I surveyed several riot accounts (FERALPONY,GHOSTCRAWLER,NARCMAGE, RIOT SILOG, Riot Frosthaven,Meddler, Riot Slanderer, Riot KateyKhaos, Phreak, IronStylus, Pendragon, and several others) to determine several things

  1. they do not play on their riot accounts very often - twice a week at most, some havent played a game in months

  2. they only play ranked summoner rift games - not a single normal, 3's, dominion, or aram game was played

  3. they only play popular pick champs - i didnt notice one champ picked that has a bad rap and is often complained about. Some of the rioters in charge of certain champ updates dont even have any games logged on them!

  4. they clearly only play these accounts because they are forced to.

So why is this a problem?

  1. Because this game is so touchy, intricate and carefully balanced that every minor decision made impacts the game a great deal. Without verification that riot employees are even experiencing the changes they implement, it is easy to feel like they are disconnected.

  2. if we cant see that they even care to play the champs we love that need help, it makes it appear as if they simply dont care about them.

  3. If rioters arent playing normals, 3's, dominion or aram games, it is easy to feel like those modes are heavily neglected

  4. they dont have to frequently feel the frustration of toxic players so we think they are less interested in dealing with them

As well as a slew of other reasons.

Of course Rioters probably play on other accounts, but we have no verification of that. I bet some of them do play often, but i would also bet some of them never play outside of what is required.

tl;dr - i want to be able to see that rioters care enough to actually play their game so i can feel confident that at least they believe in the choices they make.

edit: i can see now that players would rather just be told everything is ok than to actually see Riot employees playing. Blind trust OP, my mistake.

30 Comments

GroundRuleDouble4/28/2015, 4:40:58 PM16 votes

I really can't believe what i just read. I guarantee you that they play A LOT more on other accounts. Many times, they don't want the word RIOT in their name bacause it would affect how other people act and play. If the games you are looking at are mostly ranked, of course their going to play popular champs. They are popular for a reason. If these people didn't like the game, they wouldn't work at Riot.

Also, there's a TON of internal testing as well. They play the games before things even go to PBE. I seriously can't believe the accusations in your post. I'm actually shocked.

Riotmoonstones4/28/2015, 6:41:50 PM8 votes

Hiya slippykitten!

I noticed you called me out, so I figured I'd jump in here! I can't speak on behalf of everyone listed, but I can speak for myself.

  1. they do not play on their riot accounts very often - twice a week at most, some havent played a game in months

I usually play a game every day, and play a lot more on the weekends. My "Riot" account is the same account I had before I started at Riot, I just added 'Riot' in front of it. :]

  1. they only play ranked summoner rift games - not a single normal, 3's, dominion, or aram game was played

My recent match history includes ranked, 5's (Team Builder specifically) and ARAM. I'll be honest, I don't play 3's often, since the champions who do really well aren't ones I play much, and Dominion isn't my play style.

I added my match history for proof. There's an 0-7-9 Nami game above that's not listed (not because I didn't want to show off my bad score, but because this screen cap showed a better variety of games .^-^)

  1. they only play popular pick champs - i didnt notice one champ picked that has a bad rap and is often complained about. Some of the rioters in charge of certain champ updates dont even have any games logged on them!

For me, I wouldn't say I pick popular champs, I pick champions I enjoy playing, which include Nami, Sona, Lux, Morgana. I think that's a fair statement for a lot of players - they pick champions who cater to their play style.

  1. if we cant see that they even care to play the champs we love that need help, it makes it appear as if they simply dont care about them.
  1. If rioters arent playing normals, 3's, dominion or aram games, it is easy to feel like those modes are heavily neglected

We have internal playtests in which gameplay, champion designers, balance team members, etc play in to get a true feel for the changes that are being made to said champions, and how that affects the overall League of Legends ecosystem. (They also help us test out skins for readability!)

We couldn't possibly test the changes on live if they're experimental and not officially implemented in to the game (i.e. PBE).

That said, they're also aware of what's going on in the live environment, which is why you see nerfs and buffs each patch.

  1. they dont have to frequently feel the frustration of toxic players so we think they are less interested in dealing with them

Many Rioters don't have 'Riot' in their name, and when they play, they do encounter toxic players. Heck, I still run across some myself.

You're right that we're not 'required' to play, but it's less or a requirement, and more of a we want to play because we're all extremely passionate about the game we work on. I know for me, this is a dream job because I've been playing this game since June of 2010, and it's an awesome feeling to be working on a game I've spent countless hours on.

Hope this clears some things up. :]

Eleshakai4/28/2015, 5:47:26 PM7 votes

Bear in mind that only ranked games are visible if you used the 'match history' search. You can only see normals/etc. on your own account(or I believe, if you look in the game client, those of mutual friendS)

disregardable4/28/2015, 4:43:27 PM5 votes

http://na.op.gg/summoner/userName=NARCMAGE

  • seems to play around 5 times a week
  • plays a mix of normals and ARAM
  • Had a 3s team last year
  • picked Vlad, Rumble, and Yasuo in normals

He got into a discussion on Zilean's rework, earlier.

Strawberrycocoa4/28/2015, 5:29:39 PM2 votes

One more thing:

Of course Rioters probably play on other accounts, but we have no verification of that. I bet some of them do play often, but i would also bet some of them never play outside of what is required.

How often do YOU get home from work, then sit down and get right back to work instead of kicking back, relaxing, or blowing off steam playing something non-work related? Are you honestly expecting them to devote every waking moment of the professional and personal lives to your video game?

Strawberrycocoa4/28/2015, 5:18:21 PM2 votes

The games you're seeing are more likely to be freetime play than work related balance testing.

You think just because they don't do testing or play matches where you can easily see it, that means they don't do it at all?

You think just because they don't play the champions you personally like in their free time, they don't test or play them at all?

The balancing and testing and iterating is done AT THE WORK PLACE in labs on closed servers. They do all their playtesting and designing outside of the public eye. They also collect a shit ton of metrics from live servers for use in determining changes and tweaks.

Good God, the lunacy of even THINKING they play live games for balance testing. I don't want ANY balance decisions being made from, "Okay this guy beat me in lane, so lets nerf that champion". Balance decisions stem from collected and analyzed data beyond what the average player can see. Just because you don't personally witness their test sessions doesn't mean they don't happen.

EvilMerodach4/28/2015, 6:56:54 PM2 votes

..I read your post carefully...then downvoted you. Sorry man, very little of your post is true, plus, you're not holding yourself up to the same standard you expect of them, your last 10 games were all ranked. You have 0 dominion wins, and very few normal/aram. Do you even play your own game? I want some verification you understand the dynamics of Dominion. 35 wins, due by the end of the week! And don't call 'smurf account' cause you're not allowing Riot to play on their smurfs, why should we allow you?

Kagemyth4/28/2015, 7:21:59 PM1 votes

the witchhunt method. throw them in the lake. if they dont sink they are a witch if they drown ... well we know they arent a witch