We need to talk about balancing
No, no, I'm not talking to you Riot. I'm talking to the players. Rioters, for a direct message, please go to the fourth paragraph after this sentence.
If it was as easy as "buff this", "nerf that", "change it", don't you think we would have so fewer problems? The balance team works hard every day trying to do a job that I think we can all agree just about none of us would want, or even be able to do. For those of you who don't understand what they do, let me give you an idea:
Whenever it's obvious something needs change, they have to put it on a schedule with who knows how many other projects. When they actually get to it after taking care of what they were originally, it's a long, arduous process. They have to come up with all of the possible solutions for the problem; probably including some that they're 99% sure won't work, and even some that are on the opposite end of the spectrum. But they have to test them all. There are too many unknowns, plain and simple. That's why they have to test it. They create an incredibly complex filter that very few things get past. The reason they do this is because they need to find just the right fit. If they even miss one test, pandemonium could ensue if it makes it to live. All because they forgot to do one step.
It's stressful, and what do the players do? We complain, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing; in fact I encourage it. Complaints are a great way to help Riot. What I'm talking about is taking the complaints to the level at which we outright insult the balance team. Allow me to return to an earlier thing that I said: "They create an incredibly complex filter that very few things get past." Of course, the players only ever notice and talk about those few things. Can you even begin to imagine the amount of close calls they've had that could've meant catastrophe over the last 10 years? I certainly can't. We should be grateful, but of course there's really not much we can turn to.
This is where I'd like to address Rioters directly. While I don't fault you in the least for any slip-ups in balance (we all make mistakes, nobody's perfect), I have to call you out on the fact that you've never really released something that specifically shows appreciation to the balance team. I would recommend something along the lines of a video from the actual balance team to explain their job in a way that actually does it justice, unlike mine, which is only what I can glean from my own logic. Perhaps you'd like to share with us scrapped ideas that seem absolutely lovely on the surface, but then reveal the exact ramifications that idea would have; kind of like turning over a beautiful stone and seeing all the dirt and bugs on the bottom, or finding out what happens at a McDonald's food processing plant (look up "pink slime"). I really feel like we need to show the balance team some love and not let them go on as the silent protectors of the peace. Now back to the players:
tl;dr next time you make a post saying that the balance team doesn't know what they're doing, maybe you should realize that no matter how much they know, you know less.
