[{quoted}](name=Hatch RawerBeryl,realm=NA,application-id=cIfEodbz,discussion-id=YEzZEu5G,comment-id=,timestamp=2015-01-05T23:50:53.901+0000)
Sure, you have those guys who've been playing the game for years who have more ip than they know what to do with... But it took them that much time to accomplish that feat. I've been playing since Octoberish of 2013 (And trust me, i've played this game an embarrassing amount...), and I have a grand total of 51 champions (most of which are the cheap ones) and 2 full rune pages. After more than a year of playing this game very regularly, I have purchased well under half the champions and a painfully small number of runes.
That's just ridiculous. Sure, sure, you can play this game at the competitive level without ever spending a dime... But it will take you literal years to accumulate what you really need.
I don't really expect rioters to understand the bad feeling this generates. They have every champion and skin unlocked as one of their job benefits.
If you want to learn how to properly make a f2p game... Just look at TF2. In fact, just look at valve. Sit down and take notes.
It amazes me to see the sheer sense of entitlement people have, especially when free to play is involved.
I myself started sometime in season 1 and have over 80 champions. I've got 10 rune pages and could have quite a few more champions but I tend to sit on big chunks of ip so I don't have to wait to pick up 6300 ip champs I end up wanting. You know how I ended up with that many rune pages, I took the time and made the effort to save Ip when they announce a rune page sale, but I've also paid the full 6300 for a single page.
I've also leveled a few accounts just to see what the experience was like now, and if there's anything I would find complaint worthy, it's the sheer amount of afk autoleveling bots new players have to face. If not for my previous experience, I'd feel like there were a lot fewer people actually playing and the brunt of the population is just third party sites selling accounts to anyone willing to buy.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all too familiar with the time consumption in earning what you need for runes and champions. However, it's disturbing that so many players these days think they deserve everything with little to no effort.
Maybe it's a lack of maturity or not understanding basic principles of business. But it's sad that people can't even appreciate that the only content really locked out and requiring payment is superficial - everything else can be grinded out.
Sure, champ pricing was becoming an issue with every new champ at a 6300 ip release. In turn they gave us ip reduction, and a lot of champs since have become dramatically cheaper.
This bad feeling you describe is a sense of entitlement being unfulfilled. Instant gratification has spoiled us pretty badly.
TF2 isn't exactly a great example. I haven't touched it in years and it's not as large or popular as League. That's not to say I don't like Valve, as the original Half-Life set the bar for what I expected of any shooter since.
As far as runes go, eliminating tier 1 and 2 would go a long way since they end up being a waste in the long run. Rune slots are already gated by level, that's enough.
And again, I've stopped playing for huge spans of time, I think I missed almost all of season 2 and seasons 3 and 4 were basically ranked matches or co-op. A lot of the time if I bother to log in it's just to reset the first win in a co-op. I've seen folks with over 1000 ranked matches a season, yet in two seasons I don't think I've even played 600.
TLDR - If it wasn't for implementing IP reduction for champions (that was done a long while ago now), then your complaint would have merit - but instead comes off as wanting even more from a game that allows you to access all of its content without paying.
I haven't spent more than $40 in the game myself, that's less than $10 a season. I'd say that's quite a bargain considering that money went to skins (providing no paid for advantage) and support a game. I remember when the price tag for a game was +$50.
