Goodbyes don't mean forever.
This is my goodbye letter to League of Legends and those who play it.
First of all, thank you for the fun I had that summer of 2013. It probably was the best few moments I had on the game. The only other time was during the Tank meta which didn't last too long and can never be relived because I know how Riot thinks...
But, I'm not leaving due to hate. I'm not leaving due to one bad game or even weeks of bad games.
I'm leaving because this game asks for more than what I'm able to give. I'm leaving because I'm tired of going through this game. I'm leaving because I can't even get myself to even click on the stupid "League" icon and play a match... I have to honestly force myself to do this part.
Here are some things I miss or never got. Feel free to just not read if you don't want to, and just skip to the last paragraph where I explain that I haven't quit League but more or less I want a reason to come back.
I'm okay with not getting traditional skins or the such but there was one skin I really wanted to buy but... the champion got gutted hard to the point I couldn't play him anymore. When I first entered League of Legends, I started playing Udyr a lot. I would play him top, mid, or bot and win a lot due to just knowing when to go in or pull out with him. I went almost to level 30 maining him only to stop when I went into Ranked and learned I didn't know how to play any other champion besides Udyr. Then, I witnessed patch after patch of him getting continuous changes and nerfs to his whole kit and base stats. His Q went from passively giving bonus damage to not having a passive. His W here recently got nerfs to its shield. His E went from every 4th hit stun to every 4 seconds a stun. And his R also got its power dwindled. I don't expect him to be OP, but that all together feels like a straight out gut. There are certain matches where he can dominate but all in all he went from being able to play top lane to barely able to solo a jungle camp. I'm glad I didn't get the skin now because of how they treated this champion afterwards. Not even Ezreal or Sona got this harsh treatment.
I miss Team Builder. The substitute is just an enhanced Draft Pick and nothing else. People complain about the lack of getting their desired role and this was no issue in Team Builder. For those who hated it... I feel honestly bad for you. If you feel like going into a Normal match as a Blind or Draft and somehow get your role and champion easier than in Team Builder then I applaud you but that is very rare and in most cases someone has to sacrifice ELO points (or whatever) to dodge a match and risk a ban. At least Team Builder allows you to kick out trolls or people you don't like or you can dodge a team with no penalties to search for one you deem worthy.
I never got to get into Dominion, but I wanted to. It was actually (in my opinion) more fun than playing on Summoner's Rift. And, it was indeed faster. I hated playing long matches when I didn't have the time so I would go into Dominion for a match I knew would only last about 10-17 minutes at most. When they took it out and put it into a Rotation I was not sad but disappointed in Riot.
Riot never did get into playing with their community as they had done in the past. They use to have lots of contests and the such but now I only hear or see LCS teams talk about their trials and such... I'd rather see a contest on Cosplayers or something that tests our art skills, or at least something.
I can't say I missed or never got Blitzcrank's Poro Run but I will say it was a missed effort on Riot's behalf. They actually made a fun game that was well received but they made it temporary... which is kind of stupid in retrospect but you have to give Riot a little credit. Still, if they would had, they could had fleshed this into a pay for game that got updates every couple of months to add new content. I know that Blitzcrank has more skins than that, and so do Nautilus, Thresh, Corki, and Braum. You could have expanded into new game modes that feature Blitzcrank and maybe some other League champions as additional playable characters or as villains. I would very much pay for a game like Blitzcrank's Poro Run if Riot were to promise to keep updating it.
I actually liked having a match last longer than 30 minutes. I honestly want more matches to last 120 minutes, but sadly I've only ever had about 2-5 matches ever do this. If 60 minutes gives me around 100 IP, playing for 120 minutes should give me 200 IP.
Riot should not be stingy with their IP. I can't say I didn't like earning my champion, but to get them all at their costs feels more like a chore than a pleasure. Why do those who begin a game get all the benefits any beginner should get? Riot is being bested in this area by a mobile game many haven't even heard of. VainGlory at least gives a new player 3 characters for free, some in-game currency, a good amount of IP type of currency to buy another character of their choice, and a skin to top it off. Riot on the other hand gives a new player one champion... VainGlory (as of right now) has exactly 30 characters, League of Legends has around 130 Champions... If Riot were to even follow after the giving a new player 1/10 of the roster like VainGlory did, they would need to give 13 Champions all at once which, in turn, wouldn't even be a issue. I still haven't gotten all of the Champions yet, at all. I don't even have Runes. And I once spoke out that I'd rather be on a feeding team during bonus IP weeks to get more IP quicker than play a full match, which a Riot employee spoke out against me for... I was puzzled that they would be against this.
As someone who primarily picks the Support role, I hate that most supports right now are either just Tank supports or Mage supports that aren't even designed around supporting. Sona should have her kit focus on her buffs rather than damage, Nunu is perfectly fine as a Support, I want to get use to Taric but I don't like Draft Pick, and Tahm Kench is also very useful as a Support and (in my opinion) easier than Taric at the moment. Also, I miss the old Heralds item that gave bonus health, and bonus damage/life steal to allies nearby. It was a hidden gem that quickly got a 180° and went into something else.
I miss the friends who also went on and quit the game because it went from a friendly game to something with lots of rage and repetition.
I can't say I want to quit but if it gets down to it, I'm deleting this game off my computer. Riot had its time in the lime light. People still watch this thing on Twitch daily. But the community on here has been unanimously pointed out to be toxic, and my first time after Ranked actually made me cry and rethink my life. That was about 3 or 4 years ago, but the stuff on here made me actually get seriously emotionally hurt. I've learned there is more to this world than League of Legends. There are hundreds to thousands more on Steam that I'd rather pay for than play a game that continuously throws skins at my face. I have two dogs that I'd rather spend 30 minutes playing with and feeling happy afterwards than playing a match for 30 minutes and getting yelled at by family for ignoring them/losing and feeling sad/winning and waisting more time/etc.
So, goodbye League of Legends. You have lost many players to date, and I may be the next. You stopped caring about the community, and now the community is out of control. You ruined your own game and the only one you've technically ever made or worked on. Many of the founders have left since launch. The game itself feels different rather than just staying graphically up to date. And the game just isn't fun anymore, so take care.
- Sincerely, Rew711
