The Starter Bundle, and a missed opportunity.

We Are GRO0T·Oct 8, 2015·15 votes·1,896 views

I am somewhat new to LOL and coming over from DOTA 2 I had something that truly bothered me. I know that Riot wants to "make the player earn" champions, runes, masteries, and whatnot, and I have no problem with that, but why start out with 400 RP and not be able to make a store purchase right off the bat that will help retain the player? I have a marketing degree and like to analyse e-sports/videogame in game purchases. From what I see, not having an affordable first option to buy something in a game, where buying skins drives revenue, is a missed opportunity to build repeat buyers. Having to purchase Riot Points in order to buy more than 1 IP/XP boost or a basic champion at the start of your account makes outsiders think this is a pay to win game. Having that mentality coming into a game is not the positive mindset you want to give to the consumer of your game.

Here's an example:

Someone starts playing LOL for whatever reason, they download the game and hop into a bot match. They play a few bot matches and then jump into a normal. They rank up enough to hit the weekly rotation of champions (on low level accounts they have a different champion pool) and all of a sudden they loose most of the comfort champions they learned the game with and are playing against smurfs who spam Master Yi and wreck face. All of a sudden the new player either goes into bots until 30 or they get super discouraged and stop playing, because the champions they started to get a hang of are not around anymore.

I know there are some generalizations in there, but for the most part I think a lot of people have had to go through this rough patch of the game, and nothing really has been done to deal with it. Fixing bots to make them worth while is never going to happen, making a better tutorial is probably never going to happen either, so what can be done to help these first timers ease into the game and enjoy it while learning? The simple answer is to lower the first bundle RP so that new players can permanently unlock these "easy to play" champions so they can learn the mechanics and flow of the game without having to worry about learning a new set of champions abilities to boot.

I think lowering the starter bundle to 400 RP would not only make it easier to learn the game, but also gives the user more incentive to return to the shop and purchase other items and skins down the road. I know most of us in the forum don't have to deal with this problem anymore, but if you ever want to introduce a friend to LOL and want them to not give up after the first week, I think this solution is something that can and should be done.

Also I am aware of the free 3 champions you could get from the Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube stuff, but 3 champions does not seem like enough.

22 Comments

AntininjapenguinOct 8, 20152 votes

Great idea, hope rito listens

AirSonanceOct 9, 20152 votes

I fully see the logic here. Not only do affordable purchases with that 400 RP help new players get started, but also opens better chances for purchases down the road, which is an obvious plus for Riot.

You have my approval, good sir! I just wish it was like this when I first started.

RalanthaOct 9, 20152 votes

I agree. There should be a good starter pack and real tutorials for the new player to advance and for us friends to show them how in a decent environment. It took someone just an hour and a couple scrims in dota2 to show me and explain the concepts compared to League.

AxestsOct 9, 20152 votes

ahhh, this bring nostalgia back. I played bots exclusively until about level 23 (at that point i just wasn't having enough challange with bots). I had avoided it because i thought that i wasn't good enough at the game to go vs other players (league was my first big online game i played) and i felt disadvantaged since i had no runes. I hadn't bought any because i realized that once i almost hit 30 i'll unlock the "best" runes and the older ones will be rendered useless. After that i played a LOT of 3v3 on the old map vs other players. I loved the level 1 fights in bot bush that happened all the time ;p (sadly this seems to have died out on the new map). Now i'm rambling though, i'd like to point out the only things i considered buying when i got that 400 rp was assassin master yi, being one of like 2 or 3 skins that you could afford with that little. I wasn't interested in the ip boosts or xp boosts because i figured i'll get that from playing anyway.

FlowBladeOct 9, 20151 votes

Really till level 23? Personally I hate playing bots in any game. Right after the tutorials i started playing normals, bots is just too boring. Right now i can only play draft and ranked, normal and bots isn't competitive enough and the teams are too messed up.

MelledoneusOct 10, 20152 votes

It's a great idea, but there are lots of things Riot needs to improve regarding their new player experience.

-The tutorials, or the lack thereof -The learning curve of mechanics -The smurf accounts ruining their experience -Unfamiliarity with how in-game currency works -Unfamiliarity with in-client options and customization -Runes, by god, runes -The "easy to play" champions themselves (Ryze is no longer in that category)

We Are GRO0TOct 10, 20151 votes

{quoted}

It's a great idea, but there are lots of things Riot needs to improve regarding their new player experience.

-The tutorials, or the lack thereof -The learning curve of mechanics -The smurf accounts ruining their experience -Unfamiliarity with how in-game currency works -Unfamiliarity with in-client options and customization -Runes, by god, runes -The "easy to play" champions themselves (Ryze is no longer in that category)

I agree with all of those, and if Riot wanted to pay me to come there and fix those issues, I would be more than happy to. Until then, one in depth explanation is going to have to be enough.

MelledoneusOct 10, 20151 votes

Let's just hope they address it. As in, a Rioter thinks, "Gee, we should think about the new generation rather than us old timers!"

JoshehehOct 9, 20151 votes

I'm just amused by the fact that you can play any champion with clear weakness but shitloads of damage at any level below 30 and dominate couple friends of mine got a pentakill as kat two people one character, one on the mouse and one on the keyboard.

ScrimshäwOct 9, 20151 votes

so edgy, so cool

how about you go off and make 1/100 what riot makes in a day?

We Are GRO0TOct 9, 20154 votes

[{quoted}](name=Treasure Goblin,realm=NA,application-id=cIfEodbz,discussion-id=pIB4HGjh,comment-id=0004,timestamp=2015-10-09T02:50:22.104+0000)

so edgy, so cool

how about you go off and make 1/100 what riot makes in a day?

Is this an attempt to insult me? If so, that's fine, I'm just suggesting something for positive change and there really is no point in insulting a suggestion. Instead you can put your effort into improvement suggestions.

Axis the DragonOct 9, 20153 votes

That was so chill that my hard drive froze

Silver FluffenbuOct 9, 20151 votes

yes! nerf yi!

xFrostKnightxOct 9, 20151 votes

But what about saving IP to buy champions? There are plenty of viable ones under 3K IP. They could counter your logic by saying they could not give free RP to begin with.

If riot has to give you RP to stay on their game because you rather not get IP For champions, those players are not worth giving in to,

They've already done 50% reduction on the most used runes T3 to save you more IP for champions. More RP is a poor solution to a minor problem, as I hope you've seen in other games. It needs to be tackled on similar to the way they've done T3 runes, which they do by lowering the IP cost of champions down a tier every few releases. If a player intends to stay on a game, it's through interest rather than being handed freebies and discounts.

As for the starter bundle argument. It's more efficient to buy those champions with IP. They are all very cheap.

We Are GRO0TOct 9, 20151 votes

{quoted}

But what about saving IP to buy champions? There are plenty of viable ones under 3K IP. They could counter your logic by saying they could not give free RP to begin with.

If riot has to give you RP to stay on their game because you rather not get IP For champions, those players are not worth giving in to,

They've already done 50% reduction on the most used runes T3 to save you more IP for champions. More RP is a poor solution to a minor problem, as I hope you've seen in other games. It needs to be tackled on similar to the way they've done T3 runes, which they do by lowering the IP cost of champions down a tier every few releases. If a player intends to stay on a game, it's through interest rather than being handed freebies and discounts.

As for the starter bundle argument. It's more efficient to buy those champions with IP. They are all very cheap.

I am speaking mostly from a business perspective in regards to creating returning customers for the product. LOL is a free to play game, thus the revenue is driven mostly from the purchases for RP (there is a relatively small portion of profits coming from the e-sports side). In an attempt to retain new customers _and _ drive the initial RP purchases I think it would be beneficial to perform my suggestion above.

With that said, I do like Riot's drop in IP pricing that has slowly going on. The area where IP fits though is really for the already retained customer, usually in the middle of their LOL playing cycle. The drop of IP price for the T3 runes was more of a game balancing issue, in my opinion, where due to the high prices it was too hard for a new player to:

A) Buy more than one set of viable runes B) Make a mistake and potentially waist IP with runes not optimized to your specific champion pool C) Give the opportunity for creativity in the runes in which they choose to play with, without too much fear of wasting hard work

The freebee/discount is not what I am suggesting. What I am suggesting would make the "transaction" more of a behavioral teaching tool to new players to encourage the purchasing of stuff from the shop, while also obtaining a more pleasurable learning experience. If both actions of using RP are seen as positive in the players eyes, then I believe that the use of RP would become more frequent, thus increasing revenue for Riot Games.

AntiSkillshotOct 9, 20151 votes

I'll agree with you. Though, I also had ideas of a "Free champion token" for new players that did the tutorial, but as the tutorial is a fucking joke... Yeah. The Token could drop whenever they no longer have access to the "new player" champion pool. So, if there's someone they want to keep on playing that in that pool, they could use said token. Of course, there's a chance that some will probably pick a champion that wasn't in the pool, and find out they don't like that champion.

Though, I still find interesting that is any starting RP at all. You see, I started playing League waaaay back in 2011. There was no starting RP. There was no "new player" champion pool. There was no bots. At least you could've earned IP and EXP from customs by yourself, which is no longer a thing. THANKS BOT FARMERS!

kaltenashesOct 9, 20151 votes

400 RP isnt profitable to riot since you get 400 RP when u reach lvl 3 or 5 ..still all the champs there are 450 IP (i believe), doenst take a lot of games to gather this amount

We Are GRO0TOct 9, 20151 votes

{quoted}

400 RP isnt profitable to riot since you get 400 RP when u reach lvl 3 or 5 ..still all the champs there are 450 IP (i believe), doenst take a lot of games to gather this amount

To that, there are three responses

Riot makes money of RP not IP, thus getting people to actually use it and purchase more is what creates profit.
Why give RP at all then? If you aren't using it, and can't really buy anything for the beginning amount, then why waist the time? You can only buy increments of $5 anyway, giving you 650 RP, which gives you enough to buy the bundle by itself, thus making the 400 RP irrelevant.
If you are Riot, you would rather have people buying champions with RP than IP. IP only exists because otherwise a large mass of the LOL community would have left day one if they saw that the only way to play is to pay-to-play. IP supplements the player base so they will stay, thus creating a platform in which skins and other cosmetics can be sold.

kaltenashesOct 9, 20152 votes

Actually you can buy those on sale for 50% off champions or skin (for 260 skin and 395 champ) but it might be also some kind of strategy to get you into buying more RP...And runes can only be bought for IP

kaltenashesOct 9, 20151 votes

Anyway it would be better for the new players just to receive this bundle for free when reaching lvl 5 or something like that...when i started playing i got Alistar Garen Tristana for free and started learning to play them

We Are GRO0TOct 9, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Anyway it would be better for the new players just to receive this bundle for free when reaching lvl 5 or something like that...when i started playing i got for free and started learning to play them

Essentially you would be making the bundle free if you dropped the price or increased the starting RP. The action of purchasing and going through the process teaches the new players how to use the system, thus giving training on how to buy things. Teaching players how to buy gives Riot a chances to train behavior, therefore increasing the chance of repeat purchases.

We Are GRO0TOct 9, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Actually you can buy those on sale for 50% off champions or skin (for 260 skin and 395 champ) but it might be also some kind of strategy to get you into buying more RP...And runes can only be bought for IP

Buying in bulk is a much more positive experience than hoping that your skin/champ goes on sale.
Buying one non-beginner champion and using most of your RP for a starter is opening up the door for disappointment. If they wiff and hate the champion, then they are stuck with it. If they buy a bundle of easy to play champions, the player can dislike mutiple champions and still end up with a few they can learn the game with.
What does buying runes with IP have to do with anything? If Riot wanted to lose players, they would pull an EA Games and micro-transaction everything. Runes are another way to add depth to the game, not make money off of.