Ah, welcome to the real world! I've been here a long time, since the days of open beta even. Riot has been like this from the moment they realized that they could make a lot of money on esports. Since then, they've made quite the effort to legitimize their game and give people a reason to see it as a competitive frontier, but at the cost of the player base. Individually, the rioters are all very kind people. I've never once had a poor experience with any reds. I remember when they'd face the GD and post in threads about champion design and how they could incorporate certain themes or ideas into future champions. I remember when Pendragon would come down and smite those who dared to ask why they were permabanned. They've lost a lot of their character and feeling as a small company, and it really saddens and disappoints me. Esports is largely all they care about, well and figuring out ways to make you buy their next flashy item. I can respect the second part though as it's their business model.
In my opinion, Riot shouldn't hold the LCS. It should instead be run by the community, not the company. Sure, they can back it and support it, but running it causes way too many problems to the point that it causes other aspects of the game and the community to suffer. Sure, this idea can't happen immediately, but I think that Riot should focus on their product first and their competitive scene second.
Anyways, thanks for reading my rantings!
Tl;dr- Riot needs to focus more on the community and not devote so much time and resources to esports.
