What happened to the turrets providing shields?

Yeah, it's a feature that I missed from the turrets... mid season 5? I'm pretty sure Riot took it out late season 5, iirc. As it is, towers are piss weak, except at early levels. Mid game, people can just tank it while their carry shreds the thing to pieces. The laser turrets are even worse. Even if you cc some tanky champ under the tower for a full 2-3 seconds, they can probably still survive unless your team is backing you up.

It just puts more pressure on the players to use their advantages to defend the objective. If a player has snowballed enough to take a tower, they have simply played the game more efficiently than you. If you play at the same efficiency then you damage coupled with the tower aggro should be plenty enough to guard it. Also what separate the Pros from the general population is their keen and quick thinking to TRADE towers to take other objectives. Remember, the TEAM gold from taking a tower is enough to snowball a game, especially at lower elos.

I think it really hurt winning your lane.

Durp durp I'm on home base now you can't trade with me.

Not only is the "superior laner" at a huge risk for being ganked, but they now need an additional skill/multiple auto attacks to kill their laner under a tower.

It was an effort to slow down pushing the lanes, but I suspect it was one of many "changes to the LCS" that didn't fan out properly.

It also helped give vision of an enemy laner coming (The shield-giving animation)

Just put the Nexus turret from TT into summoners rift...problem solved...and get rid of the lazer beam ones in the base, they're worse than the lane turrets.