There have been an array of threads on this topic and Riot employees have come out and commented on many of them. But this was NOT a statement made by a single Rioter in any way. This was a statement from the company Riot. On the topic of expectations they have grown to some thousands of employees. They have more resources than even the biggest of the companies in gaming. So yes, there is in fact more to it, Deep Terror Nami.
Here is small comment from one employee like the one you think the statement they made is.
"And to make it clear we are not completely opposed to building systems to practice and improve at League. We think there is real player value in a some version of a training mode, especially when one considers the sometimes complex champions we introduce to League. Just as much as you, we understand League is a competitive game by design and, for most, best enjoyed as player vs. player. But for those who want to double down on their skills, League should provide avenue for them as well.
The blog's intent was to peel back the curtain and give you transparency into the trade offs we are making in development. We knew that some things we are (and aren't) doing wouldn't win us any popularity contests but imo talking about this stuff is better than turning a deaf ear to players. Our explanation on Sandbox is weak, straight up. We made it sound like a binary decision which it's not. The strength of the message (or lack therein) reflects the internal Riot debate about how to best solve the problem for players. I think our product, engineering, and design teams are fully capable of solving this in a innovative way that players can use. The unpopular thing is that it is not on the currently an item in development but based on this feedback it may be that's what we need to adjust." -Riot Bansky
