Many casual League of Legends players are displeased with Riot Games for concentrating on the esports scene as the World Championship approaches.
Games with competitive multiplayer are infamous for having balancing problems. These games frequently experience problems with players abusing specific methods, which can be difficult to play against and forces developers to nerf or enhance systems appropriately. However, if gamers and devs do not agree on what is best for the game, these changes may cause a schism. League of Legends, developed by Riot Games, is the game that best illustrates this problem.
In advance of the upcoming World Championship, League of Legends patch 12.16, released on August 23, introduced a number of modifications that optimized the game for professional esports play. While certain modifications in this update, like the redesign of the venerable character Udyr, have gotten great reactions, others, like the needless nerfs, have angered players and are alarming indicators that point to a more sinister balancing mindset. Online debates over League of Legends’ current balancing have erupted following this news.
Zeri, an ADC champion introduced in 2022, received a nerf in patch 12.16, which is debatably the most divisive change. Zeri had a 47% victory percentage across all play levels, making her a terrible character to play, hence the choice to nerf her infuriated people. She did, however, completely dominate professional League of Legends, which forced Riot to temper her. Although the community would have embraced it, this nerf was the 13th modification she’s had since her release earlier this year. Players now think Riot Games has no idea about character design or game balance due to these frequent changes.
Due to the fact that Zeri’s performance in the solo queue was already subpar before the most recent modifications, which further decreased her win rate (43% in fact), players who main her have grown frustrated. It’s crucial to remember, though, that the esports sector has been responsible for numerous champions receiving nerfs in the past. The same procedure was given to Ryze and Azir, two champions. Ryze’s case was so well-known among players that they created the word “Ryze treatment” to describe a scene resembling that of Zeri, Azir, and Ryze.
Along with nerfs, patch 12.16 also boosted characters who were underwhelmed and others who had fallen out of favor. Players welcomed the upgrades for Kai’Sa and Zoe, although some were perplexed by the upgrades for Irelia. Irelia is a champion who has a record of victories, and this record only became better as Blade of the Ruined King gained power. Due to the players’ frustration with this boost, some have questioned Riot’s awareness of League of Legends’ current status.
Riot Games openly announcing that the forthcoming patches building up to the World Championship will all be targeted at professional players was the icing on the cake. This implies that no issues will be resolved during the upcoming weeks until the World Championship is over. Naturally, many players and broadcasters are upset about this approach since they feel it is unfair to concentrate on pleasing the 0.01% of players rather than the millions that help the corporation turn a profit. A counterargument may be made, though, for professional players, whose livelihoods and entire careers depend on tournaments, raising the stakes for them automatically.
Although the League of Legends balancing team at Riot Games works tirelessly to make the game equal and fair, this Sisyphean endeavor ultimately depends on thousands of uncontrollable factors. Riot Games has faced criticism from both the community and the esports community, despite efforts to improve the condition of the game, such as dividing balancing decisions among multiple tiers of play (Low, Mid, and High Elo vs esports).