In a recent stream, Riot Games’ August expressed his dislike for the Summoner’s Spell Teleport but acknowledged that it is an essential part of the game. August openly admitted that he is not a fan of the Teleport spell, yet he believes it is too important to remove, especially for top lane players.

He emphasized that Teleport provides a significant advantage to players who use it over those who choose Ignite because it allows them to return to the lane quickly and make up for lost minions and experience points.

“I do not like that TP. As a defensive Summoner’s Spell, you take it, you win your lane,”

August finds it frustrating that Teleport, a spell intended to be defensive, gives players an edge over those who opt for more aggressive spells like Ignite. However, he also recognized how crucial Teleport is for top lane players, who depend on it. Top lane mains rely on Teleport for split-pushing, ganking other lanes, and surviving tough situations.

“TP creates a lot of important things for the game, especially in regards to top lane,”

One solution August suggested to address this issue is to start the game with Teleport on cooldown. This way, if a player dies in the early levels, they will justifiably lose the lane. However, he did not seem entirely convinced by his own suggestion.

In the current meta, particularly in higher ranks and competitive play, Teleport is arguably the most crucial spell in League of Legends. Many top laners and mid laners pick it, and sometimes even bot lane duos opt for the spell.

In the final of the 2024 Esports World Cup between Top Esports and T1, every top laner and mid laner selected Teleport along with Flash in each of the four games, according to Leaguepedia.

Casual players also favor Teleport. The combination of Teleport and Flash is the most popular, chosen by 25.6% of players. This shows that the spell is not only vital in pro  play but also widely used and appreciated by the general player base.

While many Western players have critized the $450 Faker bundle in League of Legends, its sales are reportedly skyrocketing in Eastern regions. However, players believe that this is overall beneficial for the game.

On June 24, a player on Reddit sparked a community discussion by stating, “Milking the whales is fine and healthy for the game.” They see it as a win-win situation, where Riot Games makes money from big spenders, or “whales,” without affecting the casual.

“These products are clearly made for whales. Riot has said this multiple times. They are the League of Legends equivalent of a €3000 Gucci handbag. If you’re rich, you get to buy cool, pointless stuff; that’s just how life goes”

They also mentioned that many free-to-play games are actually pay-to-win. Considering this, expensive but non-essential cosmetics are a better model for almost all players, regardless of their price.

Many players agreed but highlighted two scenarios they wouldn’t want to see in League. First, they don’t want Riot to make only expensive skins for the wealthy ones. Luckily, this is unlikely since new skins are released with every patch. Second, they don’t want exclusive skins to provide in-game advantages. This hasn’t happened yet and doesn’t seem likely.

On the other hand, some disagreed with the discussion and explained their reasons. One of the top comments pointed out how Riot is exploiting players by making expensive bundles without making sufficient gameplay changes.

“So there’s a $500 skin in the game making the company a lot of money, but they still can’t get a Shyvana rework done. We shall see what the impact is, but it leaves a sour taste in my mouth,”

Either way, the release of Faker’s Hall of Legends bundle was met with backlash, so it will be interesting to see if it affects future Riot marketing and sales strategies.

In a game where design choices have always been a sensitive topic among players, Riot Games’ unveiling of these “improved” mastery emotes has only exacerbated tensions within the community.

Intended to reward players who invest significant time mastering a particular champion, the new emotes were meant to symbolize players’ prowess in piloting their chosen characters. However, the initial reception from players has been overwhelmingly negative, with many criticizing the quality of the cosmetics, describing them as reminiscent of those found in mobile games.

The decision to revamp mastery stems from Riot’s introduction of a new system. Previously capped at level 7, the revamped system allows players to continuously earn points and further level up their champion’s mastery. While this addition has been welcomed by those who invest heavily in the game, the dissatisfaction with the new emote designs remains palpable.

“I don’t get why they feel the need to completely change it. Old mastery icon is iconic and nothing new they come up with is going to be better, they should just add more colours and slightly expand it.”

“This looks like what you get if you train an AI solely on mobile games and ask it for an icon like this. Or what you get if you have a business degree guy design it by correlating spreadsheets of engagement data gathered from mobile games.”

Despite the backlash, Riot faces challenges in reverting to the old mastery design and expanding upon it, particularly given the advanced stage of development the new emotes appear to be in.

However, it’s worth noting that the current design is still a work in progress, indicating that Riot is open to incorporating player feedback into the final product.

A person who’s not very good at League of Legends was surprised when they got placed in a high palcement, Platinum 1, even though they lost all their placement matches. Even the Lead Gameplay Designer of League of Legends was puzzled.

Making a ranked system fair is hard. You want players to keep improving and climbing the ladder, but it shouldn’t be too easy.

The Lead Designer, Phroxzon, said they’ve been tweaking how new players are placed in ranks. But sometimes, things don’t work as intended. For example, a “bad” player ended up in Plat 1 after losing all their placement matches.

It’s tough to tell if someone is just doing well or if they’re intentionally playing below their skill level to win matches easily. When someone wins a lot during their placements, they expect to be placed in a rank that matches their performance. But sometimes, it doesn’t work out that way.

The player who ended up in Plat 1 was upset. They couldn’t play with their friend who was in Iron, and they struggled in solo matches against stronger opponents.

People on the internet felt sorry for the player and for the teammates who had to play with them. Having a player who doesn’t know what they’re doing can ruin a match.

Phroxzon and others tried to figure out what went wrong. They found out that the player had been playing with high-elo friends in normal games, which might have affected their placement in ranked matches.

Phroxzon looked at the player’s game history and said they were doing okay in Gold/Plat games, even though they thought they were an Iron player. He mentioned that there might be differences between normal and ranked games, and they were thinking about making adjustments.

So, it seems like the mystery of the high placement was solved. Phroxzon and the team are working to make sure this doesn’t happen again by adjusting how normal games affect placements.

Riot Games keeps ignoring Predator rune

In League of Legends, players can choose from a variety of runes to tailor their playstyle and champion preferences. Predator used to be one of the strongest runes, especially for junglers who wanted to focus on ganking.

However, it was nerfed a while back, and players think Riot hasn’t done much to make it better since then. Some players even suggest that Predator should be removed from the game entirely because it’s difficult to balance.

Players argue that finding the right balance in League of Legends games can be tricky. Predator used to make games faster-paced by giving junglers and certain support champions a significant movement speed and damage boost.

But recent changes in Season 12 made Predator less effective, especially in the early game. Players have suggested various fixes, like making it work better with certain in-game items, but others think it’s better to just get rid of it.

According to some players, Riot might be intentionally keeping Predator weak with the intention of eventually removing it from the game. They believe that most players dislike the fast-paced gameplay that comes with Predator being strong.

“They’re intentionally keeping it shit and forgotten for an eventual removal. Everyone hates predator meta”

“It should be replaced. It can’t be healthy for the game when good.”

Riot developers have mentioned that they want to keep Predator in the game to give players more choices, but it’s unclear if they’ll change their minds in the future. Whether or not Predator will stick around remains to be seen.

Players feel that the skins are becoming more generic and less detailed, and they’re not happy about it. Some players think that Riot Games, the company behind League of Legends, is focusing more on making lots of skins quickly instead of making each one really good.

The discussion started when a fan posted on the League subreddit about the differences in texture and detail in skins for Aurelion Sol. While other champions have many different skins, Aurelion Sol only had a few, and players were excited when he finally got a new Legendary skin called Porcelain Protector. However, many players were disappointed with the quality of this skin.

Some players believe that Riot Games is releasing more skins than ever before, but they’re not as good as they used to be.

They feel that the company is more concerned with making money than making high-quality skins. Others think that while the visual quality of the skins hasn’t changed much, the design has become less creative and unique.

Riot Games’ decision to focus on quantity over quality has its advantages, though. Players who only play one champion don’t have to wait as long for new skins. However, many players are unhappy with how often skins are released and how similar they’ve become.

Another factor affecting Riot’s approach to skins is the company’s downsizing. While artists haven’t been laid off, many projects, including visual updates, have been put on hold. With the increase in prices for in-game currency, players are becoming more cautious about spending money on skins.

We’ll have to wait and see what Riot Games has planned for the future. They’ve already announced a new line of skins called the Crystalis Indomitus collection, which will be released in June.

Balancing League of Legends presents a significant challenge for developers due to the vast number of champions, various items, and other factors that influence gameplay fairness.

Riot regularly releases patches aimed at shifting the game towards a more balanced state, but sometimes certain roles or aspects are overlooked, leaving players feeling neglected and frustrated.

The marksman role, in particular, has been singled out as weaker compared to previous years, prompting players to demand changes in recent patches. Influential LoL streamers like thebausffs and Nemesis have both voiced their agreement that the marksman role requires adjustments, noting its prolonged weakness over the past six months or more.

Many players argue that supports have gained too much power in the bot lane, with champions like Senna becoming stronger as support rather than as a traditional marksman carry. Additionally, League of Legends champions like Seraphine exhibit exceptionally high win rates when played in the bot lane, overshadowing the marksman role.

Some players have even opted to switch to support roles or quit the game altogether due to dissatisfaction with the marksman role’s state. There’s a prevailing belief among players that the support role needs to be overpowered to attract players, otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough support players available, leading to autofilled positions.

The interdependence between the ADC and support roles complicates the balancing process, with some arguing that supports must remain relatively strong to prevent an imbalance in bot lane dynamics.

Despite these challenges, players continue to advocate for buffs to the ADC role in League of Legends, hoping for improvements in future updates given the widespread demand for attention to the marksman role.

The discontent stems from rumors circulating within the community, suggesting that the forthcoming event pass might pale in comparison to its predecessor, the Winterblessed pass, which faced its fair share of criticism just last November.

Riot Games remove grab bags from Event Pass

During the Winterblessed event, players were quick to notice the absence of grab bags, which had been substituted with guaranteed banners. In response to the outcry, developers at Riot Games acknowledged the player preference for grab bags. However, it appears that this sentiment may have been lost in translation, as recently data-mined information regarding the Lunar Revel event indicates a removal of grab bags altogether.

As per the leaked details, participants of the Lunar Revel event can anticipate receiving approximately 6 Heavenscale orbs, two Masterwork chests and keys, and one 2024 Heavenscale capsule, in addition to tokens along the journey.

Grab bags, revered for their substantial value among players, offer an enticing opportunity to test one’s luck, presenting three skin shards and a tantalizing chance for Mythic Essence. Despite the randomness of the skins, the allure of potentially landing a high-tier cosmetic for the price of the pass remains undeniable.

Within the League subreddit, a wave of discontent has swept through, with many speculating that Riot Games is conducting an experiment to gauge the community’s tolerance for diminished content in event passes. Concerns have been raised that if Riot Games continues to sell passes with diminished offerings, there may be little rewards for developers to enrich future passes with additional content.

However, there seems to be a potential shift in this decision in the current year, with indications that duo queue might be making a return.

Ranked duo queue to make a return for high-tier players

In an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session held on the League subreddit, August “Iksar” Dean Ayala, the design director, disclosed that the developers are contemplating reintroducing duo queue for players in the Masters rank and those in Diamond and below.

“Duo queue in high-tier play. Considering opening up duo-queue for masters tier in addition to diamond and below. Consulting with different regions who tend to have different opinions on this topic. We’re open to different regions having different rules if necessary.”

Nevertheless, the decision-making process encounters some complexities due to divergent viewpoints from various regions globally.

Iksar mentioned that Riot is actively engaging with different regions that hold distinct opinions on the matter. They are open to tailoring ranked queue rules to suit the preferences of individual regions, reflecting a commitment to adaptability based on regional player dynamics.

The ongoing discourse surrounding the viability of duo queue at higher elos has elicited a spectrum of opinions from pro players, solo queue players, and analysts. Some argue that the duo queue in higher ranks presents a challenge for solo players, who lack the advantage of communication and synergy with a teammate.

Conversely, proponents of high-level duo queuing assert that it enhances the competitive experience, offering additional entertainment value. Furthermore, it is seen as a beneficial avenue for professional players seeking to practice with a teammate.

In 2021, Riot acknowledged that the initial allowance of duo play in high-ranked lobbies was influenced, in part, by the professional gaming scene. Despite this, they opted to remove the system to make general improvements to the overall ranked environment.

The ultimate takeaway is that the ranked experience remains subjective, contingent upon the specific context. It is a dynamic situation that will necessitate extensive experimentation and input from the player community to refine and tailor the system effectively.

LoL players are frustrated over the removal of Oracle’s Elixir from ARAM

Renowned for its extensive gameplay variety, Riot Games’ MOBA boasts over 160 champions, providing players with many choices to explore and enjoy.

Recognizing the varied preferences of its player base, Riot has curated alternative game modes beyond the 5v5 Summoner’s Rift experience, catering to a more casual audience. ARAM stands as one such mode that has undergone numerous modifications over time, each influencing the player experience in distinct ways.

However, the recent removal of Oracle’s Elixir from ARAM has triggered a surge of discontent among League of Legends players. Many argue that the game mode was more enjoyable before the absence of this key item, citing frustrations with the impact on Teemo, exacerbated by the introduction of new items.

Teemo, a champion known for his ability to place invisible traps, possesses an annoying arsenal and capable of causing substantial damage with DoT effect to affected targets.

In the past, Oracle’s Elixir provided a vital tool for revealing these Teemo’s mushrooms. However, with its removal, players now find themselves reliant on the true sight of cannon minions to detect and navigate around these mushrooms.

“There are some champs that just make me want to leave at the loading screen. Healers and teemo mostly.”

“I clearly remember Riot acknowledging it is a problem and that they’re coming up with a solution. That was like 2 years ago,”

Despite the introduction of experimental elements in ARAM, such as portals and destructible tower terrain, the League of Legends community remains vocal about the adverse impact of Oracle’s Elixir’s absence.

This outcry from players serves as a reminder to developers about the cherished consumable’s role in enhancing the ARAM experience.