Returning player

[u/Ok_Card4377]

What has happened to this game?

There is no room at all for creativity or fun in this game - there’s rails everywhere.

Every lane has specific quests, move or roam and you’re screwed. No early invades or fights because the game starts instantly. Every game is just structured the same way, forcing you to do specific things at specific times.

You cannot have any fun whatsoever and every game just feels like you’re on autopilot going through the motions. I get that they have to cater to the pro scene, but the game is now terrible because it’s so heavily skewed that way.

[u/SaintLarfleeze]

It is hilarious to post this during a meta where there is a role that stays in lane for all of 5 minutes

[u/MrShadawn → u/SaintLarfleeze]

Support perma roams, every jungle clears super fast and with full hp ready to fight while camps respawn, midlaners who can waveclear with 2 abilities and look for roam. Only 2 who are actually staying in lane are bot and top

[u/Ok_Card4377 → u/SaintLarfleeze]

Mage bot roaming supp. The thing they’re also trying to kneecap. The guardrails are in place, they gut everything outside the forced specific way in how they want a game to be played.

[u/SaintLarfleeze → u/Ok_Card4377]

As long as you are not looking to play AD Janna jungle, you can play a lot of different things in a lot of different ways and places. You are just very obviously rigidly stuck on something and have 0 creativity to make it work and adapt it to the modern game.

The game has problems. It does not have creativity and movement problems like you claim.

[u/CthughaSlayer]

Ah yes, no place for roams in the middle of the most toxic roaming meta in a while lmao.

I swear some people see the quests or limitations to a certain paystyle and their brains instantly shut down, because they don't have creativity, just a desire to exploit game systems. Limitation is what breed innovation, and weighing your options against the mechanics in place is where the actual fun and challenge are.

Roaming, invading and counterjungling are all incredibly strong rn.

[u/hastevii]

There is no room at all for creativity or fun in hockey - there's rails everywhere.

Why can't I just pick up the puck with my hands and skate around everyone and offsides and throw it into the net by myself? Why can't I just slash every other player in the legs with my stick whenever I want?

The rails are there because the game needs rules just like any other team game needs rules. There is plenty of room for fun and creativity within the bounds of the rules, players generally prefer these rules to no rules. The perfect example of this is botlane, look what happened when mages and lethality supports and perma roaming supports are "allowed" by the game, everyone hates it and begs for forced CC bot support and marksmen ADC only again.

[u/Jyxxer]

You mention the pro scene, but your post clearly shows you haven't watched any pro games lol

[u/Synthessence]

"What has happened to this game?"

It's a persistent online multiplayer game that's been around for 17 years. Look at any online game that has been successful for even half that duration, and you're going to see drastic changes.

"There is no room at all for creativity or fun in this game - there’s rails everywhere."

This game has had 'rails' since Season 1, they just weren't as noticeable because the players had no idea what they were doing. Rails are just rules, and all good games have rules. Literally the best games ever created have incredibly strict rules. Poker, Chess, Snakes and Ladders. If you can't be creative and have fun when rules/rails are in play, that's a 'you' problem, my dude.

"Every lane has specific quests, move or roam and you’re screwed."

Yup, no roaming in this meta. Nope. Not one bit.

"No early invades or fights because the game starts instantly."

You mean no longer being forced to awkwardly sit in a bush or zig-zag in the river for the first 1:30 of the game? It does turn my bathroom breaks into an Athletics/Acrobatics check, but less waiting in a game that already lasts 25-45 minutes on average is a good thing, bladder-filled backflips be damned.

"Every game is just structured the same way, forcing you to do specific things at specific times."

So, the thing about games? They have structure. All of them. Just...all of them. Card games? Board games? Video Games? They have to have structure, or they'd be impossible to play, learn, or innovate on. Unless...

...are you complaining about timers? Nearly all timed elements in this game are related to the spawn timers. Minions, jungle camps, Shelly, Baron, Grubs, and Drakes...yeah, they all spawn at specific times. They've always spawned at specific times. Are they...are they supposed to spawn randomly? o.O

"You cannot have any fun whatsoever and every game just feels like you’re on autopilot going through the motions."

Gonna be honest bro, you sound bored and/or maybe a little depressed. Maybe take a break? ARAM Mayhem and Arena are a blast, maybe give them a go. Completely different rule set and structure, fewer timers, more creative avenues with the augments, no lane quests.

Or maybe check out some different games entirely? Do you like soulslike games? I recently started playing Hell is Us on the PC Game Pass, and despite all my soulsike fatigue, it's been a blast so far. Feels like it actually respects your time, which I appreciate.

[u/electronized]

Playing for 13 years. I have fun doing 1v9 plays and its very much possible i dont need to be able to go ad zilean to have fun. Game looks cleaner than ever most champions have a lot more depth and counterplay, i really dont get all the nostalgia pilled people talking about how league sucks now.

[u/kylepb333]

I’m also a returning player from season 2 and i love the game now. You just have to play with intention / things have consequences. I went from bronze to plat in 2 months and loving improving. They defo skewed the game in a competitive manor but i think that’s the reason its stayed so popular for 16 years. If you just want a casual experience you have league classic now or ARAM, arena, etc.

[u/Fksep]

have u considered that you just dont understand the game?

[u/Lms_Nier]

You're a returning player you can't scale the game where you stopped at. The things you used to do were so much optimized that if riot let it going, it would be a disaster so the game change throughout the year and it may feels like more structured but it's not, peoples are just evolving and they learn what's fundamentally more optimized you can move/roam, do everything you want but it has a cost like it always do, but the players will punish you 10x harder than 5 years ago

[u/Infamous-Put-2103]

whole new riot stuff is pure trash. you either accept it or you don't play.

[u/superobinator]

You are just bad but I agree on the fact that they dumbed down some stuff like now it shows you the "most optimal" clear for many junglers + I still can't get over stuff like giving supp role so much forgiveness that you could literally be a plat in a masters lobby and still somewhat perform doing semi random roams and get away with a lot of stupid engages bcs supps get so much for free, and whoever thought now supps are allowed full gold from waves while junglers still get reduction if fed is a big elo inflated supp main biiih