Doublelift sparks debate over League of Legends' popularity

The League of Legends community has grown increasingly upset with Riot’s perceived handling of balance patches this year.

On July 12, Peter “Doublelift” Peng published a video on YouTube called “The Downsides of a Constantly Evolving Game.” In the video, Doublelift discussed the inherent issues in Riot’s active balance philosophy in Season 8, provoking widespread discussion of the topic among fans and pro players alike.

The video discussed how Season 8 had brought a number of changes that far exceeded previous years. Patches this year had dramatic effects on the jungle, mages, and marksmen. These changes often came without warning.

Professionals like Doublelift argue that these fast changes are too quick to adapt to, and are part of why League of Legends has suffered in North America.

Separately, Fnatic’s Martin “Rekkles” Larsson explained in an interview his reasons for voluntarily benching himself from competitive play. Rekkles felt that due to recent changes to marksmen, he could no longer reasonably contribute to his team. He stated that he simply did not have the time to learn the latest meta champions that had replaced the classic marksmen.

Rekkles’ reputation as a skilled ADC led many to be concerned about how such changes might endanger the careers of other veterans in the bottom lane. But Riot heard the grievances of the community.

In patch 8.15, zeal items and other ADC staples were either buffed or made cheaper, propelling traditional ADC champions back to viability at the top level.

Additionally, Riot Games employee “New001” publicly addressed the community’s concerns in the “Riot Pls” video series. He stated that Riot plans on dialing back the rate of change for the remainder of 2018, and apologized for any miscommunication of the developer’s intentions.