I wanted to provide a detailed breakdown of how League of Legends has changed over the years, particularly focusing on the free-to-play experience and paid features. The game has gone through some significant changes, and I felt it was important to lay out the facts. Here’s the rundown:
Key Points to Consider:
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Why post here instead of a League-focused forum? The main League subreddit is heavily moderated to avoid criticism. Posts about bugs, technical issues, or anything negative are often removed. It’s been this way for years.
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Riot has continuously nerfed player rewards since 2018, affecting free players, paying players, and even whales. Riot Points (RP) prices have nearly doubled in the same period.
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This post will focus on Blue Essence (BE), ranked eligibility, chests, and more.
Part 1: Blue Essence and Champion Costs
- The total cost of all champions, as of now, is 531,985 BE.
- The only consistent source of BE is the new Battle Pass, which gives 4,750 BE and 4 Champion Capsules (about 500 BE each). With 6 Battle Passes a year, this totals about 40,500 BE annually.
- At this rate, it would take 13 years of grinding to unlock all current champions.
- For players looking to speed up the process, it would cost 115,400 RP (around $900).
1.1 Ranked Eligibility for New Accounts
- To play ranked, new accounts need to reach level 30, play 10 Summoner’s Rift games, and own 20 champions. With the current BE grind, it could take years for a new player to unlock 20 champions.
1.2 Clash Tickets
- Basic Clash tickets can be bought with BE, but premium tickets require RP. The BE grind is no longer sufficient to sustain even basic ticket purchases.
1.3 New Account Missions
- Riot removed missions that provided BE and XP for new accounts, making the grind even harder for new players.
Part 2: Rewards for Honour and Skill
- Previously, players could earn Hextech Chests for good performance or positive behavior. Keys for these chests were earned by being non-toxic.
- Riot has removed chests for good performance. Now, players accumulate keys but can’t use them unless they spend money.
- This feels like an intentional move to push microtransactions.
Part 3: Mastery and Account Levels
- Leveling up your account used to mean something. Now it’s just a number with no meaningful rewards.
- Mastery is similarly arbitrary, with no significant achievements tied to it.
Part 4: Selling Useless Features
- Despite removing the meaning of account levels, Riot still sells level boosts, which are now effectively useless.
Part 5: Gacha Skins
- Riot recently introduced a gacha skin that can cost up to $250. This continues their trend of introducing overpriced, predatory monetization practices.
Part 6: Abandoning Systems
- Riot introduced an achievement system but hasn’t updated it in over 2 years. None of the new season’s content counts towards achievements either.
Conclusion
The situation has been deteriorating for years, but this latest update feels especially egregious. Riot has removed almost all meaningful ways for players to earn rewards without spending money. This isn’t a bug—it’s intentional.
Do not recommend this game under any circumstances.