For a while now, I've been meaning to make a video on why I've stopped playing League
of Legends, and then I can move on to new, better content that I would really prefer to make, but I had never found where
I would start with such a video.
Luckily, Riot have reached out and given me something to focus on, and that is the abomination
that is the Aatrox 'Rework'.
Now don't get me wrong, I forced myself to play around with the new Aatrox both in
practice mode and for at least five normal games, and found many aspects of him that
I really like.
The animation out of combat and then the animation when approaching an enemy champion are both
very cool, the way you can use your Q and E together are very cool, and in the usual
way, he is a fun new champion with abilities that synergy well in a rather obvious way,
making him both easy and fun to learn without being totally brain dead.
But despite how much I may enjoy this new juggernaut champion, it makes me question
one, very, very important decision that Riot made when designing him: Why is his name Aatrox,
and why did the old Aatrox have to be removed for him to join the roster?
Well duh, Cryo, its the 'Aatrox Rework', is what someone might say, but if we look
at the older reworks, they strongly resemble their older counterparts in more than just
visuals.
Warwick still hunts for low health enemies, has strong dueling and self-healing, and still
threatens with a powerful suppression on his ultimate, he's just been updated to be more
powerful at the cost of being less braindead by introducing more counterplay.
Poppy still slams opponents into walls, and smashes enemies in with a hammer.
And though, appropriately so, she is rebranded into a tank, the AD ratios are still there
for fun, so go and build that duskblade.
Urgot, though very different, still maintains the ability to lock-on to a foe, and in a
way swap places with them, but rather than being all over the place as a marksman tank
bruiser thing, he's been remade into a fearsome juggernaut, so that's cool.
The feel of locking on and marking an opponent for death is still there.
With the Aatrox rework, there is… well… nothing.
The key parts of the old Aatrox kit were being deceptively tanky through healing that increased
as his life went down, as well as the ability to switch that off in exchange for incredible
damage.
He also stood somewhere between melee carry and juggernaut due to his nature as a lifesteal
tank, having high damage but high pseudo-tankiness simultaneously, at the cost
of needing to be constantly auto-attacking to have either of those two traits.
Also, his lore was to turn the tide of battle.
Aatrox would inspire losing soldiers to massacre their opponents with insatiable bloodlust.
The original attempt Riot made for this to fit into his gameplay was to use his Q, Dark
Flight, to attack the enemy team, then ult to burst them with magic damage, and gain
steroids and range to become the instrument of the massacre, inspiring your teammates
to attack with you. Or, as we know it, 'initiating'.
Whether or not this design achieved the effect Riot originally wanted is questionable, but
regardless, it was a key part of his character.
The new Aatrox… throws all of this away.
Instead, he is a tank-juggernaut with damage and the potential for three knockups on his
Q, a kind of knockback-pull on his W which helps manipulate enemies into his Q, and an
E which helps manipulate his own positioning for Q. Instead of balancing damage and healing,
while being a powerful drain tank while at low HP, Riot threw away that identity and
made him a generic juggernaut.
There is nothing that resembles the old Aatrox.
*Truth Bullet: E Passive and Revival*
Aatrox sustain was a key part of him, and no, the E passive on the rework does not feel
like Aatrox' level of sustain.
It is only a percentage of all physical damage dealt that you heal from, which yes, is gains
significance towards lategame, I won't deny that, but its not on the same level as Aatrox.
The feeling of healing from a percentage of your physical damage is similar to almost
any champion with a Death's Dance, it doesn't feel like a unique ability.
The revive passive is similar to the old Aatrox, but rather than serving as an insurance for
you to go crazy on the enemy team and Massacre them, it feels more like the "Oh shit, save
me", since you can activate it at any time, rather than requiring to hit multiple opponents
to stack your blood well.
This rework is unrecognisable as the original Aatrox, and should have been a new champion.
Just name him "Aass" and call him the fourth Darkin.
What is really annoying for Aatrox fans is the direction that Darkin are taking.
When Aatrox came out, it sparked a lot of discussion for who the remaining Darkin were,
with suspicions that Jax may be involved or related.
It was interesting to think about because of how Aatrox was as a character.
A cursed sword that obsessed with massacre, though it did so with grace and beauty.
When I played as Rhaast, I was disappointed by his voice lines.
He was such a generic baddie, saying that he wants to kill, and 'sow chaos' together
with the other Darkin.
So when Aatrox rework was announced, I grew fearful that he would be the same.
And lo and behold, he now is just as generic, and just as one-dimensional a character as
Rhaast is.
Though I may like his gameplay design and some of his animations, I find his voice lines
and voice actor fairly annoying, often lines are too long, and, this'll be the last time
I use the word, too generic.
It didn't feel like a genuine, well-written, believable character like Jhin or Thresh.
Though Thresh is totally, pure evil, his voice lines sound more believable, probably because
his voice lines are made with a very clear personality obsessed with torture, just as
the old Aatrox obsessed with the literal art of war, and now new Aatrox just…
Wants to kill people and end worlds.
Whilst I'd have less of a problem if the Aatrox rework was a new champion that happened
to have be a bit boring or annoying, y'know, like those other new champions, as a fan of
the old Aatrox, having him be replaced by this just makes it all that much worse.
Though I'm sure not if too many people played Aatrox consistently, I feel those who did
and those who played the old Galio, and possibly even Maokai, may relate to what I've said
here.
By the looks of things, Riot will keep reworking in this style for the outdated champions,
and though I can't speak for someone like Irelia since I never really played her in
either iteration, with the upcoming Nocturne rework, I'd be fearful for those who still
main him.
Some people may think, well isn't it because Aatrox was outdated that he was reworked?
He didn't perform well, didn't have a clear identity in team fights, and was outclassed
by many other champions in all the roles he could fill…
Well to that I say, isn't it okay?
Isn't it okay for a champion to be outclassed or a bit of an underdog?
If players are having fun with a weak or unpopular champion, isn't that okay?
I know there's not too many of them in comparison to those who play the meta, but there are
still players in the game that enjoy off meta builds or champions and will continue to play
them or even main them despite the state of the meta.
If players are having fun with it, isn't that the goal of the game being achieved right
then and there?
It shouldn't be imperative that every champion should be clearly slotted into every meta
team comp or role, all that does is oversimplify and streamline the game, and then all we're
left with is a bunch of characters that all feel the same to play.
I don't see any reason a champion should be removed for being weak or unique like Aatrox
was.
If players are able to find results and entertainment out of the champions by themselves, then they
should have the option to.
Obviously if people are enjoying something that is overpowered or broken, then it should
be changed since that's unfair to other players.
But Aatrox was neither of those, he simply didn't fit the stiff moulds that the meta
demands, but those who played him could find ways for him to be effective.
Even if it isn't in challenger or diamond ranked games, even if its just in low level
normal games, it should be okay to be a fun, unique champion, right… right?
The unfortunate truth of this, and there have been signs of it since Season 5, is the reason
that will be League's downfall, and the reason many players keep quitting.
The truth is, Riot don't care about the players.
They will keep changing things that do not need to be changed, and removing things that
could have been left as they were.
Before Season 6, Riot decided to remove Sword of the Occult, and for you newer players,
that was the AD counterpart to Mejai's Soulstealer.
The stack items were not considered 'good'.
Players usually bought these items just for fun, never for competitive matches, like Uberdanger
with his Adventures of Full AD or Full AP series, or Siv HD with his Stack Brothers
builds.
Sword of the Divine was removed before Season 5, an item that would grant 100% attack speed
and 100% crit chance for your next three attacks as an active, but had horrible gold efficiency
without the active, even losing its base 40% attack speed while on cooldown.
The item was used purely for fun on builds like AD Malphite and infamously on someone
like Rengar.
Since you could usually only kill one person with it, and since just buying AD to appeal
to your ratios gave more consistent results, it was hardly ever bought, and used only for
fun, but again, it was removed.
Riot do not care for the players having fun, the game seems to only be balanced around
the competitive scene.
And if there's anything to prove Riot that don't care for their players and that they
treat them like crap, look no further than Aatrox rework, and the Galio rework as well.
The enjoyment their players had with them can now never be relived, and all that remains
now are their replacements, champion designs that make me wonder how the same game can
also house wonderful designs such as Jhin and Thresh.
Thanks for watching.
I could go on further about changes that Riot have made that make me dislike what the game
is today, but that may happen in another video, another time.
If you would like to see such a video, then be sure to subscribe and ring that notification
bell to know when I've uploaded it, if you like.
See you next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment