With a recently released dev update, the developers of League of Legends have addressed some criticisms from players. Many of the features that were previously removed are set to return according to Riot.
What were the players complaining about? After Riot removed a number of features from League of Legends, many players began to voice strong criticism. A huge part of the discontent revolved around the disappeared free Hextech chests. The removal of the personal shop and the increased difficulty in obtaining blue essence for new champions were also major points of criticism.
The quality of new skins has also been criticized. The soon-to-be-available Exalted Skin “Sahn-Uzal Mordekaiser” had very few new animations. The new Alistar Skin, which was supposed to be part of the second Noxus battle pass, was merely a colored Alistar without a skin.
Which popular feature is returning? The biggest thorn in the side of players was the free Hextech chests. You will be able to obtain them again with the new patch on March 4, 2025. There will be eight chests in the free battle pass. With the subsequent patch, you can earn two additional ones through the honor system. In total, you will receive ten chests per battle pass. That’s 60 chests per year.
Not only are Hextech chests returning
What else does Riot have for me? The personal shop will return with the subsequent patch in the launcher. There, you can buy skins for your played champions at good prices.
After the reduction of blue essence acquisition, Riot has initiated countermeasures. The costs of all champions have been reduced by 50%. While this is nice, blue essence remains rare for free-to-play players.
After the sobering news about the reduction of clashes, Riot has taken the criticism to heart. With this patch, the monthly clash tournament is returning.
Riot is working on better skins
Which skins does Riot want to improve? After the outcry from the community regarding the Exalted Skin “Sahn-Uzal Mordekaiser,” Riot has pulled the emergency brake. The special skin associated with the new gambling mechanic had poor or uninteresting animations.
For a skin that costs over 200 € at worst, many players found that to be too little. The Exalted Mordekaiser skin will be postponed and reworked.
With the new design of the battle pass, you will now receive some skins set by Riot. One of them was supposed to be the “Grand Reckoning Alistar Skin.” This skin was also criticized because Riot decided to merely give it a different color and only slightly modify the model. The Alistar Skin has now been removed by Riot. The champion is expected to receive a worthy Alistar skin later this year.
What the players think of the “new features”
What is the community’s reaction? Many players are glad that Riot acknowledges its mistakes and is bringing back some of the removed features. Some continue to criticize the team and the new CEO behind many of the decisions.
- “This is more like the Riot Games I know. They listen to the (loud) feedback and make the necessary changes,” writes u/IcyColdStare (via reddit.com).
- “It’s good, but don’t praise them too much – they just gave us back something they took away for no reason. Such an action doesn’t really deserve much recognition,” writes u/Rohen2003 (via reddit.com).
- “Good short-term changes, but your CEO still needs to be fired,” writes u/Slatterhouse (via reddit.com).
Despite the continued negative criticisms, this is a step in the right direction and shows that we, as players, have an important voice in such matters and should use it.
With the same patch for League of Legends, Riot will also make some changes to the esports scene. The so-called lane swap will be abolished in order to restore normalcy to pro play: One strategy has dominated esports in LoL for months, and now Riot is significantly weakening it.
