Riot has expanded various skin variants for League of Legends over the years. Among them are now skins that cannot be purchased directly but can only be obtained from loot boxes
. This has led to criticism from the beginning. A new piece of information about the types of loot boxes is currently causing unrest among the player base.
What has now been revealed? In addition to normal loot boxes that contain regular content such as normal skins, icons, or ward skins, there are also regular mythic skin variants. These are special variants of existing skins. These already caused criticism at release because you have to rely on luck.
If you want to guarantee getting the skin, you have to open a certain number of boxes. A similar system also exists with the new exalted skins, which were released with a new Jinx skin as part of Arcane Season 2. To guarantee the skin, players are willing to pay up to 240 €, depending on the banner.
In a blog post from Riot there were further details on all types of skins. This is currently causing criticism from the player base, as the different pulls do not count for all skin types.
Players compare the new skins to classic Gacha games
Where is the problem? In most gacha games, there is a system that promises a guaranteed pull after opening a certain number of loot boxes. This is the case here as well. The current criticism is that the different banners in LoL do not interact together.
If you open boxes at the mythic banner
, only there does the number of boxes that need to be opened for the guaranteed skin decrease, but not at the exalted banner. The current skin situation has been heavily criticized under an x post:
- @Jay_Narukami:
Not even gacha games are so restrictive
- @dioxide_39:
What has become of simply placing ultimate skins in the shop and selling them for 3,250 RP?
- @AFoxWithinMe:
Guys … it’s just a skin. Don’t buy it. It won’t change anything. Just another skin.
Most users criticize the gacha mechanic itself. Regarding this topic, it must be noted that the pulls from the banners reportedly count for the next banners of the same skin type. So if you pull at Radiant Serpent Sett, it also reduces the required pulls for the next exalted skin banners, unless you are not supposed to pull to the maximum.
Apart from the exclusive gacha skins, new skins that you can purchase directly without any form of luck mechanic still appear every patch. Unlike games like Genshin Impact, these skins also have no gameplay effects.
Over the past years, the new monetization strategies of LoL have been harshly criticized by players. Among them were not only the gacha skins but also expensive skins, such as the Ahri Faker skin for nearly 400 €. So far, all of this has only been cosmetic content. The new structure of the normal chests is also not liked by players: Riot changes how you obtain free skins in LoL, even alienating players who have been there for 13 years
