Simon “Thebausffs” Hofverberg’s recent video about the state of ADC has opened a new avenue of discussion about the role. As more pros such as Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng and Tim “Nemesis” Lipovšek continue to weigh in, players can analyze the discussion with new knowledge and perspective. Three influential League of Legends figures, and three devastating answers to the question: What is the state of ADC?
Additionally, as debate about ADC’s power continues to rage on, one crucial component underlies it. Players’ feeling of agency and investment are what will truly make or break the game, and what is most at stake.
Read on to see the pros’ hottest takes, and how they might serve as crucial warnings about player experience.
[See also: 3 Good Gaming Habits, Made Just for League of Legends]
In this clip discussing ADCs, Thebausffs explains that he “doesn’t know what happened,” to Marksman, because it has been “the weakest role for the last half year.” He expresses surprise at the lack of Reddit users’ response: “if they should complain anytime, it should be now, because the role is actually s***.”
Warning: Breach of Balance
As Thebausffs references, ADC players complaining frequently is a running joke within the community. In general, despite user complaints gaining some traction within Reddit, that is often where it ends. Players will always be unhappy about something, especially when it comes to their particular role. Right or wrong, it is easy for Riot and other players to write off complaints as a skill issue, lack of game balancing knowledge, or simply a bias in favor of their own role.
In this case, however, Thebausffs insists that people should be complaining. In fact, they are not complaining enough, and that the role is indeed trash. While the responses may be underwhelming to Thebausffs, there are certainly a few threads with similar thoughts. The fact that Reddit ADCs are not alone in their complaints anymore is a definite warning toward the state of the game.
But, one person’s opinion, no matter how influential, is not necessarily the perfect indicator of anything on its own. What do other community figures think? And if they agree, what does Riot risk by not listening?
ADC is the WORST ROLE? Doublelift Reacts to Thebausffs on the Current State of ADC
In his full response above, Doublelift explains why ADC feels particularly bad right now, and suggests ways of fixing it. He discusses more late game damage for some champions and improved defensive item options as ways that Riot could improve the role in the future.
However, when discussing the current ADC experience, he says that “straight up, the role is dog s***” for “99.9% of people,” and that the role is in the “worst spot it’s been in forever.”
Warning: Identity Loss Imminent
This brings up a key complaint about the ADC role, which Nemesis names specifically later on as loss of identity. Rather than the problem being simple, such as “ADC is weak, it needs a buff,” many players experience something deeper: receiving no payoff from a role they have invested in. Or, as Doublelift puts it, “There is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”
From this point of view, it is a wonder that people continue to play ADC at all. Why should anyone dedicate time and energy to a role that, put simply, doesn’t love them back?
Although League of Legends is a team sport, and should never “pay off” perfectly due to its nine other players, there is something to be said for the promise of purpose. It is one thing to lose a game due to others’ influence outweighing one’s own, and entirely another to have had little or no influence at all.
Player could debate ADCs’ “true” amount of influence on the game infinitely. But regardless, it seems that more and more of them feel an unreasonable amount of disappointment when playing, even at the top tiers of skill. There is a huge disparity between what players feel they have been promised – playing a meaningful role – and reality.
Nemesis reacts to Baus opinion on ADC
Like Doublelift, Nemesis also has quite a bit of detailed feedback on how ADC could be improved. In his response, he mentions that the strength of Support is a key factor in the weakness of ADC. To him, it is not as simple as buffing ADC, because then Bot Lane would become ridiculous and dominate every game. However, with Support nerfs and ADC buffs together, he believes that the game could enter a more balanced state.
Regarding the current game state, he describes ADC as a “horrific role to play” in Master and below, which is the reason that “most ADC players just lock in Seraphine, scale to two items, and win the game.” While he acknowledges the difficulty of finding balance between every role, he also says that there is little merit in playing ADC as it currently stands: “You can queue up Support, play Senna Support, and basically just be an ADC, but better.”
Nemesis attributes some of weakness to lack of balance between lethality and crit, item changes that were ultimately nerfs, and Phreaks’ repeated denial of the issue.
Additionally, he makes the key point that ADC has lost its identity. No longer able to scale, players get trampled at the point of the game they used to be best. Like Thebausffs, he is surprised this is not a bigger deal online.
Warning: All Areas Affected
Nemesis describes ADC’s loss of identity as the saddest part. But could it also be the most impactful? As some ADC players feel disconnected players feel from the role, the more incentive they have to leave it altogether. And as Nemesis says, many are eyeing Support as the next option in line.
Interestingly, while Nemesis discusses that Senna support is an easy and preferable switch out of the ADC role, she currently has a higher win rate as an ADC than she does Support below Masters, which is the area he is discussing. But, that does not take away from the root of the discussion, which is that ADC players feel they have lost their identity. One strong champion (who is about to be nerfed, nonetheless), does not negate the presence of potential trends in the role as a whole.
However, players might be sticking around for now, even within low elo. Looking at League of Graphs “Mained Role Statistics,” set to Iron+, the least popular role is Support. As the ranks increase, so too does AD Carry’s popularity, with jumps upward even in Gold+. If the ADC role sucks, even by the evaluation of some of its best players, and many average players that discuss it are not having fun, then what is keeping everyone around?
One potential explanation is that nothing is keeping them around, and Smolder is the only reason there are so many ADCs right now. Smolder mains are not necessarily ADC mains. Once his newness wears off, they might move on to different roles.
Another option is that people are creatures of habit, and League of Legends players doubly so. While the player base might appear sated, it surely will not last forever. If the game continues in the same direction, and if these pro opinions are to be trusted, ADC is bound to dip in popularity before long.
In either of these cases, players of all roles can look forward to increased queue times, autofill team mates, and frankly, worse games. Inting teams and trolls are already bad enough without a role chock-full of players that see no point in playing out their game. If ADC is to suffer, the rest of the game will likely join along.
However, another option is that these opinions are not representative of the League of Legends ADC role. Perhaps there are players that feel perfectly fulfilled, but feel no reason to say anything. Either way, this should open further discussion on Riot’s end to look into the growing concern. For player experience, they should make necessary changes earlier rather than later.
As it stands, three influential League of Legends figures have determined that AD Carry, is, well, garbage. According to these players, there is a loss of core ADC identity without a suitable replacement.
While it is not fully clear yet how many players agree with them, it will be soon. This should serve as a warning to Riot that ADC’s problems should not be brushed off or explained away, but examined with care. These players are key representatives of the community, and hold a deep knowledge of the game and its balance. At the point the problem has made it this far up the chain, there are likely thousands, if not millions of players that agree with them.
Featured image from League of Legends Wiki
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