- League of Legends will reportedly be removing online match history
- Fans are concerned about this change as it will greatly impact the competitive scene and will have statistics sites crumble
- Riot Games responded that the system will, in fact, be replaced with a newer and more effective one
A misunderstanding led people to believe Riot Games was removing match history for good. In reality, it would seem the company is working on a new system that will replace the old one.
LoL Statistics in Peril or Just a Misunderstanding?
According to some reports, Riot Games is preparing to remove the online match history from their popular MOBA League of Legends. Needless to say, this raised numerous concerns among fans.
Performance statistics have long been a staple for all online competitive games. League of Legends has been no exception. Riot’s famous title even got whole sites like Leaguepedia and Oracle’s Elixir that are dedicated to exploring and translating statistics. If match history disappears completely, this would effectively make such services crumble. Moreover it would greatly impact the esports aspects of the game as a whole.
Tim Sevenhuysen, the founder of Oracle’s Elixir, commented that the mere thought of the match history removal is concerning.
To calm down rising tensions, Riot was quick to respond. The company contacted Sevenhuysen. According to what he was told, Riot did not plan to remove the idea of match history but instead rework or replace the system with a new and more effective one. Oracle’s Elixir’s creator wasn’t let on further details.
The survival of sites such as Oracle’s Elixir and Leaguepedia is crucial for the competitive aspect of the game. And by extension, the existence of match history is a core pillar of how the modern esports format functions. The data and the statistics are invaluable to all professional teams and coaches.
Furthermore, the disappearance of a match history will lead to a total reshaping of the whole competitive community and its surroundings. It will possibly impact as many people outside the game as in-game: analysts, commentators, broadcasters, journalists, and the like are all dependant on the steady flow of data that sites such as Oracle’s Elixir and Leaguepedia provide.
Whatever Riot is planning, we can hope it is well-thought-out. However, as we speak about statistics, we can remember that Riot’s recent updates have all had the community’s best interest in mind. Recently the company vowed to combat feeders and has introduced an update to the behavioral system with the intention to make the game cleaner. Riot also is working on fixing all the issues the League of Legends game client has been causing to players.
We can hope that Riot’s vision for the match history will change things for the better and not for the worse, as some fans fear.
