Over the last couple of League of Legends patches, the community has become divided over the number of changes that Riot Games has made to the game’s ever-important ping system.
Not only have the developers changed the way that certain ping work on teammate items, spawn timers, and abilities, but they have also removed certain pings from the game that are now being searched for by some of the player base.
For example, users on the League subreddit were complaining about how vision pings have been added to the general communication wheel, and that “vision cleared” ping has been taken away entirely, making it harder for players to communicate with other teammates in solo queue.
Other players were complaining about Riot’s changes constantly messing with their muscle memory since the new changes were also causing some to spam the wrong ping because they were already so used to having the “vision cleared” ping on the same spot in the wheel.
“Why would Riot remove the vision ping wheel,” one user complained. “It was such a useful collection of pings. They [also] moved enemy vision and need vision to the main wheel, but just straight up removed ‘vision cleared.’ Was this an oversight or intentional?”
There were, however, some players who were more understanding around the changes, saying that they rarely saw people using the vision ping wheel to its full potential. As a result, they knew that the developer team would consolidate the pings so that they could all be found in one place, without the clutter of unnecessary pings that weren’t even being used.
Ultimately, Riot has all of the data surrounding the ping system and is ready to make as many changes as necessary to create an efficient system for their players. League is a game where teamwork and communication can mean the difference between a hard-fought win and devastating loss, and with a lack of voice comms, these pings must be easily accessible and well-built for both casual and high-level players alike.
