Recently, the incident related to Chemtech Dragon caught the attention of the League of Legends community. This dragon buff was deemed too imbalanced and affected the outcome of matches significantly, prompting both gamers and professional players to voice their concerns to Riot. Moreover, a major complaint from most players was the numerous bugs and glitches that Chemtech Dragon brought, negatively impacting the gaming experience for the League of Legends community.
After receiving the feedback, Riot took decisive action that was well-received by the League of Legends community: they temporarily removed Chemtech Dragon from Summoner’s Rift. Riot’s prompt handling of the situation was praised and showed that the publisher had not completely neglected League of Legends after a long time of capitalizing on this beloved game.
Recently, another mechanism that is causing headaches for the League of Legends gaming community and professional players has emerged: Target Bounty. This is a new mechanism introduced since the Pre-Season 2022 and has continued to be in play until now. Naturally, like any new mechanism released by Riot, Target Bounty has undergone several fixes and adjustments, and it is currently stable and applied in professional matches.
Target Bounty is a mechanism where the team that is at a disadvantage (in terms of gold, towers, major objectives, etc.) can receive a significant economic boost if they secure the Target Bounty. This serves as a premise for more spectacular comeback plays to occur, exemplified by Misfit Gaming’s stunning 13k gold turnaround against G2 Esports recently.
However, Target Bounty seems to be too “overpowered” compared to expectations. Specifically, in some matches, the disparity between the two teams was not significant, yet Target Bounty was still activated, allowing the disadvantaged team not only to regain control but also to take the lead. Recently, one player was extremely frustrated when their team was only about 3k gold ahead of their opponents, yet the opponents had Target Bounty, resulting in an eventual turnaround with the gold difference reaching 8k.
According to this player’s opinion, which garnered considerable agreement, Riot should not allow the Target Bounty mechanism to trigger when the match is balanced or the disparity is not significant. Additionally, the player expressed frustration that when their team was leading, there was no Target Bounty available for a comeback.
The situation has garnered attention from the League of Legends community and Riot itself. Just a few days after the post appeared, Riot personally responded. According to the game publisher, this mechanism helps players who are on the verge of victory truly feel the disparity and capitalize on their advantage. It also provides a sense of excitement when teams can make comebacks and adds more unpredictability to matches.
However, overall, Target Bounty is sometimes indeed a bit confusing and if this mechanism remains too “overpowered”, it may very well meet a fate similar to Chemtech Dragon: temporarily removed for adjustments and returning in the future.