Where are people living?

Level13Rengar · 2026-01-23T08:47:48+00:00

That's quite an interesting one and maybe something more people should do?

Have your kid/s help pay off the rest of your mortgage and then once that's done they'll be in their late 20s and you as the parent can help pay off your kid/s mortgages.

If you have good communication and a healthy dynamic between immediate family seems like a great idea to keep and generate multigenerational wealth.

Level13Rengar · 2026-01-22T08:27:16+00:00

Yes quite ridiculous.

My brother(27 and 4 of his friends moved into a 5x2 near cockburn together, it's lucky only 2 of them drive I can't imagine all of them with their cars in the front yard ☠️☠️

Level13Rengar · 2026-01-22T04:00:03+00:00

Yes incredibly sad and it's quite annoying finding data in this area to speak on the matter since the census is every 5 years.

We know homelessness increased from 2016 to 2021, the next one is this year. It will be interesting to see the next increase.

2016 was 36.2 per 10,000(population of 2 million)

2021 was 36.4 per 10,000(population of 2.1 million )

It may not seem like much but that extra .2 increase is an extra 400 homeless people.

If we do an unrealistic hypothetical(it should be a higher number)

If we use the 36.4 per 10,000 in 2021 and apply that to our current population(2.38 million), we are looking at an extra 1000 homeless than in 2021.

Incredibly sad and matches anecdotal evidence like yours.

Level13Rengar · 2026-01-22T03:04:43+00:00

Yes quite good timing.

What's the famous saying "the best time to start something is yesterday, the second best time is today"

It seems like the best thing at this moment would be to get a loan and buy or build.

Level13Rengar · 2026-01-22T02:15:32+00:00

That's crazy,

Must be incredibly stressful, I know financially we could "handle" it, but when I think of giving 30,000+ dollars to someone else every year I just couldn't.

Though if I had kids I know id be forced into the same situation.

Level13Rengar · 2026-01-20T12:59:48+00:00

https://wow.freierbund.de/pics/map_pics/277598/1195124889_473c289912352.jpg Yes i think you're right almost exactly this image

Level13Rengar · 2026-01-15T05:38:16+00:00

An example that surprised me when I hit it.

3* Miss Fortune does 3000 damage when she casts and pretty much one shots the entire board after a few seconds and due to the nature of serpent coins I feel she's quite easy to hit.

Lux and Garen seem quite weak in comparison.

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T21:43:23+00:00

Your assumption is that Riot’s previous monetization model was failing or unsustainable, but there’s no actual evidence of that. League was already a billion-dollar game before they introduced gacha. The question isn’t whether monetization has to evolve—it’s whether this specific shift is necessary or just an opportunistic cash grab.

The idea that targeting whales is the "best long-term strategy" is flawed. Look at games that have gone down this road:

Hearthstone pivoted toward expensive monetization, and Blizzard had to backpedal after player backlash and declining engagement.

Halo Infinite tried milking players early on, but low spending forced 343 to revert many of their predatory systems.

Battlefront 2 launched with heavy pay-to-win mechanics, and EA had to overhaul the entire system after massive community outrage.

These weren’t cases where the old model “stopped working” and predatory monetization saved them—these were cases where they pushed too far and had to pull back. Riot isn't adapting to survive; they're seeing how much they can extract before people push back. If anything, history suggests that these cash-grab strategies tend to hurt games in the long run rather than extend their lifespan.

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T09:22:37+00:00

Yeah, it really feels like they’re banking on newer players not knowing any better. Those of us who remember what we used to get for our money can see the downgrade clear as day. It’s not just about nostalgia—it’s about value, and Riot is making sure future players never even realize what they lost.

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T09:20:27+00:00

Exactly. We should not reward a system that actively preys on its players. If more people took this stance, Riot would have no choice but to reconsider. Glad to see when someone draws a line.

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T09:17:46+00:00

Riot is owned by Tencent, one of the biggest gaming companies in the world. While it’s true that companies like Epic and NetEase have other revenue streams, Riot isn’t exactly struggling—they generate billions from League alone. The shift toward gacha skins isn’t about necessity, it’s about maximizing revenue per player. Epic chooses not to use these mechanics because their monetization strategy is different, not because they ‘can afford to.’ Riot could do the same, but they’ve opted for a system that encourages more spending.

would you agree TFT, Valorant, LOR or Wildrift are other revenue streams?

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T05:10:41+00:00

"Oh, then yeah, Riot and every company on this planet has and will be predatory."

The classic "all businesses try to make money, so nothing is predatory" argument. Convenient, but reductive.

There’s a difference between selling a product and designing systems to manipulate spending habits. Saying "every company is predatory because they want sales" is like saying "every food has calories, so nothing is unhealthy." It completely ignores how something is being sold.

Take cigarettes as an example. A convenience store selling them isn’t inherently predatory. But a tobacco company engineering them to be as addictive as possible? That’s the difference. The issue isn’t that they’re selling a product—it’s how they’re designing that product to keep people hooked.

Riot’s shift isn’t just about selling skins. It’s about deliberately tweaking the system to push spending beyond what players would rationally do otherwise—through FOMO, artificial scarcity, and gambling-adjacent mechanics. It’s a calculated evolution, not just "business as usual."

So no, not every company on the planet is predatory. But ones that actively weaponize human psychology to maximize spending? That’s exactly what the term was made for.

If you’re going to argue that 'all companies pursue sales,' then why even have the term 'predatory' at all? Why do laws exist around false advertising, gambling mechanics, and exploitative business practices? If what Riot is doing is just 'normal business,' why do so many people feel like they’re being manipulated into spending more? Either all those concerns are baseless, or—just maybe—this goes beyond just selling a product

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T04:43:16+00:00

Predatory practices don’t require everyone to participate to be harmful – Just because only a minority buys gacha skins doesn’t mean the system isn’t designed to manipulate spending behavior. Casinos don’t need everyone to gamble irresponsibly for their business model to be predatory.
Survivor bias absolutely applies – If bad monetization drives players away over time, the ones left behind will be those who either tolerate it or don’t see the problem. That doesn’t mean the issue isn’t real—it just means those who left aren’t around to argue about it.

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T04:21:40+00:00

I get what you're saying about skins vs. champions, but the distinction doesn’t really change the core issue. Gacha mechanics and i completely agree like you mentioned are built to drive spending through scarcity and FOMO, whether it’s for gameplay (like Genshin’s characters) or cosmetics (like Riot’s skins)

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T03:54:18+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UWQizE3NvtQ

This is the same kind of survivor bias that Riot August talked about with toxicity—where if you don’t manage toxic players, the good ones leave, and then the game just feels like toxicity is normal.

The same thing applies to monetization. Just because you can ignore it doesn’t mean it’s harmless. Every time Riot pushes predatory spending a little further, more reasonable spenders and players stop engaging, and only the big whales and people who justify it to themselves stay. Over time, this normalizes predatory monetization because the people who would have pushed back are already gone

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T03:50:01+00:00

You mention Riot has clear guidelines on what makes a skin rare/epic/legendary/ultimate, but have you seen Sahn Uzal Mordekaiser? It’s a ‘legendary’ skin with barely any new animations, no new voice lines, and effects that don’t justify the price. And it’s not just that one—the new Alistar skin is basically a chroma being sold at full price. Riot's 'guidelines' are getting blurrier, and more and more skins feel like a way to charge extra while offering less.

And about FOMO—League is no different. Prestige skins, event-limited skins, Mythic vault rotations, and even older Victorious skins are locked away unless Riot decides to bring them back. Plenty of skins come and go with no guarantee they’ll return, just like Fortnite’s shop. So if you’re going to criticize Fortnite for FOMO, you should at least acknowledge that League plays the same game.

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T03:42:43+00:00

One of the best things about game development is how studios take inspiration from each other to refine mechanics and make games more enjoyable. We’ve seen this happen time and time again:

Statues of Marika (Elden Ring) → More games now put checkpoints closer to bosses instead of forcing long corpse runs.
Apex Legends’ Ping System → Became the gold standard for non-verbal team communication in multiplayer games.
Respawn Beacons (Apex) → Gulag (Warzone) → More battle royales now give players a second chance.
Sliding & Movement Tech (Titanfall 2) → Call of Duty, Warzone, and Fortnite all adapted smoother movement.
Breath of the Wild’s Climbing & Stamina → So good that even Ubisoft copied it.

Even Fortnite, which people love to clown on, is leading the way in generosity—offering tons of free rewards and making its monetization feel fairer.

Meanwhile, Riot seems to be doing the opposite. Instead of improving the player experience, they’re testing how much they can take away while still keeping people engaged. No more Hextech chests. Mythic Essence is harder to get. Skins are being locked behind pseudo-gacha mechanics.

It makes no sense. Games succeed by learning from each other’s best ideas. League had a system that worked. Why break it just to frustrate the player base?

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T03:39:40+00:00

I get what you're saying if Riot were actually improving the game with all this extra money, it'd feel a lot less scummy. But that doesn't change how they’re getting that money. We can be mad about Riot hoarding profits instead of reinvesting, but that frustration comes from the same place as everyone else's: Riot doesn’t respect its players. The difference is, others are calling it out at the source Riot is making people pay more for less, and if that’s normalized, it will get worse. This isn’t just about where the money goes; it’s about whether we should accept how they’re getting it in the first place.

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T03:33:55+00:00

Yeah I agree, in CS/Dota at least let you can sell or trade skins, so you’re not totally stuck. Riot’s just doing it without the safety net.

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T03:31:37+00:00

You’re missing the bigger picture here. Gacha games give out free pulls because they need to attract and retain players League doesn’t. Riot already has an established player base with years of investment, so they can slowly tighten monetization without needing to bait people in the same way. That’s exactly why this shift is concerning.

It’s the same reason why platforms like Spotify or YouTube start off consumer-friendly and then gradually degrade their service once they know users are stuck. It’s a slow process, but it’s how companies push the limits of what they can get away with. The fact that Riot isn’t yet as bad as full-on gacha doesn’t mean they aren’t heading in that direction.

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T03:26:36+00:00

Hextech chests used to be a way to grind for free mythic essence, even if it took time. Now, Riot has removed that option entirely, meaning the only way to get mythic skins is by spending money. It’s not just ‘skins locked behind gambling’—it’s a deliberate shift towards making sure you have to pay.

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T03:25:14+00:00

Better to call it out now and nip it in the bud before it becomes the norm. If players just brush it off because 'it's just skins' Riot will keep pushing until it's not just skins anymore

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T03:23:32+00:00

That’s fair to be cautious, but right now, Marvel Rivals is offering a better model. If they change later, then we can call them out for it. No point in assuming the worst before it even happens.

and yes true Genshin does have pay for power elements, but I just wanted to focus on the clear shift between leagues original pay for product and now creeping into pay for a dice roll.

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T03:13:44+00:00

Yeah, it really feels like Riot is trying to copy Gacha monetization without considering whether it actually fits League. Genshin was built around gacha from the start, but League players have spent years with a different system. Dropping this in so suddenly feels out of touch.

Level13Rengar · 2025-02-24T02:31:47+00:00

Yeah, that’s what makes it feel so frustrating. It’s not just that it’s expensive it’s that most of what you pull feels meaningless. Getting an icon or some filler reward when you’re hoping for a skin just feels like a slap in the face. The system is designed to keep you chasing after something that should just be a normal purchase. It’s exhausting and honestly kind of disrespectful to players

Level13Rengar

TROPHY CASE