History BrokenBase / LeagueOfLegends

** His role and personality also broke the base: Some are actually okay with his personality (and even agrees it gives him depths) and acknowledging the great threat he brought, giving out TheWorfEffect to certain champions like Pantheon or Karma. For some, they think that aside of giving Pantheon (who is a fan favorite) a jobber effect after his good showing against Aatrox was a disservice to the character and this is compounded with how they viewed Viego's personality to be 'a lovestruck RoyalBrat throwing a temper tantrum' which is considered unfitting for his role in the story and how he's in the end considered a BigBadWannabe: He's sealed with great efforts, but his enablers, Thresh & Vex, still roams free, and another threatening Shadow Isle entity, Mordekaiser (who now actually fits the description of 'more traditionally intense-looking BigBad'), is free to plot his next move.

** Another huge bit of fuel to the fire is her similarities to Sona, a quite beloved but [[TheArtifact pretty outdated]] magic mage champion, with many accusing Seraphine and her gameplay [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks as Sona erasure given how much she copies and modernizes her abilities]]. The common retorts include that Sona already has a dedicated audience as [[SkillGateCharacter a supremely beginner-friendly champion]], their MagicMusic themes and gameplay are different enough for the overlap to be acceptable, and that Seraphine's overall fun and interesting enough to keep around as a character distinct from Sona. Seraphine's genuine popularity as a support/mage has also complicated matters, prompting heated discussions on whether or not she's just straight-up an improvement to Sona, as well as [[HighTierScrappy whether or not she's just too strong in general.]]

** How important should sustain options (namely healing and shielding) realistically be? Defenders claim that healing/shielding options should be important as a means for the champions that seriously need them (namely {{Glass Cannon}}s) to not be ineffectual and forced to base once they take any modicum of damage, and that they are reasonably balanced by the innate design of a lot of sustain abilities (requiring one to actually engage in combat), as well as more direct countering options like items with [[AntiRegeneration Grievous Wounds]]. Detractors find that they have far too much potential to derail the gamestate with their snowballing power, and that should any of their weaknesses not be enough (whether it be due to anti-heal options being too expensive or having poor numbers that can be shrugged off), champions that benefit from healing can get completely out of control and get away with tons of aggressive, often reckless play that rewards them in a way they shouldn't deserve. There's a mini-debate in this where some players don't mind healing as long as it remains supplementary and is regularly watched upon (such as with the likes of Aatrox, Yone, and Yuumi), while others just find it an admission of massive imbalance that should be reworked outright to something less problematic.
** Speaking of which, Shielding. Detractors disliked shielding as a sustain option because it basically acts as the secondary healthbar that you had to break to deal damage and how many times they've become a convenience in saving the champion from certain death, which often promotes reckless play. Defenders argued that shield power and durability depends on the user's own durability, and is generally healthier than healing as a sustain option. Others would generally tolerate shielding as long as it's integral to their kit that they had to commit to it like Sion, Shen and Ekko. Both party agreed that not every champions needs to have shielding and certain implementation of shielding like the Windbros (Yasuo and Yone), Akshan, and Ryze (before the latest rework) are unnecessary and be better without it.

** How much should champions be able to accomplish on their own? The divide is softly delineated by how much older champions were designed vs. much newer ones, with older champions [[TacticalRockPaperScissors tending to be dominant in a certain niche, but limited in options should they fall behind or be directly shut down through counterplay]], while newer ones tend to have [[JackOfAllTrades a massive set of tools in their kit to adapt to any sudden situations they may face]], balanced by [[DifficultButAwesome whether or not they had the skill and practice for it]]. The broad consensus is that a lot of times, the latter can easily become very overtuned [[HighTierScrappy High-Tier Scrappies]] without any fundamental weaknesses to speak of, but this provokes the divide on what is the appropriate route: detractors of the old philosophy believe that having a champion [[CripplingOverspecialization be completely narrow and easily-exploited no matter how skillfully they try]] is unintuitive and un-fun as an experience, while detractors of modern design philosophy find that balancing around "skill-expression" is a problematic paradigm that can result in champions who in the best-case practice cases have ''no'' opportunities for punishment.
** Speaking of which, should Tanks be able to deal damage? Ever since the dreaded Tank meta that happened during a small portion of Season 6, many argued whether Tanks should be able to deal consistent damage in duels and teamfights or should they only just be able to peel off enemies' resources and disrupt enemy plays without having to deal damage. Defenders argued that if tanks can't deal damage, they [[CantCatchUp wouldn't be able to do anything past mid-game because their overall damage output quickly fall off]] as everyone else becomes more durable as the match progresses. Detractors of the idea chides that tanks was always meant to deal with enemy's attack and peel off their resources and letting them deal more damage would make them [[VictoryByEndurance nigh unstoppable because they can take more what the others would dealt in the long run due to their resilience]]. A third camp doesn't really mind with tanks dealing damage, as long as they have drawbacks
** Healing as sustain option, specifically Omnivamp. Detractors disliked healing because of how often the snowballing power could flip the gamestate upside down, since if no one were able to stop them then they could easily outheal all the damage dealt. Defenders argued that healing requires users to remain active as a sustain, and stopping their tracks could effectively disable that sustain option since they couldn't be able to heal back up, not to mention countless healing debuff options that constantly kept them at bay (until the eventual nerf that is), and that's not counting the reduced effectiveness on skillshots/area damage. A third camp doesn't mind healing as long as it remains supplementary and kept being watched upon, as several champions like Aatrox and Yone could attest.

** The durability update introduced in patch 12.10 managed to alleviate things a bit. For starters, base defensive stats and growths per level are increased while they also lowering overall healing and shielding from all abilities and/or items, essentially lowering overall damage across the board as well as reducing the reliance on healing (and shielding) en masse. This means that overall burst damage is lowered and sustained damage are much stronger, essentially lowering the threat level of assassins and burst mages, at least early on. Unfortunately they kinda forgot that they've been compensating buffs for Marksman for quite some time since season 8, and the result is predictable; a good lot of AD carries including Caitlyn, Vayne, and Draven swiftly reap the benefit of this large scale rework. At the same time, Tanks that should have benefitted from this rework (barring few examples like [[BigDamnHeroes Shen]] and [[JackOfAllTrades Ornn]]) ended up dropped hard into the gutter because of it. The fact that Riot decided to double down and re-buff the burst-centric champions as a compensation for the overall damage decrease only further muddled the balancing nightmare even further. Needless to say, it ended up opening another can of worms in discussions.
* Changes in the Summoner's Rift, whether it be subtle or drastic, tend to sparks heated debate across the platform, since even minor changes such as bush placements can affect the metagame in major ways.

** Mythic Items -- introduced in Season 2021 and removed for Season 2024 -- also gained widespread debate. The idea was that [[AmplifierArtifact they were keystone items designed to determine player's primary gameplan]] that decides your item pathing, with distinct abilities and effects that the rest of each game would be built around adapting to become more optimal. Some fans enjoyed this as it helped establish a better means of conveying power spikes than what was previously available, establishing a better paradigm for what champions could be balanced around than the vague item-pathing free-for-alls of yesteryear. Detractors found that they only encouraged further [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome complacency with item builds]] as some items ended up more compatible with certain champions than the alternatives, resulting in them becoming functionally restrictive in practice. Eventually after a handful of attempts to shift around the status of certain items -- changing some Mythics to Legendary status and vice versa -- Riot eventually pulled the plug on the concept in the 2024 preseason, siding with the latter group in that it was too restrictive for what they sought to accomplish, with the inherent power they grant to certain champions ironically limiting the means for champions themselves to become tweaked, with all the former Mythics (as well as a swathe of other items) being reworked to fit the new paradigm.

** The fact that Riot's champion design philosophies has slowly focusing more and more towards champion-to-champion combat. Ever since the beginning of Season 9, champion design becomes more and more focused towards direct engagement, whether it came from dealing higher burst or consistent damage, down to tie-breaking abilities that could flip gamestate. The item shop rework in season 11 also further enforces this as the effects provided by the items are almost always to give them more edge in combat, even on jungling items. Defenders argue that focus on combat not only promotes skill expression, combat focus balancing allows the pacing of the game to flow better and faster so that each fight doesn't drag on for way too long, not to mention that several off-combat strategies like splitpushing doesn't look as exciting. Detractors finds the inclusion baffling and only further contributing to the game's shaky balance state, since it diminishes last hitting minions and wave macromanagement because winning trades (if not outright kill) gave much more diminishing reward than building up money from optimal minion slaying and wave management, and overreliance on gankings for tiebreakers in laning phase. Doesn't help that Riot keeps pushing this combat balancing even further as the game goes on, further widening the rift between playerbases.
** Skill-based combat versatility. As described in the League being more focused by combat before, the most often result of combat focus in champion design and balance is the newer champions [[JackOfAllTrades having all the needed tools in their kit without being master at one another]], which allow them to face any sudden situations through skill expression instead of [[CripplingOverspecialization being in sitting ducks when the opposing team was able to shut their gameplan down]]. The problem came from the balancing, as when combat versatility goes haywire, certain champions can easily waltz through any situation unscathed [[MasterOfAll without having fundamental weakness to speak of]], with examples like Yone, Samira, and later on Zeri, allowing capable players to face any scenario imaginable with relative ease. Defenders of the idea argued that champions with narrow utility tend to become death trap to their players, essentially locking them into single-minded boring gameplay that, Detractors hated the idea because high-skilled players could essentially eliminate the champion's "weaknesses" (usually [[GlassCannon innate squishiness]] and/or reliance on snowballing) that these champions might as well didn't have weakness to begin with.

* Item design/balance can be just as controversial as that of champions, and perhaps the most divisive of all of them is Stopwatch (and to a lesser extent the full item it's a component of: Zhonya's Hourglass). Added in November 2017, the item grants ZH's famed stasis ability (one of the game's most famous mechanics in helping players survive burst damage), which comes at a much cheaper price and thus can be accessed earlier than a full Zhonya's, with its drawbacks being that it only has one use per game and otherwise provides zero stats until upgraded. The item has very vocal support and opposition; detractors claim that [[ScrappyMechanic it's simply too good at its job and makes burst damage borderline ineffectual]] (major criticism is directed towards its near-ubiquity in pro play, slowing games down, seemingly verified by the fact it keeps getting nerfed), while its advocates believe it's ultimately [[DifficultButAwesome a fair high-risk, high-reward investment]] that's needed for burst damage and squishy targets to coexist.
** Adding health to items. Since the item shop rework, a good chunk of items were given some sort of health stat across the board (with few exceptions) as to give all roles some sort of durability. Detractors disliked the fact that it ended up making champions that already durable enough to become even more unkillable and hard to get rid of, especially with champions like Diana, Vladimir, and Sylas, who can be quite tanky despite building exclusively mage items.

** Speaking of which, the Mythic items themselves. As mentioned above, the item shop rework were designed so that every item you purchase is viable and gave players options of what they want to buy. Mythic items are the core component of your build and the primary gameplan that decides your item pathing. They provide you with various abilities and effects that effectively decides how you should play the game on this match, ranging from burst healing (Divine Sunderer), waveclear (Luden's Tempest), both (Goredrinker), and many more. However just like how the item shop rework only further encourages complacency above, some Mythic items are just better than others for certain champions that there's no reason to buy anything for that champion unless it's stated otherwise. Why would you buy anything else for Aatrox when Goredrinker (and later on Eclipse) provides him with anything he ever wanted in his kit? Why would you buy the other two tank Mythics when Sunfire Aegis not only provides both stats, but also gives you both [=DoT=] and sustained damage for tanks? Why would you ever grab anything besides Immortal Shielbow for the windbros knowing that it provides them with much needed safety net? The only role where multiple Mythics are equally as good for them are AP-centric midlaners, and even then you'd be hardpressed to find anything besides the trinity of Rocketbelt, Tempest, and the Anguish. Needless to say, players are split with the Mythic items in general and the problem it brings along to the table.
*** The backlash provided are strong enough that Riot decided to flip things around by swapping several Mythics with any other Legendary items or replacing them with the new ones, turning those former Mythic items into Legendary. Such examples are two out of three tank Mythics are replaced with the new ones that provide more tankiness like Jak'sho and Radiant Virtue, Heartsteel replaces Sunfire as the de facto tank damaging item in the game, for some reason Frostfire was swapped back into Iceborn and now it's a spellblade item and no longer deal burn damage, which ironically makes it more viable, while the replaced items are now Legendaries with less powerful effect.
*** Eventually the devs agreed that the Mythic system itself is a busted mechanic with no easy way to clean it up that they find it isn't worth sticking for, so they decided to remove the mechanic altogether (alongside several items in the Mythic pool) for the 2024 season while reworking the rest into Legendary Items instead, alongside some major changes done to the Summoner's Rift. Fans were split about this decision, and detractors chides that removing the mechanic (and some items) altogether will cripple good chunk of champions that have been so reliant on the system (and the items provided with it).

** Riot insistence to push on giving all role more damage at the cost of lower survivability has become a contentious subject throughout the community over the course of the decade and still highly divisive until this day. Defenders argued that late game League matches tends to be a clash between [[GlassCannon fully-built glass cannon]] [[RocketTagGameplay that comes off so short that the team with the best coordination can obliterate the opposing team in matter of seconds]], citing that tankiness and sustain will drag the fight way too long and it's the reason why the reviled tank meta in the past was able to exist within that short time. Detractors argued that giving tanks more damage is the reason why the dreaded tank meta exist in the first place, [[StoneWall as they meant to soak off damage]] [[CloseRangeCombatant and initiate teamfight up-close and take out an important enemy champ like the carry or support so the other team member can jump in and secure the rest]]. They also argued that without some sort of defense, deleting the enemy healthbar instantly is only fun for the ones that can do it, as champions that thrives on sustained fights will struggle later on without any good defensive items. Even after the item shop rework that gives most items some sort of defensive options at a cost of lowered raw stats, the problem still persists as even tank items were given more damage at the cost of lowered tankiness.
** Speaking of lower survivability, Riot's insistence to push healing as the go-to survivability has become contentious topic over the course of the game's lifespan. There's a lot of healing in many champion's kits and items that new champions and items are expected to have some sort of healing in their stats, however little it is. A lot of players hated it and find it absurd because Riot's insistence has pushed the metagame into relying on healing for survivability, and champions that doesn't benefit from sustained or burst healing (like Tanks) are obsolete because bruisers like Irelia, Fiora, Camille, and skirmishers like Yone, Sylas and Gwen are practically faster and tankier because of the healing they benefitted from their kits or items they get to buy. Others are alright with healing being pushed through, as the push of damage across the board meant that healing is the go-to defensive solution for those who benefitted from it, and they would argue that a lot of champions like Aatrox, Irelia, Sylas, and Volibear has healing as their cornerstone of their kit and can't be viable without it (doesn't help that in pre-season 11 they buffed the Griveous Wounds from Ignite to 60% across the board, ensuring the "better ignite wins" meta on the toplane and turn those picks into coin flips). A [[TakeTheThirdOption third side]] were fine with champions and items with healing properties, but would rather have them to be supplemental rather than a cornerstone in sustained fights, so other champs that doesn't benefit from healing items can reliably last long in fight.
** Another form of sustain that's contentious among the playerbase is shielding, through it's less divisive compared to healing. Shielding essentially grants you a second healthbar that they need to break before dealing damage towards you, allowing you to safely dive longer into fights when needed, or saving an ally if you can grant shielding on one. Many disliked shielding because it essentially grants the user an extra healthbar and promotes reckless play in some areas, creating a degenerate-proof strat of shieldspamming in dueling or ganks, not mentioning that just a lot of champions having shield in their kit for no reason other than "unnecessary safety". Others are generally alright with shielding, and argue that there's a lot of champions that relies and uses shielding better than everyone else, like Shen, Volibear, and Sion's. Another third party were fine with shielding being a cornerstone of defense and safety, but dislikes implementation of shielding on certain champions like Akshan or Yasuo and his brother Yone, citing that they're generally fast enough to avoid confrontation without the needing of safety.
** The durability update introduced in patch 12.10 managed to alleviate things a bit. For starters, base defensive stats and growths per level are increased while they also lowering overall healing and shielding from all abilities and/or items, essentially lowering overall damage across the board as well as reducing the reliance on healing (and shielding) en masse. This means that overall burst damage is lowered and sustained damage are much stronger, essentially lowering the threat level of assassins and burst mages, at least early on. Unfortunately they kinda forgot that they've been compensating buffs for Marksman for quite some time since season 8, and the result is predictable; a good lot of AD carries including Caitlyn, Vayne, and Draven swiftly reap the benefit of this large scale rework. At the same time, Tanks that should have benefitted from this rework (barring few examples like [[BigDamnHeroes Shen]] and [[JackOfAllTrades Ornn]]) ended up dropped hard into the gutter because of it. Needless to say, it ended up opening another can of worms in discussions.

** Her very IdolSinger-inspired design has received plenty of criticism as being simply [[WTHCostumingDepartment too out-of-place]] for ''League of Legends'', and given the aforementioned perception that she was made for K/DA first, many decry her as being lazily shoehorned into the game (for what it's worth, [[https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/lbohdz/only_one_league_vgu_will_be_released_this_year/gnpazik/ lead producer Reav3 denies this theory]] and claims her ''League'' design was solidified way before the K/DA tie-in). She also has plenty of defenders basing that given how much of Runeterra is a FantasyKitchenSink anyway, her design fits in just fine (especially given that InUniverse, she's supposed to be a flashy performer in the already modern-skewing Piltover/Zaun), and that much of the hatred comes less from Seraphine herself and more just [[AmericansHateTingle a general hostility towards Kpop and cutesy idol designs]]. There are also those of varying synthesis of both points, with a substantial third camp that has no problem with the idol inspiration in concept, but wanting changes to her actual design, most commonly citing [[https://images.contentstack.io/v3/assets/blt731acb42bb3d1659/blt8cf20b1e1ac35a55/5f7d05fc9d46c20f09176ab0/04_Seraphine_3.jpg some of her earlier concept art that featured her with more steampunk aesthetics]].

* Yuumi and her gameplay. Her fans find her fun and uniquely rewarding to play, while her detractors wish she would be removed from the game entirely due to perceiving her as having a lack of counterplay due to being unable to be targeted while she's on an ally. Not helping the problem is that due to the nature of her kit she is either [[TierInducedScrappy very powerful or utterly useless.]]

* Qiyana is a rare instance of a modern wholecloth champion who is divisive less in gameplay (although being a DifficultButAwesome [[TierInducedScrappy AD assassin]], there's no shortage of that), but more in terms of an actual character. In terms of visual design, is her appearance distinct and effective in its simplicity, or a bland and generic waste? Is her [[TheFightingNarcissist viciously arrogant]] [[{{Narcissist}} personality]] entertaining and engaging in the same way as most ''League'' villains, or is it straight-up unpleasant and unlikable? Simply put, not everyone agrees.

** Another huge bit of fuel to the fire is her similarities to Sona, a quite beloved but [[TheArtifact pretty outdated]] magic mage champion, with many accusing Seraphine and her gameplay [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks as Sona erasure given how much she copies and modernizes her abilities]]. The common retorts include that Sona already has a dedicated audience as [[SkillGateCharacter a supremely beginner-friendly champion]], their MagicMusic themes and gameplay are different enough for the overlap to be acceptable, and that Seraphine's overall fun and interesting enough to keep around as a character distinct from Sona. Seraphine's genuine popularity as a support/mage has also complicated matters, prompting heated discussions on whether or not she's just straight-up an improvement to Sona, as well as [[TierInducedScrappy whether or not she's just too strong in general.]]

* We'll just get this out of the way: most, if not all champions by champion designer [=CertainlyT=] -- both of original creation and of reworks -- have become the most ''notoriously'' divisive among the community. They tend to be seen as very boundary-pushing and fun to play, but also tend to draw a ton of criticism from a design standpoint as being unfun or toxic to play ''against'', with nearly all of them having had time as a [[TierInducedScrappy/LeagueOfLegends high-tier Scrappy]] or [[GameBreaker/LeagueOfLegends worse]]. How much of this is an issue, of course, is greatly up to individual mileage.

* Viego's own adversary in the Ruination event, [[LovableRogue Akshan]], doesn't fare well by the fanbase as much either.
** Gameplay-wise, Detractors cites him as one of example of a bad champion design with purely skill-based power taxing and plethora of abilities that deliberately designed to synergize with each other way too well with each other, being the most feature-bloated champions to date, perhaps rivalling Aphelios in terms of the amount of feature he got with each abilities, having a [[BackFromTheDead team-wide revival]] of all things. It doesn't help that his overall design is also confusing; what's exactly is he supposed to be? Why does he have so many features that doesn't really make any sense within his archetype? Why he had to be this way too safe for a class that was meant to [[DifficultButAwesome risk their neck by diving through the enemy lines]] just to get an important pick? Why does he really need the revive apart from GameplayAndStoryIntegration mentioned below? Defenders argue that he was designed to deliberately invoke uniqueness value among the archetype, which mostly filled with [[AwesomeButImpractical one-shotting glass cannon that can get them killed if they weren't able to get an important pick]], Akshan uses more sustained damage in a prolonged pursuit, and like Assassins in general he can only pick up one target at a time and doesn't have as much snowballing power like a conventional Marksman does. They also argue that his numbers are relatively tame and his constant nerf ensures that he will never be able to truly conquer the metagame anytime sooner.
** Character-wise, Akshan is for the most part a milquetoast goofball with [[NiceGuy relatively clean-cut personality]] [[LovableRogue for a supposed outlaw]], which detractors point out for being out of place even among the Sentinels (the ones that involved in the event at least) that's filled with no-nonsense professional (Lucian, Senna, Vayne), troubled but otherwise upstanding individual (Riven, Irelia, Diana), gritty individuals in for the fight (Olaf, Rengar, Graves), and a psychopath with mean streak (Pyke). It doesn't help that Gwen is already in the team and she manages to fit well with the team despite being roughly similar to Akshan in personality, and he doesn't seem to contribute much for the team except for one thing (see below). Supporters argued that as a character, Akshan is more of less inoffensive and is not completely unlikeable like the detractors would like everyone to believe, calling the detractors out for exaggerating the issue.

** For starters, there’s the way that she was initially teased, built-up by a grassroots Twitter CharacterBlog through the [[VirtualCelebrity K/DA]]-verse ''before'' she was depicted as part of ''League'''s canon. seraphinedotwav attracted a lot of genuine fans who were onboard with the ride and saw her involvement through K/DA [[GatewaySeries leading into the rest of the game]] as something exciting, but once the connection to ''League'' was confirmed, many critics spoke up, declaring her a cynical creation by Riot prioritizing the success of K/DA over the integrity of the actual game. This has led to a very nasty back-and-forth of accusations, with one side claiming that Seraphine fans were mindlessly accepting being blindly [[PanderingToTheBase pandered to]] to their own detriment (especially given how her K/DA launch skin was an ''ultimate'' skin), while the other saw the haters as just hopping on [[ItsPopularNowItSucks a toxic bandwagon]] that made little rational sense given how the type of {{fanservice}} she provides is not at all a new thing in ''League''. The rollout of K/DA's ''ALL OUT'' was greatly underscored with this backlash, illustrating a substantial divide in anticipation between longtime ''League'' fans and [[JustHereForGodzilla those who came around specifically to enjoy K/DA and Seraphine themselves]].
** Her very IdolSinger-inspired design has received plenty of criticism as being simply [[WTHCostumingDepartment too out-of-place]] for ''League of Legends'', and given the aforementioned perception that she was made for K/DA first, many decry her as being lazily shoehorned into the game (for what it's worth, [[https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/lbohdz/only_one_league_vgu_will_be_released_this_year/gnpazik/ lead producer Reav3 denies this theory]] and claims her ''League'' design was solidified way before the K/DA tie-in). She also has plenty of defenders basing that given how much of Runeterra is a FantasyKitchenSink anyway, her design fits in just fine (especially given that InUniverse, she's supposed to be a flashy performer in the already modern-skewing Piltover/Zaun), and that much of the hatred comes less from Seraphine herself and more just [[HypeBacklash a general hostility towards Kpop and cutesy idol designs]]. There are also those of varying synthesis of both points, with a substantial third camp that has no problem with the idol inspiration in concept, but wanting changes to her actual design, most commonly citing [[https://images.contentstack.io/v3/assets/blt731acb42bb3d1659/blt8cf20b1e1ac35a55/5f7d05fc9d46c20f09176ab0/04_Seraphine_3.jpg some of her earlier concept art that featured her with more steampunk aesthetics]].

** Averted in regards of his involvement in the Ruination event as a whole (this includes the Visual Novel and the Comic Book rendition of the story) where his contribution to the story was [[TheScrappy poorly received]] and is regarded by many as nothing more but a living plot device for the 11th hour, more on that in main YMMV section.

** Gameplay-wise, many have acknowledged that Akshan is one of the most feature-bloated champions to date, perhaps rivalling Aphelios in terms of the amount of feature he got with each abilities, having a team-wide revival of all things. It doesn't help that his overall design is also confusing; what's exactly is he supposed to be? Why does he have so many features that doesn't really make any sense within his archetype? Why he had to be this way too safe for a class that was meant to [[DifficultButAwesome risk their neck by diving through the enemy lines]] just to get an important pick? Why does he really need the revive apart from GameplayAndStoryIntegration mentioned below? Detractors cites him as one of example of a bad champion design with purely skill-based power taxing and plethora of abilities that deliberately designed to synergize with each other way too well that he could easily break the game if the player's capable to master him, even as so far as to call him a CreatorsPet among developers and the balancing team. Defenders argue that he was designed to deliberately invoke uniqueness value among the archetype, which mostly filled with [[AwesomeButImpractical one-shotting glass cannon that can get them killed if they weren't able to get an important pick]], Akshan uses more sustained damage in a prolonged pursuit, and like Assassins in general he can only pick up one target at a time and doesn't have as much snowballing power like more conventional Marksman does. They also argue that his numbers are relatively tame and his constant nerf ensures that he will never be able to truly conquer the metagame anytime sooner.
** Story-wise, Akshan is another can of worms. Many players hated Akshan's inclusion to the story and write him off as nothing more than a living plot device; he was introduced later into the story as where everyone else is already recruited into the team, right when [[spoiler:the player and Lucian ended up holding an IdiotBall and handing over an important figment of Isolde to [[MagnificentBastard Thresh]] back in Ixtal (Visual Novel version)]] and his inclusion to the team is such a contrived coincidence for the viewers that players be damned if they didn't think it's a deliberate attempt of DeusExMachina, especially when the Sentinels [[spoiler:was put in a [[OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow seemingly unwinnable situation where Viego managed to reach his hand of the last piece of Isolde's soul, from both Gwen's and Senna's]], only for him to swoop in and uses his powers to save the day, ensuring both survival and Viego's eternal imprisonment]]. It doesn't help that Akshan's goofball and slightly smug personality makes it so that he does it with little-to-no effort whatsoever, ensuring that the conclusion will rub some people in the wrong way. Much like Viego above, the overall reception of him was contentious at best and downright insulting at worst, as quite a lot of people [[FanonDiscontinuity simply thinks that he doesn't exist]].

** Another form of sustain that's contentious among the playerbase is shielding, through it's less divisive compared to healing. Shielding essentially grants you a second healthbar that they need to break before dealing damage towards you, allowing you to safely dive longer into fights when needed, or saving an ally if you can grant shielding on one. Many disliked shielding because it essentially promotes reckless play in some areas and creates a degenerate-proof strat of shieldspamming in dueling or ganks, not mentioning that just a lot of champions having shield in their kit for no reason other than "unnecessary safety". Others are generally alright with shielding, and argue that there's a lot of champions that relies and uses shielding better than everyone else, like Shen, Volibear, and Sion's. Another third party were fine with shielding being a cornerstone of defense and safety, but dislikes implementation of shielding on certain champions like Akshan or Yasuo and his brother Yone, citing that they're generally fast enough to avoid confrontation without the needing of safety.
** The durability update introduced in patch 12.10 managed to alleviate things a bit. For starters, base defensive stats and growths per level are increased while they also lowering overall healing and shielding from all abilities and/or items, essentially lowering overall damage across the board as well as reducing the reliance on healing (and shielding) en masse. This means that overall burst damage is lowered and sustained damage are much stronger, essentially lowering the threat level of assassins and burst mages, at least early on. Unfortunately they kinda forgot that they've been compensating buffs for Marksman for quite some time since season 8, and the result is predictable; a good lot of AD carries including Caitlyn, Vayne, and Draven swiftly reap the benefit of this large scale rework. At the same time, Tanks that should have benefitted from this rework (barring few examples like [[TeleportMagic Shen]] and [[JackOfAllTrades Ornn]]) ended up dropped hard into the gutter because of it. Needless to say, it ended up opening another can of worms in discussions.