League of Legends slowing champion release schedule, raising initial champion price to 7800 IP

Riot Games eCommerce Director Hippalus is yet again burdened with the unfortunate task of announcing another price raise to League of Legends players. And of course it wouldn't be quite right unless it was done in an obtuse and slightly misleading manner. Long story short, Riot Games is slowing down the release schedule of champions from 2-3 weeks to 3-4 weeks and quite likely as a result new champion prices will be raised to 7800 for the first week of release.

There are several additional changes being made to try lessen the cost burden that players will soon have to bear for new champions. Here's a list of the changes being made:

• RP/IP Price Tiers Normalized

  • 450 IP	260 RP
    1350 IP	585 RP
    3150 IP	790 RP
    4800 IP	880 RP
    6300 IP	975 RP
    7800 IP (first week)	975 RP

• Champion Price Reductions - The seven oldest 6300 IP champions have been adjusted down to 4800 IP. These champions include: Ezreal, Vladimir, Renekton, Nocturne, Lee Sin, Brand and Vayne.
• Updated and Normalized Price Reduction Schedule
  • Each time a new champion is released, an older 6300 champion will have its price reduced to 4800.
  • For every third champion released (2-3 months) another champion with a lower-than-6300 price point will have its price dropped to the next tier.
  • New champions will cost 7800 IP for the first week of release and then drop to the lower IP price of 6300 IP. RP price will not change.

I'll be straight forward, if this was just an honest and simple price increase for new champions I would be disappointed, but I'd understand. Riot is slowing the champion release schedule and they have to retain their profits. The RP price of new champions is not increasing, however, it is staying the same. As such, all Riot is doing is increasing the burden on free-to-play gamers if they want to acquire and play new champions, which I consider unfair.

Hippalus even goes on to say, clarifying some of the purpose behind the changes:

"Yeah we hope this makes first week champion ownership a little more exclusive and less frustrating."

Wait, so the price is being raised specifically to prevent more players from playing new champions? Excuse me while I bang my head against the wall. In my years playing League of Legends there is no event, beyond professional competitions, that gets players excited about playing than a new champion's release. Apparently Riot thinks that's a negative thing and really needs to be cut back on.

I suppose the argument is that this will persuade more players to pay real money instead of IP for champions at launch. I still can't agree, because I already think it's difficult for free-to-play players to keep up with the champion release schedule. Is it really okay to increase the burden on the players who are most excited for a champion's release? I hope Riot and Hippalus reconsider, just like they did with temporary ward skins. 

League of Legends' pricing changes take effect immediately. Check out Hippalus' announcement for all the details.