Note: I understand that there are a lot of threads dealing the the new map. A lot of them are filled with both trolls and constructive users. It is difficult to know where to air my grievances so I will simply post a new thread with my concerns. The point behind this thread is to constructively outline issues people have with the new winter map.

Summary of issues:

1. Brightness
2. FPS issues
3. Hard to see spells
4. Can't see chat

Alright so I have been reading this forum for map posts due to my own concerns with the new map. One of the biggest problems I see is FPS drops for certain users. Personally I do not have this problem. My fps stays steady. I have, however, been effected by this problem. People in my games have been seriously impaired by FPS problems. This results in a lower quality of game play all around. I understand that there should be some minimum threshold of technical specifications people who play this game should be expected to meet. That said, this could be a problem with various graphics drivers, cards, etc that cripples even above average gaming machines.

LoL, at least in my opinion, should be an open community of like minded gamers who accept people from all kinds of demographics. I don't mind if someone is playing on lower settings and doesn't spend $1200 on a machine. For a lot of people that is more than 2 months rent. While, again, there are minimum restraints, we should be trying to help people with less access to better hardware rather than telling them their computers are made of Styrofoam.

So what am I trying to get at? Simple. The map decreases FPS and causes large scale problem with many devoted users in this community. That alone should be reason to consider taking it down and either revising it or scrapping it all together.

Forgetting the technical issues, I would like to discuss some of the gameplay issues brought up by the map. The first issue is the inability to see the chat. If I am in mid lane I have a lot of trouble seeing the white text against the white snow. I could easily miss some of the essential communications that my team is trying to send me. Because this is a team game heavily reliant on teamwork communication becomes essential. The limiting of said communication results in a degradation of the game for everyone involved.

Another important issue with the game play aspects of this map is the inability to see certain spells. For example: It is near impossible to see Cassiopeia's poison pool. I have also had difficulty determining where karthus's AOE damage range is. This gives certain champions an advantage and can cause unfortunate levels of confusion among both teams. It is difficult to enjoy games when you have no clue what is going on.

Finally there is the issue of brightness. The map is really bright. Obnoxiously bright. After 2 games on the map I have trouble looking at it. People's solution to this seems to be to tell people to turn down their monitor brightness. This is not how backlit LCD monitors work. by turning down the brightness you simply turn down the LED that lights up the LCD. You are not actually changing the contrast of the bright map to the normal everything else. If anything, you are making it more difficult to see the map and thus hurting your eyes more. That said you could change the contrast. The issue with this is that a lot of hardware and software required a reset to do this. This makes such a change impossible as you do not know the map you are going to get until you are in game. While you may want the normal contrast for the normal map, you do not want it for the new map. The same can be said for the new map and an adjusted contrast. This makes such an adjustment impossible. The last thing you want to do as a game developer is make a game that your users find physically taxing to play (unless you are wii fit).

I understand that riot put a lot of time into the map. I think it is terrific. I love the nutcrackers and presents. The whole thing is incredibly festive and I would love to be a large, gift throwing, holiday maokai in this cheery wonderland. That said the map is causing problems for a lot of users that is unfair, uncomfortable, and undesirable. While I would love to see a perfected winter map (or even the option of whether or not to play on it) I don't think this one works as it is.

I am probably going to get a good number of "tl;dr".

I voted no because I do not have issues with FPS per se though they are definitely less than the standard SR map. The standard I get 55 to 60 but on the Winter I get between 35 to 42. It is still playable without issue but it is noteworthy.

I've played the winter map a hand full of times, and haven't had too many issues. Usually, I run at 30 fps in all maps, and almost always in the winter map. Occasionally, though, my rate drops to almost nothing for 2-3 sec and then goes back to normal. Not much of an issue, but can cripple you in a fight. But, on the bright side, once it happens that game, it doesn't for the remainder.

There definitely IS and issue, though. Every single winter map game I've played has at least one, if not two players that have severe connection issues. This results in multiple disconnects, ruining the game for those players, and sorely effecting gameplay for those still there. The only up side is if a player from each side happens to drop, instead of just 2 on your side.

Solution. Add an option when you queue whether you want to play on the winter map or standard map

I love the winter map; aside from Virux my secondary alias is Frozen and I particularly like cold things in general.. especially the icy lineup of skins. I wish they took out the presents(since they're holidays-only), and just made the Winter map available all year.

I've been waiting all year for this map, and I don't mind the brightness. I like it bright, because that's how snow is when you go outside. Others disagree, and respectfully so. I think a perfect change would be to make it look like a night-time winter map.. http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/488/leagueoflegends20110607.png (attached too)

As for the FPS issue, I might add in I've been having major lagging whenever multiple champions are in my viewport. This happens on both maps, and only started happening after I patched yesterday. Pretty much during battles/fights, my FPS will linger from 3-7. It's really not fun, and it's majorly impacting my role as Maokai. So perhaps these FPS issues are unrelated to the winter map, is what I'm saying.

I understand how much people dislike the winter map, but others(like me) are obsessed with it, and would even pay to play on it. I hope that everything will work out, and I'm sure Riot will try to find a way that will make all of their users happy.

A queue into a map type would be great, but it might be difficult to implement. I don't think that it's important everybody in a game needs to be playing on the same map so perhaps summoners could just individually set the map type in the champion selection or elsewhere.

Please save the winter map! (attached is the night winter map)

I just played a game as my mistletoe LeBlanc on the winter map, and it ended terribly due to an enemy Lux. I love the map, it is very aesthetic and I honestly have enjoyed it very much; however, after getting completely wrecked by a Lux because I simply CANNOT see her spells, I am very upset. I hope Riot can produce some solutions soon.

I love how some of the complains about the winter map have to do with there being snow on it. Nothing about the map being mainly white can't be solved by paying closer attention. I mean, would you rather have a festive holiday map or some joke Floridian Christmas map with just palm trees and a cool breeze? I love the map and although I haven't had a problem at all with my FPS, (and don't play the game on anything fancy,) if people are having problems with their FPS on it, maybe next time there should be less crammed in there. A few less wreaths wouldn't hurt anyone (except for the kid inside of me who squeed when she saw the map for the first time). Also, this is my first post, so "w00t." I'm an official forum poster. I have opinions! *fist pumps*

I have a garbage computer with integrated graphics and the winter map doesn't cause me any problems.

It's pretty much impossible to see where cho's rupture is going to pop. Really annoying.