User blog comment:ND999/Lore of LoL - Blast from the past: Doran/@comment-26815373-20151225002122/@comment-24385282-20151227224400

I'm not sure how you would work in the mechanic of making items available for others to purchase. For starters, if each item is designed with a specific purpose (as it should be), you can only make an item for 1-2 team members at a time, and if you focus on making more than one item for one or two teammates, the rest of your team is left in the dust, or at least further behind than they could be. If you're focusing on getting a fed carry further ahead, you'll likely never get around to finishing Doran's Aspis, unless the game lasts very long, which they aren't prone to do. I think it should take 18 total Wrought Iron to finish all of the items completely, and you get 1 per level. 3 items (Ring, Shield, Blade) with 2 additional upgrades each (Band(?)-Gauntlet, Spear(?)-Halberd, Buckler(?)-Aspis) that each cost 3 Wrought Iron to make but a set amount of gold to purchase.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure how this would work for supports or junglers, who don't buy Doran's items in the first place. Plus, there's generally only one role for each starter item - Ring on mages, Blade on marksmen (and the occasional fighter), and Shield on tanks. That leaves supports, fighters, and assassins without an item, especially if they're played in the role of support or jungle. Plus, even with the system designed to make sure Doran has to craft all of the items by the time he reaches level 18, someone could still get stuck waiting until level 15 to have him unlock even their first Doran's upgrade, and up to 4 members of his team might not even build Doran's at all (fighter top, mana-less mid, support, jungler).