User blog comment:N1ghtSt0rm 22/Just Some Questions An Experienced Noob Has.../@comment-8050014-20140811170536

As a fellow experienced noob, I will try to answer your questions.

First off, in certain gamemodes you can actually see the champions you are playing against, so you can choose accordingly. As for the actual counters, its just comes down to gameplay (e.g. Braum counters Caitlyn because she's entirely projectile-based and he can block projectiles, Vel'Koz counters Veigar because the former has a very strong early game and the latter's is very weak.

The 'meta' is not official, its just one of the most efficient ways to set up champions in lanes. Breaking the meta DOES work in some situations (e.g. Heimerdinger jungle, AD Lulu top, etc.). Granted, the meta is not perfect, we have yet to find a better one.

Flaming happens in pretty much all online team games, simply because a player feels the need to vent anger over the game not going well or individual mistakes made by teammates. They just take the game very seriously and get upset when things go wrong.

Ranked division is the main way to show off your skill at LoL to your peers, so some people care a lot about how they look and also like the attraction of having a shiny border around their character in the loading screen!

I don't think people get butthurt over new features; the part they don't like is changing the game in a noticeable way, beacuse they feel that it takes away the things they like about LoL.