Plarium needs to realise something.
They are always droning on about how Legendary champs should be ''Hard'' to obtain, due to the legendary status. They are not ''Hard'' to obtain though, they are massively paywalled and there is a distinctive difference between the descriptive terms.
Due to this players quit left and right after opening a sacred shard that they spent over a month to grind for just to get a Woadpainter, or a Deathless. And why wouldn't they? The 'Value' of sacred shards is set FAR too high. Plarium values them at £25-£35, I wouldn't value them higher than £10 at the heaviest push personally.
90% of players spend a month at a time to get 1 sacred shard only to be disappointed and that feeling is something else when you're a low spender, yet still a contributor.
Legendary heroes are NOT rare. They are BOUGHT. If they were 'Rare' we would all be able to grind our way towards getting them, but instead we rely on the luck of the draw. But that's what entices people - The Luck, the RNG, the 'What If'. It's virtual gambling thus it is addictive and an extremely popular strategy for cash cowing.
I do think however, Plarium are coming around.. Mods seem to be more active on forums giving more detailed responses and being somewhat more Open to the player base. There's a long way to go of course, but I think things are starting to change. Perhaps in due course, among other things, this Shard system will be redesigned to be more enticing, rewarding and effective for players to stick out the long haul and not just spill their guts on pack offers only to quit after the 'bet regret' kicks in. I mean come on, Look at the video shared earlier in this thread not much else needs saying... It is a HEAVILY flawed system