Skill Floor Vs. Skill Cap

This is a topic that I see across a lot of games.  I took a pretty comprehensive look at it originally in regards to World of Warcraft.  These terms aren't officially sanctioned in either WoW or LoL as far as I am aware, but their meaning is important whether it be in the form of these words or others that are close.

First we have what I like to call the Skill Floor.  The Skill Floor is the level of ability that you need to play, in LoL's case, a champion at a reasonable level.  This means that were you to play with an average group of the populace, you would have at least average if not above average results in general.

Second we have what I call the Skill Cap, or to some the Skill Ceiling.  This is in regards to the amount of player skill one needs to essentially master a champion.  Obviously complete mastery is impossible because of the human factor, but the Skill Cap refers to the challenge it takes to play a champion at the highest level of competition.  In LoL that would be Diamond - Challenger levels and the professional scene as well.

A champion with a low Skill Floor is easy to pick up.  Soraka and Sona are good examples of this.  They have pretty simple mechanics, you press a bunch of buttons.  Sona has her stun but it's pretty huge and hard to miss at a basic level.  Soraka has to choose between giving mana or using her silence but both options aren't challenging.

However, as we've all seen at LCS, being a good Sona isn't simple.  Sona at competitive play levels is always in danger because of how squishy she is.  The other team understands she has her massive AoE stun and landing a good one against them can be challenging (just ask Rhux and Elementz).  So while Sona's Skill Floor is quite low, her Skill Cap isn't necessarily low as well.

Why are these terms important?

They're important because communication is important.  When we are all talking about this game we love, when the people who balance the game are discussing changes, we should make sure that we all understand each other.  Proper change is so much more challenging when we can't communicate effectively.  Also, I enjoy explaining these things in clear terms.