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Could anyone clarify why this post didn't meet the Gameplay+ Guidelines?

Koechophe·8/28/2018, 6:19:12 AM·1 votes·2,284 views

This isn't a rage thread, I'm genuinely curious. The four guidelines are (paraphrasing here)

  1. Clear, Specific titles
  2. Thoughtful analysis or meaningful starting point to a discussion
  3. Direction of conversation that isn't shared by other posts
  4. Encourage active discussion

As a point of discussion, I'd like to understand why this post doesn't meet these guidelines (and I would also suggest that in the rejection email, a sentence or two as to why the post isn't viable would be nice, so that we can learn how to improve).

My post (https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/f/ELUpwER8/d/i2ZV6OLp), which only a mod will be able to read, was the following:

Title "The inspiration keystones need work".

Text: Preface: Inspiration keystones were created by riot for "rule-bending and creative usage", but at this point in time, the runes are failing in those goals and pose several balance and usability issues. In this thread I'll present some of the problems that face all of the runes, then go over each rune individually, and finally pose some solutions.

Problems with the runes (in general): The concept behind inspiration runes is awesome. You make an additional layer of strategy by creating runes that, instead of just adding raw power, add meaningful differences in playstyle and open up new options. This sounds like a delightful addition to the game in theory. In practice, what ends up happening is that because the runes are so dissimilar from all the other ones, they either end up being must-use, or barely-ever used. The classic example is unsealed spellbook, which, while in the hayday, was used on every single champ indiscriminantly in pro play, due to the ability to abuse the power-farming. Now it's rarely ever used in any tier of play. Glacial augment likewise sees extremely limited use, and Kleptomancy is only used in a few abuse cases.

Problems with the specific runes: Unsealed Spellbook: This is, in my opinion, the closest and most balanced of the three runes. You can make a case for the fact that Unsealed Spellbook is viable and should be used in more instances. However, the binding conditions are just too strict for it to really be effective. -The rune is so powerful that the restrictions placed on it must be extremely harsh in order for it to remained balanced, which makes it extremely niche -Doesn't live up to the fantasy of being able to swap out spells dynamically due to the restrictions -Being required to use such a large variety of spells because of the lockout feels unsatisfying and frustrating -Overcomplicated in usage and optimization

Glacial Augment: This is arguably the least used rune in the entire game. The base fantasy is good: Adding a slow to any champion's kit. But too much power is shunted onto the active item effect portion, which feels redundant and requires you to purchase active items to make the most of the rune -Not impactful enough to warrant taking over other options -Champions who are lacking in slows often don't use auto attacks frequently enough to capitolize -Active item augment feels redundant and takes up too much of the power budget

Kleptomancy: This rune is a balance mess. It was extremely OP on a few abuse cases when released, and has since been nerfed so extensively that it's literally become the "Ezreal and sometimes GP rune". The fantasy behind being able to get additional gold from a keystone is solid, and would be lovely on several support champions, but abuse cases shunt it out of viability for everyone else. -Requires too much "klepto grinding" which isn't particularly fun -Has clear, obvious abuse cases that ruin the rune for everyone else -Is split between items and gold gen, making it difficult to find an ideal circumstance. -Requires too much conscious effort to play around

Changes: Assuming we want to keep the same runes (or at least the same fantasies behind them) I propose the following changes (please focus on concepts rather than the actual numbers, I have been repeatedly told I am bad at projecting numerical values).

Unsealed Spellbook Goals: -Reduce complication -Allow for more frequent use of the same summoner spell -Trim back the power of having "more summoner spell uses" than your opponent.

New Rune: "While a summoner spell is off of cooldown, you may exchange it for a different one. Using that summoner spell will return the slot to your original spell, placed on half of the cooldown of the spell you just used. This spell cannot be swapped to for the next 4 minutes."

Glacial Augment: Goals: -Remove the requirement to buy items in order to best utilize the rune -Better fulfill the fantasy of keeping people slowed -Make the rune more appealing to high-utility champion -Give the rune better late game viability

New Rune: "Start the game with a Glacial Shard which can be attatched to any ability, causing that ability to slow enemies by 1s for 50% (35% for ranged). If the ability already slows, instead increases the slow duration by a flat 1s. This effect has a static 7s cooldown. Gain an additional Glacial shard at levels 8 and 13. These may be used to augment other abilities, or increase the slow duration by 1s and reduce the cooldown by 1s of augmented abilities.

If Glacial Shards are used on an ultimate ability, they will instead shoot a line of frost from each enemy damaged for 5s, slowing enemies in the path for 50% (+12% per shard added). This effect has a static 30s cooldown. (Note: There would need to be an effect which allows you to know when the ability will slow, I.E. the border around the ability in the UI turns blue.)

Kleptomancy: Goals: -Make the ability more universal by removing abuse cases -Specify the ability niche to be an emphasis on increasing gold generation -Make the ability less spam focused and more easily optimized

New Rune: "Dealing damage to an enemy champion cuts their purse strings. After 1 second, their purse drops. Retreiving it grants 50 gold (30-20s cooldown). (Note: This does not steal the money from the opponent. Depending on the direction of the rune, you could also allow allies to pick up the gold, opening it to be a supportive rune.)

Conclusion: There is a lot of potential in the inspiration runes. With a few targetted changes to improve health and consistency, these runes could really shine and allow us to focus on other things than damage in our rune selection.

6 Comments

ModKnightsKemplar8/28/2018, 1:56:58 PM3 votes

Hey Koechophe,

I was the one that deleted the post, so I'll share my thinking here.

First, keep in mind that we're being quite selective with the posts. I told the mods in a meeting that we have enough submissions to only accept the threads and really deliver on our vision for G+. It isn't about being "good enough," it's about meeting the goals we have for G+. Having a post not accepted to G+ shouldn't feel bad; if there's something we need to change about our messaging there, we'd love to hear about that. I don't want this to become a sub-board where every post gets detailed mod attention about what, exactly, it needs to do to be accepted the next time it's submitted. We simply don't have the resources (moderator time) to do that.

Second, G+ is intended to be for in-depth, analytical discussions. One of the qualities I am noticing over and over in rejected posts is that they are quite broad. Your post attempts to fix three separate keystone runes in the same post, and the result, I feel, is that none of them gets deep analysis. There is some analysis, definitely, but most of the approved posts have a level of analysis that goes further. Laser-focusing on a single concept is a trend I'm noticing for good posts. It's not listed as a requirement because we don't want it to be a hard requirement; if a post is broad and tackles all the issues in a deep way, that can be good, but it's more difficult to do. That doesn't mean the post is bad, but it's not what we're looking for in G+.

I was actually thinking about making a similar post yesterday titled "Why secondary Runes should not give damage," and the first thing I identified about my own post, even though I was really excited about it (I'll probably finish it tonight) is that it wouldn't belong in G+. It's too broad, and I actually don't love diving into that much analysis for my own posts; it'll be more of a design suggestion post than a deep analysis post, which means regular G, not G+.

So, if you really want a G+-type post, here's what I would recommend you do.

Decide which of these runes you care most about. Tell us who should want this rune, and why they aren't currently using it. Use data from runes.lol to support the usage claims (using the edit tab there gives you data about use and win rates for every rune on every champ; very handy, if not 100% accurate). For instance, I can see that my main, Swain, uses Phase Rush 68% of the time, with a 51% win rate. He never takes Glacial Augment, despite being the sort of champion that likes to stick to an enemy. I would recommend analyzing several champs against one rune, since the rune is the point of your post, and the champions can be seen as cases that support your claim.

Then, propose changes that might make a rune more attractive to some of the champs or classes of champs you mentioned. Show us why this would work. Again, pick out specific cases and explain why this or that champ would want this rune with your proposed changes, and how that would be good and healthy for the game.

Finally, consider some problems that your changes might cause, or might be accused of causing. Explain why you aren't worried about those, or why you think it's a good trade-off for the diversity. A balanced analysis, imo, often acknowledges problems with the design and deals with them up-front.

I think if you do a good job with that approach, that's more the type of post we're looking for in G+. Merely suggesting some changes for three runes doesn't quite have the depth that we're looking for, if that makes sense. Hope this was helpful, and feel free to reply and we can discuss some more!