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Teamfight Tactics-- /Dev Update: Your Feedback and the Road Ahead

RiotRiot MapleNectar·7/4/2019, 1:07:27 AM·1 votes·181,250 views

Hey Folks!

Teamfight Tactics has been out just under a week now, and we (and our servers at times) have been overwhelmed with the response. You’ve been playing a ton of games and been providing a ton of great feedback! We figured it’s a good time to discuss some of the hottest topics we’ve seen so far, and outline our future plans with the mode.

The rest of Patch 9.13

As we continue into this patch, and our Pre-Ranked Beta, we’ll be making swift adjustments and balance changes every few days as new things are discovered. By the time you read this, we’ll have already made adjustments to Garen, Yasuo, Morellonomicon, Kennen, the drop chances of all units, and more. We’ll be at this pace and as much as needed all the way up to 9.14. Our goal is that when the season starts, Teamfight Tactics will be in the best possible state. We’ll also be on the lookout for any nasty bugs that need immediate attention, so keep pointing them out to us when you see them!

Patch 9.14 - Ranked & New Content

With the official start of our first season (we’re calling it the “Beta Season”), you’ll be able to join the ranked queue and climb the ladder to see just how great of a tactician you really are. Something worth noting is that while you can’t win every game of TFT, if you place in the Top 4 you’ll typically gain LP and move up in rank. So even if you aren’t quite able to find the units or items you were looking for, don’t give up!

We will also be adding our first new champion to Teamfight Tactics in patch 9.14! Twisted Fate, a Pirate Sorcerer will help you dubloon seeking tacticians flesh out your team comps and think about your early game differently.

https://i.imgur.com/sztWqWl.png

Patches Beyond

We plan on adding new content almost every patch. Our first new origin should be coming up quickly, opening up even more build paths and options for you to get crafty with. We want to keep TFT fresh, exciting, and as fun to play as possible every time you log in.

All of this will be leading up to the end of the Season, which is currently slated for around 3 months. At season end, we will be releasing our second set, which should kick off a whole new round of gameplay and excitement with new units and origins to shake up TFT!

So, now that you know some of our longer term plans for TFT, let’s talk about some of the biggest feedback points we’ve heard from you.

Feedback #1: Item RNG feels bad

To be up front about this, we think RNG is good for Teamfight Tactics in the long term. It prevents every game from feeling the same, and makes high moments and stories when you happen to get everything you want. We’ve already seen player stories of that one game where they managed to get 3 Force of Natures! This is a good thing.

https://i.imgur.com/cbvGbOb.png

That being said, we agree that the range of variance right now is a touch too severe. Getting absolutely nothing goes against the spirit of the game, especially when the item system is really fun to interact with. Getting nothing robs you of the ability to engage with a really fun system and make cool strategic choices (and finding some nutty broken combos).

So, we’re making some changes. We’re still ironing out the exact details, but there’ll be more guaranteed drops. We’re also experimenting with dropping other things besides items, such as gold, XP, or even champs. You can expect to see these changes in 9.14. Once they are in, let us know how it feels.

Feedback #2: I wish there was more info in the UI

We agree. We wanted to get the beta in your hands as soon as possible so that everyone could start enjoying TFT. Now that we’ve launched, we’ll be adding a bunch of new UI elements to provide more clarity on how things work. This includes:

https://i.imgur.com/pd312NO.png

Damage Meters, Stat panels for units, Streak Indicators, Item Previews from the inventory, adjustments to current UI placements, and much more. It’s a high priority, so you should expect the first round of UI updates to start rolling out in 9.14 . We’re still listening, so keep giving us feedback on things you feel are missing!

https://i.imgur.com/Qk5HDMk.png

Feedback #3: I should get rewards like XP from playing

We hear you on this one. Certainly the lack of rewards/progress since we’ve launched can be felt, though by the time you read this the Beta Pass will have been released and you should be well on your way to earning some nice new personalization content like board skins and a free Little Legend. We’ll be working on longer term progression plans for TFT. We’re also thinking about how we can best integrate Summoners Rift, ARAM, TT, and TFT into one cohesive experience when they all offer considerably different gameplay.

By the time you’re reading this players that have purchased the Arcade Pass will now also be able to earn Arcade tokens by playing TFT. We’d leaned away from this approach initially, but you made it clear this is something you wanted, so we revisited our thinking and made a few pivots to make it happen.

Feedback #4: Player Damage/Items/Other things don’t feel right

One of the best things about launching Teamfight Tactics as a beta is the opportunity to get feedback from all of you. Please continue to let us know if there are parts of TFT that don’t feel great to you, and we’ll continue to make changes.

That’s it for now. We’re planning on being open as we can with our comms around TFT, so expect many more articles like this as we move forward. We love all the feedback we’ve been getting, and want to make sure you feel heard. Thanks for your support so far, and good luck out there!

The TFT Dev Team

666 Comments

MrSnowman07/4/2019, 1:23:59 AM515 votes

get item 3161 item 3161 Pyke out of my games -_-

boricCentaur17/4/2019, 1:16:17 AM259 votes

I don't think people want more guaranteed drops they want everyone to the same amount of items then problem fixed you still have items be different making the game different every time without it feelings like shit. Like I don't care if I will always get one item if some else still gets a MORE THEN ME especially then items are so strong.

Warix37/4/2019, 1:28:18 AM157 votes

"We’ve already seen player stories of that one game where they managed to get 3 Force of Natures! This is a good thing." No, it's not a good thing. Yeah it's fun or whatever but for competitive play it's totally unfair, there is no strategy involved when you get less items that someone else. There is however if you get worse item than someone and then you need to find a good use for them. All players should get the same amount of items. "we think RNG is good for Teamfight Tactics in the long term" it is good but too much is not good. Getting random items is enough randomness in itself. But getting random amount of items is just unfair and not fun at all. When you can just make 1 item and you see someone who already has 3 items, it's hard to beat them with your strategy alone. It's simply too much randomness. Just make everyone get the same amount of items. That's the first thing I hear people complain about when they try this game. Items should work on the same principle as you get champions. Imagine if the amount of champions was also random. Some people get to choose from 2 champs and some from 5 champs. It's just nonsense. It's neither fair or fun.

nm10107/4/2019, 1:49:51 AM122 votes

RNG items from drops is fine, rng number of item drops is bullshit if it is more than 1-2 difference.

newbeÍ7/4/2019, 1:20:03 AM86 votes

Please add a DPSmeter

Straitéis7/4/2019, 1:21:14 AM71 votes

Please fix this delayed loading issue at the start of games. It prevents us from loading into the game in time to chose our first champion from the first carousel round, meaning I end up skipping the carousel and am only ready to play in the first PvE round with one of the remaining champions from the carousel automatically chosen for me. My game settings are all set to low quality or disabled for the best performace but I still can't load in time.

cocacolalips7/4/2019, 3:18:33 AM63 votes

No comment on the AI?

I'm not playing another game until the AI is fixed. Watching the AI do the most stupid decisions every match makes my blood boil.

I'm talking about units pathing, units standing still not attacking, units specifically assassins attacking tanks instead of the carries standing next to them, units casting and missing their spells 24/7 etc

xDaviG7/4/2019, 1:20:31 AM58 votes

warwick is bugged sometimes after ulting he just doesnt auto attack for 5+ seconds

Night 257/4/2019, 2:56:12 AM57 votes

I think most people agree that giving everyone the same amount of items is the less frustrating way to handle RNG. I would also keep the number of items quite high, so there's more to work with and make decisions around. Another thing I would like to see during the game is damage dealt by each one of your champions, so it's easier to realize which ones do the most damage (it's hard to tell even if you add more stats) and which items/champions synergies are working at the moment

Mixes1237/4/2019, 2:23:56 AM49 votes

Is it possible for the players to have a free cam option. I feel so stuck when my camera is locked on my board only.

Patty Stacks7/4/2019, 4:14:25 AM49 votes

Where is the spectate mode or match history??

II Artaios II7/4/2019, 6:59:19 AM41 votes

how about a table where you have an overview of the opponents and their buffs ?? on TAB maybe ? [sg-janna]

Ty9217/4/2019, 2:20:09 AM41 votes

"To be up front about this, we think RNG is good for Teamfight Tactics in the long term. It prevents every game from feeling the same and makes high moments and stories when you happen to get everything you want. We’ve already seen player stories of that one game where they managed to get 3 Force of Natures! This is a good thing." Riot you play a game where you don't get a single item in the first 4 rounds when 3 others have gotten an item every round and the minimal (make it to where you at least get one item on minion waves would make it fairer). Also, stop making me fight the same person who happens to be at 100 hp still halfway through the match twice in a row.

Salty Slug7/4/2019, 5:05:59 AM40 votes

PLEASE let us mute other players, it is a pain when they spam in all caps, or spam pings, thanks.

The Kled God7/4/2019, 4:27:09 AM34 votes

PLEASE Riot. Add Kled !!! he needs more representation as a character in this game and he would be a perfect 3 cost for imperial!

Sincerely, A kled lover

Calv1n797/5/2019, 2:42:02 AM32 votes

Just wondering, why can't we combine items in our inventory instead of always having to apply it to a champion first.

TurdBurgIar7/4/2019, 1:28:02 AM28 votes

I also would like the delayed loading issue fixed. Having no chance to plan out or pick a champion/item in the first carousel is very frustrating. Leaving me having to react with whichever item and champion I have been given.

ParzyvaI7/4/2019, 5:33:53 AM27 votes

Add a tooltip when the shop gives us a champion we already have to upgrade them

Strafy7/4/2019, 11:46:47 AM27 votes

I feel like in some of my games some of my champions just stand afk. They dont fight or anything.Just stand there,If you culd get that fixed i wuld love it.[slayer-jinx-catface]

Raven Redeemed7/4/2019, 4:23:47 AM21 votes

Will current champs get removed for future seasons? I would imagine so as it will be harder to find champs you want if there are more champs in the pool, but at the same time it’ll be sad to see them go. It’d be neat (imo) if available champs were those in a random and limited amount of origins/types determined each match. That way you’d have the possibly of seeing every champ, but each match could sport a different champ pool with few enough champs to build a comp. Maybe, the random pool only being available in non-ranked.

Other feedback:

  • Little legend rng: this is a big topic of debate and it would be nice if we could get some response. Personally, I’ve always been proud of Riot for not forcing people to use lootboxes/rng to get what they want. Even when the loot system came out, skins remained affordable and attainable without loot (minus the prestige skins). But now, with TFT, only 6 “skins” can be attained without rng and even then they are extremely overpriced compared to the quality of normal League skins.

  • Damage immunity: PD and Dragon buff are way too good in the right circumstances imo. Last game I played I managed last long enough to get the full sorcerer buff with karth and lost because my team could blow up everyone except the dragons who took literally no damage.

  • Item management: I’d like to be able to combine or at least hover combines without equipping items. Also it’d be nice we could unequip an item or something similar. Sometimes I get a rare champ with a spatula on the carousel and it feels bad if I have to waste an item (to combine) and lose the spatula for later use just to equip other items on that champ.

  • Pathing and melee comps: obviously there are some pathing issues, pls fix. Also, melee comps start to feel really bad as the game progresses. For example, a pure assassin comps just fails late game because there is not enough spaces for them to attack and so some champs will just sit and watch until one of your own units dies. It’d be nice if the board were bigger and/or melees could attack if all spaces are occupied (maybe they could share a space if that is the case). Also, tanky comps can be bad because they can exceed the round time limit. Also, Bitz gets countered pretty hard by assassins. If a assassin is the furthest unit he doesn’t bother pulling until the assassin lands and then he just pulls someone else anyways, probably after your team has agro’d on the enemy frontline.

  • Small thing: it’d be nice if the little legends are not forced to look in a different direction when they lose the round. It’s kind of awkward when my bird decides to turn away and stare into the abyss after getting hit with a loss.

allARAMallday07/4/2019, 3:47:22 PM20 votes

The cakewalk is completely dumb.

-Draft order is undermined by yet another random element of where you are on the circle relative to your champ. -If my first choice is taken in front of me at the opening draft, I routinely run out of time to make it to my second champ, and end up with a random -people just stand around the circle of champs and bump you into champs you don't want/box out for others to take the ones you do. I don't know who thought "pathing of your little legend should matter to gameplay" but they... they were wrong.

Yordle Xayah7/4/2019, 1:39:36 AM19 votes

To be up front about this, we think RNG is good for Teamfight Tactics in the long term.

Well, I'm not a fan of casinos or gambling. Sad to see this is the way going forward. I don't like games where half of your chances of winning depend on rolling the right thing at the right time. The difference is like playing Yu-Gi-Oh! like they do it on the show, and playing the game properly with a deck that is meant to work with a strategy. Every single TFT game I've played, sooner or later I feel like the game doesn't care about supporting a strategy and instead throws random stuff at you and good luck with that. I really hate that form of game flow. I may play it for the free loot but no more. Someone seriously needs to explain to me what's so fun/addicting about this game cause I just don't get it.

NordBjorn7/5/2019, 4:48:28 AM19 votes

Don't forget about champs going AFK! Champs seems to just stand still out of nowhere for no reason at all. No stun, no freeze, they just stop attacking and let themselves get beaten on for no reason.

AlecSoysauce7/4/2019, 3:04:46 AM14 votes

pyke spear of shojin is so broken honestly!!!!!!!!

CoupDetate7/4/2019, 2:11:36 AM13 votes

Im actually more irritated at the champions i get to pick from. I can't begin to tell you how many times i've selected a champ from the carousel, even one of the common ones, and then never see them in the champ buy list from that point on. I played one game today where i plucked a darius from the champ buy, intending to build him up and go for the Imperial buff, but throughout the rest of the game i NEVER saw another darius appear, even with rerolls. Meanwhile, everyone and their mother has 4 3 stars, and 3 2 stars. It's absurd how rapidly unbalanced the game gets.

Also, you should allow some sort of FF for players. I'm genuinely sick and tired of having to play round after round when a very clear winner has already been decided thanks to the 3 full items and two 3 star champs one player winds up with before the 2nd carousal.

MäthMäster7/4/2019, 2:10:44 AM12 votes

I would really like to see on what round other players and I are defeated on just to see how well everyone did. You could last 25 rounds, still get 8th place and you wouldn't know you did a good job. Also, is this going to be put in match history eventually?

ShadowStar917/4/2019, 2:53:11 AM12 votes

i've been playing this game mode almost non-stop since it's release and i've only won 4 times; and to be honest, only one of those times felt like what i did actually mattered. the other 3? i got lucky and pulled 4 items before the first PVP round and got matched against the people that got 0.

some item RNG is fine, but it needs to be far more balanced than it is. every PVE round should drop 1-2 items in those first round against the minions. krugs and on should drop 1 item guaranteed and more if you get lucky. what items get pulled can still be RNG as is.

when you can't even play the game because you got nothing and your opponents got 7 items then how am i supposed to enjoy it? RNG will be important to TFT but there is such a thing as too much. you don't need to make it so that everyone gets all the op items all the time, but everyone should be getting SOMETHING at least

AdzStitch7/4/2019, 1:43:09 AM10 votes

Love how actively you guys are keeping an eye on things, really liking the game so far! Agreed that item drops have been my major pain point with the game - I don't mind the RNG of what drops, but how often they drop is a killer at times. Thought about a system like this?: Each round vs monsters (Up to Wolves, say?) you are guaranteed an item component drop. If you win, you can select one of three (?) randomly offered, if you lose you're aren't given a choice, you're just given an item. Leads up to the change I've seen where the bigger mobs given a full item when killed, keeps the RNG element, plus keeps people on par item drop wise?

Bdog1007/7/2019, 1:52:13 AM8 votes

How about a table where you can see the remaining units in the pool so no one ends up blowing 100 gold looking for a unit that is taken by everyone I know you can check by looking at other players but you would have to remember the number of each tier of unit and check if that unit is owned by 7 other people I feel like having a table would just make it alot easier and it could also add counterplay if you see someone with 2 Aurelions you can grab the last one to make sure they dont get tier 2 and blow your whole team to smithereens

Dimpl7/4/2019, 6:33:18 PM8 votes

Please remove attack move click from TFT! Many adc players have it bound to left click and it would be so much easier to play if we didn't have to hold shift.

Also, as others have noted, item randomness should be limited to type of item, not number of drops. 1 item per completed creep wave seems good.

Bisexual Rights 7/4/2019, 5:09:48 AM8 votes

I am excited for TFT's future but please also integrate a match history so we can see our previous builds and win records :)

swallama7/4/2019, 3:51:27 AM7 votes

Would also be nice to be able to hover over the champions during the draft rounds and see basic info about them

UberChayChay7/4/2019, 3:46:27 AM7 votes

I think one of the key features that needs to be added is Total Gold at the end of game screen. I've played a lot of Dota Auto Chess, so I have a feel for how this kinda set up works, and know that it's generally the players with the highest gold that come out on top, but people who've played TFT exclusively don't have that information and can't get it so visually right now here.