No More "UNIQUE OUTPUTS" Riot

Magic Light123··4 votes·728 views

With the recent Juggernaut reworks, Riot has talked a lot about "unique outputs." That is supposedly why they gave Skarner the ability to spawn rocks and Morde the ability to create a dragon ghost. Considering the backlash to these additions I believe more thought should be put into "unique inputs" which make each champ feel unique and fun/interesting to play and not to "unique outputs" which add clutter to the game without making it funner. Two points:

  1. Unique ≠ GOOD. There are so many ways to make unique aspects that would be bad design ie "this champ cannot die", "this champ kills the champ that did the killing blow on it", "this champ cannot move but has infinite range". All of the are UNIQUE but I think few players would enjoy them. The fact is no mater how "unique" the outputs of a champ are the point of every output in LoL is to win by klling champs, farming, and getting objectives. If a champ doesn't do this then it is not "fun" to play.

  2. "Unique outputs" add unneeded complexity to the game. (Complex does not necessarily mean GOOD) Take Morde's new ult on dragon - it is not immediately apparent how this helps you win the game. When you use it on a champ there is this click that makes it immediately apparent SHIT THIS A CURSE OF DEATH!!!! When its used on dragon a little more complexity is added that doesn't create much more enjoyment imo. Likewise with Skarner's rocks. The more complex outputs are the harder it is to play the game. I know how to play against LB cuz she telegraphs her abilities (assassin mage - AVOID when low) - playing against Morde is more confusing since it takes a step to go from Morde's ult to the conclusion "dragon is more important in this game"

TL;DR

"Unique outputs" add complexity without making LoL funner and so they are bad design. The enjoyment I get from this game comes more from the "unique inputs" side - that is where Riot should put its attention.

P.S. I think Kindred is a better direction for champion design -- they don't do anything too complex but feel unique because of their art and role (jungle). "ADC jungler" is easier to understand then Morde and Skarner's new additions.

2 Comments

I Eat Thyroids1 votes

On the opposite end, I disagree with pretty much all of this. I think "unique outputs" make things significantly more enjoyable, and unique can equal good if it means offering more interesting decisions to make. Otherwise, every character in the game would just essentially be copy of each other, which is great in checkers but not really in league. Uniqueness, aka differences between champions, are the only thing that keeps League from becoming dull and is literally the fuel of the strategic decision making in this game. I can agree that complexity doesn't necessarily always add to the game, but just like uniqueness it can as long as there's not too much of it or the complexity isn't stupid. Of course in a way both of our opinions are just tastes for things, but I would guess that the opinion "unique mechanics are bad" is probably a minority opinion.

Cowgirl Ed1 votes

agree with OP, +1

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