Xypherous calls wards 'sight sticks' and says something about them 'feels off' - and he's 100% right
Last preseason, Xypherous made this post about vision in the 2016 season. It's an interesting read, and full of little insightful tidbits of how Xypherous thinks, the Riot design process, and the nature of the vision game. I'd encourage everyone to read over it again, seeing as something is being done in regards to the vision game and invisibility (stealth).
But Xypherous is absolutely right when he calls wards 'sight sticks' and 'unmanned watchtowers - do nothing but win'. He goes on to say:
However, something about wards just feels off to me. It's scouting without the act of scouting. It's building placement without the satisfaction of building placement or owning something cool. It's territory control without the recognition of owning territory or the permanence of either owning or building. It's traps without an actual impact.
Honestly, It could even just be something as simple as the visual analogy for them - like, sticks with eyes might simply be the wrong visual presentation. Even a flag might be better. If this was a high-tech universe, it'd be invisible security cameras or remote drones.
It's a really really weird thing in general for me. It is so close to a number of analogous actions in games that are both simple, functional and pretty engaging - but the whole stick with an eyeball on it just seems really far from any of that.
The italics are mine. I think Xypherous touches on something incredibly important here when he mentions the 'visual analogy' of wards. Communicating function via the in-game model and particle effects, art and sound, etc. (i.e. the form) is super important for any game. It's not just the visual analogy though - the name is just as important.
Names are, by their very nature, a kind of symbol by which we know something. A name is not the thing itself, only a metaphor by which we perceive the thing. Names are incredibly important for video games, as there are a finite number of meaningful words and word-pair combinations, and that failure to recognize and plan around this will result in a bland and / or bloated game. Games are constrained by their setting and theme, limiting the number of feasible words even more. You wouldn't expect to find a gun called 'Neptune's Trident' in CoD would you? Likewise, nobody expects to find a legendary weapon in Bloodborne called 'Chipotle Cannon' (or maybe they do, IDK). The combination of setting, theme, art-style, and language in a game all work in tandem in the player's mind to create certain expectations - a certain flavor.
Mark Rosewater, the lead designer of Magic: the Gathering, wrote an amazing article where he talked about the need for flavor in any game. He says:
I think I should begin by talking about the role of flavor and function in game design. When you sit down to create a game, those two are the forces you have to think about. Function is how the game plays. It focuses on making sure that there is a definable win condition, that the game has intriguing interaction between the players, and that there are basics like a catch-up feature. Function is concerned with the game playing as cleanly as possible.
Flavor, on the other hand, gives the game a metaphor. The importance of flavor is two-fold. First, having a good metaphor eases game play. If players can apply outside knowledge to implicitly understand game rules, the game’s complexity goes down. (It is my belief that good game designers strive to reduce complexity.)
The second thing flavor does is make the game “sexy.” In game design terms, sexy means that the game attracts players to it. By just looking at the box and the elements of the game, players want to play it. This could be because the subject matter is of interest to them (“Oh, a Simpsons trivia game.”) or because the graphics just look cool (“That monster looks awesome.”).
Again, the italics are mine, but MaRo goes on to say: "The best game mechanics, in fact, have both flavor and function."
It is not just the visual analogy for wards that could use work, but that wards lack good metaphors - they lack good names. Wards are, currently, essentially flavorless.
To see what I mean, we need look no further than League's item shop.
-
: We do a disservice to this item by calling it 'red trinket', as the name Sweeping Lens communicates a certain kind of function, which is backed up by the actual FX and particles that appear when it is used. The two reinforce one another. When you see it in action, it does what you would expect, given its name. (Or at the very least, it's effect isn't so bizarre as to cause a disconnect in the player.) Even the art and color help strengthen the connection between all these things, creating a very flavorful item. -
: I love this item, because despite only being an 'advanced' item, it feels truly unique and even legendary. It's also super flavorful - it's stats, artwork, name, and special ability all create a cohesive identity for it. -
: I love this item too, but some of you may remember that it didn't always have CDR. An hour-glass that didn't grant CDR, IKR? Even so, it's active is a brilliant little design, and, just like the other two examples, is relatively flavorful. -
: A beautifully designed - if under appreciated - item. The artwork, name, stats, and special ability all work together in harmony, giving players the feeling of acquiring a truly powerful item. -
: I saved this one for last to illustrate my point. The Vision Ward is a ward, but then, I.E. is an AD / Crit item but notice the difference in the naming conventions: Infinity Edge vs Vision Ward. The one has a name that screams 'this is a sword of incredible power!' On the other hand, we have a name (Vision Ward) for a ward... that grants vision. At least the vision is True Sight though, that makes it feel a little bit special right?
One more example. Does anyone remember the 'Mandrake Ward' that was on the PBE for a while over a year ago? It was a cheap ward (less that 75g) that didn't grant sight and pinged if an enemy came into its range. Unfortunately, it didn't catch on and was hard to use effectively (which may be because they made it only placeable in brush...) Riot was using Maokai's Sapling as a placeholder model, and combined with the name reminds me of these.
Personally, I think the visual analogy of wards should be that they are semi-autonomous constructs, little hextech / magical devices, not creatures or shrines or 'sight sticks'. For example, the 'Mandrake Ward' could be called the 'Snitch', and the 'Vision Ward' could be called the 'Beholder'. That's just my opinion though, but I do want to stress the importance of names in games, and especially in League, when it comes to making wards exciting and fun and giving them their own personality and identity.
http://media.wizards.com/2014/images/dnd/newtodnd/beholder_1.png
This is part of a series of posts I'm making about the vision game partly for my own amusement, partly because I see no one else talking or even speculating about these things, and partly because I hope it'll be useful to Riot and the community when it comes to thinking about the game. Next time I think I'm going to be talking about vision in Paragon, and maybe Overwatch, Gigantic, and DOTA2.
Until then, GL;HF
's Sentinels. Notice how it's the only vision ability in the game (iirc) that has a different vision paradigm (it's a cone instead of a circle AoE). I think the future of the vision game definitely lies with more champion abilities that grant sight. Have you ever considered how Shaco's boxes grant vision, but he isn't a support, but Bard's shrines don't grant vision, but he is a support?
"magic shield" and 
"revive vest."
, but I wish it could have more charges. Likewise, I'd like to see Yellow Trinkets be something other than a 'mini-SS for the masses' that, as Xypherous says, creates 'unmanned watchtowers - do nothing but win'.
's Ghosts, but I'm not sure how much design space is left. Kalista also kinda touches on this with her Sentinels. I'm all for more ward-skins though.
Hextech tower (small construct with camouflage effect)
They all pretty much do the same thing: Grant vision, the only real difference is how long and how good. Especially now that Riot is doing these large sweeping class and item updates, these vision items are being left behind.
). Like a land mine or explosive runes. Like traps it wouldn't grant vision until someone steps on it, and the vision stays on the target for a short period of time. Traps are limited like wards of course (max 3 at a time from items). I would also allow a Hextech device that is basically a helmet with a camera on it, so you can place it on a minion or scuttle crab or something so you will be given the same vision as the creature has. You lose the helmet when the creature is slain. Finally, a "tree" ward. it starts as a small tree, and it grants vision, but the longer it's left alone, the bigger it grows and the more buffs it gives to allied minions/pets. This tree is visible like the pink. This tree also gives you that feeling like you claimed land too.
, you just do more damage. You don't need to think about it, you just do it. Play a tank and get yourself 
, You're just tanker. You don't need to do anything else. Vision is important but you still have to work to make them worth while... I can't think of a better analogy for support then the ward. Powerful that can win games, but you can't do it alone and requires work from the rest of the team.
