Why aren't invulnerabilities frustrating?

DerMangoJoghurt·10/23/2018, 2:29:49 PM·1 votes·1,260 views

League has conditioned us to expect rewards if we do something. It's a simple way to reward players for doing the right thing and keep them engaged. The most notable rewards are gold and damage.

Every time we kill or destroy something we gain gold. Even zombie wards or the Nexus give gold to feed that action->reward principle. Similarly, if we hit an ability, we expect to deal damage.

When something violates that principle we can feel cheated or frustrated. Best example being Teemo's blind and Yasuo's wind wall. If we compare those abilities to similar abilities, we can see that the less-frustrating alternatives stay true to the principle. Near-sight, while most of the time being even stronger than a blind, doesn't feel as bad. None of your attacks get negated, it's just a lot more difficult to get them out in the first place. Braum's Unbreakable, while effectively being a moving wind wall, just intercepts projectiles but causes Braum to get hit instead. Only the damage of the first hit get's negated, which is barely noticeable in most fights.

Even if we hit shields we get the satisfaction of seeing the damage to the shield. This is part of the reason why damage reductions are popular defensive tools to give champions, instead of negating damage.

And yet, we don't see a lot of complaints about invulnerabilities, even though they clearly violate the action->reward principle. Fiora Kayle Kindred Taric Tryndamere XinZhao are all able to completely negate damage, while Aatrox Bard Ekko Zilean item 3026 item 3157 can do something similar.

And frankly, I don't know why.

I have three theories, but feel free to add your own.

  1. They are almost exclusively ultimate abilities. Ultimate abilities are expected to do something impactful, hence the "ultimate". Maybe this expectation negates allows those abilities to break the principle without causing frustration.

  2. The concept of invulnerability is common knowledge. A lot of games have some sort invulnerability status or power-up in them. The expectation what invulnerability does has been established in our brains long before League started using it. Maybe that expectation weighs more heavily than the action->reward expectation.

  3. I'm simply unaware of how players react to invulnerabilities. Not really an interesting theory, but it's possible that most players find those abilities frustrating and I just don't know it.


Please let me know. Do you think invulnerabilities are frustrating? Why or why not? Do you think Teemo's Q and Yasuo's W would be less frustrating if they were converted to invulnerabilities? (Just the abilities in isolation, outside of the context of their respective kits) Do you think abilities like Teemo's Q and Yasuo's W would less frustrating if they were ultimate abilities? (Again, just the abilities in isolation)

2 Comments

JeaneGreene10/23/2018, 3:24:55 PM1 votes

The reason why Blinding Dart and Wind Wall are so annoying is because they shut down a person for a specific time. It feels as if there isn’t counterplay against these abilities because they counter marksmen so hard. The other invulnerability effects have much clearer counterplay (Minus Kayle, who is also seen as infuriating for assassins, mages and marksmen alike.) Fiora: Lasts an extremely short window, and unless the player is good, won’t block anything too dangerous. Tryndamere: Lasts a relatively short time as well, so if you can stun and burst a tryndamere, it is considered moot. Kindred: Everyone is given the invulnerability (as well as the 100% healing reduction) so it feels fair. Taric: Large two second window where your team can disengage/burst the carry before the invulnerability kicks in. Xin Zhao: Enter his bubble. Aatrox: Is tied to his ult and requires him to live long enough to get a decent heal. He is slowed and can be followed as he respawns. Bard: Same as Kindred. Ekko: Easy to recognize when an Ekko wants to hit you with an ult/play aggressive and use it. You can also prepare a CC surprise at his return location if he doesn’t plan correctly. Zilean: Debatable, as the revive can be annoying, but in lower levels of play the reviving carry will most likely be bursted before they can react. GA: Kinda snowbally on assassins, but otherwise is a victory lap for the killer. Zhonyas: Leaves the target a sitting duck.

Beatrice falls10/23/2018, 4:24:13 PM1 votes

Because you can play around the other ones

For Teemo if you're an AA-based champion, you're out of the fight for the entire duration For Yasuo if you're anything that uses projectiles, you're out of the fight until it expires (and don't tell me you can get around it, at later ranks you have to put yourself at risk in order to hit him)

As stated above, the other ones have some kind of counterplay or some kind of "weakness" tied to it