Could LoL ever have a 3-team game mode?

Milodic Mellodi·Apr 24, 2017·20 votes·1,702 views

Imagine the possibilities. 3 teams of 3, fighting on a map catered to the game mode. 2 allies and 6 opponents, but with 3 of those opponents also opponents to the other 3. It'd be along the same levels of craziness as URF, without destroying the game's mechanics! Hell, Dominion's map shape would be perfect for a 3-team brawl, and Dominion's gameplay style adds up well with the competitiveness of a 3-team match. In a map where taking objectives and kills is everything, having an additional team pit against both you AND your opponent would make for an awesome match. Team up to take down powerful opponents, only to turn on them to further your own kill count. Not only that, but being able to go against 6 opponents would allow you to get a Hexakill, so the introduction of such a mode would allow for the Hexakill game mode to spread its horizons. Hopefully Riot takes it up one day.

29 Comments

AlienPrimateApr 24, 20174 votes

I have actually tried to create a map for this myself. It is pretty difficult to keep everything balanced between the 3 teams but maybe I'll try again now that you brought it to my mind once again.

BorkahnApr 24, 20172 votes

You could take a look at the Hall of Heroes game mode from Guild Wars. They actually had a 3 team mode.

AlienPrimateApr 24, 20174 votes

Brown is walkable path, blue is structures, yellow is neutral camps, and the center circle is some objective that gives your team super minions for a short time. Each lane spawns the same amount of minions but the middle lane waves split into 2 at the center and head for each enemy team's base.

After destroying an enemy base, each remaining team can claim that base by getting a set amount of minions to the nexus much like how the super laser spawns in nexus siege. A claimed base will send waves down the middle lane and towards the remaining enemy base each time any amount of minions from the wave leading up to the captured base has minions reach that nexus.

After capturing an enemy base, the middle lane minions no longer split. They just head straight for the remaining enemy's base.

I would also probably implement some kind of portal in the jungle on each team that goes from one side of their jungle to the other to combat sieges from both ends.

http://i.imgur.com/fIO0ZlP.jpg

AtanchanApr 25, 20171 votes

Oh dear lord, don't have a midlane. Playing any MOBA with more than two teams shows exactly why you don't have a midlane, and that's because it gives so much friggin' gold and experience because you can get two or more lanes worth of minions there. And if you just make the midlane minions less worthwhile, then anyone who doesn't exploit that just falls behind, creating the exact opposite problem.

AlienPrimateApr 25, 20171 votes

You obviously didn't read what I wrote. Middle lane minions spawn the same way but the waves split up when they reach the end of your team's middle lane. You can't be in 2 places at once meaning you can't take more cs and exp than the other lanes. Even if both of the enemies push to your tower they still will only have half of their minions at your tower. Half of 2 minion waves is the same as a whole minion wave. Not to mention that you have 2 people competing for that exp and gold. You also forget that there is a jungle with 3 lanes and only a 3 man team. Middle lane would most likely be occupied in the 1v1v1 middle lane fiasco while the side lanes have more time to farm the jungle.

I actually thought of that exact issue when designing this map which is why I made it split before reaching the middle so you never have the full wave from each team in the same spot. To fill the void left in the middle and keep things fair for each team, I made the one and only neutral objective be in the center. Baron, dragon, and vile maw are all centered between 2 teams but if you have 3 objectives between 2 teams, the furthest one away could be the one your team needs. One right in the middle makes things fair for all 3 teams.

AtanchanApr 25, 20171 votes

{quoted}

You obviously didn't read what I wrote. Middle lane minions spawn the same way but the waves split up when they reach the end of your team's middle lane.

See, you think that solves anything, but the thing is it really doesn't:

https://youtu.be/2pSL0rogLwM

AlienPrimateApr 25, 20171 votes

It seems to me that you can teleport whenever you spawn in Dota so death isn't really a penalty early game which is the only reason this works for him. If you die twice in the first 3 minutes of the game in LoL you can no longer leave your tower for the rest of laning phase in most cases. Taking 1.5 lanes puts yourself at huge risk so it is ultimately up to the enemies to exploit that risk. If they don't then they deserve to be behind.

AtanchanApr 25, 20171 votes

... Yeah, I have doubts in your game dev ability if that's what you took from that.

Teridax68Apr 24, 20173 votes

3-team gameplay is a popular fantasy across many games, but the trick is to avoid having two of the three teams gang up against the third and crush them, which would consistently generate frustration. One potential option could be to discourage alliances entirely, but another could be to reward teams for allying with whichever other team is losing the most, switching as leadership changes. The problem then would be to avoid stalling, but it could potentially add a safety net to losses that two-team setups don't have, as it would feel great to receive help when behind, and it would be a fun challenge to take on twice as many players when winning.

Milodic MellodiApr 24, 20172 votes

I was thinking of having it 2v2v2 instead, but the thought of 4 people ganging up 2 is more discouraging to me than 6v3 (because if one of them is taken out, then only one is left to deal with 4 enemies). I think I know a way to make alliances less appealing, though it's just a thought:

The team that got the last kill against your ally gets less gold than if they were to kill another team's Champion instead. Meaning: if your team (Team 1) kills a member on Team 2, your team will get less gold if it kills a member on Team 2 as opposed to if they went after Team 3 Champion instead. This will be the same for additional members, and would discourage outright eliminating one team.
Consecutive kills from one single enemy on your teammates increases their bounty by an additional level, as opposed to only 1 level if they went after another team's Champion instead. Meaning, if you (Team 1 Vayne) kill a Team 2 Fizz, then you go after a Team 2 Nautilus and kill them as well, you'll have a bounty of 3 instead of 2; if you killed the Team 2 Fizz and then killed a Team 3 Lux, you'll only generate 2 total bounty. This will be the same for additional members for a total 5 bounty for a Triple Kill as a Single Ace, and would discourage camping.
Getting a Double Ace grants the team that got the Double Ace a single wave of Baron-effect minion units. Getting a Double Ace from a single ally grants the team that got the Double Ace a single wave of Baron-effect AND -effect minions. This encourages actually trying to get kills and eliminating opponents, and means you're either an expert against newbies or you're able to do well despite going against Restrictions 1 and 2. That's all I can think of for now XD

SilverjustApr 24, 20173 votes

the problem is you would loose more often than you win

AlienPrimateApr 24, 20172 votes

Welcome to the game called life. People lose. Get over it.

SilverjustApr 24, 20171 votes

Just saying it could make the players more toxic

5000000000000000Apr 24, 20171 votes

I think this is a pretty valid criticism. We play games to have fun, and losing is generally less fun than winning. Losing twice as many games than winning (on average) is going to be not a very fun experience. Unless losing experience can be improved somehow, I think this gamemode will be less popular.

TurquoiseYoshiApr 25, 20171 votes

You're not wrong about that, but there are successful games and game modes where you lose more than you win. Battlegrounds is really popular right now despite being really unforgiving in terms of actually winning a game, from what I've seen. As long as it doesn't feel 100% awful to lose (maybe give something for the first losing team to do after they lost?), it should be okay in that sense.

Milodic MellodiApr 24, 20172 votes

Btw, there also brings up the question of whether a free-for-all mode could ever be brought into LoL. I could imagine something like an x-shaped mini-ARAM where only specific Champs would be in the randomizer, and you'd have to work alone in an arena to fulfill an objective like...getting your minions to the center? Something like that XD

TurquoiseYoshiApr 25, 20172 votes

I kinda hope that it would. At the very least, it would be fun as a occasional side mode, and that's what the rotating game mode queue is for, isn't it?

ErockandrollApr 25, 20172 votes

The biggest difficulty I see with really doing a multi team game justice, is how do you prevent one team from poaching points from another teams effort. (If I was attacking a champ on team B, but a champ on team C got the last hit. I feel like I got screwed out of a point) Though it would be difficult to allow such matches to be death based either. (One team would get ahead, playing passive and allowing the other two teams to fight it out first.)

Also, Riot would certainly have to make a new map, to accommodate for a third team in any scenario. Personally, I think the most likely candidate would be 3v3v3 Ascension on a modified version of the crystal scar.

FrozenMistninjaApr 25, 20172 votes

I even like dominions map for a 4 team game mode!

ErockandrollApr 25, 20172 votes

Another issue might be the champions themselves. Could Karthus hit both teams at once with his ult? If team B Landed a Knockup on Team C, Could our Yasuo Ult off of that? Would these Multi team melees ultimately favor a certain classification over another?

Milodic MellodiApr 25, 20171 votes

If they auto-banned specific Champs in the game mode, Karthus would be a likely autoban. Teemo as well. Yasuo should be able to hit both teams with his Ult, and I'm assuming this because -- unless I'm mistaken -- I'm pretty sure there isn't a way to force your allies Airborne. The other two teams would be treated as enemy units, therefore they would be treated with the same conditions enemy units are treated with. I'm not sure what you mean by classification. Do you mean their role, like Support or Mage?

Mighty MorteinApr 25, 20172 votes

I remember Magma Chamber being a thing for 2v2s, so I'm sure they could bring that back and slightly modify it to make it a 3v3 map.

Oblivious DenialApr 25, 20172 votes

It'll be cool to have a 3v3v3 map. The map would be like a triangle with 2 lanes per side. The Nexi would be at the corners and in the middle would be ~~Roshan~~ a baron type epic monster. It'll be cool for Riot to dive into the lore and make a monster from a realm we haven't focused that much one. Vilemaw is of the Shadow isles and Baron is a void creature. It'll be neat to have some type of Freljord or Shuriman creature. Like, the pit would be covered in ice/sand.

That gives me an idea; make the 3 sides themed for different regions. Make one side all bright and sunshine like Demacia, one side like dark like the Icathia, and one side have like cracks in the ground to reveal lava (think something similar to the Dire side from Dota).

Back to the map, there would be 6 different sections to the jungle, one between the lanes and one between two of the sides.

Tomorrow, I can draw something up and post it here on the boards. Like a concept art of the map (in minimap form).

Milodic MellodiApr 25, 20171 votes

I'd love to see that :D

NickssaaApr 25, 20172 votes

The sad truth is that 3 team games always has the same outcome. The 3rd team that joins the fight always wins. There was a custom Dota 2 gamemode called trials of retribution. It was dota with 4 teams, and that issue came a lot. The 3rd team to join the team fight always won since they killed off the other 2 damaged teams, and they just killed off the 4th team.

SpoofghoulApr 24, 20171 votes

They could do a kind of footman wars

that was a wc3 custom mode

was i believe 3v3v3v3 with upgrades fro minions and the mission was to kill the other 3 teams

very simple but a lot of fun

i think you could do something like that with 3v3v3 or 4v4v4, personally would be a fan of 4 man teams since it can lead to interesting comps which deviate from the standard 3 man shit we see on TT or 5 man comps of The rift

It Hertz When IPApr 24, 20174 votes

{quoted}

personally would be a fan of 4 man teams

Jhin You. I like you.

Gallows madnessApr 25, 20171 votes

How about we do the new dark star game mode MAP and do 4 teams of 3? A full battle royale. WIth a bit of spice in their ofcourse that would be INTeresting.

KiokamiApr 25, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Milodic Mellodi,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=HXXkIZlT,comment-id=,timestamp=2017-04-24T19:42:18.935+0000)

Imagine the possibilities. 3 teams of 3, fighting on a map catered to the game mode. 2 allies and 6 opponents, but with 3 of those opponents also opponents to the other 3. It'd be along the same levels of craziness as URF, without destroying the game's mechanics! Hell, Dominion's map shape would be perfect for a 3-team brawl, and Dominion's gameplay style adds up well with the competitiveness of a 3-team match. In a map where taking objectives and kills is everything, having an additional team pit against both you AND your opponent would make for an awesome match. Team up to take down powerful opponents, only to turn on them to further your own kill count. Not only that, but being able to go against 6 opponents would allow you to get a Hexakill, so the introduction of such a mode would allow for the Hexakill game mode to spread its horizons. Hopefully Riot takes it up one day.

no because riot only cares about SR

see ARAM(and its 10 champ smurf problem), Twisted Treeline, and Dominion for examples.