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Please help me understand why last-hitting is a core gameplay mechanic?

Yankspanker·5/15/2015, 9:11:58 AM·2 votes·1,641 views

Ok, so I really need some constructive arguments in favor of last-hitting as a core mechanic for the game. I just can't understand why it hasn't been adjusted or modified after all these years, especially if Riot wants to improve player behavior. I'm not trying to start a flame war or troll or anything - I genuinely want to understand the appeal of last-hitting, so would someone please reply to my opinions written below with why they think last-hitting shouldn't be something seriously looked at?

All the research put into studying negative player behavior and trying to come up for solutions is all well and good, but it amazes me that Riot refuses to acknowledge that a core mechanic of their game is what causes most players to exhibit toxic behavior in the first place. Awarding gold and xp to the character who last-hits a creep or enemy causes a sense of competition among teammates that makes working as a team harder and less likely to happen. When someone's kill is perceived to be "stolen" from them it will incite anger and jealously and create animosity among teammates. Furthermore, awarding a hefty chunk of xp and gold only to the killer (and a significantly less amount to assists) exacerbates this teammate-competition that shouldn't be present in such a team-oriented game.

Similar to the problems with last-hitting are issues with "feeding" and "snowballing." Once a teammate loses an early fight with an opponent, their gameplay is more likely to degrade and their performance can take a nosedive purely due to the psychological effect of knowing their lane opponent is going to have a significant edge upon his return to lane. Teammates will get angry and offer nonconstructive criticism which can make it much worse. Making it even worse is the fact that each game on Summoner's Rift is a large time investment. Making mistakes that are difficult to recover from puts a burden on the player's mind because he knows the next 20-40 minutes are going to be a waste of time (and his teammates are thinking that too, only they are angry because it isn't their fault an enemy is gaining a significant advantage).

On the flip side of the coin, I know that doing well in lane and repeatedly out-playing your opponent feels good and should be a rewarding experience, but after about two kills in your lane your dominance is no longer skill-based but assured purely because you have more items and levels than your opponent. There actually is no "consistently out-playing" your opponent 1v1 - your superior skill is only important for the first 10 minutes or so. After that it is just a numbers game. I understand its fun to totally dominate your opponent but you need to realize that means in each and every game of League under 50% of the players are having a good time. Sure your teammates are going to like it that you are carrying them to victory, but it also robs them of any sense of accomplishment that should come from a team working well together, so really its 10% of the players having a good time. Also, your performance doesn't actually affect the team in ANY way whatsoever until you leave your lane to help out teammates which takes place later in the game anyway.

What kind of team game has teammates working separately from each other for the first 15%-25% of the game? It's ridiculous - there isn't any other team game that exists that I know of that starts off like that. Imagine if a basketball game started with the team splitting up into three different courts, and after the first quarter the teams all got together in the middle and each had different modifiers to their "stats" (like speed, stamina, dexterity) based completely on how they did against their lane opponent? Saying League of Legends is a team game is misleading because there is far more emphasis placed on individual performance in the early stages of the game. Yes, I know that once the team comes together and works as a cohesive unit they can surpass any challenge the opponent has if they fail to do the same - no matter how far ahead the opponents are. But the importance of working as a team should be the norm and happen almost every game, not be as rare as it is in all the games I've played over the years.

I propose instead to have the xp and gold systems completely reworked so that League can actually be a TEAM game. Kill gold and xp should be awarded globally - your personal performance should affect your team as a whole for a little bit of team-wide gain instead of just a large gain for yourself. Creep gold should be awarded globally too, although I think the whole last-hitting mechanic is terrible anyway. I know most people consider last-hitting creeps to add a layer of strategy or skill to the game, but so what? Since when does more strategy equaled more fun? It doesn't. Fun mechanics equal more fun. Last-hitting is a terrible un-fun mechanic and a colossal limit to this game's potential.

tl;dr - Last hitting is not only just lazy programming, but is a toxic mechanic that causes too many problems and should be changed.

As a side note, I've noticed that ARAM solves almost ALL the problems summoner rift has. Gold and xp is gained generally faster and at a somewhat consistent rate between all players, which removes the enormous impact the early game can have on snowballing (and losing doesn't feel as bad because its not such an enormous time investment), and the team is forced to work as a team from the very beginning - all teammates need to be aware of their role on the team from the first minute. ARAM would be amazing team game League should be if it wasn't random and I could choose my character. If the argument against that is that it would make the game mode too polarizing or unbalanced... then so what? Its supposed to be all about having fun, but not being able to pick your character isn't fun at all. Otherwise, Howling Abyss is amazing.

P.S. About having fun with League... whats the deal with having all the temporary game modes disappear after a few weeks? Why not make them available in custom games?? If its a matter of limited resources, how about hiring more people?? If thats a problem due to budget concerns, then how about cutting down on all the useless crap like throwing statues in the pacific ocean or making useless CGI videos that don't even affect the game at all?

9 Comments

Rand0mH3r0X5/15/2015, 9:26:57 AM1 votes

I would prefer it to stay the same. Sometimes I get mad, sometimes I don't. Especially being the Jg, everyone in the game and spectators want my buffs. They wouldn't care if I'm 1/2/6 and they're 5/1/1 plus three levels higher. It's debilitating to think that I'm being punished by a teammate who now believes they're a god simply because they get fed. I usually adjust my game style to match that person and typically give them a hard time by making them work for the game instead of just handing it over for them. Usually when I ask not to take the buffs, and they do anyways, I just punish the team with the same amount of cooperation that I received, a selfish farmer who comes in to team fights for clean ups. I usually end the game with the best stats that way, but I make the game a miserable slow grind. I know that my actions aren't right, but I just don't care enough to win.

NemeBro5/15/2015, 9:33:32 AM1 votes

If kills and shit were shared globally, then losing teams would be even more disadvantaged. No longer would there be the odd unfed enemy you can get a pick on because they're weak.

Everyone being equally fed sounds boring as shit.

ProfDrDeath5/15/2015, 9:34:07 AM1 votes

The reason last-hitting exists is rather simple. It makes situational awareness and in-the-moment timing important skills (when do I need to hit that minion? Is it safe to hit that minion or can the opponent engage me? How can I punish my opponent if he goes for that minion?), which is especially important for laning.

Handsome Jhin5/15/2015, 9:45:58 AM1 votes

You're making a lot of good points, but I think you're missing a really vital part of League of Legends overall. The fact that it's a team game means that everyone needs to be contributing something. If there's global gold and experience on a kill, then really, what's the point of trying at all if someone else is getting kills?

The way I see it, it could go a few different ways (if the value of "last hitting" is spread out among teammates). The most likely, I think, is that the overall quality of gameplay would fall a lot. Who's going to bother getting better at the game if they know their score doesn't matter -- and where does the fun go? Someone will pick up the kills, which will give the gold to finish your build, which... really has no point if you're relying on the rest of your team to get kills. That rewards bad players for being carried by teammates who are bothering to make plays and do damage.

Last-hitting and picking up kills (and giving kills to carries) is a huge part of the game in terms of teamwork and mechanics. A jungler isn't always going to take all the kills when they gank because they know the AD carry needs to be able to snowball to be useful. A support isn't going to last-hit an enemy champion when the ADC is right there because the support doesn't need as much gold or XP to be useful.

That's where the first 15-25% of the game being played separately from your teammates becomes important. Everyone needs to be able to carry their own weight and make sure they are doing their part. Imagine you're in the middle lane and your bottom lane is doing poorly. Every time your bottom lane teammates die, your lane opponent becomes stronger and it becomes more difficult to roam down and help out, because now their entire team has a lead on yours, and you cannot possibly shut down every single person on their team (since they will all be equal in gold and experience, if I'm understanding you right), as opposed to one or two carries.

Does that sound fair at all? So now, instead of having to face a fed Vayne on the enemy team, you have to face the Vayne your bottom lane died to a few times, as well as the Brand and the Rengar that are snowballing solely thanks to that Vayne, and it'll become harder for your team to catch up if every lane other than bottom is camping tower, letting Vayne snowball them into absolute monsters. They don't have to be mechanically better than you or outplay you 1v1, because now they have a gold/XP lead on you. You said it yourself:

...after about two kills in your lane your dominance is no longer skill-based but assured purely because you have more items and levels than your opponent.

The difference being that now, the kills are not in your lane, and only one lane's dominance was ever skill-based to begin with.

(Sorry if this comment isn't totally coherent, it's 4 AM. Definitely willing to hear you out on this, though!)

Yankspanker5/15/2015, 10:02:26 AM1 votes

I think I'm being misunderstood on the globally-shared xp/gold thing.

First, it was a quick suggestion as to show there can be alternatives or variations to the last-hitting mechanic... I wasn't brainstorming all day and came up with that as the magic solution. It was to help foster discussion on the topic and encourage thoughts about alternatives.

Second, when I wrote that I was thinking the xp/gold shared among the team would be significantly less for each person so that all members of a team would have be doing really terrible to let the enemy get "fed as shit" and give the other team a significant numbers-based edge. If your top lane lost a trade and gave the other team a kill, then performing well as the midlaner gives you the chance to pick up the slack and help redeem him (slack you'd have a harder time picking up if the opponent top lane started snowballing with the current system).

Third, dispersing last-hit gold/xp among creeps wouldn't discourage people from getting better at the game because interacting with the enemy champ should make up most of the gameplay, not some current PvE / PvP hybrid.

edit: furthermore, out-playing your opponent consistently becomes even more important BECAUSE each kill is less valuable.

and I should have differentiated between last-hitting creeps and last-hitting champs... I don't think the two should be treated the same way... creeps do have a great way of influencing your interaction with the enemy champ and I think that should be preserved, but not entirely the way it is now

azrolator5/15/2015, 12:06:31 PM1 votes

I kind of like this idea of sharing gold/exp. In the jg, it would give a junglers team a chance to think that letting the jungler farm his jungle can help them too instead of nonstop pinging from the other side of the map. Rewards the jungler at least somewhat for giving up buffs.

Supp Hero6/13/2015, 12:19:33 AM1 votes

I think last hitting should give you extra gold and experience, but not all of it. If there is an ally nearby they should get a few gold and exp if their nearby ally gets a minion kill. Maybe not divided evenly, but more evenly than it is now. I don't think it should be global gain to teammates, just a gain to teammates that are nearby the minion kill.

The way it is now, last hitting being so important, a teammate ganking your lane (while can be helpful), can create a disadvantage for the person who was already in the lane. They start hitting minions and even if they don't take them all on purpose, it messes up the lane person's farming a little bit. This creates anger between teammates often because the person was trying to help by ganking, but then they took or lost too much gold by their presence. Personally when I gank, I try to only take 2-3 minions at the most (if any) because I understand if I keep taking them all the player will just be more angry at me every time I try to help.

So you have a situation where a teammate was trying to be helpful (ganking) and actually ends up hurting the lane player sometimes simply because of last hitting mechanic. I do think the person who last hit should get most of the gold/exp, but not all. This creates a selfishness in the game that creates anger between teammates, and makes you work against your team.

This is why I like playing support, I can just give my ADC all the gold and not worry about who's getting the minions, I can just get gold from income items or killing minions when no one else is around. However, when I play ADC, most players will intentionally (or unintentionally) mess up the farming or take all the minions from me, even if there was original intention was to help me, it actually hurts me sometimes when playing ADC, all because of the last hitting mechanic. I'm fine with sharing minions, but often times they won't share even half, they'll just try to take them all from me.. so I avoid playing ADC for that very reason.

I completely agree that last-hitting, as it works now, is working against teamwork. Unless you have an ADC/Support duo, it is almost always working against teamwork.

I also think minions grant a little too much gold mid-late game (when people can farm super fast) and this is a large reason why the game snowballs too much, but that's another issue entirely.

Side note about global gold idea: The global gold gained (for every time any teammate kills a minion, it grants say 1-2 gold to each teammate) i think is a viable idea. Main reason being it's very easy for 1-3 players to fall behind while the other players on the team are super fed, and they lose anyways just because the other players are underfed and easy kill targets, whether it was their fault or not. This adds to the snowball effect of the game very much since you can get a few players super fed while the other few are just easy targets and don't contribute anything after a while except kills for the enemy because they're so underfed.