Interest Curves in League of Legends

Recently there has been a lot of talk about 3 hit passives, and with the release of this video interview with Gypsylord (http://www.gamespot.com/videos/riot-gypsylords-design-philosophy-on-three-hit-pas/2300-6429070/). I wanted to take a look at them and the overall idea of interest curves in League of Legends.

What is an interest curve?

> The short answer is that an interest curve is the break down of a moment, its build up, crescendo, and when it's done. To get a better idea check out the linked video on pacing by Extra Credits (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LScL4CWe5E). This can be seen not only on individual champions, but also when looking at a single games (even in promotion when climbing the ranked ladder, and the period after when you can't drop.). > > 3 hit passives do create a very clear interest curve for both the person and his opponent. This is one way of creating a simple interest curve, this isn't to say it's lazy or bad, I happen to agree with Gypsylord on the subject. This creates a very clear climb, peak, and valley. Looking at Ekko valley is build right into this skill, and forces you to wait after completing it. (This also provides balance, to what could otherwise be a permaslow.) That's all basic though and the interview does a good job of mapping its curve. What I want to look at is how this curve shows up though the rest of the game.

Interest curve in Laning/leveling

> When looking at the curve for laning, it follows the same path. The lane itself starts with both players having a single ability, and the focus is on getting CS (more on that below). There might be some harass thrown around but the real focus is on getting to your first point on that curve, level two, before your opponent. You can force them away from CS/Exp, harass them so that your level two is more threatening, or just push the wave so that you get to level two first. > > The second peak on the curve comes around three minutes when the junglers have completed their first clear and start looking for ganks. The climb starts as you place your ward or start to worry about where they will come from. This could change quite a bit depending on what lane you are in or what junglers are in the game. This is why some junglers who gank before this time feel like they have cheated in some way. (Players who do this know you arn't expecting the gank to happen because it isn't time for the next peak.) Once you see the enemy jungler in another place you reach the valley, but the greater curve is still raised. > > The third major peak comes right before the solo lanes reach level six. This can start to build up just like at level two, with people clearing the wave or using an advantage to hit six first. The apex of the peak can happen right away with one champion going all in (think Zed), or when others start looking for ganks (think TF). The valley here can vary, such as a player dying or backing. Where as the climb can even been lengthened by a roam. > > The bot lane is slightly different here, as they haven't hit six yet and might only worry about another lane roaming. The bot lanes curve is a bit more reliant on other lanes roam or on reaching key items first. Some champions will even change this curve by having a peak pre six (form swapper) or will delay this (Akali, needing to wait on charges from her ult).
> > This curve tends to die down as we transition more into the mid game and team fights, but does remain for key levels such as six, nine, 11, and 16.

Interest curve in CS

> The interest curve here is best when looking at a full minion wave with each minion being a small peak, and the gold feeds into an item curve. This is kept dynamic by the fact that you do have a lane opponent who can obstruct your actions and that you will be interacting with. After 2 waves the cannon minion will arrive resulting in a higher peak, and players take more risks for CS. > > The end of each wave acts as a valley, where both players might back off or move around the map. This largely feeds into the item buying interest curve and causing interactions in lane. As the game progresses this curve will diminish due to wave clear and as the focus trends more to team fights and objective control. > > The set up for a single cs also has its own much smaller curve, but you get the idea.

Interest curve in buying items

> If you’re still reading than you likely get the idea of how the item curve would work. Collecting gold acts as the climb buying a component is a smaller peak leading into the final combination. Because items multiply each other we see a larger curve take shape as the game progresses. Often times the ending valley would simply be the end of the game but reaching 6 items would also cause this effect.

Interest curve in Team Fights > > Team fighting is where this starts getting real interesting. Each skill or combo can have its own curve that builds into the battle. But this is really just a part of the team fight, and objectives exist to facilitate this. > > As players start to gather around dragon the tension builds, everyone knows a fight is coming. This is heightened as you avoid poke and attempt to avoid damage, each skill that flies increasing the risk. Players may sneak around for a better angle, or tanks engage resulting in a major peak. This raises the overall curve but the initial start of the fight, the flashiest part is now over, this could result is a player or two dying, as each death leads to another small peak until the fight ends. At this point we are reaching the decline, the winning team might be able to take an objective as the chaos is now over.

Interest curve in the overall game

> This all fuels the global game curve, as an objective falls the tension is heightened. Each tower is a potential peak in this curve, gradually going higher as inhibitors and the nexus fall. > > > The important thing to take away from this is that each curve isn't isolated from one another, as one curve starts to come down another might be on its way up. What Riot has done is make sure that at any point in the game where a curve might start to decline another one is on the rise, this is most clearly shown after a fight where one team might be taking objectives, and another might be buying items after they die. If at any point all curve start to bottom out the game is likely over. A good design team will work to minimize this and keep the global curve rising, but allow for dips to catch your breath.