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How can we fix URF?

ShadowStar91·3/12/2018, 4:47:01 AM·8 votes·1,044 views

URF is the game mode beloved by practically all and with the return of One for All currently on the PBE, it's made me want to open a discussion on how to fix URF so that it solves the problems Riot has with the original mode but without most of the hate that newer attempts have gotten. So first, let's look at the two variants we've gotten in ARURF and Snow Battle ARURF to see what works and what doesn't. Also let's see if they fix the two problems Riot has with original Urf; that the same champs were mostly played and that URF was so addicting that a percentage of players apparently quit playing regular League.

ARURF Changes from URF - no champions are disabled, no ban phase, randomly selected champions,

So the first variant only changed 3 things however, these three things are all very important changes.

1 - No champions are disabled: Admittedly this only hit one champion but that's still a big thing to note as that champion was Karthus Karthus . Nobody likes to see his ult every 30-40 seconds, even his own teammates. Riot themselves found this so toxic to gameplay that they removed him from the mode. In ARURF though, he's allowed and this has been just as unfun as expected. Only the Karthus player enjoys Karthus in URF.

2 - No ban phase: This also hurt the game mode as there are champs that were almost universally hated and banned, these also tended to be the same repeated champs that were played when they got through the bannings. Riot, if one of your complaints was that the same small pool of champions was constantly getting played then why remove the ability to ban them? Many players will re-roll or dodge the champ select in ARURF in attempts to get these champs because there's no ban phase to stop them from being played. By taking away the ban phase, you've only lengthened the time it took for most people to get into games because they have to suffer through the people that would dodge for the OP champions like the Zed's or Fizz's or Kassadin's. If you were so worried about people playing the same champs over and over then why not disable a few of them? You proved willing to disable Karthus because you knew he'd be bad for the mode. But then when one of your worries is that people keep going towards these small few you'd rather change the entire game mode instead of simply remove them from it?

3 - Randomly selected champions: This is by far the biggest change that people have complained about an hated. URF was fun not just because of what the buffs allowed but because of how we got to play what we wanted to play in a way that normally couldn't be done. AP Tryndamere was viable again, infinite ult Kog'maw was a ranged terror, the global ult comp was hilarious in its ranged pick potential, the all hook team could grab a player and never let go for ultimate laughs. Now these kind of hilarious ideas are stuck being left to chance. Part of what makes League as a whole such a great game is that we have so many options in how to play. Which champ should we play? Which role are we playing them in? What build and style are we taking? So many options keeps the game fresh and fun. But by making it random you took that away. URF isn't like ARAM. In ARAM, even if one team got a better comp from the random champ select, there's still a chance to fight back through better skill and scaling. In ARURF though, games are too fast for that to be possible. A better team comp can and often does automatically win games. And even for those just playing to enjoy the mode, it can be frustrating that they are constantly being killed and locked out simply because the enemy got the better lottery draw.

Did it fix the two problems Riot has with URF? Somewhat. ARURF fixed the problem of people liking it more than regular League because most people hated how it took away our options. It also only somewhat fixed the champion problem because as mentioned, many would re-roll or dodge to get those OP selections and bring the fun down for everyone else

Snow Battle ARURF Changes from URF - no champions disabled, no ban phase, locked summoner spells into Flash and a super Snowball, randomly selected champions from a limited pool of winter/holiday themed champions and skins

For the no disabled champions and no ban phase, see above.

1 - Locked summoner spells into summoner 4 and a super summoner 39 : I'm admittedly divided on this. On one hand, Riot again took away player choice but on the other, I REALLY liked the snowball. Personally I think URF as a whole would be better if we got the choice of summoners back, but keep the snowball for those of us that want it. It was really fun, even if it was kind of unreliable when you missed or hit a jungle creep when trying to jump into a lane.

**2 - Random champions from the winter/holiday theme: ** This was honestly a step in the right direction followed by jumping even further back in the wrong one. If Riot wants to limit the champion pool for URF in order to bring a fun theme to it, that can potentially work. However the problem was it was STILL random choice. The smaller the champion pool, the more important it is for players to have options. With the champions limited to only 62 of the then 139 (Kai'sa makes 140) players should have been allowed to choose. From those 62 a lot of fun ideas, comps and styles could have come but still it was random.

Did it fix the two problems Riot has with URF? Again, the answer is somewhat.

The biggest problem with the URF variants has been the random champions. As players, we like being able to play what we want. As I said above, that's part of what makes League so great. What we want, how we want, when we want. Riot wants to help ensure that every champion can get their time to shine with constant patches and updates to buff, nerf and rework current champions and that's great. But the one thing that has to be said is that no matter the mode, a meta will develop. In the PROJECT: Hunters game mode, the champs with mobility abilities were far greater than the others. In the Star Guardian mode, Jinx and MF were constant picks because their consistent damage was universally better for the team. And here in URF, there was a meta as well. Now I'm not asking Riot to buff and nerf with a special game mode in mind, but at the same time taking away our choices because they don't like that a meta developed is not the right answer. URF was meant to be fun and while some people had fun taking only the most OP things, others were still able to have fun doing their favorite champs or some silly idea with their friends.

We the community want URF back, but we understand your problems with it Riot. So at the very least, with your next URF variant; don't make it random. That has been the biggest problem we have had with them. Limit the champion pool to a theme, or disable more than just Karthus if you are so against the same champions getting played. But no matter what, please...

Don't take away our option to play how we want to play.

11 Comments

Salamencę3/12/2018, 6:19:54 AM7 votes

By bringing it back more than once a fucking millenium.

BlackOnyxAltear3/12/2018, 11:56:50 AM4 votes

Urf by itself is a fine gamemode, its the playerbase that ruins it. You wouldnt need random champion select or bans if people didnt just pick zed every game. Disabling champs like karthus is understandable bcs of what 80% cdr does to some champions kits.

But most of urfs problems can be traced back to the community.

Khristophoros3/12/2018, 5:46:04 AM3 votes

Do we have any statistics showing that a majority of players like URF?

Personally I hate it.

Leetri3/12/2018, 4:24:13 PM1 votes

There's 2 main issues with URF for the players. People want to play what they want, but they get angry when everyone wants to play the same couple of champions every single game because they're the most broken or the most fun. I can't think of a solution that would fix that, only temporary bandaid solutions such as banning certain popular champions (but then people will start complaining that they can't play their favourite). So in a way, the only way to allow people to play what they want is to restrict what they're allowed to play.

I think the main issue however (for Riot at least) is that people stop playing League altogether when URF rolls around, and I have even less of a clue on how to fix that or even why it happens.

Luminev3/12/2018, 6:36:03 PM1 votes

I feel like ARURF didn't make me hate normal league, but it almost made me quit League all together anyways. Only thing that brought me back was the fun gameplay of Zoe.

Minarde3/12/2018, 10:09:34 PM1 votes

Random champs was a significant improvement to URF though. It (theoretically) made for more varied teamcomps and champ picks. Yes, occasionally you got outcomped in ARURF, but that's still better than it always happening in draft URF. Drafting around the meta doesn't work either because there's little reason to draft at all when the same powerhouses keep dictating every game.

Furthermore, theme restrictions were a major downgrade, partially due to how random champ select works. If all champs in that theme were available, then it might've worked. However, the owned+free restriction combined with the theme restriction to severely hinder champ variety. Seeing the same champs over and over in draft URF was already bad, but Snow ARURF concentrated that even further.