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Twisted Treeline Concerns

Catlinite·7/26/2016, 4:14:36 AM·6 votes·1,012 views

I can understand why there is talk of removing the map, but that seems like a bit of a let down. In my opinion, 3v3 can be just as fun, rewarding, and popular as 5v5. Unfortunately, it has a fair amount of obstacles that keep it from reaching its true potential.

Twisted Treeline is, in my opinion, a lovely concept followed by a decent execution and plagued by lackluster maintenance. The idea that the game can have more than one competitive and relevant maps is quite an amazing idea to work with. It's also a very large undertaking. Especially recently, it seems that twisted treeline has been losing it's pull and player base. There are fewer and fewer people who wish to form a team to play ranked, as well as fewer people who wish to play normals on the 3v3 map. There are a number of potential reasons for this, but i believe there are a key few that are really what prevents twisted treeline from shining as brightly as i know it can. One of the most important is that there is (to my knowledge) no official place where champ specific changes are listed. This makes the entire experience unreliable. Players are either forced to forage through the depths of the internet in an attempt to find a log of twisted treeline specific champion changes, or go into a 3v3 game with improper knowledge of how a champion they choose might work. Looking for an up to date list of map specific changes is both time consuming and difficult, and you can't expect people to waste time hopping from website to website searching for 3v3 information instead of just hopping into a 5v5 game. You also can't expect people to take 3v3 ranked seriously when they aren't even sure how a champ they or their opponent chooses will work. To me, this is the most frustrating issue because it is soooooo easy to avoid. All you'd need is to list the twisted treeline changes made to a champ on their Game Info page. Or better yet, just add a page to your website that includes all the changes you've made that are specific to twisted treeline. Perhaps there is a good reason why you do not have a official source or log of these changes... but to be quite frank, it reads as you just flat out not caring about the map that much. There's also a wall because the ranked que for 3v3 is only for teams. I have tried to do some research, and i've read various opinions (from both rioters and players) on why a solo ranked would not work for twisted treeline, and i understand the multiple dilemmas it faces. However, non of these problems are "unfixable". It would require a large amount of work and changes, but Twisted Treeline is capable of hosting ranked solo play. In my opinion, this would open up a large amount of interest in it. It is faltering because the competitive scene is difficult to get into. You need at least two other people who you can reliably play with and form a team with. Then you need to be online at the same time as those people. And now, those players must be available during specific times, since 3v3 ranked is now on a schedule of availability. A solo queue for 3v3 ranked would help bring solo players to the table, and would amp up the popularity for twisted treeline in general. More people playing the map means more people willing to look for teams. More teams means more ranked team queue play. More ranked play overall = happy trees There's a third thought to be made on twisted treeline. It is not so much a wall that prevents people from enjoying the map; it's more like a trampoline that would help you get people over a wall and play twisted treeline more. That trampoline is: separate ranked rewards for your performance in twisted treeline. Why does everyone strive for gold so badly? For that free and exclusive skin they KNOW you'll be releasing at the end of the season to Gold+ rankers, as well as the other perks, such as borders and what not. Right now, you can get these rewards from both maps. However, 5v5 ranked is MUCH more accessible and reliable than Twisted Treeline. In 5v5 you dont necessarily have to worry about teammate's schedules, and certainly not about whether a champ's abilities and stats are changed for the map specifically, changes they will have a very hard time searching for. If you add in a reward (such as, ohhh i don't know, an exclusive skin) that is specific to your rank on twisted treeline, it may be enough of an incentive to increase players interest in 3v3, and thus increasing the maps popularity. The fourth wall is balancing. The map quite simply hasn't been given the attention it deserves. The meta is stagnant. Certain champs are must-bans, while others have almost no use. There needs to be more work on champ specific balancing, item balancing (which you're starting to do I see, finally), and more love to twisted treeline in general. I understand that it requires a large amount of work, probably more than i can fathom, and a large amount of people to be involved.

Perhaps the problem is you simply don't have enough hands to dedicate to the map, or enough player interest to warrant the help 3v3 needs. But I personally believe that Twisted Treeline is worth every bead of the blood, sweat, and tears that are needed to help it reach it's glorious potential.

TL;DR Riot, plis don't kill TT. We luvs it. It's special. It just needs some nourishment. item 2054

7 Comments

Laqutis Bot7/26/2016, 4:17:12 AM1 votes

I've only played TT in normals probably 30 times and 10 of them I had 2 or more bots in the game. They probably would have gotten rid of it already if bots weren't making it appear that more people actually play it.

rtbf2216514127/26/2016, 4:48:14 AM1 votes

The issue with TT is it's itemization is terrible and it's jungle needs more... Jungle. If they are removing it, they could at least make the jungle bigger.

Minarde7/26/2016, 6:08:15 AM1 votes

One of the most important is that there is (to my knowledge) no official place where champ specific changes are listed.

Fun fact: there actually was an official log of map-specific balance changes stickied on the Boards. Riot just didn't port it over when they combined Maps&Modes with Gameplay. I think the only changes since then were a Cass nerf, Garen W passive stacking doubled, and Gangplank Serpent passive stacking. No clue if the Cass nerf still applies though, since it was before her newest rework.

A solo queue for 3v3 ranked would help bring solo players to the table, and would amp up the popularity for twisted treeline in general.

Dynamic Queue for TT was being considered along with the recent changes, but it apparently didn't pan out.

If you add in a reward (such as, ohhh i don't know, an exclusive skin) that is specific to your rank on twisted treeline, it may be enough of an incentive to increase players interest in 3v3, and thus increasing the maps popularity.

Ranked teams did have their exclusive ward skin in previous seasons, but 1) lolwardskin and 2) no one knows how rewards are going to work this season with Dynamic Queue and limited teams. A 3s-exclusive skin would be a great incentive, yet unlikely. It'd essentially double the "free" skins Riot makes each year, which doesn't seem like something Riot would be willing to do. Maybe a Chroma, but that has its own issues.

There needs to be more work on champ specific balancing, item balancing (which you're starting to do I see, finally), and more love to twisted treeline in general.

I wouldn't be so sure Riot's starting to do item balancing. For now, it just feels more like the annual balance patch that Riot does to placate Alternate maps players.