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So, quick question regarding design philosophies.

Niyume·Oct 21, 2017·1 votes·223 views

In most games, the easy way out is usually not the most efficient, or is punished. Like say...

In WoW, you could use macros to make your rotation easier, right? But you weren't as efficient at doing damage, and you couldn't react to things as well.
In a shooter game, the easy to use guns are usually weaker -- but they're more reliable, so that difference isn't felt as much, but it's still there.
In other games, turning on easy mode penalizes the rewards you get.

Now, in League, we have a different kind of system going on. AD champs (particularly ADCs and point and click assassins like Kha and Talon) are by far the easier champs in the game, yet the game right now is heavily biased towards AD champs. Harder champs (usually AP), or champs that require an indirect / unusual playstyle, are generally considered troll picks, or are just considered bad. They can't keep up with the AD champs under almost any circumstances, and if they don't get fed then they just can't do anything more than be annoying.

Am I the only one that thinks it's backwards when the easiest champs are the strongest in nearly every situation and regard?

5 Comments

Variks the LoyalOct 21, 20171 votes

No offense, but you're using kinda a jaded and skewed view.

AD Champions are frequently some of the most difficult to optimize and difficult to play. Say what you will about Riven players, but there's a reason the stereotype is that they all suck; because the champion is actually pretty difficult to play to it's maximum, and that's true of a lot of AD Champions like Zed and Gangplank.

Meanwhile, some AP champions are widely considered to be faceroll easy. Like, miss all your skillshots and press R to win Syndra, or if I land one skillshot, I win the game, get the girl, and get awarded the Nobel Prize Morgana. (No offense to people who main those champions of course).

There's easy to play and difficult to play champions everywhere, being AD or AP has absolutely nothing to do with it.

You're actually wrong about WoW, macros making your rotation more efficient also maximized your damage. That's why people make macros to bind their trinkets to their cooldowns and racials.

As for shooters, I only play Destiny 1 and 2 as shooters, but I can tell you, some of the easiest to use guns in the game also dominated metas. SUROS Regime is an Auto Rifle that's a consistent laser beam with no noticable recoil or bloom on the bullets, and it's ease of use carried me through my first stint in competitive, and it was the top dog for a long time. And then there's the fire and forget Rocket Launchers that can kill 3 people in a single shell, with no real aiming required. Some of them, like Truth, practically aim for you since they explode based on proximity to enemies, so just getting the rocket a stones throw away from someone results in a death.

AdeBugOct 21, 20171 votes

exactly, rocket launchers are strong AND easy to use, but the balance comes from other sources, say it;s hard to get i nthe first place, or has limited ammo and no extra ammo on the map odd example for the OP to give...

NiyumeOct 21, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Variks the Loyal,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=iqAwTLRE,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2017-10-21T01:45:28.752+0000)

AD Champions are frequently some of the most difficult to optimize and difficult to play.

... right click, do damage. Or, my favorite part, mash Q (usually targeted), do even more damage.

Meanwhile, some AP champions are widely considered to be faceroll easy. Like, miss all your skillshots and press R to win Syndra, or if I land one skillshot, I win the game, get the girl, and get awarded the Nobel Prize Morgana. (No offense to people who main those champions of course).

Yeah? I didn't say AP champs can't be braindead. Just most of them are AD. I dislike ALL braindead but broken champs.

You're actually wrong about WoW, macros making your rotation more efficient also maximized your damage. That's why people make macros to bind their trinkets to their cooldowns and racials.

I played WoW for almost 13 years. In that time, I tried using macros. My DPS went down almost 20% from what I had without macros (despite having very efficient macros according to the forums and people in game). Macros are simply just not as good. They might be up to par, but you can pull much better numbers without macros.

And, in fact, you absolutely couldn't do Fistweaving with macros.

As for shooters, [snip]

I don't play Destiny, but let's look at something like Halo, or Call of Duty.

In Call of Duty, you had various machine guns. They had pretty significant damage drop, and they were a bit inaccurate if you sprayed, but they were easy to pick up. Then you had something like the Intervention, which fired VERY slowly, but was a guaranteed kill if you got a headshot. If you could aim with the Intervention, you could lock down an entire area, but you can't do that with the easy to use M14.

You're rewarded for being good enough to use the Intervention, and while the M14 can do things, it doesn't do them as well.

GeauxxOct 21, 20171 votes

What scares me the most is that you believe using one meta defines a games history.

Where was this argument when AP champs ruled the meta? ex. Zyra/malz or when (basically all of season 6 and 5) the game was focused around getting your mid laner ahead so they can impact wherever else they wanted to in the game?

Or earlier during this season when ADs were the worst thing in the game.

Idk anything about WoW never played it.

In most shooter games the easiest guns are the strongest guns. Ex. Destiny/CoD

Your third point isn't a good one as those type of games normally only lower the chance at getting decent loot at lower difficulties, so you can still get the decent loot at easy.

So, no you're not the only one... but your argument for it is backwards and flawed.

NiyumeOct 21, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Where was this argument when AP champs ruled the meta? ex. Zyra/malz or when (basically all of season 6 and 5) the game was focused around getting your mid laner ahead so they can impact wherever else they wanted to in the game?

AP champs have never ruled a meta. Malz is only broken because of his fucked up ult.

Or earlier during this season when ADs were the worst thing in the game.

There has not been one point in the game since season 2 where AD anything was the worst thing in the game.

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