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@Meddler: Why don't Rioters distinguish between stealth gameplay & stealth mechanics?

DrugsForRobots··1 votes·874 views

Riot has attempted to create two categories of 'Stealth': Invisibility and Camouflage.

Invisibility can be thought of as 'tactical' stealth and is the more common of the two mechanics. Invisibility effects don't last long enough for its users to move from one lane to another, but are well-suited for combat maneuvering (whether that's within a fight or starting one). Champs like Wukong and LeBlanc possess this mechanic.

Camouflage is what we call 'strategic' stealth. It's strongest when used to get around the map unseen, moving from one victim to the next. Evelynn's had this mechanic for a while, and we're extending it to Rengar and Twitch as well.

I almost never hear Rioters talk about stealth as though it is a type of gameplay or a mindset - it's almost always spoken of in relation to being an ability in a champion's kit. It seems like Riot trying to classify stealth into two different things with different definitions indicates confusion about what stealth is, and that confusion has spread to the League community. This is due, I think, to Riot's definitions being fundamentally flawed.

Stealth: (stĕlth) n. cautious and surreptitious action or movement; adj. the quality or characteristic of being furtive or covert.

With that definition in mind, every champion in League of Legends can be a 'stealth' champion. This definition is is exactly how the pros play League of Legends, despite rarely playing any of the 'stealth' champions. Is it not true that Garen is being stealthy if he has taken up a position in a brush and the enemy has no knowledge of his presence? Is it not true that a champion is using stealth if they concealed behind terrain, having vision of their enemy but not being visible themselves (due to the Fog of War)?

Invisible: (ĭn-vĭz’ə-bəl) adj. not visible; out of sight; unseen; hidden from view; impossible to behold; imperceptible to the eye.

Brush provides invisibility. The Fog of War provides invisibility. Certain champion abilities provide invisibility. Camouflage is invisibility. Invisibility based on proximity with a longer duration than others, but invisibility nonetheless. And invisibility is a prerequisite for stealth. However, one can be invisible without being stealthy.

In my League journey, I've dug deep into stealth games as it seems like invisibility is League's least explored design space, with vision coming in close behind. And I believe I've found out how stealth and invisibility have been conflated in the gaming public's mind.

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/wowwiki/images/f/f8/Ability_stealth.png/revision/latest?cb=20051006101655 Stealth, the WoW Rogue ability, rendered the user functionally invisible in PvP environments. And League was being developed when WoW was at it's height, yes?

Especially interesting is that DotA and DotA2, which were both born from Warcraft 3, featured 'stealth' mechanics, but it was called, and still is called, invisibility.

This will probably get ignored or downvoted, but I'm still waiting for Riot to really embrace stealth and vision as key pillars of League.

7 Comments

Calabok2 votes

nerf it

TheHappyReaperz1 votes

I don't get what your point is with this? Do you want Riot to change stealth? Its definitions? Or do you just not like how they refer to the separate aspects of stealth in League?

DrugsForRobots1 votes

The post is context to the question: Why don't Rioters distinguish between stealth gameplay & stealth mechanics?

I thought I laid out pretty clearly: what RIot calls stealth isn't actually stealth. Stealth is a mindset and playstyle. Invisibility is the mechanic (for lack of a better word.)

Read any post by a Rioter talking about 'stealth' and you'll see that they always speak of it in relation to champion abilities, not the aforementioned mindset or playstyle. Why?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo80Ng-cJeA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPNDcdy-lYY

Ark Sorcerer1 votes

Because the Rioters that changes mechanics as a whole and write the detailed description of changes are different Rioters from those who go on streams to comment about whatever.

Riot may be Riot, but there are scores of positions that anyone can be working on. Just because a group of people decided to change the invisibility mechanic and got approval from above does not mean that others agree or even understand why it was changed. I bet there are plenty of Rioters who thought Evelynn being seen only by a pink ward is fair and Akali's shroud becomes pointless after it is placed is fine.

You forget that though Riot is a company, the person or people who are responsibility for writing the detailed description of notes during patches writes in a way that says for all even though that is not true.

An easy example is the Senate. Just because something passed does not mean everyone agreed to it, as such you can't expect every senator to act such a way. Granted they would be more informed. So maybe I should say Student Councils in High Schools. That is the idea I am trying to get across.

DrugsForRobots1 votes

That's reasonable and may be part of it, but I think the simplest answer is that Riot doesn't think of League as a stealth game.

Ark Sorcerer1 votes

Riot does not think of League as a stealth game; they think of it as a fighting game. League is no longer a strong strategy game for the masses but a good pc fighting game.

I mean, when you have a Talon that can kill the mid lane mage at lv 3 by recklessly going in and deals 450 damage in 2 seconds, he can just go ham from there on, how can anyone really intellectually go about dealing with him? When you have mages that are strong enough to go bot and replace supports by their strong base damages and naturally cc, why would anyone play primary supports who struggle to catch up in the heals and shields? We have the ever wonderful Auto fill system that forces players to roles that they may not find fun, how to play, or have Champions for the role yet it exists for... shorter queues...

If Riot really wanted this game to be a strategy game, they would do things to make it a strategy game. League is already a unfulfilling "Strategy" Game anyway but it does not help that Auto Fills ruins the player, Mages ruin support, and burst exists at a level that should not exist.

If Riot wanted it to be a strategy game: they would revert mages back to the poor base damage, high scaling and give AP back to items; they would get ride of the item Edge of Night that empowered a lot of AD Casters that caused for nerfs of those champions that were only strong because of the unfair, broken (I say from a mage perspective) item; and make it generally hard for games to be finished within 30 minutes by taking away damage from everything.

But hey, League is only a "strategy" game to the top 2% of players, where they are Masters of the game and can write a report about how League is and how I should "get gud."

I mean after all, that is all there is, Riot does things for the top players and not the masses (Then Top Tier players would argue Riot changes champions for the masses-- Akali) as evident by the status of the game.

But this all just my opinion. As a mage player, I should be killed because of my lack of health, not because MF can auto Q me. My problem is I focus on the Theoretical version the game should be and thus criticize it the way it is. An MF dealing more damage than all mages and yet has the magic resistance to tank the damage is not plausible.

Back to reality. League is a fighting game for the masses. And Riot wants money so they focus on the top tier players for LCS and Esports and whatever. I will just sit here and play until I have something to do with my life.

So, yes, Riot does not view League as a Stealth Game.

TheHappyReaperz1 votes

Because for Riot, stealth is defined as a mechanic. While you may be able to play stealthily, League is not a stealth game. Thus, people with camouflage or invisibility are distinguished as a sect of stealth champions.

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