[Gameplay Discussion] Environmental Effects
###Background: "Day Walker, Nightstalker."
The origin of enviromental effects in MoBAs, as far as I can tell, started with the original DoTA as it most often does. In DoTA, every 4 minutes, the time cycle shifts from day to night. Daytime, everything plays normally. Nighttime, however, vision is reduced and it's overall darker on the map.
I'd say the crux of this came about with the DoTA hero Nightstalker. Nightstalker is a unique addition to DoTA because he's a hero entirely reliant on the day-night cycle to be effective. During the day he's one of the worst heroes in the game. Decent (But not shocking) stats, a clumsy auto-attack animation and more. However, when night rolls around, Nightstalker's skills and himself receive a massive boost. His skills CC durations increase at night. His attack and movement speed go up.
Nightstalker is (and to my knowledge is the prime example) the absolute apex of environmental effects changing the environment. The only other example I can also attribute is Keeper of the Light's Ultimate upgrade, which gives him massive vision during the day as well as a healing aspect to his Q. Still, these two are the prime examples of when the game's environment changes the field of play beyond simple vision buffs or debuffs.
###Environment in League: "Does the sun ever go down here!?"
In League, there are no day-and-night cycles. Which is probably for the better, as that adds another complex layer to understand. Now, a day and night cycle could possibly be just for flavor (The rift darkens slightly, the torches and the other effects brighten to make it clear that it's night time, possible removal of shadows, etc.) but there could be more to it.
When it comes to weather effects, this is where things get complex. Rain, storms, tornados, lightning, etc. While I don't think there's too high a demand for random weather effects that cause changes to how you play, I do think people want just casual effects. Maybe rain drops, maybe a booming thunder loop, etc. The problem with making these effects have an outcome on the match involves users with lesser PCs (Read: Myself with this horrible laptop clunker).
Users who have weaker PCs will likely disable environment effects or maybe even those with stronger PCs will. After all, these things can change the course of the match and even a little lag will put you at a disadvantage. But then you have it when they DO cause environmental issues, which means you have less chance to react and have a tougher time realizing, say, lightning will randomly strike, etc.
So the main problem people run into is this:
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How do we implement environmental effects without causing the PC to slug on like a war vet?
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Should these effects add another layer to gameplay?
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What about champions that are specifically tuned to the day/night cycle or environment?
With these questions in mind, let me show you an example of how I feel environmental effects/day-night could be done in League
A Personal Example: [SPOILER]
This character is the bare-bones and unpolished concept of my next story. I'm withholding the entire kit, lore and name/skill names to prevent spoilers about his/her/its nature. I'll be sure to make a legitimate example when the time comes however.
With this kit in mind, here is how I imagine a day/night cycle working in League:
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Every five minutes, the time of day switches.
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This change, outside of the possible concept below, is purely cosmetic. There are no changes otherwise.
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Certain skills will force a change from day to night or vice-versa (Such as
's final hour turning to night for the duratio or 
's flare forcing sunlight for a brief time) but again, these have no effects unless the champion is designed as such.
|Hotkey | Skill Effect | Discussion |- | Passive | This champion functions differently during the time of day. Daylight, they have increased HP regeneration/mana regeneration. Night time, they have greatly increased movement/attack speed. | When making a kit for a champion/hero that functions differently, they should still retain some "Universals" based on the time. For example, daytime is often associated with 'good', protection, and general positivity. Nighttime is the opposite: Danger, cruelty and 'evil'. This is why the daytime example is the more careful, more 'righteous' person who bides their time while the nighttime is a fast, vicious striker but overall more flimsy and cannot sustain themselves as long. | Q | During the day, a relic is charged with sunlight and energy. When used during the day, it burns the opponent for damage. At night, while the relic does not charge, using this skill will stun a foe with it's bright light along with bonus damage. However, it will not charge until it is day again. | Once again, when crafting a champion for two different times you have to take into account making enough of a drawback. In this case, daytime is the time when you can rapid-fire spam this skill but at a reduced effect. When night rolls around, this skill becomes FAR more powerful but has limited uses. This sort of trade-off encourages both allies and enemies to watch the clock and always be aware of this skill. | R | For one minute, this champion forcibly changes the cycle from the current time to the opposite for 1/3/5 minutes. After this effect expires, the cycle returns to what it normally was. | I feel that when you have a champion with extreme reliance on day/night, you NEED to have some sort of skill that forcibly changes the time. Again, part of this is due to the champion themselves and needing the ability to mitigate and decide what is useful themselves. It should constantly be in the mind of the champion's player to figure out if this is a day-favoring encounter or a night-favoring encounter.
- Even with all this, we still have small problems. Foremost is the idea that an ally can shift the time, even for a second, which could greatly impede your progress. However, on the flip side, this could also be an incredible tool to build teamwork. Say this champion is out of Q charge and is being chased. throws her ultimate out at the base. While not hitting anyone, it gives JUST enough time for the champion to charge their Q and firing it at night. The question is how much Riot will allow champions to change other heroes, however.
- Cosmetic or not, some people will probably want to disable the cycle to increase performance. At what point do we say "It's ok to change it" and at what point is the foot put down and we go "Enough is enough, no more changing the effects."
- THIS is just a discussion of day and night. We're not even talking about storm effects or global effects of the like.
With all this is mind, please be aware that this is just an example of Environmental effects and what could be done with them in league. I do not consider myself a gameplay designers or a professional who knows what best. All I offer is the Devil's Advocate of what could be accomplished and the dangers it proposes.
###Conclusion: DARKNESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS... 
Environmental effects already exist in League. They're small and short, but they exist. Nocturne's global sight reduction, for example. 
's smokey lil grenade that reduces your sight. These are effects that change the environment you are fighting in without being a physical object impeding your progress! So in saying that this doesn't exist period would be unfair to say.
But that's not the discussion we're having. As always, League is evolving and changing the gameplay. With the induction of the new SR map, I think now is as good a time as any to knuckle down and really talk about how this would feel to both pro and casual players alike.
Thanks for reading and I hope you can help contribute to this discussion!
