[Suggestion] @Morello, Disappearing Health Bars inconsistant with LoL Design Values

Yeroban·6/3/2014, 10:56:18 PM·2 votes·486 views

In the Design values posted by @Morello, there was a section titled Clarity. Part of this stated,

Clarity means we want distinct, transparent mechanics in everything we design. When the outcome of a game hinges on a player’s ability to quickly assess the situation, information needs to be clear and accessible.

I feel like this design value is broken in multiple cases of Live gameplay when health bars disappear. Health bars are arguably one of the most important pieces of information required to "quickly assess the situation". The most notable offender for disappearing bars is MasterYi Master Yi's Alpha Strike, but I believe it also occurs with Fiora Fiora's Blade Waltz, although I understand she is currently being reworked. There may be other cases, I have not taken the time to look for all of them.

When health bars disappear, especially when said champion is extremely low on health, it creates a moment in which opposing players have to look for other cues, visual/audible, to determine in that split second whether that player has died or is doing something that would cause their health bar to vanish. This is not clarity. Many times when playing, both myself and friends have had moments where we cannot tell whether a Master Yi has died, or has used Alpha Strike at low health.

This is partially caused by the Alpha Strike animation not being distinguishable enough among a multitude of other animations, but I believe it is also caused because it breaks the mental heuristic gamers have formed while playing LoL, which states that in almost every case, if a health bar disappears, the champion is either dead, completely invisible (Teemo/Twitch, etc), or off screen (knocked up?).

Since health bars disappearing does not fit with the "Clarity" defined in the Design Values, I am suggesting they be fixed for both current and future cases. Health Bars should have a consistent behavior in relation to the heuristics even the most casual of gamers employ. They should be static, always present pieces of information that inform gamers how much health, and (roughly) where a visible target is, until the health of a champion on screen is no longer relevant (dead).

1 Comments

Lneacx6/4/2014, 4:01:45 AM1 votes

Master Yi's Alpha Strike literally removes him from the map. Where would you place his health bar without making it confusing?

There are also other visual cues to tell you when a champion is dead or untargetable: For instance, newer champions (such as Yi's rework) have louder deathcries - which should rise above the sounds of the fight.