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Fixing the Red/Blue (Blue/Purple) Summoner's Rift view disadvantage

Void2258·9/18/2013, 3:10:46 PM·4 votes·1,710 views

Much has been said on the forums concerning the disadvantage suffered by red (purple) side on Summoner's Rift. The reasons why there is a problem can be broken into two parts: Visual, where by having to play with the status bar and map toward the enemy blocks sight, and balance, where the argument concerns the distribution of jungle camps and pathways. Arguments have been made for flipping the map for one side, changing it to be more symmetrical, etc.

However one very simple solution to the view issue is almost never mentioned. The map is currently square, with the side lanes running straight up the sides and right to left and the center lane running diagonally. To give both sides exactly the same viewing angle in all lanes, one need only rotate the map 45 degrees clockwise, to a diamond shape. Then mid will be horizontal and both side lanes will be diagonal, and all players will have the same angle on their lanes.

I realize that actually doing this may not be trivial technically speaking. It may also require some aesthetic work to deal with the rotation and the now empty corners of the map. However it is the most balanced solution to the dilemma that does not require a major game redesign, as, while it does not make the jungle symmetric, it does make sure that all laners have exactly the same view, thus eliminating the issue. The square map is a legacy of the way the WC3 and SC map editors worked, and we should move beyond it in favor of a more balanced and competitive game.

12 Comments

a lurker above9/18/2013, 10:10:56 PM2 votes

Edited report from the forum: It really boggles me that this is still an issue years later. I still have to go with the "Riot Hates Purple" theory. Happy with your unlocked camera, and don't think this is a problem? Check here: http://www.elophant.com/league-of-legends/charts/other?region=all&tier=all Blue has a 10% win rate advantage at all ELO, and at diamond still maintains a 4% advantage. Riot has made several changes to adjust for the lack of symmetry in the map, with little to no change in the win rate differential. They need to acknowledge that the perspective itself is unfair. Unless you are challenger rated you are NOT getting a fair match.

Point: Riot can't flip/rotate the map because it's incomplete. Areas like the back of Baron Nashor's pit aren't modeled. Counterpoint: Riot can release new champs and skins every two weeks, but doesn't have anyone capable of modeling the back side of a rock?

Point: Not enough people play unlocked. Counterpoint: Apparently only 10% of players play unlocked. Last numbers I saw were 70 million accounts. 7 million is a lot of people to ignore. This also doesn't account for how many just stopped playing because they couldn't get used to the camera.

Point: This is a hard problem! Counterpoint: The LoL codebase must be completely fouled up if this isn't a simple project for some dev. The camera already locks, so locking it in a different place relative to the champion shouldn't be hard. Flipping the camera is a matter of reflecting the position vector over the champion's position - probably just multiplying a value by -1. There's not a lot of code involved in throwing a bunch of camera modes in and letting people pick what works best.

Point: Riot does not actually hate purple, but is too busy diving into their Scrooge McDuck money pit to care about anything outside their immediate revenue generators - champs and skins. Counterpoint: Strife and Dawngate both look pretty decent. Both have the player positioned with equal top/bottom visibility. They're still in beta, so maybe they're receptive to input on the camera. Riot, however, has made it pretty clear that Riot Hates Purple.

Cypherous9/18/2013, 4:17:07 PM1 votes

"Competative" players play with an unlocked camera which ignores the issue of the bars and hud being in the way, a lot of games also use the same view league does and have done for years even in multiplayer games so its unlikely to change, i used to be annoyed by the hud when i started because i was playing with a locked camera, switched to free camera and never looked back :)

IS1762f773d4918ba8eb3729/19/2013, 10:59:10 AM1 votes

The points where players meet (the middle of each lane) offer a diagonal battlefield. This is a good thing because all monitors have the most space diagonally.

If you turn the map by 45°, your camera covers less of the lane. Additionally even less space in Y than in X direction. This works well in Twisted Treeline, because the map is longer in the X direction. But actually this would introduce limited vision for everyone on SR.