NURF vs URF community response and what it means
So, looking at people's reactions to NURF vs how much everyone loved URF, we notice some interesting things. Despite being "joke" or temporary modes, the community reaction can teach us a lot about what players desire in a game, and possible directions to balance the game in the future.
The idea of NURF is hated, and despite being an obvious joke to conceal the relaunch of URF, it's such a bad idea that nobody is laughing. What are the elements of NURF?
Slow pace (Taking forever for anything to happen) Ultra-long games (Need I say more?) **Exacerbated resource management **(mana) Painful grind required to scale (last-hitting under the delayed attacks and speed debuff becomes harder) Focus on strategy rather than action: Less counterplay in the moment, more required as forethought. (low movespeed and increased CC means skillshots that normally miss will gain near-100% accuracy, wombo combos cannot be dodged, are easier to perform, and the victim becomes even more helpless during). It's like DotA in here, especially with the costs.
And contrast that to URF, the most beloved featured mode to hit the game:
Fast pace(You can do so much in so little time, a single idle second feels like a wasted opportunity) Quick games (so you can get more in) No need for resource management One of the reasons Awesomenauts and Gigantic are so fun. Adequate passive gold gain Great for ensuring a good fight throughout (anti-snowball), but allowing moment-to-moment victories to count as more of a fixed amount of progress towards winning. Focus on action and twitch skill URF was a huge shift towards action. Fights became more common, more intense, and more fun. You can rely much more on your skill to properly use your abilities, and really turn a fight by outplaying your opponents. Quick-thinking strategy to react in the moment Low cooldown teleport meta meant you needed to constantly reevaluate the situation, and figure out where the enemy all was. It was less about the broader strategy of grouping and pushing, and more about figuring how to roam and where to strike unguarded.
So, from this we can conclude several elements players want from their games: Faster pacing Shorter games Less focus on resource management Less grind Action focus Quick-thinking strategy over long-term
Well, now that we know what the players want, let's look at the current state of League (and throw DotA 2 in there for comparison) and see where to focus our efforts to provide the best experience possible:
Game pace DotA 2: Slow SR: Slow TT: Moderate CS: Fast HA: Medium-fast
Game length DotA 2: Long SR: Long TT: Medium CS: Short HA: Medium-short
Resource Management DotA 2: Ultra-intense SR: Intense TT: Moderate CS: Light HA: Mid-light
Grind DotA 2: MapleStory (very heavy) SR: Farmville (heavy) TT: Smash Run (medium) CS: What's a minion? (zero) HA: Just push it and waste those fools! (minimal)
Action focus DotA 2: Almost never (pre-emptive strategy prevails, CC lasts forever) SR: Rare TT: Moderate CS: Common HA: All teamfight, all the time.
Strategy type Dota 2: Massively expansive SR: Broad TT: Narrow CS: On your feet HA: Reactionary (build/playstyle only)
We have a winner! In order to create the best experience for players, we need to focus on the Crystal Scar, and expand the Dominion mode into a cornerstone of the game. Some nice runner-up victories for the Howling Abyss, which should take the spot of premiere casual mode. Those looking for a more invested experience will find it on the Twisted Treeline, the most balanced experience of all maps. SR fills the same niche as DotA 2, just a bit less DOTA-y. Fine if that's what you're looking for, but if you really are, why are you NOT playing DotA instead? League players have spoken, and Dominion is our desire.
