Idea for Summoner's Rift - A Vision-Based Objective

The Yetii Rider·Oct 3, 2014·34 votes·8,201 views

Okay. It's no secret. People want a duck in Summoner's Rift. Not a duck champion, just a duck that can swim around in the river. I think this is a cool idea, but I know that a simple graphic change might not be enough to sway Riot's design team, so I have a proposal. We have all these jungling objectives, but I think we should have an objective that you interact with by NOT Smiting and killing it. So, here's my suggestion.

There are two ducks. One of them on the top river and one of them on the bottom river. They swim around and if you click on them, you begin to charge in order to "capture" it, similar to altars in Dominion. If you capture it, the duck begins to swim a bit faster, and it grants you vision with the same range as a trinket on its location. A mobile, uncontrollable ward. How cool would that be? The duck would have a light above its head to indicate that it was being used by the other team, so the counterplay here is "pay attention to the duck and don't gank when it can see you". Additionally, you'd be revealed while capturing, and that would make it an objective that could be easily contested. This would help junglers establish control over their preferred spot of the map and help prevent counter-ganking. Strong duck control would be a useful tool, but a dangerous risk as it instantly reveals your location to the laners and also to any roaming mids. Top duck and bottom duck would also become very strong at late/early game respectively, due to its undeniable vision granted of Baron and Dragon.

If the duck is captured by the other team, it is locked under their control for the first 45 seconds, similar to Twisted Treeline altars. Capturing a duck grants you control over it for up to 120 seconds, after which point it will stop granting vision until it is captured again (unless the enemy team captures it themselves after the first 45 seconds).

What do you guys think? Interesting idea? Terrible? Any suggestions for how to make it better?

35 Comments

RiotRiotForScienceOct 3, 201415 votes

interesting idea

StüdmuffinOct 8, 20141 votes

This is a brilliant idea. Bumping for further Riot consideration, please! (If not exactly this, something like this. Not only does it mix up the game a ton, but it underscores the importance of vision in a relatively easy way; good way to help train newcomers to the game to comprehend the importance of vision!)

StüdmuffinOct 8, 20142 votes

In order to keep it from a win-more sort of scenario, what if there were one duck that covered both the north and south rivers? That way, a team would need to control the enemy's jungle on both sides in order to have full duck control; there would be opportunities for counterplay if, say, the enemy controlled your red buff side jungle, but you could sneak in while duck was on blue buff side and steal it away, giving you a chance to get enough vision to go and counter-ward (many teams snowball off of forced facechecks as it is, and this could provide an opportunity to counter that)

I also agree that true vision would be a bad idea, since it would shut down Eve/Twitch/Shaco/etc., but, like, what if the duck quacked/flapped (audiovisual cues) when a ward was within its vision range? (Maybe not anything invisible, that might be too much for champs which rely on invisibility, so maybe just wards)
Not a pinpoint, but a general heads-up for teams attempting to reclaim vision control, so they'd have a better chance at sniffing out enemy wards? Both teams would be able to see/hear the duck's audiovisual cues, which would give opportunities for counter-counterplay, with teams setting up duck ganks in anticipation of potential approaching champions looking to secure vision.

Hyrum GraffOct 3, 20148 votes

I love the idea of a vision-based objective. I think it would really help highlight the importance of vision control.

That being said, in its current implementation, you're essentially granting the winning team two extra wards in important locations. It turns warding the river back into a gold war, like in s3, which I don't think is very good gameplay.

What if the ducks worked like altars in TT? Capture a duck, and it's locked to your team for 45 seconds.After that, the other team can capture it in the same way. You're revealed during capture.

The Yetii RiderOct 3, 20141 votes

That sounds better, yeah. Let me see if I can edit.

The Yetii RiderOct 3, 20141 votes

There we go, I edited to show your idea. It's much better than the one I had, so well done!

Hyrum GraffOct 3, 20142 votes

Hey, don't be so fast to discredit yourself! This was your idea, not mine.

I'm an engineer, not an innovator.

Duke AnaxOct 3, 20147 votes

At first the idea of a duck seemed rather odd, but then I thought how awesome it would be to have the Demonic Duck of Some Sort paddling in the river. Providing vision and distraction.

Rock RockburghOct 12, 20141 votes

Does this mean we'll be getting duck skins in S5? The Demonic Duck would be a pretty great skin to have.

Duck could change to whatever skin is owned by the player who last captured it.

Jamatrix666Oct 4, 20145 votes

Name the duck "Pong".

So when a team is ready, they will Ping Pong.

#punsofdamage

The Yetii RiderOct 4, 20142 votes

I...that...you just won the thread.

John BerserkOct 3, 20144 votes

Strong duck control

I like this idea.

Lv99 Red ChocoboOct 8, 20141 votes

so strong.

dialMARK4acti0nOct 3, 20142 votes

I think this would change up the metagame WAY TOO MUCH.

That being said... I love love love the idea!

ShadowKnight1224Oct 3, 20142 votes

If this goes through, we can later on have a bird, harpy, angel, wyrm or any sort of winged creature and have it be a single unique entity that travels through both jungles in a loop and can be captured only when it stops to rest at certain places.

Rock RockburghOct 12, 20141 votes

I think that would be a bit too much, really. If there's something like this on the map, it should only be one.

From my understanding, PBE is currently showing two crabs/ducks, one for top and one for bot. This seems slightly excessive since it leaves very small openings to gank with if your enemy has the duck-- and they can claim it fairly easily after a single fight. Adding ANOTHER "duck" in the jungle would make any sort of roaming almost impossible. Roam champs would be totally shut down.

I could see the dual-ducks currently in use being valid if they implemented an item equivalent to a Smoke of Deceit or a Shadow Blade, but those might be a bit TOO strong, as they'd largely invalidate existing wards unless you had pinks up. The biggest issue with the ducks is how amazingly strong they are-- especially given the 45-second lock, which means that you can't be dewarded for that time.

WheatloafOct 3, 20142 votes

"What also floats in water...?"

TioMonoOct 4, 20141 votes

Churches!

P1erreDelectoOct 5, 20141 votes

Very small rocks!

Chaotic ReksOct 8, 20141 votes

You all win the internet for today

Rinky DinkyOct 4, 20142 votes

This is amazing. Something like this would change the game up quite a bit, and make it alot more fun!

17inchcorkscrewOct 7, 20142 votes

I just liked the idea of a normal, harmless duck. You know, the one that quacks, and eats breadcrumbs, and is cuter than a goose? What's wrong with a boring old duck?

This is a pretty good idea, though, except the duck would definitely need a predetermined route. In general, randomness is to be avoided, and if someone's gank is screwed up by the random motions of a duck, it's not going to feel too good.

The Yetii RiderOct 7, 20141 votes

I agree 100%. If the duck was a mobile ward, it would circle the river in a straightforward, predictable pattern at all times.

tagartouOct 8, 20142 votes

I would be for this because "strong duck control" is such a wonderfully absurd term.

Duke AnaxOct 10, 20142 votes

I'm flabbergasted, they actually did it.

It's on PBE for season 5!

It's a crab though, not a duck, but same difference.

The Yetii RiderOct 15, 20141 votes

I know right? :D I doubt my thread inspired them to do it (because they put it out so quickly, they must have been working on it for some time now) but I'd like to think that all the support we gave the idea here encouraged Riot to push it out quicker. Good job guys.

Duke AnaxOct 15, 20141 votes

They have deers and such in the forest, my guess is, they already had the crab as an ambient critter, and the mechanics are really nothing new.

They already had the parts, putting them together probably didnt need that much.

GorgannanOct 4, 20141 votes

It's a fun and cool idea, unfortunately it would be VERY game changing.

The Yetii RiderOct 4, 20142 votes

Is that such a problem? Trinkets changed the game. The new gold generation items definitely changed the game. The removal of Force of Nature, the nerfing of BT, the meta changes constantly with new updates.

I Eat ThyroidsOct 4, 20141 votes

I think it would be cool if the ducks granted vision in a cone shape at their front. or even true sight lol.

Alternatively, if moving vision is too much, wraith ( or a I guess that frog thing now) can be changed so that if you get him, your team members get extra vision ward slots for as long as you have the buff! so like, 2 per person.

The Yetii RiderOct 4, 20141 votes

The problem with giving true sight to an unkillable enemy for at least 45 seconds is that it completely shuts down Evelynn and Riot seems hesitant to do that.

I Eat ThyroidsOct 4, 20141 votes

If it's isolated to an area, especially a cone shaped area, its not too bad. It's avoidable for the most part, and trying to stay in it too desperately could damage a teams positioning. I think if you properly indicated to both teams where the thing was providing vision (maybe the vision range would just appear as a light to the enemy team if they can see him) it would probably be fine. plus, it can't be everywhere at once, evelyn/kha can find other places to be invisible, or they can take the objective themselves.

Player By KoreaOct 5, 20141 votes

it was good idea !!

Chaotic ReksOct 8, 20141 votes

I love this idea, it gives supports an objective to use. My question is: would there be a separate duck for each river? And what would the path of the ducks be?

The Yetii RiderOct 8, 20141 votes

Yes, there is one duck in the top river who swims between the tip of Baron's cove and the edge of the bush before mid lane, and a duck in the bottom river who swims from the bottom of the bush after mid lane to the end of dragon's cove.