[Analysis] Jungle Timers: the REAL argument

This post is pretty related to this post, we just approach the issue from different angles.

####Premise: We're all OK with the current implementation, where timestamps are given in chat.

From here, I'm going to go step-by-step and show that there is only one argument to be made for why jungle timers are a bad idea. This will let us talk about that argument specifically, so perhaps as a community we can come to an agreement. At the end of this post, I'll give my personal opinion.

What if, when you killed dragon, the time it respawns flashed briefly on your screen, but didn't reappear?

I can't see any argument you can make why that would be a bad thing.

• Is the knowledge that dragon takes 6 minutes to respawn, a skill? No; If you don't know that, it's a problem with LoL not teaching you well enough, not a lack of skill.
• What about, the ability to do the math for when drag will be up, is that a skill? Well, yes, but LoL isn't a game focused around your ability to do quick addition.

Ok, let's take it a step further:

What if dragon respawn time were timestamped in chat?

• Is typing the calculated time into chat, skill? I don't think anybody will argue this is anything but copying.

Another step further:

What if timers were posted on your screen (ie, “drag up at 20:34”) but you weren't given a countdown?

• Is it skill, to be able to scroll up in chat? I don't think there's any argument to be made here, either.

And the final step:

What if you were given a countdown timer?

This is the same question as earlier: is quick addition, a relevant skill to LoL? Again, no.

I'm not done. In fact...

#I've made a huge ommision!

####In fact, my ommision is the only valid argument to be made. I'll explain by example.

Consider a Wood 9 support: He watched the LCS, so he knows he should rush sightstone. But he never places a single ward from it. Placing the ward doesn't take any skill. Remembering to place it, does.

This is the same argument to be made for timers; while it may not take any skill to track them, remembering to do so, does take skill.

There's also another, related, argument to be made: that as long as these things take time, you have to make time to do them. If you spend your time typing drag timers, you're not doing other things, like buying items or pushing a lane. The choice, "Do I take the time to write a drag timer, or do I wait until I'm walking back to lane, and risk forgetting?" is a strategic one.

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So that's the argument. Now here's my counterargument.

###The Minimap.

Let's pretend for a minute that the Minimap didn't exist, but Riot was considering adding it. There's an argument going on, about whether it decreases the skill cap required for League.

Side 1: The minimap should totally be added. It's all information you can already find by scrolling around the map, so we should make that info more accessable.

Side 2: The minimap should NOT be added. Yes, you have that information, but you have to be looking at the right place, at the right time, to get it. If you don't have map awareness, you're not going to see information. Plus, it makes avoiding ganks waaay too easy, because you can see the jungler coming on your minimap. If you're not checking the river, you deserve to get ganked!

Think about it – if you didn't know what it's like to have a minimap, Side 2 totally makes sense.

But since we do know what it's like, we know that Side 2's argument just doesn't hold up.

• Bad players don't use their minimap, and still have bad awareness.

This is the direct counter-argument. The same way you need to remember to type out a drag timer, you need to remember to look at a drag timer. Does it take less work? Of course. Does that mean more players will do it? Probably. Could you make an argument that it decreases the skill cap? Yes, except for this:

Sometimes, I'll look back for the drag timer I typed in chat, but I won't be able to find it in time. In fact, I often don't type out timers, simply because I'm bad at spotting them, and I can't afford to take 10-15 seconds of gameplay time to find them. As someone who would type them out, does that make me a worse player? It makes me blind, but not a worse player, I think. The worse player, who doesn't type jungle timers, also won't use the timers that they're given. And if they do, here's the second point:

• Other bad players use their minimap, but still make the wrong decisions.

A bad Ashe sees Vi coming to gank her, but decides to stick around for an extra cs or two before retreating to turret, and dies for it. GG EZ.

You're a top laner. You have low HP (you need to back), have teleport up, and see that drag will be up in a minute. If you're good, you'll go back, head to help with dragon, then teleport top. If you're bad, you'll ignore drag and go stright to top. It's actually debatable which of these is the right decision, based on other factors in the game, but the point is that there's a decision to be made, which takes skill.

This is actually the point that Riot has been making: It's not knowing the information that takes skill, it's what you do with it.

As a third and final point, the decision to spend time typing a drag timer, is essentially the same decision as spending time looking at other lanes instead of your own.

• The point is that these aren't decisions you should be making. You should be thinking, "After drag, do we push mid, or go back?" or "Do I run from this gank, or turn to fight?" NOT whether it's worth the time to do something.

This is Riot's other point, You should be fighting your opponents, not the game.

So there's my analysis, and my opinion. Thoughts?

Cheers,
Hyrum Graff