Two issues of TFT - TIME and PVP-Matches
After playing the game for a while now I'd like to address the two major systematic issues I think this game has.
- Time Some say the game last not long enough to enjoy lategame some say games are to long. I dont really care about that, it's fine. What I do care about is the length of the individual rounds. The early game round prepartions are long. Excessively long. In no way shape or form you need the full time to decide how you spend your first 2 Gold. The late game round preparations in contrast do not last long enough! I thought it would get better the more experienced you are, but that simply is not the case. The faster you get making your decisions the more options you see slowing you down. You simply do not have the time in late game to reposition, scout and roll thoguh your draws. Especially (but not not only) Econ strats suffer from this.
So here my suggestion: Axe the early game round timers. Start with removing the very first round prepartion entirely. You dont need smart positioning to beat 2 minions! Go from Carousel DIRECTLY into the first fight! In round two you also dont need time. 5s-10s are MORE than enough to buy your second Champ especially since you're able to think things through while fighting. Same is true for round number 3. From there your options increase and likewise should the time you have to choose increase and scale up in a linear fashion. Since I dont have data other than my personal experience and the impressions of friends I wont throw around made up numbers. You get the idea. Short, fast paced early game and a strategic late game is what I aim for.
I dont think this approach has any cons (but one, I'll tak about that) - As a new player I never felt overwhelmed during the first 10 rounds and while I think there are some who are this should end after your first 5 games - but a ton of pros. not only makes it feel the game fresh since it leads to more of the stuff that's fun - watching your units fight and your gameplan work out. It also significantly decreases game duartion for those who were not blessed by RNGesus or simply do bad. Early eliminations would feel alot less like wasted time and late game you should no longer loose simply because you were unable to burn through your resources and position your selfe accordingly.
The only actual downside I see here is a stale lategame for those who already burned everything and simply want into the next fight. Simple solution: Add a "Ready" button. While not very to shorten early (you cant expect all 8 to press it, it would be a nice tool for endgame. A bold one sure, it's basicly says "come at me" (which is why I think you should be able to revoke you "Ready" if you see you opponent repostion - especially in 1v1s)
(That being said I think scouting and the split second panic repostions in endgame is an issue in itselfe but one I wont talk about here)
- PVP-Matches, Ingame Matchmaking. It happened to you, it happened to me. Fighting the same big dude 2, 3, hell even 4 times in a row! Not in Late where only 3-4 players are left, but early where you have 5-7 OTHER opponents! That's plain and simple BS. No excusses. Period.
I don't have any deeper insight how this system works. And everytime I think I got it I'm prooven wrong one game later... Does it try to let everyone face al other players before meeting the first one again? Definitely not. Does it try to match High-HPs with High-HPs and Low-HPs with Low-HPs? Well maybe... but why do I never face the #2 when I'm at #1 for centuries in some games!
Since I don't know how it works or how it's supposed to work, I can't really make any valid suggestions. So please: Make it fair. Make it clear. Make it understandable. Thanks!
You don't have to show us each opponent before we face him (that has other issues), neither do you hae to creat a system where the experienced players know who they're going to face (that would be unfair). But creating one where can guess your next opponent is something I'd like to see. (like: Hey next round I'm going to face one of this 3 guys)
So those are my thought on the systematic issues TFT players currently face. What do you gyus think about this - do you consider the stuff I mentioned an issue at all?
