Suggestion: QoL Changes
[Disclaimer: Not my native language.]
So, the all awaited new game (mode) Teamfight Tactics got released. And after playing it for 2 days straight I can say for sure: It’s not my cup of tea. On the other hand people seem pretty hyped about it and playing it nonstop. Good for you, I guess.
Though I’ve not much interest in playing this mode, there are still things that bothered me a lot. Like … massively. And my guess is, that I’m not alone.
This will not include any sort of balancing issues. Cause … no-one cares, balancing will take time anyway.
Oh cool I’m in th… what the heck is this? So basically you get thrown into the match. If its your first time you will be quiet irritated about what happens next.
The game lags, then the center gets somewhat rendered and all of a sudden a few champs seem to appear and run in circles while you find yourself in a hurry to do something. But what exactly?
After just one match you know you will have to choose the first champion and item. But even by then you find yourself in the same struggle of not having enough time to visualize everything. Sure, its meant to be fast (I guess), but does this mean to forget everything about good game design? Hell no.
(Side note: In my opinion the carousel should be scraped entirely from the mode but this specific opinion doesn’t matter. Instead we have a look on how to improve it.)
Solution: First off having a welcome message to the match followed by a line to choose a champion. Meanwhile the game can render its stuff in the background. Give it additional 5 seconds during which the players are locked out from moving their sprite to the middle. This lets everyone be in the moment and make a plan.
Round round it goes without information
In later stages of the game you get to the carousel again. Also you will (probably) have a lot more time to watch it go in circles. If you're that hyper godly pro player already who knows what to choose even before it appears because your subconscious is already calculating what will spawn and where … well, gratulations. We other flawed humans need a bit more information to work with.
While on the battle map we can click every champion to see its stats, but we can’t do the same in this particular situation. Assume for a moment that you need that last freaking noble but you are not aware of the fact which champs count as nobles. You either have a list printed out, tabbing out to look at a digital list or you are screwed. None of this should be the case.
Solution 1: Add at least the origin and class icons to champions in the carousel. Right next to the item that they are carrying. There is already space for 3 possible icons and its very unlikely the to see champions carrying more than one item in the carousel anyway.
Solution 2: It would be easy to fix if you can just press a key (like Tab) to get a hovering text on each champion that shows its origin and class. This will also come in particularly handy since the game will grow with the years and more and more champions (and possibly origins and classes) will be added.
I wonder how much time … never mind
We get timers everywhere but not during carousel. No coherent design philosophy in this particular case. Also a bit annoying to not be able to know how much time I have running around trying to catch up with the champion of my choice.
Yes, the carousel might end earlier. But so do rounds. They show the maximum time that is left for the fight - and in most cases rounds end faster.
Solution: Add timer to carousel.
(4 Seconds left, time to hurry :P)
Damn you, this ain’t the champion I wanted
A rare but nonetheless possible issue is to get the wrong champion in the carousel by accident. The isometric view can be a bxxch at times.
Solution: For that reason the camera should move slightly to get you a plain top-down view of the scenery. This will probably fix 80%+ of these situations.
So, I got the recursive bow. What if I pick a tear next?
The biggest issue of this mode. Either you memorize every possible combination or (again) you need to look it up manually every time. Which means having a printed copy or tabbing out of the game for a digital list.
This is just awful. Its artificially creating sort of a difficulty while you are in a hurry to make decisions. The difficulty should be to learn what items on what champions are useful in a specific situation or time. Not remembering what sub-items you need to actually create it. Because you probably know that you want but can’t remember the recipe. Also if you are new to the game you may find yourself getting lost.
League itself offers a good way to find what you are looking for when you are at the shop. Of course we can’t directly translate this to TFT. But we should try. Especially since it might be that we see more items in the future.
Solution: Lets just have a sidebar where you can hover over an item and see possible combinations and how you get them.
Solution Picture (I bluntly borrowed parts of the artwork from Scarra’s Cheat Sheet.)
Ya! Finally the item I wanted. Uh, how do my champ get … uhh. Help please?
I know drag and drop, don’t worry.
But do you know the feeling having the parts for your item in your inventory but can’t give it to your favorite champion because he has an unfinished item on him? The struggle is real.
Solution: Allow items to be combined in your inventory.
(There is a „workaround“ using basic game mechanics. Swap in a champion to the battle map you would sell anyway, build the item on him, sell him and then put the full item on the champ you really want it to be. Difference? Investment of valuable time and coordination! And the workaround can’t be done in every situation since you might be limited in your actions. Also having to use such a workaround to do something that you should be able to do without effort anyway looks kinda a bit like a design flaw that should be fixed.)
Wish I could remember anything
It feels a bit awkward to say it but overall I felt like having dementia every time the carousel started. I forgot what champs were sitting on the map and bench and what items were equipped or laying in my inventory.
Remember how I wrote the lack of information regarding combining items would be the biggest issue? Ya, lets say the overall lack of information or rather the spontaneous hiding of it is a real problem.
Solution: Show information from the battle map while being in the carousel. This includes your champions on the battle map including their items, the benched champions including their items as well as the items in your inventory. A small summary is enough to make it a far better experience.
Thanks for reading and have a nice day.
