At over 500 pages of replies from concerned League of Legends players, the largest “WTF is up with Dominion” post on the forums has finally received a reply from Riot, and that reply reveals some pretty grand plans for anything that isn’t the classic 5v5 Summoner’s Rift map.
“Dominion’s fun (it’s fast). So is Twisted Treeline. But they both share one key problem – League of Legends is competitively balanced for Classic gameplay on Summoner’s Rift. Our original goal was to create rulesets that would result in balanced experiences across all game modes with the same champion stats. We’ve experimented with itemization, game pacing, map features, and other design elements. While we’ve had limited success here, there’s still room for improvement, so we’re going to take the plunge: in the near future™, we’re going to be implementing map-specific balance changes for individual champions.” - Game Designer RiotNome
Yep, you read that right. Riot is currently developing the technology to balance champions for specific game modes in League of Legends. That sounds like a tremendous undertaking, but Riot seems to be up to the task, admitting that building maps around champion balance, and creating and removing items for specific maps just hasn’t done the job.
“This is going to take a few patches to implement, but we’re actively working on the tech, and we’re already got a bunch of specific balance changes in mind that we’re iterating on. We’re sure there will be lots of questions regarding the initiative, so we’ll announce more specifics when the time comes. I’ll actually be joining the live design team to head up map-specific balance for TT and Dominion. Remember that this is just the foundation for support – we’ve got some other tentative plans that we’re exploring to enhance both maps farther down the line!” – RiotNome
Basically, don’t expect this change tomorrow, or likely in the near future. Riot simply felt that it was time to let the playerbase know that they do have a plan for non-5v5 maps, and that a solution is in the works.
My question to you, dear reader, is will this fix the problems game modes like Dominion and Twisted Treeline face? The answer seems to be a simple yes, but can Riot keep up with balancing over 100 champions differently in different game modes, and will there be confusion among the playerbase when changes are made? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
“Dominion’s fun (it’s fast). So is Twisted Treeline. But they both share one key problem – League of Legends is competitively balanced for Classic gameplay on Summoner’s Rift. Our original goal was to create rulesets that would result in balanced experiences across all game modes with the same champion stats. We’ve experimented with itemization, game pacing, map features, and other design elements. While we’ve had limited success here, there’s still room for improvement, so we’re going to take the plunge: in the near future™, we’re going to be implementing map-specific balance changes for individual champions.” - Game Designer RiotNome
Yep, you read that right. Riot is currently developing the technology to balance champions for specific game modes in League of Legends. That sounds like a tremendous undertaking, but Riot seems to be up to the task, admitting that building maps around champion balance, and creating and removing items for specific maps just hasn’t done the job.
“This is going to take a few patches to implement, but we’re actively working on the tech, and we’re already got a bunch of specific balance changes in mind that we’re iterating on. We’re sure there will be lots of questions regarding the initiative, so we’ll announce more specifics when the time comes. I’ll actually be joining the live design team to head up map-specific balance for TT and Dominion. Remember that this is just the foundation for support – we’ve got some other tentative plans that we’re exploring to enhance both maps farther down the line!” – RiotNome
Basically, don’t expect this change tomorrow, or likely in the near future. Riot simply felt that it was time to let the playerbase know that they do have a plan for non-5v5 maps, and that a solution is in the works.
My question to you, dear reader, is will this fix the problems game modes like Dominion and Twisted Treeline face? The answer seems to be a simple yes, but can Riot keep up with balancing over 100 champions differently in different game modes, and will there be confusion among the playerbase when changes are made? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Author : Troy Blackburn
