League of Legends: Arena - A Formal Proposal

League of Legends: Arena - A Formal Proposal


I. Summary

    This article proposes a potential next step for Riot Games, branching out from the MOBA genre and into the Fighting genre, another popular genre among the e-sports community.  While still growing the League of Legends brand, it would allow Riot to expand its horizons while facilitating e-sports growth as a leader in their industry.


II. Objectives

    A. Create an Enjoyable, Well-Designed Game -  Creating an enjoyable game should be the key and ultimate goal of any game design endeavor.  It is what keeps people playing and coming back.  As Riot is a facilitator of e-sports, not only should it be enjoyable to play while being competitive, but it should be enjoyable to watch as well.

    B. Facilitate E-Sports Growth -  League of Legends is already pushing the bounds of e-sports, especially in the US.  By adding another game into their line, Riot will be able to further solidify e-sports gaming as legitimate sports.  One game can cause the casual or non-gamer crowd to raise an eyebrow in interest, but several will cause them to take notice of the growing popularity.

    C. Expand Riot Games into Another Genre -  Company growth and expanding into new fields and markets is huge part of what makes today's leading companies successful.  The more areas a company branches into, the more knowledge and experience base it has to pull in for any one area.  By moving into another game genre, Riot would be able to grow their name while simultaneous increasing their resource pool for current and future endeavors.

    D. Allow for Content to be Used in Both Games -  The League of Legends heroes and universe mesh well with the fighting genre.  By using these as the lore/design base, content can be shared between them, most notably the heroes, and could be improved upon for both games.


III. Why the Fighting Genre

    The Fighting genre is already a well established platform for competitive gaming, however, a highly successful online system has yet to be created for this genre.  Most online user experiences with Fighting games involve awkward lobby designs, poor matchup systems, and high latency issues.  I believe that Riot Games is capable of pushing past these boundaries and taking the genre to the next level.
    The Fighting genre is also a very exciting genre to watch.  Games are quick, generally action packed, and very capable of victories from behind.  There is less knowledge needed to understand what is going on, even non-gamers can understand who is winning and losing with just a cursory glance.  In this way, a Fighting game that pushes the boundaries of its genre and brings it to the online field would be a big facilitator for the popularization of e-sports.
    League of Legends is a highly team-work oriented game.  Moving into the Fighting genre would allow Riot's game designers the opportunity to work on a product that is primarily designed for solo play.  It's a perspective that differs from Riot's current work and would give the designers new insight into game creation.
    As mentioned before, the League of Legends world also meshes well, providing a very large number of characters to bring to a Fighting game.


IV. Brief Lore

    As the popularity and necessity of the League of Legends grew, so did the costs.  Where once minor lords could settle their disputes through the League, they have been pushed out and have returned to settling their problems through war.  As skirmishes among the minor lords grew, The Institute of War came up with a solution: the League of Legends Arenas.  Small disputes could now be delegated to the arenas for duels and settled quickly by summoners and their champions, while the larger ones would continue to take the spotlight on the Fields of Justice.


V. Design Model

    A. Smash Brothers Melee Fighter Model
        i. Why Smash Brothers?
            While any fighting game style can potentially work, I believe that the Smash Brothers model would work best.  Though few realize it, Smash Brothers Melee pushes the boundaries of the fighting genre, taking it to new heights.  Because of its more "fun" nature and its ease of picking up, not many have looked into its value for competitive play.  Those that have though, see a level of depth that far surpasses that of traditional fighters.  Since its release, Smash Brothers Melee has had a loyal competitive following that have continually pushed the skill level of the game to new heights.  To this day, 11 years after release, playstyles are still evolving and improving.  The height of competitive play has still yet to be reached.
            Aside from its high competitive value, the Smash Brothers model is also extremely easy to pick up and fun to play.  In terms of ease, the button combinations are simple, doing away with any complex combinations to perform a skill, and the objective is easy to understand.  And, as much fun as it is to simply hit your opponent, it’s much more satisfying to watch them fly across the screen.   The Smash Brother's model has also proven itself to be enjoyable by players of all skill levels, allowing modes simply for fun to also be added to the online model.

        ii. Comparing the Smash Brother Model to the Traditional Model.
            This is a much greater endeavor than can be fit into this proposal.  If you would like to look at it in depth, please visit my analysis at http://snowspotsgamedesign.blogspot.com/2012/10/smash-brothers-melee-analysis-and.html.  In short though, the major point of difference between the two models is that of static vs. fluid play.  Traditional fighters are designed in a very static environment.  Limits are placed on just about every aspect of them. The Smash Brother's model however, is very fluid and by just looking at the movement possibilities, one can see a vast range of options available to play.

    B. Free to Play Model
        A free to play model of a fighting game would be done in much the same way as League of Legends is already run.  Aside from you character and skin unlocks; stages as well as items for fun play could be potential unlockables as well.

    C. Game Modes
        i. Tournament/Ranked Play
            1. Best of X -  Normal tournament model and easily modifiable for time variances.  For online play Best out of 3 or Best out of 5 would keep matches around the 10-15 minute mark at max.

            2. Lives -  Uniformly set across all modes (except perhaps custom games), 3 to 5 lives works well depending on how exactly the game plays out.  Allows a player to get behind, but still have time to come back from behind.

            3. Stage Bans -  Any fun stages or stages determined to be too unbalanced would automatically be removed from the selection pool.  On top of that, each player would be able to remove 1 or 2 stages from the available pool.  This would happen at the start of the match, before character selection.

            4. Character Bans -  I would choose to not include this function if possible.  Fighting games tend to direct players towards having 1 main and 1 secondary character.  Especially in tournament play, targeted bans would be too strong.  However, with the vast number of potential champions, it might be necessary for ranked play to keep restraints on potentially unbalanced champions.  Ideally though, unbalanced champions would be removed from ranked/tournament play while they are tuned and character bans would not need to be instituted.  This would also happen at the start of the match, before character selection.

            5. Flow of Game after Bans
                Round 1: Characters are chosen blindly.  Stage is chosen randomly from available pool.
                Following Rounds: Loser chooses stage.  Winner chooses character.  Loser chooses character.

        ii. Normal Play
            1. Blind Picks
            2. No Bans
            3. Stages -  Selected at random from available pool; still sticking to balanced stages only.

        iii. Fun Mode
            Generally how the Smash Brother's model is seen.  Any stage would be open for play and items would be allowed; just a fun mode of play without competitive drive, much like ARAM or Chase the Teemo in League of Legends.  Sometimes players just like to kick back and enjoy something silly.  It's a fresh change of pace that has no downside.  Some players even prefer to play these modes and will continue to be part of the game's player base just for these modes.
            1. Blind Picks
            2. Additional Ways to Play –  As well as the normal playstyles, Free-for-All and Large player numbers would be available.
            3. Stages –  Selected at random and all open.
            4. Items –  Turned on and available for play.

        iv. Team Play
            Not the main source of competitive play for the fighting genre, but in the few that do have it, it is still fairly competitive and fun.  To note, the internet meme and video fad "Wombo Combo" game from a competitive 2v2 tournament for Smash Brothers Melee.
            1. Available in all Modes
            2. Bans –  In Tournament/Ranked play, the number of bans would not increase.
            3. Character Pick -  In Tournament/Ranked play, champion selection would rotate in non-blind picks, with the first player to choose on a given team picked at random.  No character swapping.

        v. Offline Play
            The fighting genre is currently mainly played in an offline setting.  Friends get together and play while sitting next to each other.  It creates a different kind of atmosphere than online play and a lot of players like this.   As it would only require two people and one screen to play, creating a way in which offline play is possible would have several benefits to a game of this nature.
            1. Latency -  Latency is a huge deal with fighting games, more so than any other genre.  Finesse is a huge part of a fighting game's skill, sometimes wins and losses coming down to frames.  Allowing players a way to play offline would let them practice in a 0 latency environment, a huge benefit for those planning to compete in tournament play.
            2.  Community Togetherness -  An offline mode would encourage the local meetups and tournaments that players of the genre are used to.  It could be used by lan cafe's or even individuals to host and facilitate these events.  With such short matches, and being able to run on a single computer/screen; events could be put together with only a few computers/laptops.  An offline mode could even be created in such a way as to make it easy to put on such events. Forums or a tournament registration site could be used streamline this process.  Communities could be brought together anywhere, instead of just coming together during official tournaments.

VI. Point System and Champion Interaction

    A. Owning Champions -  Three routes are available for this.  In the first route, champions would simply be owned in both games, regardless of which you bought them in.  In route two, Champions would be completely separate and you would have to purchase them in each game. For the third option, a balance would be struck between the two.  Champions could be purchased individually, or as a double bundle for cheaper.  Owning a champion in one game would also reduce the cost of that champion in the other, but not as low as a bundle deal is.

    B. Owning Skins -  Any purchased skin would be usable in both games, as long as the player had the champion unlocked.  When deciding to purchase a skin, players would feel as if they are getting more out of their purchase than if it was for one game.  It would please players, and facilitate the purchase of skins more so than if you had to buy them individually.

    C. IP Generation -  Would be linked to your account, regardless of game.  Playing matches in either game would earn you IP that you could spend on either game.  This would give players the option to play what they wanted, when they wanted, and still feel as if they are working towards their intended goal, even if it is in the other game.

VII. Content Generation

    A. Heroes and Skins -  With a huge pool of champions and skins already within League of Legends, little new content in these areas would need to be created.  However, when a champion was being worked on for Arenas, it would allow the art and animations teams to redo or revamp the current content of League of Legends, as well as create entirely new animations. Extra time and resources could be devoted to new champion art and animation as the results would be doubly beneficial.

    B. Stages -  The main source of new purchasable content.  Just like heroes, free stages would rotate each week.  Players could then purchase a stage to add it to their available pool, with stages they are particularly fond of being used as their ranked/tournament choices.   The flow of stages would not need to be constant, and would not need to always be serious.  Stages with hazards or breakables could be created for non-competitive play.

    C. Items -  Another "fun" content creation.  The items used in League of Legends could be translated to Arena designs.  As created, they could be immediately unlocked, or available for small IP purchases.

VIII. Challenges into Opportunities

    A. Controller -  Fighting games are typically with a controller or joystick.  They are much more intuitive to the genre's style of play and allow for a precision of movement that just cannot be matched by a keyboard and mouse.  This will be the most limiting factor to the success of a PC based, online Fighting game, but not one that cannot be overcome.  One large benefit that a PC based Fighting game will have when it comes to a controller, is the large variety that will be available.  Aside from the large selection of controllers available for PC's, hardware intelligent players have been creating connectors for years to be able to use their favorite controller or joystick setups with their games.  With the rise of Bluetooth being used in most consoles today, those controllers are also readily available for use.
        i. Partnership Opportunity -  Aside from the already large pool of controllers to choose from, Arenas would allow Riot Games to partner up with a company (like Logitech or Alienware) to create a controller that is especially designed for this game.  Riot game designers and the company’s engineers could work together on the controller's design.  This would be an opportunity to create a new relationship or to improve an already existing one.

    B. Latency -  Latency will be another issue to overcome for an online fighting game.  As mentioned before, latency affects one's ability to play a fighting game more than any other genre.  It will be a challenge to create a system that reduces latency as much as possible
        i. Server Upgrade Opportunity -  With the need to keep latency as low as possible, the introduction of a new game could potentially be a good reason to upgrade existing servers or to put new ones in place.

IX. In Closing

    As Riot Games seeks to expand their horizons, I believe that a Fighting game set in the current League of Legends universe would have great success.  The Fighting genre is one that is already solidified as a competitive gaming field, yet the online market for them is largely untapped.  While the implementation of a new game/genre can be difficult, this model would facilitate growth and content creation for both games, much of which would serve a purpose in both games.  As an already accepted competitive genre, a fighting game would help to grow e-sports as a whole, putting another style of gaming to the forefront of competition and solidifying e-sports as actual sports in the mind of gamers and non gamers alike.  A fighting game would provide Riot and the League of Legends brand many opportunities now and in the future.

Smash Brothers Melee Analysis and Comparison to Traditional Fighting Games

Smash Brothers Melee Analysis and Comparison to Traditional Fighting Games

Summary
          The Smash Brothers series (Melee specifically) is a style of fighting game that has unfairly gotten little recognition as a competitive game compared to its traditional fighting game counterparts.  Even though at first glance the series may seem to have little depth, Smash Brothers (Melee specifically) has a wealth of depth that far surpasses your traditional fighter.  To best compare the two, I will steal an analogy from a friend.  Learning Smash Brothers Melee is like learning a new language.  Every new mechanic you learn, every new tech skill, and every new playstyle you observe or create is a new element for you to weave together and create more new things.  The process never ends and the variations and nuances go on forever.  If Smash Brothers is comparative to a learning language, then your traditional fighter is comparative to memorizing phrases of a language.  Memorization only allows you to repeat, not create.  It limits you to the predetermined actions and while you can weave those actions together, you cannot create completely new actions, styles, combos, and tech skill.  That is why those who play Smash Brothers Melee competitively believe that its skill cap is far higher than your traditional fighter.
            So what are the components of the language of Smash Brothers?  Below I will attempt to break down what makes the gameplay so engaging and competitive and why.  Hopefully, I am able to do it some justice without going insanely in depth.

1. Free Range of Movement
          Unlike traditional fighting games whose stages and characters are, for the most part, stuck on a rail, the Smash Brothers’ series uses open stages that allow the its characters a more open and free range of movement.  Characters are not restricted to moving towards or away from their opponent, nor is the distance between players limited.  Smash Brothers gives players an open stage in which they can move freely about.  The inclusion of platforms in Smash Brothers also opens up new avenues of attack that are not found in traditional fighters.

            What does this add? – By having free range of movement, many more options are opened up for players.  Attacking your opponent is not limited to head on assaults, nor is back stepping away your only option for retreat.  As more area becomes available for a player to move through, more possibilities are created that he must be aware of.  Spacing becomes more important in this type of environment as well, it’s not just how far can the opponents attacks reach, but how fast he can cover the distance and in what ways.  Opening up the field of play to 360 degrees of movement adds more depth than your traditional linear stage.

2. Percentage "Hit points" and Open Kill System
          The second most major change in Smash Brothers from traditional fighters is the removal of a life bar in place of a % “hit points” modifier.  Rather than each successful attack bringing your opponent closet to 0 HP and death, each attack increase the opponents % causing successive hits to deal more knockback and stagger bringing you closer to killing your opponent by knocking them out of the stage.

            What does this add? – By using a % modifier to knockback and stagger and death caused by “falling” out of the stage in any direction, Smash Brothers creates an Open Kill System.  Players can kill their opponents at any time during the match.  While traditional fighters worry more about what is able to deal the most HP damage, Smash Brother’s forces you to decide between building %, which makes kills easier, or going for the actual kill.  Because opponents can be killed at any time, this also allows for players to kill their opponents at very low % numbers if the opportunity arises.  As the % continually modifies the amount of stagger and knockback that your attacks deal to your opponent, your ability to combo your opponent changes throughout the course of the fight, what works at low % may not work at high % and vice versa.

3. Simple Controls
          Aside from pressing one button and a directional, there are no button combinations in Smash Brothers.  A player doesn’t need to memorize a set pattern of button presses and controller movements to execute an attack.

            What does this add? – Some would say that this detracts from the technical skill of Smash Brothers and at first glance it seems to be true, but that is not the case.  By having very simple controls in a fluid combat system, technical skill becomes being able to execute a string of moves in a flowing combination.  Rather than a complex pattern for 1 attack, you have to string to controller a large number of simple combination in order to create combos on the fly.  This actually ends up causing a melding of both technical and intuitive skill, rather than having such a large focus on the former.  Technical skill can be memorized, intuitive skill must be learned.  Aside from this, doing away with complex skill triggers allows anyone to pick up a controller and quickly be able to play and perform the full gambit of moves.

5. Lack of Set Combos
            Nothing works forever in Smash Brothers Melee, and very few things work on every character.  Because of the % modifier causing changes to knockback and stagger, different combos work at a different % of damage.  What works at a 30% might not work at 50%.  On top of this, players are able to directly influence their direction and distance of knockback to a degree.  Because of this, very few combos are guaranteed to work, and those that are still require proper reading and executing by the player to pull off.  On top of this, every character is Smash Brothers is different (Hitboxes, weight, recovery, gravity, etc), causing combos that work on one character to completely fail on another.

            What does this add? – Without set combos and with knockback and stagger that is constantly changing, understanding the combo capabilities of Smash Brothers evolves past something you merely memorize and becomes something you learn.  Adding in Directional influence, the system becomes one you must constantly adapt too.  As a player, you must constantly make instantaneous decisions on what move you are able to do next, or if you even are able to.  Through experience, not through memorization and muscle memory, are competitive players able to intuitively perform and create combos.

6. Fluid  and Continually Changing Combat System
            All the aforementioned parts of the Smash Brothers’ style of game add up to create a fluid system that is constantly changing and forces to the player to adapt and react at all times.  There are so many small nuances within the games mechanics as well that when added together (especially when you add in Directional Influence) becomes impossible to memorize.  But you can learn it.  Through practice and experience, a player begins to learn the game, intuitively processing a host of information and adapting and reacting accordingly.

            What does this add? – This system adds extreme amount of depth to the fighting genre.  Compared to traditional fighters where players marvel at and are excited by the technical prowess and frame-perfect block, completive players in the Smash Brothers’ scene are constantly being surprised by new playstyles, never before seen combos, cunning mind games, and daring plays; and all of this is being performed at speeds that surpass most traditional fighters in an environment that is constantly changing.  There are near infinite possibilities within the Smash Brothers’ system.

7. Mind Games
            An indefinable aspect that is part of any competitive game.  Best summed up as using your technical prowess to juke or fake out your opponent, effectively manipulating their movements and playstyle.

            What does this add? – Mind Games are core to any competitive game or sport and nothing really needs to be said about what they add.  I make mention of them however, because of the vast range of movement and options found in Smash Brothers causes it to have a much higher bar when it comes to the potential and availability of Mind Games.

8. Some Videos

Showing Some Tech Skill - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXgpGBbh5r8&feature=relmfu
Mind Games Compilation - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UbQ-gpOMB0

In the next two sections, I will break down a few character properties that are different for every character and most if not all of the games mechanics.  Essentially this is the language of Smash Brothers Melee that must be learned to play the game on a competitive level.  Most, if not all of these mechanics are ones that players will learn intuitively over time through experience.  Every mechanic adds an option to the game and often times every mechanic has a variation or two of it.  In Smash Brothers Melee there are many ways to do a single thing, and maybe options that a single mechanic offers.  A players gameplay must be weaved together eloquently and fluidly on the fly rather than mechanically in a practiced fashion.

9. Breaking Down a Few Character Properties of SSBM

    a. Character Animation - The duration of loss of control of your character as you are executing a move.

    b. Character Recovery - The speed at which a character recovers from Stagger.

    c. Character Weight - Part of what determines the Knockback a character receives when hit.

    d. Character Gravity - The fall speed and ability to maneuver in the air.  Heavily affects the feel of a character when played.

            Because every character is unique in these ways, every matchup is unique.  Attacks and combos that are highly effective against one character can be completely ineffective versus a different character and leave you vulnerable to counterattack.  By having different resistances to stagger, knockback, and fall speed, players must learn and adapt to every fight.

10. Breaking Down the Game Mechanics of SSBM

    a. Knockback - The distance a character travels when hit.  Based on Character Weight, the Attack Power of the move they were hit by, and the current Percentage of your character.  Affected by Directional Influence and Crouch Cancelling. Some moves have set Knockback regardless of Percentage.

    b. Stagger - The duration of the loss of control of your character after hit.  Based upon Character Recovery, Attack Stagger of the move you were hit by, and the current Percentage of your character.  Affected by Crouch Cancelling.

    c. Shield Stagger - The duration of loss of control of your character after hit while shielding.  Same for all characters.

    d. Shield Knockback - The distance a character travels when hit while shielding.  Based on Character Weight and the Attack Power of the move they were hit by.

    e. Attack Damage - The amount of Percentage damage that a move does.

    f. Attack Power - The Knockback power of a move.

    g. Attack Damage/Power Varies Over Time - Over the course of an attack's animation, the Attack's Damage and Power can change.  Sometimes hitting with the weaker portion of an attack allows you to create a combo from it.

    h. Attack Damage/Power Varies Over Area - A single attack can have multiple hit boxes over the Attack's Area.  The Attack's Damage and Power can change based upon what part of the attack hits. Sometimes hitting with the weaker portion of an attack allows you to create a combo from it.

    i. Shield - Blocks attacks, shrinks over time and with damage and is breakable.  Can be focused in any direction, and the player can grab from it or jump out of it.

    j. Light Shield - Larger area of protection.  Lasts longer than the normal Shield and can sustain more damage.  Can be focused in any direction and takes significantly more Knockback.  Cannot jump out of it but can still grab from it.

    k. Power Shield - Shielding at the exact frame an attack hits.  Causes no Shield Stagger or Animation time and reflects projectiles.

    l. Crouch Cancelling - Crouching (holding down when on the ground) when hit by an attack.  Reduces and possibly prevents the Knockback and Stagger of the attack.

    m. Dodging and Rolling - Defensive moves that provide invincibility frames while having set animation times and Rolling also having travel distance.

    n. Air Dodging - Defense move in the air that provides invincibility frames while having set animation times.  Can be performed in place or towards a direction and removes control of character afterwards until hit, or the ground is reached.

    o. Grabs - Grabs your opponent, allowing you to throw them in one of four directions.  Each direction offers different throws.  Can Grab opponents who are Shielding and able to use a weak attack on a grabbed opponent while still holding on to them.  Grab duration affected by Percentage and opponent button mashing.

    p. Running Grab - Longer animation time than a normal grab but covers more distance and is performed when grabbing while running

    q. Running Up-Grab - Advanced grabbing technique that causes a third grab variation.  While running, pressing up as you grab will cause you to perform a sliding normal Grab.  This Grab may take more/less animation time and cover more/less distance, depending on the character.

    r. Running/Walking - Basic forms of ground movement.  Some moves are restricted while running, but allows a character's running attack.

    s. Attack Priority - If two attacks hit at the same time or near the same time, the move with higher priority will be the one that hits.  Affected by the positioning of both characters; attacks that have priority from one direction may not have the same priority from a different direction.

    t. Move "Clinking" - When two attacks with the same priority hit in the same frame, neither attack will hit.

    u. Stocks - A player's lives during a match.  Setting the right number will allow a player to get behind, but still be able to come back from behind.

    v. Multiple Ground Recoveries - When knocked to the ground, player's have several choices of how to get up and when to.

    w. Tech Recovery - Able to be performed the moment you are knocked to the ground or against a wall.  Stops or reduces Stagger/Knockback/Momentum. Quickly brings your character to their feet and back under control.

    x. L-Cancelling - Reduces animation time when hitting the ground during an aerial move.

    y. Wave Dashing - An advanced form of ground movement.  Essentially allows you to slide along the ground while still in walking mode allowing for the use of all moves.

    z. Directional Influence - Ability to influence your character's direction of travel when hit and while staggered.  Probably the most important aspect of Smash Brothers Melee, Directional Influence allows a player to have some control when they are hit.  The right DI can prevent combos, save you from death, and even put you in a good position for counterattack.  It is an aspect that your opponent must read on the fly and one that you must intuitively react with.

    aa. Smash Directional Influence - Ability to greatly influence your character's direction of travel when hit.  Requires precision control and is hard to pull off.

    bb. Fast Falling - Allows a player to increase their falling speed while in the air.  Once used, cannot be undone during the current aerial period.

    cc. Ledge Mechanics - Mechanics pertain to the portion of the game that occurs near, on, or off the ledge of stages.

        i. Ledge Guarding - Attempting to prevent your opponent from grabbing the ledge or making it back onto the stage.

        ii. Ledge Grabbing - Ability to hold on to the ledge of the stage while hanging off of it.  Player is considered in the air for available moves.

        iii. Ledge Recoveries - Available set of defensive and offensive moves that can only be used while Ledge Grabbing.  Designed to help you get back onto the stage.

In Closing
          The Smash Brothers (specifically Melee) series there are a host of options and mechanics that players must understand to play at a competitive level.  Most of these are constantly changing as the game goes on and the same situations rarely happen in the course of a match.  With so much to know and so little of it ever staying the same, Smash Brothers becomes a game that cannot be memorized, but instead must be learned.  Through experience and play, players grasp how to weave the options and mechanics together, much as a linguist would the elements of a language.  Smash Brother’s skill is learned, not memorized, and over time becomes integrated into the player as they intuitively react and adapt instantaneously to an ever changing playing field.