Some Hints to Up the Fun

Except when, after a long struggle of slowly gaining momentum, a single Assault bomb jumps across the map and takes the moneyball single-handedly.

Never had it happen to my knowledge, but if they can do it so can my team.

At the same time, in the case I mentioned where I took the ball down myself, I was dodging two RockIt turrets and a Pro as an Assassin the whole time.
For some reason they just couldnt kill me and it was very thrilling for me, and jaw-dropping for the rest.
They were in too much disbelief to get angry at losing after all that.


Winning a match followed by losing overtime (by any means) results in a, Thats gay (but we will win next time damn it).
Losing a bit from the start, then getting pummeled harder and harder results in an, EFF THIS GAME MY TEAM SUCKS U R ALL NEWBS I AM LEAVING drop.

See the difference?
One situation causes the players to play again, the other causes them all to drop.


L. Spiro

You have no way to determine that, people rage and quit all the time after both situations.

I agree with all of this except the bot part. Juice I think contributes to the tipping problem a bit too much but I think that bots (minions) spawning weaker when your defenses are down is an essential part of any DOTA-style game. These types of game are balanced around giving the advantage to the team that takes initiative. This way the game is actively balanced toward not having see-saw style stalemates.


But I FULLY agree on the chat and in-game community issues. This is not a console game anymore, PC games need in-game community building.

I have to say L. Spiro has some very good points and furthermore some good rebuttals too.

Always fun to read wisdom from the experiences of sitting a one to many design meetings on the philosophy of fun in games.

No doubt I have had my share of design-related meetings, but if all I did was listen to the math behind fun I would be a tool.
My suggestions come from one part wisdom passed down by elder game designers, two parts instinctual feeling of fun. That is, my own personal experiences that kept me in certain games and drove me away from others.


By the way I laugh every time I see your name, Salad Snake.
And when I look at Col_Jesseps signature.


L. Spiro