What I find interesting/a bit odd is that they say at the bottom of the post that they assume they'll be done with moderate/value only updates before they're done with overhauls. I'm either severely underestimating the amount of champions they deem worthy of overhauls, or overestimating the amount of value/moderate updates to be made.
From my perspective, there will pretty much always be value changes or even moderate updates to be done as the game progresses and champions fall behind the meta, but once all overhauls are finished, it would be extremely rare to have a new case where one would be necessary.
I think you're assuming that value changes are for champs almost okay but not quite and overhauls are for champs that are horrible. But that's not what determines whether a champ gets a value change or an overhaul. A champ could be horrible and get a value update, and a champ could be only slightly below average and get a complete overhaul.
What matters is, to simplify a bit, what the devs have to work with. If the champion has a lot of interesting mechanics and abilities but the problem is those abilities underperform, they might be able to get away with a value update because changing the values of things without changing how they work or adding or removing anything might work to rebalance the champ. The champ could still be horrible, but they have a good enough set of abilities that if those abilities were just stronger the champ would be fine. Meanwhile a champ could be pretty good but have so little to work with that the devs have little choice but to add, change, or completely redo that champ's kit.
Guillotine is an example of that kind of champ. Guillotine isn't awful, she's probably just outside of average. But her kit is so small the devs decided that rather than trying to squeeze enough out of that stone they would change her kit instead of just change her numbers. The older the champion is, the more likely it will be the target of an overhaul because older champs have much simpler sets of abilities with much narrower sets of effects. So it is possible there are a lot of champs that are worthy of a complete overhaul because whether they are just meh or completely horrible, the devs would rather redesign them then try to tweak them.
Meanwhile, it is actually less likely that a champ happens to be designed just right, but just has a few numbers too low, and they haven't gotten around to tweaking that champ yet. So there might be less such champs than you think there are. And keep in mind, it isn't about whether we think the champ "deserves" an value update or a rework. It is more about whether the devs, in looking at the champ, would *prefer* to just tweak some numbers and call it a day or go back and redesign the champ.
If you were a game developer and you were told you could tweak some numbers on an underperforming champion, or you could put your design hat on and change things around to improve that champ, which one would you be more likely to recommend?
Quality beats quantity...LOL... Still players thankful for the red magneto, Colossus, hulkbuster buffs... At the same time they don't like some buffs like DDHK, Nova, Ronin... Finally a good news in this month... I hope they buff avengers LOL... Most of the... Nope... all of the OG avenger characters are meh now... Hulk, Thor should be beyond gods...LOL...
I’m always in favour of more content than reworks. Except Red Magneto and Collosus hardly any champ’s rework impressed me.
Diablo and hulkbuster don't impress you?
Don't forget about Angela too, casually give an already Solid Champion Sudo Immunity to all Damaging Debuffs when Duped...
And what about Mole Man? Kingpin? Crossbones? Mole Man is flat out sick now!
Moleman's value lies in his current bug where he maintains true accuracy even going beyond 10 monster mass which makes him ridiculously powerful. The day it gets corrected , he will lose a lot of his value.
This is a good change only if the buffs are actually good, well though out & released without bugs Recently we've got some good buffs but also some extremely underwhelming ones in Nova, Ronin, DDHK, YJ & Maw Though I think a better way forward could've been one month of an overhaul + 1 value only, followed by a month of 3 moderates or 2 moderates + 1 value only There is still a very long list of champs who are in desperate need of a buff & this just pushes many of them back in that line But if that means that almost all the future buffs will of good quality & will make the champs desirable fr a large section of the community, then it's a good change Also, if any of the champ released in previous 12 months is buffed (like Odin ws & many others need), it shouldn't count towards 2 planned buffs of older champs
I can’t blame them tbh. Recent releases have been pretty meh on the whole with a few exceptions. Likewise the updates have also been very hit and miss. I’d much rather they released two good new champions and updated 1-2 old champions and all 4 were relevant, if not game breaking, than releasing 5 meh champions because the staff are overloaded and having to rush.
It happens, it’s real life - we’re short staffed where I work and we produce less results despite the boss saying they want more. At least the management here have recognised the struggles of the design/balance teams here.
Last months buff were all bangers, the same with the month before. Bit strange but I guess it's because they were diverting too much resources into this than other areas of game development and that's fine with me if it means the buffs continue to be as good as they are now.
Comments
What matters is, to simplify a bit, what the devs have to work with. If the champion has a lot of interesting mechanics and abilities but the problem is those abilities underperform, they might be able to get away with a value update because changing the values of things without changing how they work or adding or removing anything might work to rebalance the champ. The champ could still be horrible, but they have a good enough set of abilities that if those abilities were just stronger the champ would be fine. Meanwhile a champ could be pretty good but have so little to work with that the devs have little choice but to add, change, or completely redo that champ's kit.
Guillotine is an example of that kind of champ. Guillotine isn't awful, she's probably just outside of average. But her kit is so small the devs decided that rather than trying to squeeze enough out of that stone they would change her kit instead of just change her numbers. The older the champion is, the more likely it will be the target of an overhaul because older champs have much simpler sets of abilities with much narrower sets of effects. So it is possible there are a lot of champs that are worthy of a complete overhaul because whether they are just meh or completely horrible, the devs would rather redesign them then try to tweak them.
Meanwhile, it is actually less likely that a champ happens to be designed just right, but just has a few numbers too low, and they haven't gotten around to tweaking that champ yet. So there might be less such champs than you think there are. And keep in mind, it isn't about whether we think the champ "deserves" an value update or a rework. It is more about whether the devs, in looking at the champ, would *prefer* to just tweak some numbers and call it a day or go back and redesign the champ.
If you were a game developer and you were told you could tweak some numbers on an underperforming champion, or you could put your design hat on and change things around to improve that champ, which one would you be more likely to recommend?
Recently we've got some good buffs but also some extremely underwhelming ones in Nova, Ronin, DDHK, YJ & Maw
Though I think a better way forward could've been one month of an overhaul + 1 value only, followed by a month of 3 moderates or 2 moderates + 1 value only
There is still a very long list of champs who are in desperate need of a buff & this just pushes many of them back in that line
But if that means that almost all the future buffs will of good quality & will make the champs desirable fr a large section of the community, then it's a good change
Also, if any of the champ released in previous 12 months is buffed (like Odin ws & many others need), it shouldn't count towards 2 planned buffs of older champs
It happens, it’s real life - we’re short staffed where I work and we produce less results despite the boss saying they want more. At least the management here have recognised the struggles of the design/balance teams here.