Hey, everybody!
Today's art is being graciously provided by our pal,
Grey Jenkins, a recent VFS Graduate,
and we very much appreciate the help.
So anyway, James was talking to Tom Cadwell over at "Riot Games" a few weeks back and Tom brought up A design concept that we thought?
Was Fantastic it was so evident and so Simple and yet [so] important to multiply our design that
We asked him if [We] could do an Episode on it being The awesome Type tom, was cool With that so the Main?
Idea we're Presenting in This Episode
Counterplay is Entirely Tom's Or at
Least he's The first Person We've Heard Formalize it and so all Credit here Goes to him Unless of Course We Screw up some of?
The Finer [Details] While
We're Discussing it I will Take full [Credit] for Those Parts if We're Really Lucky tom
Will do a talk on this Idea at some Conference Later and give This the full hour it deserves Rather than the five Minutes it's
About to get okay, so what is Counterplay?
Well On a basic level it's the Idea that in A multiplayer game When Designing an Ability or a mechanic [you] can't only be Thinking
About How to Make That Ability or mechanic Interesting for the player who Gets To use it you
Also have to think About how it's Interesting for the Players who it Gets used on on A more Rigorous level it's the Idea that
A mechanic or Ability in A multiplayer game Should Increase the Number of Meaningful Choices
Available Both to the Player using it and a player it's being used on now That Probably sounds super Obvious Once it's set out Loud
But I have Seen so many
Multiplayer Games That Totally Missed That Concept in fact Even Amongst Experienced Multiplayer Designers I often hear the Discussion Focusing on Abilities that don't
Drastically Reduce the Choices of The Person on the Receiving end Rather Than Focusing on Abilities that Actually Provide more Choices
So [okay] any Mechanic in A multiplayer game Should be Exciting for the player using it and the player who is getting used on?
Sounds Simple Enough [so] Let's Look at some examples Both good and Bad
Many of you Have Probably Played a multiplayer Shooter at some Point in your Life Where you found Yourself getting sniped over and over and
Over and You Couldn't Figure out Where it was even Coming from this Is an example of the Designers Failing at Delivering good counter Play
Now that Sniper might have Been Having the Time of his life
Racking Up Kills but it Didn't Create a Dynamic Environment for the People he was Shooting at it just felt
Frustrating and Even if it Didn't have A large Impact on the game as a whole [even] [If] he Just Ended Up getting A few
Kills Over the Course of the Match [it] was a Poorly designed Mechanic because it Didn't Add to the Enjoyment of the People he
Was firing at Now Compare that to something like the Artillery Or tank Destroyer the Sniper Classes in World of Tanks
There are A number of Ways [that] These units create good counter play but Let's Just Look at
One of them
Spotting See These Sniper Tanks on Team A can't Actually See very far so they need other Tanks on Their Team Usually light Tanks to
Spot Enemies for Them by
Since These Spotter Tanks tend to be very Fragile [They're] Enemies on Team B now have a number of interesting tactical Decisions in front of
Them Team B Can Try to blind the Opposing Snipers by Destroying the Spotters or they Can try to drive The Spotter units away from
Anything Vulnerable to Sniper fire Or if Team B is Feeling Really Tricky [they] can lure the Spotter units Toward Their Own Heavily Armored Tanks
Hoping That The enemy Snipers will waste Their very Limited Ammo firing it Takes They can't do much damage - Which means Team B can
Now Take the offensive With Their High damage units Without Worrying About Incoming Sniper Fire
That's good counter Play not only are the Snipers and The Spotters Enjoying an Interesting Mechanic but the Folks on the Receiving end to get
To Feel clever as, well the [games] Made more Interesting for Team B because Team A?
Has That Mechanic Or think About [league] of [Legends] The simplest examples of this are the skills that can be Blocked by the creeps if
You know that your opponent has an Ability that will hit the Creeps Instead of you if They're Standing in the way of it it
Completely Changes the way You play the initial Laning Phase in The Game it Opens up a number of Risk Reward
Choices for you as a Player
you end up doing an intricate Dance With your opponent Where you're Trying to Keep the Creeps between you and Them and They're Trying to
Get you out of Position so they have a clear [Shot] but at
The Same Time You're
[Also] trying to Lure your opponent Into a position where They're
Overextended Where They've Maneuvered Themselves Into a place where either you or [your] Jungling Teammate Can Pounce on them Because they Move Just a little?
[Too] far [Out] in Search of that Opening to use Their Ability on you Their Character Ability has
Made The game More Exciting for everybody Involved it Actually creates More
Interesting Options for Both The Players Playing With These Abilities and The Players Playing against Them it's this counter Play that Creates Depth That helps
Players To Differentiate By skill by increasing the Number of Valid Choices Available to everybody in The game good counter Play Adds
Longevity To a Game and Allows a player's Play to evolve as they Spend Time with it so how
Do We design for good counter play I kind of wish I had A more Complicated answer Because that Would Explain why
We fail to do this so often But Really it's simple be cognizant Even if You, don't have a prototype Ready to try
Yet Just Try and Close your eyes and Think About how your Mechanic Plays
Think Through Not Only How it Feels to use it but how it Feels to play
Against it put Yourself in That Players Shoes and Ask Yourself Does this Make my game more Interesting it might more Engaged in the Game
By someone using This on me Does it Increase Opportunities for skill
Differentiation Or Diminish Them does This Broaden or Diminish the Number of Options I have in Play
Once you do Have a prototype Test again and again and Observe the Reactions to your mechanic
Do Players Actually pick up on and use the counter Play Options You've given Them do they end up trying a number of
Dekes They Otherwise
Wouldn't in Response to the mechanics being used on them and if Not what Can you do to Fix that?
How Can you Broaden Those Options Or Make the counter Play more Clear to your Player
Still Consistently Finding Mechanics That Create [good] counter Play
Is pretty Tough [it] Requires that you think About the Experience you're Designing for Everyone Rather than Just Dreaming Up an Ability that Feels cool
To use it Asks Us that we be
Aware of The Group Experience Rather Than Focusing on a single player or class but doing so will Absolutely Make Better
Multiplayer Games Bad Counter Play Makes for A multiplayer Experience you Just don't end up Playing for very Long [so]
[Thanks] Again Tom For Letting us Talk [About] your Ideas here There are so Many Elements of Game design that Many Designers know Deep Down
On some gut level but don't Consciously
Pursue Because Nobody Puts Those Ideas Into Words and This Is one of them thanks for not Keeping this gem to Yourself Thanks for Watching
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