Very insightful read. The big findings are that engagement could be significantly increased if the more information on the outcome of the match was given within the first two minutes of the game, while the rest of the game save for the final minutes was less impactful. It also finds that players dislike surprises, and both winners and losers are more engaged when they are behind.
Now the question is what changes could be made to the game to make it closer to the theoretical optimal game?
It also finds that players dislike surprises; i.e large swings in expected win probability over a short time and both winners and losers are more engaged when they are behind.
This makes me think Riot will do something about smite steals. It can feel kinda random and it can completely flip a game on its head.
In general, I think smite steals are a problem anyway. This is a deep strategy and it feels a bit silly that whatever happened in the past 20 minutes beforehand is kind of “undone” by a smite steal that can be a bit circumstantial and chaotic.
Very insightful read. The big findings are that engagement could be significantly increased if the more information on the outcome of the match was given within the first two minutes of the game, while the rest of the game save for the final minutes was less impactful. It also finds that players dislike surprises, and both winners and losers are more engaged when they are behind.
Now the question is what changes could be made to the game to make it closer to the theoretical optimal game?
The first 2 minutes of the game is actually wild.
This makes me think Riot will do something about smite steals. It can feel kinda random and it can completely flip a game on its head.
In general, I think smite steals are a problem anyway. This is a deep strategy and it feels a bit silly that whatever happened in the past 20 minutes beforehand is kind of “undone” by a smite steal that can be a bit circumstantial and chaotic.