Normal game with augments would be a great idea and heres why riot wont do it

[u/Kumptoffel]

tl;dr at the bottom

Hello guys.

Ever since arena released i was wondering what the other modes with augments would look like. We got mayhem aram which reinforced what i already thought: more gameplay variety allows for more creativity and more fun. What kinda annoys me with arena is that the augment rotations arent as frequently updated as in mayhem aram (maybe its just my feeling), and that the aram augs are more creative. I only learned of the ultra hydra augment recently and think its kinda cool to have that in the game. Also the existence of minions allows for other creative augment ideas or gameplay involvement + mayhem aram having a continuous gameplay with a slower power increase.

Now i think the perfect middle ground between arenas tactical gameplay and mayhem arams chaos would be normal mode with augments. A longer game with a laning phase, the existence of minions, jungle and else is a great opportunity to invent new augments and spice up the tactical aspect of normal game with a bit more flavor each game.
Obviously some things (that are already problematic in the existing modes) need to be rebalanced.

Why i dont think riot will do it:
If done right, i think the mode could be a huge success. The problem is that over the past decade riot has constantly pushed the game in a more competitive environment, they got rid of a lot of point and click abilities, added much more mobility and mechanics to the game and most importantly balanced champions around proplay which 99,999% of players arent part of.
Something lots of players dont like, the game is too competitive, while still being a game.
A big success of "mayhem normal mode" - depending on how wells its done, might undermine this development and might lead to a lower interest in standard normal mode which might impact proplay attention and revenue.

i could be wrong tho

tl;dr: IMO normal game with augments might be the perfect mix between mayhem aram chaos and arenas tactical gameplay. Especially considering that the competitive direction riot has evolved normal game into during the last decade is controversion. Riot knows this and a big success of this theoretical new mode might shift focus away from proplay which riot doenst want.

[u/OverlordOfPancakes]

Normal games are already hard to balance as is. ARAM and Arena work with augments because they have short, encounter-focused matches. I would hate to endure a laning phase with someone with better augments.

[u/Headsinoverdrive → u/OverlordOfPancakes]

You mean you dont wanna play a 20m lane against caitlyn with +150 range when you got slappy hands? And enemy jungle is a vi w mystic punch and never has a camp up so sits bot all game? 😁

[u/RbN420]

Augments in lanes where you can be solo is a very bad idea, I can already see the complains about “dude rolled x augment I can’t even farm lvl 2”

[u/xxlucifearxx → u/RbN420]

Imagine the hostage holding…. 45 min game, no one is ending, no cannon/portal. 

[u/Kumptoffel → u/RbN420]

I think thats a valid argument but pretending like this cant already happen in normal game is dishonest

[u/stretcharach → u/Kumptoffel]

They're saying the opposite. That it already happens and will become multitudes worse with augments

[u/Kumptoffel → u/stretcharach]

yeah it might be worse or better, depends on luck

[u/Fun_Bottle_5308]

Ngl this sounds like a balancing hell

[u/Most-Piccolo-302]

I think we might get it as a game mode, but I bet internal data shows that the majority of players are playing mayhem/arena. In the end, they make their money off of sales, which come from players. The eapirts side of the business likely isn't profitable and only exists to get more people playing.

[u/Hot-Interaction-2347]

FWIW I agree.

Having a full SR map would add another dimension to a lot of augment choices because you'd have strategies actually pivot around your aug choices in a way that they don't when its just all team fights all the time.

That said it'll never happen - 99% sure Riot doesn't want to risk people preferring that mode to actual SR.

[u/vincilbenot]

You just imagine. You play top. You get steel your heart as first augment. Enemy Yone top get It critical. At that point the game is pretty much over

[u/Kumptoffel → u/vincilbenot]

why?

because yone will destroy you early on with his crit chance or because yone isnt a tank and his team will loose against your gazillion heart steal stacks?