A new challenger is approaching. Team Fight Tactics, Riot’s rendition of Auto Chess, is now available, joining Dota Underlords in the battlefield of what many are calling the Auto Chess Wars.
Much like Dota Underlords, Team Fight Tactics has been met with largely positive reviews and has garnered a substantial following on Twitch out of the gate, with viewership numbers that currently outpace Dota Underlords by nearly ten times the amount.
Although Twitch viewership is hardly an indicator of a game’s success or failure, there is no denying that the race to become the best Auto Chess game is on the minds of many at Valve and Riot Games.
Here are four things that Valve must do to win the Auto Chess Wars.
Quicker Games
Regardless of which version of Auto Chess you are playing, one complaint that players have is the length of games. Very similar to the MOBA genre that Auto Chess spawned from, a single match can typically last anywhere between 35-45 minutes.
Although most die-hard fans of the genre would argue that the length of games is not an issue, there is still a significant portion of the audience that would appreciate an alternative.
Valve has remained ahead of the curve on this font by announcing that they are looking into solutions such as a Turbo Mode that can be played out in a shorter time frame.
Offering a quicker mode that can be played in shorter bursts would be particularly appealing to mobile players as it would give them faster but still engaging auto chess that can be played on the go.
There can also be changes made to the standard game mode as well. Some of the solutions that are being discussed among fans are skipping the first few rounds or even doubling the amount of gold and experience you earn during the game.
By being more inclusive and adding more options, Valve can provide an Auto Chess game that is more welcoming to players.
Adding a Reward System
One of the most aggravating issues Dota Underlords currently faces is the lack of a reward system. Considering that each match of Underlords lasts around 35-45 minutes, not rewarding players for such a heavy time investment is borderline cruel.
Other than ranking up your profile, Underlords doesn’t have anything to offer other than a congratulatory pat on the back for winning. This is something that needs to change immediately if Valve wants to maximize player retention.
Luckily for Valve, Underlords has an entire archive of cosmetics to pull from with DOTA 2. Those skins can be used as the carrot on the stick that Underlords is sorely lacking.
Exactly how Valve will offer these rewards to players remains up in the air. Considering their previous F2P titles, such as CS: GO and DOTA 2, it is likely that they will follow a similar pattern by using a mix of in-game loot boxes, battle passes, and the option to buy skins from their marketplace directly.
The sooner that Valve is able to implement a reward system, the sooner they can take a foothold on the Auto Chess community.
Quick Updates
Fortunately for Dota Underlords fans, providing quick updates has been one of the game’s strong points. Valve has been extremely proactive in providing communication and updates to its players.
Although, in the past, Valve has not been great at communicating with their fans (see Artifact), they have been remarkably receptive to feedback and are quickly implementing balance changes in Dota Underlords.
As it stands today, Underlords is the most consistently updated Auto Chess game available. Valve has even started an open discourse on Twitter to ask for ideas on what fans would like to see next, showing a positive change in their communication with players.
For Dota Underlords to succeed, Valve will need to out-communicate Riot, listen to their fan base and continue to offer a quick turn around on game updates to keep the attention of players.
User Interface Changes
Although players are requesting more complicated updates such as new game modes and reward systems, one of the most immediate changes Valve needs to make is to the user interface.
Upon release, the UI was one of the most talked-about issues surrounding Dota Underlords, and it remains a lead talking point to this day.
Issues like the items being hidden behind button presses, the hero pool blocking combat, and text size being too large are all problems that need to be addressed.
Given the lack of screen real estate on a phone, it makes sense to hide things behind menus. However, for PC players, there are sections of the screen that they feel are not optimally used.
One of the more egregious UI issues are the splash screens that appear before the start of certain phases in the game that take up far too much space.
Elements such as the round indicator cover a substantial portion of the screen and can obstruct the player’s view of crucial information at critical times.
Simple options such as click to close on certain UI elements, showing the player more information or simply adding transparency to the interface will help correct this issue immediately.
As long as Valve is able to fix these issues and continually implement the changes fans want to see, they will have one of the best Auto Chess games in the market and be able to expand the genre with new and exciting ideas.
Published: Jul 1, 2019 02:47 pm