Hey folks,
A lot of you have suggested adding Draft modes to DB over the last year or so, similar to how the MOBA games allow Drafting of heroes and champions into teams, and it’s been something we’ve been discussing on and off for a long time. I’d be interested to get more information on how you’d expect something like this to work. For those of you who have suggested it before, what were you expecting of Drafting in DB when you suggested it?
Thanks 
In order for drafting to work you will need double the amount of mercs…
There will also need to be Bans then… Basically copy LOL! HAHAH!
No duplicate mercs then? Eeek…
I do like the idea of the draft but something would need to be created that is unique to DB… You currently have a 3 merc load out and a draft could possible have you pick 3 different types of mercs…
Wow so many possibility… Cant wait to see what people say!
Is that the pre-match process where each team takes turn banning and selecting the types of characters (champions) that cannot/will play in the match?
I never fully understood the logic behind, or the fun, in public games, when it comes to the banning part. I mean, to do a good, strategic ban, you more or less need to “know” what characters the enemy team prefers. (To prevent them from excelling.) But how is that possible in pub games, where you have no clue what characters the enemy wants to play? (In competition, where teams are known on beforehand, it is a different story.)
Nevertheless, introducing some sort of version of all this, can be worth testing.
You’re welcome :stroggtapir:
For drafting to even make sense Mercs would need more impacting abilities, really an ultimate style ability as well, and a counter/synergy ability system would also need to exist. Otherwise you’d just end up banning their favored mercs and picking your own, which isn’t enough to justify having the mode. I’d expect this to function like it does in LoL.
A lot of what I would mention now has been said before:
The mercs have no real counter-picks or abilities which such huge impacts in the game, that you would pick or ban certain mercs.
Drafting needs A LOT of new mercs.
Matchmaking with preferable roles ( Heal, Soldier, Sniper, engineer ) would be an idea.
So that a team has at least one of a class for the right situation.
Please have an eye on the “Team-Builder” in League of Legends. I like this mode very much and it would currently fit better then drafting.
I was really looking for drafting, but I can not see the sense for this game in the current situation. We still struggle with the most basic things so that I cant even imagine how drafting would change the game right now.
What I hope for:
Further improvement of maps/gunfights (basic stuff) -> Then matchmaking makes its way into the game -> With matchmaking and ranks there comes tactical awareness -> Drafting slowely makes its way into the game.
I would say for this game that picks and bans is overkill. In terms of sophistication the mercs don’t offer the same thing a champion does in a MOBA (hate this term) in terms of strategy.
In terms of a draft I think it would be really interesting to see how having only 3 mercs per player and no duplicates per team would work out. Teams would have to prepare for an attacking and defending rounds and may have to work with mercs they are less confident with to let someone on there team who is stronger with a merc take it into the game instead of it just sitting in there deck. I would suggest this would be better from my experience of the game at least.
What if you frame it in terms of TF2 Highlander mode, rather than comparing directly to MOBA drafts?
Whilst we don’t have many hard counters and uber synergies right now I can still personally think of places in specific maps where I’d really want a Aura+Rhino push, or Vasilli’s HBS followed up by Nader spam to clear a space.
[QUOTE=Anti;514035]What if you frame it in terms of TF2 Highlander mode, rather than comparing directly to MOBA drafts?
Whilst we don’t have many hard counters and uber synergies right now I can still personally think of places in specific maps where I’d really want a Aura+Rhino push, or Vasilli’s HBS followed up by Nader spam to clear a space.[/QUOTE]
The only think I can think here is you’ll have 1000 medics waiting to play and no recons.
[QUOTE=Anti;514035]What if you frame it in terms of TF2 Highlander mode, rather than comparing directly to MOBA drafts?
Whilst we don’t have many hard counters and uber synergies right now I can still personally think of places in specific maps where I’d really want a Aura+Rhino push, or Vasilli’s HBS followed up by Nader spam to clear a space.[/QUOTE]
If push came to shove, I would not complain at all if you completely ripped off highlander mode and put in DB.
As for a twist… no idea, I never played Highlander mode.
my only suggestion is to make defensive mercs for defenders and offensive mercs for attack.
[QUOTE=DJswirlyAlien;514037]If push came to shove, I would not complain at all if you completely ripped off highlander mode and put in DB.
As for a twist… no idea, I never played Highlander mode.[/QUOTE]
Big difference here though, Highlander mode actually works in TF2 because the game (and maps to a certain degree) itself’s actually allows for massive individual plays in a 9v9 and huge brawls without ever feeling too cramped. Simple because the difference between each class is so huge and varied. This combined with the amounts of unlucks (even though 98% of them are complete crap) simply make it work.
No point in a draft system because mercs arent unique enough to warrant it
not necessarily a bad thing i personally prefer this game to be more shooter than moba but no point drafting such samey characters
[QUOTE=k0k0nat;514106]http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Team_Builder
For matchmaking ^.^[/QUOTE]
That’s incredibly sophisticated but it also takes away the need to improvise, be creative or try something unique. For LoL that system makes sense due to the low variance that is allowed between playstyles. One player doing something wrong and the whole team loses.
For DB I hope that there’s much more room for non-balanced teams. And I also hope that the system encourages specialised teams rather than neatly balanced yet stale team compositions.
[QUOTE=tokamak;514145]That’s incredibly sophisticated but it also takes away the need to improvise, be creative or try something unique. For LoL that system makes sense due to the low variance that is allowed between playstyles. One player doing something wrong and the whole team loses.
For DB I hope that there’s much more room for non-balanced teams. And I also hope that the system encourages specialised teams rather than neatly balanced yet stale team compositions.[/QUOTE]
The matchmaking in DB should make sure, that there is a least ONE player that has a fitting merc loadout for the specific map. There is also enough time to chat etc. in the Team Builder in LOL. plus u finally have to accept the team decisions. ( You can leave without any penalties, if u did not accept the team build).
I would not want to play with people that try to repair a tank without having an engi. in the team.
Well since I first entered the closed beta I have been trying to plant the seed of a draft mode so this could be a long one…
First off, lets look at the reasons why a draft mode will NOT work…
Right now we simply do not have enough Mercs, especially when it comes to Mercs that are adept in certain roles (Engineer and Medic). I feel it is expected that both teams would like to run a double medic setup most of the time and this would require a minimum of 4 medics to even be possible but 6 to 8 medics to be optimal but maybe more if you look at the idea of bans. The limited pool of Mercs that a player has available is also an issue… In the short term you could do the TF2 Highlander style draft mode and save full draft with bans for higher level (lets say you need to be level 30+ and have access to all Mercs before you can enter). Finally we would need a robust reporting/punishment system (maybe surrender?) to reduce issues. This is something a lot of “smaller” F2P games have struggled with due to fear of losing players, however I do not feel the people causing issues are likely to be the same people spending lots of money so this is something to weigh up looking at some research.
Part of me really wants to just snatch a TF2 Highlander style mode from you guys. However, there are some rather big downsides to only committing to Highlander rather than full Draft. One of the biggest ones is really dependent on how much you would push for a Draft mode before release. If the “expected” way to play was a out and out draft mode you would be able to drop the idea of multiple skins per skin and have much more creative freedom with the skins designs. A full Draft mode would also allow for a much wider range of tactics to be employed and a much more dynamic meta forming. With the TF2 Highlander format we will likely see the same selections come out game after game… Most likely something like Vasseli, Sawbones, Aura, Bushwhacker and Skyhammer, Not saying that this would be the exact team but it would not be far off. In this case I am afraid you would be more likely to see strange strats with the current system due to the ability to pick strange combos with very little risk. Saying that, I still do not like the current system all that much due to lack of commitment required and the flexibility turning almost into randomness. Taking a Rhino for a whole match on the other hand… BIG commitment. I think basically the one thing that both Draft and TF2 Highlander have over the current system is making players use Mercs outside of their optimal setting. This is something I really like the idea of from a Player, Spectator and YouTubers point of view. Please understand when I talk about the TF2 Highlander mode I am doing so in the assumption that you cannot switch to other Mercs mid game and the 5 players would each fill one of the 5 roles (Medic, Field Ops, Engineer, Solly and Recon)
There is one thing I hear a lot whenever this kinda talk comes up and that is “Takes away options and creativity” and whilst I understand the logic behind thinking that, its not really that simple. A choice you are forced to make is not really a choice… Sure, it looks like a choice and tastes like a choice but in the end its just an optimal strategy. Very few people would take a Proxy on an objective with no need for a Engineer or lost of close range, so switching Merc away from a Proxy to something like a Fragger was not really a choice but more a kind of requirement. When drafting the choice to take a Proxy knowing that shes great on 2 of the 3 objectives but rubbish on 1 is much more meaningful and much more of a real choice. Not to forget that when playing Proxy on a objective you are not suited for, you have to be creative in order to make it work.
Actually… I would be interested for one of the devs to post up the average number of Merc changes per player per match and the average amount of time spent on each of the Mercs in the squad during the duration of a match.
Personally, the biggest reason that I switch Mercs in a round is due to trust…
I simply do not trust my team to defuse an objective, repair the EV or stop the EV. Knowing that I change my Merc quite often during a single match made me wonder what the effects of doing so would be… Honestly, I think the ability to “do everything” has almost removed my need to trust my team but at the same time I also believe its made me more frustrated with my team in general. Switching to Bushwhacker so I can repair the EV that no one has bothered with for 5 min only to have 2 other engineers come up behind me and start repairing at the same time is beyond frustrating for me. Also, it is quite easy to blame yourself for each and every loss due to your ability to be the objective player. I actually envy players like Freze who never play the objective and just go for kills but its just not me… Whilst having a horrible engineer will be very frustrating in a random draft game, at least its not my fault… Whilst adding team pressure I believe a draft mode actually lowers personal pressure. I feel that the current game lacks any real feeling of team work as you will often become the team yourself when something needs to be done. Having to switch to a engineer to defuse a bomb in a situation where if I could have played a Fragger or Sawbones I would have been able to clear the enemy for a team mate, has honestly cost most of us more matches then we would care to count.
So, in conclusion…
I would absolutely love a full on Draft mode with Picks and Bans in future. First off I think a basic Draft mode without bans and even before that a TF2 Highlander style hybrid where you pick one of each Merc per team and stick to it for the duration of the map… I would keep matchmaking simple and allow teams to run dumb combos if they so desire as this would be best for low player numbers (start of open beta and such). Maybe later on after you get some data on how things are going then look into tweaking and maybe adding more options. Maybe have a preference style screen where you choose the roles you PREFER and try and match teams based on that. But yea…
Give us Turtle, Javalin, Phantom, Sparks, Kira, Aimee and Tesla and get this going 
isnt there enough mercs to draft single mercs?
So everyone picks 1, and you are stuck with them for the match?
[QUOTE=Shiv;514524]isnt there enough mercs to draft single mercs?
So everyone picks 1, and you are stuck with them for the match?[/QUOTE]
not really if you want it to be “fair” and “fun”
For instance there is only currently 3 medics in the game…
Most teams will choose to roll with 2 so one team ends up at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to certain strats.
Same with the engineers…
You would not always want to take a shotgun Merc.
Also if one team grabs both Thunder and Fragger it could be quite harsh!
So… Technically yea its possible but it would not be fun and fair 
To make drafting interesting you have to add more characters and abilities that synergise well with eachother. symbiotic classes like aura and rhino are an example. You want the element that MOBA games have where your team is trying to get combo 1 for your team, while predicting that the enemy team might be going for combo 2 because combo 2 is very effective versus combo 1 and so on.
I don’t think this will happen in DB as it is now since the characters are still farily shallow.