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I don't suppose you want me to tell you why that would be a bad idea?
If you don't mind, I like to hear your thoughts?
I would like to ask you a few questions first;
Why do you think the fences are so clear, loud, and in the opponent's face in the first place; and because it is so loud, how does this allow designers to tune Wattson?
How would it feel to play against Wattson's fences if it had 'effectively' zero visual tell that it was there in the first place? Would there be an outrage stepping into a highly impactful and invisible trap?
I understand that the fences are supposed to be a deterrent, correct? Like, don't go in there kinda thing.
I see her kit similar to how I see Caustics gas traps. With Caustic, you don't obviously see the traps, and they trigger when you get too close and cause a very obvious green/yellow gas.
So why not a similar concept for Wattson. You could have the polls themselves lit up, and then a basic less intense bolt of lightning that flips back and forth between the polls. After 1 section is crossed it lights up super intense like normal.
And to answer the how would I feel question, I get that feeling anytime I hit a caustic gas trap running around a corner. Yet with him, your basically blind and have a health tick down while you're in the gas, whereas a fence only stuns for a second with a little damage.
You have it like half right.
Caustics is more about "Stay in here (for an extended period of time) and die" - Slow and painful death. Wattson's more about "Come in here, and die (because you are slowed and a sitting target for bullets)". The important thing to note is that Wattson's fence SLOWS. Outside of bullet tagging, not many abilities in Apex slows or immobilizes; It's hard to survive when you can't run to dodge bullets. So I would say Wattson's impact is there, but is not being capitalized on. So Caustic and Wattson are fundamentally different;
Anyhow, I am digressing, and let's get back to my main point; The impact of removing ability clarify.
With the way the image you have provided is drawn, the fence is pretty much invisible against a non-black background, or during the thick of combat. Generally speaking in video game design sense, when you walk into an invisible trap in a game, the impact and chains of event that could happen with said trap needs to have minimum impact, otherwise it is an unforeseeable death sentence - it is a highly frustrating thing to play against.
The subsequent domino effect of this change would imply that: if you are playing against a Wattson with an invisible fence, you would need to check everything before you walk, especially if the fence can cover large areas in open spaces. There is this unspoken rule in game design that the warning of a mechanic needs to be appropriate to its impact - frustrating. This is a big Nono. This is generally why invisible characters/assassins are highly hated in MOBA communities.
When you are removing the clarity of an ability, you are forcing the designer to take away the impact - Nerf it to the ground. This is counter initiative to the thing you are trying to do; A long term buff to Wattson.
With that said; The changes to Wattson are looking very promising in tests, so I think she's in good hands.
Well, ill trust the devs! Thank you for the discussion, it was very insightful. I'm swearing now, next season I'm gonna play Wattson mainly and try to understand the little nuances that make her, her.
GL HF <3
Being a noob myself, I think she brings a lot to the team, but the general population tends to play aggressively, so it's hard for her to play to her strength.
I understand your initial aggression, but the devs are usually not met with much respect in this group. All I wanted was a discussion with someone that might actually listen, which is what I got. The "condescending" tone I feel is just an initial reaction to the status quo of this group, so just ignoring it and trying to be more productive was the route I chose. I feel if you give a little respect, especially for a game that a LOT of people love, then you might make some headway and make the game a better experience overall.
Looking for feedback now;
Instead of asking a few questions first, how do you think I should have approached instead?
In the past, I've seen devs shanked by stating why the idea wasn't ideal. So now, I feel like I'm stuck in a lose-lose situation by commenting.
If that's the case, how does adjusting the brightness and noise of the fences according to the distance that it covers sound?
You wanna put a long fence covering a large area? Sure, but the fences will be brighter than the sun and makes quite a bit of noise
Covering only a very small and specfic area(e.g. a door), the fence will be more quiet and less visible. (NOT almost transparent level of visibility)
Want to cover a large area(e.g. Harvester blast door) but want fences to not be so visible? You have to sacrifice 3-4 fences instead of only 2
Now the user is going to get frustrated at the inability to control the brightness with limited space, then you are probably going to suggest to add the ability to adjust the brightness once you have placed a fence.
Also, how as an opponent, do I learn about the different brightness of the fences? How would they tell that the brightness and if the effect have correlation to its impact, and the distance the fences are placed? Also, how does Wittson plan around the effect it would do, since it would be fairly difficult for her to learn the damages and slow effectiveness too?
Now this then place a burden of knowledge on its opponents. They need to know what your ability does, and all forms of it, and how to play around it. This is because it's very difficult to learn what it does immediately, and expect the same result each time.
In short, it's overly complex for little to no gain. One of the first rules of design; Keep it Simple Stupid. A simple character that is easy to understand, and have a lot of natural interaction is an elegant solution.
May I ask the following: why is the melee tether range so long? Players can land lock-on punches from well outside of melee range.
I suspect the melee lunge range is a tad bit higher than it should be, it's a bit too hard to bait and fake out punches right now. Gota talk to JayBiebs about that, since he's the one in charge of live balance :)
You should be in charge (or at least part) of the balancing team…
Your sheer ability to communicate with clarity and clear separation of opinions and facts makes me remember why I do indeed love the DEVs team.
HA. wait until you all get a taste of my designs next season. jkjk.