Making sure you find the small wins and achievable goals, and how this affects Double Up in 14.4

With any project or goal, there’s a temptation to dream big. Come up with the perfect solution, the most amazing design, and set that to be your goal. You see this when an aspiring new dev says their first game will be an MMO or something. People naturally aspire to amazing output and want to be that person who solves problems in the most epic way. It’s just a natural tendency of people.

The problem comes when that solution becomes so big and daunting that it blocks the small wins you could be doing along the way. You see how daunting the task at hand is, and it’s tempting to give up or prioritize something else. When that aspiring dev realizes the MMO they’ve dreamed of will take 10 years, they realize it’s not doable. Dreaming big is great, but there needs to be realistic, achievable goals in the mean time.

How does this relate to Double Up? When we shipped Double Up, it was always meant to be a version 1 of the mode. We would learn from some of the unique parts of the mode what worked and what didn’t, and then make adjustments. That’s why it was labeled “Workshop” since it wasn’t our final iteration of the mode. We’ve taken those learnings and we have grand ideas for what the next iteration of Double Up is.

However, finding the time to prioritize that over other high important parts of TFT has been tricky. Set Development, Team Health, Live Balance, etc…the TFT team has a lot going on, and a big iteration of Double Up hasn’t been on the immediate road map. Because of that, we ended up leaving it alone, which left it in a pretty rough state for Remix Rumble.

I was reminded of this recently, so I decided to dive in myself and see what I could do in the short term. And the reality is for a relatively small amount of my time, I could get a pretty sizable win for serious Double Up players. By adjusting the Assist Armories and what’s in them, the meta can hopefully be healthier. It was another good reminder that a little love goes a long way sometimes. These changes will ship in 14.4.

So to Double Up fans, I’m sorry it took so long. This should have been done months ago, but hopefully this helps. Keep me accountable though. I’ll be looking for more small wins like this in the mean time until we can do a larger version. The big solves shouldn’t block the small wins, and I’ll be sure that stays true.

To everyone else, remember that big goals are great, but make sure they don’t come at the expense of the real things you can improve right now. Focus on the ways you can improve your life right now, and work towards those bigger goals. The small stuff adds up and makes life better right away. Until next time, take it easy 🙂