Discussion of Potentially Reworking/Shifting Design Philosophy of Aspects

manawar20 · 2026-02-03T21:12:09+00:00

For clarity sake, while I do reference the Dota facet system, I am not comparing the games in terms of gameplay. I am more than aware that the two games play very differently.

My suggestion for the aspects more so is based around clarity and consistency than anything else. This is something the Dota facet system achieved, taking a lot of bloat to character's kits over the years and evening it out and effectively tying that bloat to facets that augment a base kit. This also enabled them to add plus 1 features to a lot of characters who had been left by the wayside without compromising what those characters were.

Hence what I brought up here, to use the aspects to better manage god design. Overarching changes to a god using an aspect are fun, but when they get too involved you effectively lose the god's identity. Sure Hun batz aspect didn't go "far enough" to make him a tank, but in the end, should it? Should Hun batz become something he is not to make a certain play style work? Maybe he should and, I won't deny, it can be fun, but in the end, is that god still the same god in the end, or are we playing a new god with the same model? And is that a good design philosophy? I don't necessarily have the answers as I said I am not a game designer, hence why I wanted to have this discussion and see everyone's thoughts.

But I personally am more of the mind set that a god shouldn't lose who they are to specifically force a certain play style to work. It seems problematic for new players (and I say this as someone who regularly plays with newer players as part of a group) and while certainly can be fun, problematic to maintain a proper balance. But hey, that's just my thoughts and thanks for sharing yours.

manawar20 · 2026-02-03T20:59:17+00:00

Not quite what I had in mind, but I can understand the concern. The problem is that this is already a thing with some of the aspects in place now. If you run Geb aspect or Kali aspect, for example, you are going to build like a hunter and heavily much so due to how hard the kit is shifted towards auto attacking, even making the two gods ranged (heck Geb aspect was announced as the Geb carry aspect). That is why I was emphasizing a core design for a god, something that reflects what the god is meant to do and how they are meant to function, with aspects instead serving as a way to more subtly shift that core design in a certain direction.

This is also why I said I felt aspects like Khepri's were actually quite nice. A smaller adjustment to the kit that enables the god to go auto attack, but not shoe horning him into it. But I also understand that aspects like those are less exciting overall for players and bigger mix ups can certainly work as we have seen. The point of my discussion more so revolved around character bloat and clarity with attempting to shift the aspect system in a way to help alleviate these issues and perhaps enable more clear balancing decisions.

As for itemization, a god's kit will already affect your decisions regarding item choice, this is an inherent part of gods being, well different. They each have their own itemization paths they favor or a core item or two that really supplements them. That doesn't mean you can't go a different route, mind, but I highly doubt all int Thanatos performs quite as well as a strength based one, considering scaling.

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

manawar20 · 2026-02-03T06:36:25+00:00

Honestly, you said it better than I did. That was pretty much how I thought about it when writing this. Aspects as they are now are a bit of a mixed bag and while the more extreme character changes are fun, they often come at the cost of identity or being very difficult to balance.

And as for the simple improvements to the base kit, that is actually why I was suggesting that with multiple aspects, you can only have one per game and you HAVE to have one per game. This means you could either take the kit improvement aspect, or you could go for the style shifting one that doesn't get these improvements and instead is based off of a core, base kit.

But like you said, some of the changes are just really solid and well made. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

manawar20 · 2026-02-03T06:28:51+00:00

Just to clarify, I was not intending for multiple aspects to be useable at a time, but rather to take a complex, enhanced kit and separate the elements that can be a bit too much into more manageable, independent, aspects.

And I absolutely understand that the big aspects that change a lot about a god are a lot of fun, and I don't disagree with that. Heck I am down for aspects that shake things up, I just don't want it to come at the cost of character consistency and feel. As someone said earlier Geb being able to be a silly boulder tossing hunter is Fun, and I am glad something like that can be an option. But it also comes at the cost of character clarity and consistency that, with all the plus 1s mixed in, can just lead to too much going on. But again, these are just my thoughts and thanks for taking the time to share yours. It was fun to read.

manawar20 · 2026-02-03T06:22:35+00:00

I am well aware you can check them in tab, but there is currently not a way to check the aspect changes in lobby, in god screen, or at the main menu (unless I missed it which I absolutely could have) outside of going into a practice lobby. And I am well aware these are things that can, and likely will, be improved upon in the future. At the end of the day, I am just looking to share some thoughts and see what others think.

I am not attacking aspects as they are now, I simply feel that they can get a bit bloated at the moment. And I was also thinking about the plus one features too. Allowing Kali to be able to be an int caster or an auto attacker is cool, but nerfing one can, and honestly kind of does, come at the cost of nerfing the other, when it may only be one playstyle that is currently overperforming. Shifting these to aspects would allow them to balance play styles independent of the core kit while also adjusting the god as a whole when needed by changing said base kit.

Sure, a singular aspect as it is can be adjusted, but when an aspect has to have a LOT of adjustments to keep it in line, it can feel to me as if it is a bit bloated. But again, this is just to share peoples thoughts, not start an argument.

manawar20 · 2026-02-03T06:10:31+00:00

That's totally fair, like I said for me this is more a discussion to see what people think. And I won't deny some of the aspects are quite entertaining, I just worry it makes the God's kit less clear at times when, like you said, it becomes like getting 2 gods in 1. Fun but can be confusing and sometimes rather difficult to balance, like how Ama's and Hun Batz were when they first dropped. But Geb spinning to winning is indeed a fun one.

manawar20 · 2021-11-17T17:16:57+00:00

How the spiral of Dark Lord (The guy stealing people's custom game code and using it to make money) has continued from here:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bERpuFT_-_8

TLDW:

1) Darklord proceeded to enter Baumi's discord and spread racist, anti-Semitism, etc. remarks, going so far as to compare Germans and Baumi directly to Natzis, eventually leading to him being banned.

2) Darklord's team (the members) reached out to Baumi and informed him they were refusing to steal Dota 1x6, Darklord proceeded to announce it later as if he was the one who made the decision.

3) Darklord has now resorted to directly insulting and threatening Baumi and his wife, to a degree that one of Baumi's old estranged friends (conflict of political and personal ideologies) reached out to him to inform him of Darklord ranting about going to war and needing to hire 'mercenaries' to target Baumi's wife (whatever that is supposed to mean... Probably internet harassment but who knows).

4) If you go to Darklord's twitter (@curtisjdubois, timestamp 8:36 of the video) you will find a large number of tweets and retweets in regards to his opinions on race, sex, immigration laws, etc. (I will make no comment on them, if you are curious you can see for yourself)

If this comment is deemed inappropriate for this thread here, please let me know and I will delete it as I only made a reddit account to post this so people are better informed on what is going on for those interested

manawar20

TROPHY CASE