[GUIDE] How to Idea for Dummies

What this Guide Includes

Copying @furtles' guide format
Understanding the Game
Knowing Your Audience
Differentiating between OP and UP
Uniqueness and Creativity
Complexity
The Outcome
What Not to Do

Step 1: Understanding the Game

Spoiler

First it is important to understand that CTF is not a game. CTF is serious buisness. CTF is like that job you just got at the Creative Ideas Institute, you might not think whatever the hell they do there is serious but in reality the people there take their job more seriously than the FBI.

Second, understand that CTF is a horribly broken game. This is important to note because if you do not understand what components are broken and how they are then you cannot design a rework that makes the game more better. Now how is CTF broken young Padawan? I'm glad you asked, because I'm about to give you my official opinion on it as a wise old boy who has seen much of this game.

CTF is broken because many of its classes have fundamentally broken components. Take instant kills for example, classes like Pyro and Archer have the ability to one shot anyone per certain conditions. For Archer, you can headshot someone at 25 blocks or more away and with Pyro you can one shot anyone once they are on fire. These mechanics are broken because they allow classes such as Pyro and Archer to get massive kill-streaks and counter just about any class without being countered well by others.

Furthermore, some classes just cause problems because they are too powerful, an example of such a class is Mage. Mage has a health pool greater than a fed Singed on League of Legends and if that doesn't scream "OP!" I don't know what does.

Broken mechanics can therefore be best explained as unfair mechanics that give classes a huge advantage over others such as Archer's head-shots or Mage's massive health pool and consistent diamond sword - level damage.

Now that you have digested that bundle of Rework Wisdom into your brain read on to step two!

Step 2: Understanding your Audience

Spoiler

It is very important to understand that most people here are from 12 to 19 years old with a few twenty pluses here and there. Therefore one should note that people do not like reading massive amounts of text in order to get to the point of your idea or to the concepts of your idea.

So if you are one of those people - like me - who is just itching to explain every little bit of their idea in a 1 thousand word plus post how do you avoid the tl;dr of disapproval?

• First, don't be like me and type up a million words on everything.
• Second, put a disclaimer at the top of your post briefly explaining the goal of your rework and listing out all the stuff it proposes.
• Third, use lots of spoilers if you've got some big text walls, like I did in this post!
• Finally, make sure that your grammar is good enough to where anyone can understand what you are trying to say. This is really important to note because a surprising number of people type up ideas but their grammar isn't very good so it's hard to understand what they are getting at.

Step 3: Differentiating between OP and UP

Spoiler

A lot of people will tell you somewhere along the way - during your journey into the magical land of reworks - that your idea has problems because certain mechanics are OP or UP.
First its important to understand what these terms mean so you don't have to do a Google search when you're trying to create an amazing response to the dick who called your idea 'more UP than your Mom'.

• OP - An abbreviation for Over Powered.
• UP - An abbreviation for Under Powered.

Now that begs the question of, how do you tell if an idea is OP or UP? This is debatable because some mechanics might seem OP to some people but UP to others. Either way, the best way to think about this is to look at it from a standpoint of "is this idea too powerful?" or "is it too weak?" in relation to other classes or the main role that a class is supposed to play in the game.

In CTF, Medic is a support class, now lets say I propose a rework that eliminates Medic's ability to heal other players. Almost instantaneously a few randoms from the forums and the HG community tell me that my idea would make Medic very UP. How so? Because I removed the only ability Medic has to heal other players and thus destroyed its role as a support class, which makes Medic very weak in the support role.

If you are willing to continue proceed to Step 3!

Step 4: Uniqueness and Creativity

Spoiler

This step can be summed up in one statement: everyone likes a cool idea that has interesting components. For example, if you are suggesting the addition of a class called 'Batman' to CTF I'll give you props for coolness but like IBM's PCjr its not the most creative thing to hit the market.

Another way to think about this is to look at your idea and try to think of ways that it adds something fresh to CTF. Maybe you are suggesting another class. Great! Now what role does it play in the game and how does that differentiate from that of the thirteen other CTF classes?

Step 5: Complexity

Spoiler

For the most part, people like ideas that are easy to understand. It's not necessarily bad if your idea has some complicated themes but try not to have too many of them and most importantly, make sure that your idea makes sense and you are good to go here.

Consequently, when you are proposing an idea it's good to try to keep things as simple as possible or 'noob friendly'. You don't want to add a bunch of unlock-able or hidden mechanics (or something of the sort) that cannot be fairly easily understood from a quick read.

Furthermore, it is important to remember young padawan that complexity is not simply defined by how intricate a class is but also by how it relates to other classes and the game. Generally speaking, you want your idea to have a defined and simple relationship with both of those things. For example:

• If I were to propose a Dwarf rework that made it more mobile I would simply decrease the slowness and allow the class to sprint. This rework is very clearly defined because it obviously allows Dwarf to play a larger role in defense.*

*this is just an example idea, giving Dwarf a big mobility boost is a very bad idea because of the ridiculous power of its sword.

Step 6: The Outcome

Spoiler

Much like the Matrix you might find yourself asking "what the heck is the outcome and why does it matter?". The outcome is how your idea or proposed rework will affect the game. Admittedly, this section is a little bit finicky because it's not very easy to predict the outcome without doing some in-game testing.

Therefore you pretty much have to imagine - hypothetically - how the changes you are proposing in your idea would effect CTF game-play. The outcome of any rework you propose is very important to think about because whether or not your idea is good and might be accepted depends a lot on how it would work in game with the other classes.

Here's a few things to think about with the outcome:

• How will this rework change the way this class works in its role? (i.e., how would a cool-down on throwing Medic cobwebs change Medic's role as a defensive/support class?)
• How does my reworked class or my new class interact with other classes? (i.e., how would a Mage with longer cool-downs on its spells but with higher damage interact with Chemist?)
• Could this class fill in a role that is not filled in by other classes? How so?
• Would people find this fun to play? Would I find it fun to play?

Step 7: What Not to Do

Spoiler

1. 1. Trolling Ideas - unless you like a good joke post now and then, like me keep these to off-topic or don't post too many of them.
   2. Ideas that involve infinite invisibility
   3. Ideas that involve very high amounts of speed
   4. Ideas that involve very high levels of regeneration
   5. Ideas that involve very high levels of resistance
   6. Religious suggestions - someone actually suggested the Jesus class once. Truth be told I've been wanting to resurrect that idea for a while but I can't find it =/
   7. Ideas that involve typed commands - personally I wish I could have a Shrek class that had access to /mute but oh well...
   8. Ideas that are meant only for suicide
   9. Ideas that serve no useful purpose - goes with trolling ideas and suicide
   10. Racist suggestions - one time someone suggested a Frenchman class who's only ability was retreating to the base
   11. Very UP ideas
   12. Very OP ideas
   13. Inappropriate content - no sexually based classes
   14. Ideas that are the same as current classes
   15. Ideas that are impossible to code - one of these is a color coded percentage bar, but according to @NomNuggetNom this is impossible.
   16. Ideas that would bore people.
   17. Ideas that involve very high levels of strength
   18. Ideas that involve nukes
   19. Snowball effects - a snowball effect is an effect that makes a class become progressively stronger over time. These effects are bad because they usually make a class either too weak or too strong.
   20. Ideas that involve long lasting negative area effects - Ninja's eggs used to wreck havoc in the game because they gave anyone in a wide radius of the map blindness, nausea, and slowness for around 10 seconds.
   21. Ideas that involve flying
   22. Sexist suggestions - yes CTF is meant for boys and girls.
   23. Ideas that buff already strong classes - a Chemist buff is a bad idea since Chemist is basically an armored Ninja.
   24. Ideas that make current classes useless
   25. Ideas with silly names

Step 8: Never Give Up

Spoiler

At some point in your adventure on the magical world of CTF's Brawl forums you will suggest an idea that people do not like although you spent a lot of time and effort in it and it sounded great to you.

First understand that the forums are a very fickle place. Everyone has their own idea of what CTF should look like and what is balanced and what is not, and that is okay. When you're posting an idea your job is never to get everyone who reads your idea to like it because there will always be someone who dislikes your proposal while everyone else likes it. I know because I've been that person and that is fine.

How to respond to criticism of your idea:

1. If someone is just being rude and making overly harsh comments of your rework or decided to ignore your idea and post something random you don't have to respond, just ignore it, they aren't worth your time.
2. On the other hand, if someone has given you a long thoughtful critique or pointed out a legitimate flaw in your idea/rework appreciate it. Most people will not take out the time to give really good feedback for an idea but when this is the case that is awesome because now you have a guideline of how to make your ideas better. Better yet, you can start a discussion on how to fix issues in your idea and earn that like!

How not to respond to criticism:

1. Do not give up. No matter how much criticism you get for your ideas it is very important not to develop a negative mindset that you are incapable of creating a good idea. Give it time, and always think a lot about your ideas or suggestions before you post them as well thought out ideas will generally be better received and better made than something you came up with after watching an episode of South Park.
2. Avoid the flame war. The last thing you want to do is get into a screaming match with someone who dislikes your idea. If they are being rude for no apparent reason in their feedback accept the fact that they are a dick and move on.

When your ideas never seem to get any Moderator attention:

1. First off, it's okay if your idea does not get added to the game. I know, I know, the idea of having a Demoman class in CTF that can blow up Engineer turrets sounds awesome but it didn't get added and there's not much you can do about that =/ The best way to deal with this is to keep trying and hope that changes are eventually made. Remember that bug fixes and catching hackers nearly always comes before implementing ideas so don't expect too much when you post!

If you thought this was helpful, hit that like button.

@LordCh4os
@obikenobi21

Peace!

-Admiral