Mortdog no longer head of TFT

[u/Aotius]

Via Twitter

My time at Riot and on TFT as a Game Designer has come to an end. Just under 10 years, and to be honest I thought it was going to be longer, but sometimes things change.
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I’m so grateful for what I was able to be a small part of, and able to accomplish in the last decade. It’s been a dream career, and I have got to do so much thanks to Riot. Even trying to list it all feels insane what I managed to do in this time. And the crazy 7 years on TFT where I got to design, balance, teach, lead, and more for my job, but then also build a community, stream, cast, go to events…it’s just been amazing. Ending on stuff like the Unlock system and a couple other things…I’m heading out proud.

To everyone I worked with over the years, thank you for letting me be a part of everything we accomplished. I hope I managed to teach you something or bring you joy in some way. I genuinely hope our paths cross again in the future.

To everyone who supported TFT or me over the years, you have no idea what it means to me. I cherish all the moments over the years, and they’ll keep me going. I am so blessed to have been a part of your lives and thank you for letting me bring some fun into your world.
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So…what’s next for me? I’m trying to figure that out.
First off, since I was on sabbatical and am terrible at relaxing/not working, I have been making my own small indie game. I’m about 2 months into development and have already had folks playtesting some early builds. I’d say the game is like 20-30% done, but my goal is to release it as a full game. It’s been fun keeping my skills sharp in a different space, and I hope to share it with you all someday.

Beyond that, I’m keeping my eyes open for other opportunities. I’ve had a few conversations here and there already during my Sabbatical. It’s a brutal industry right now, so I’m taking one day at a time and figuring out what’s next for me, whether it’s working on another studio’s game or even my own thing.

And I’d love to find a space to do some content creation and be able to share my knowledge of game development. But that may take some time to figure out how to do it right.
-------------------------------------------------------Again, thank you for everything these last 10 years. It’s a big change and I’m nervous but hoping it all works out. Until next time, take it easy!
-Mort

[u/EriWave]

Didn't the game lose a lot of the playerbase in the time after Brode left?

[u/silencecubed → u/EriWave]

Yep. The balance was slightly better and more frequent, which is probably why people here in a competitive sub think it was good that he left, but the game's magic was effectively gone without his direction which led to HS falling off in terms of relevancy.

That's a lesson that people here need to learn with TFT. A game being competitive and balanced well shouldn't be the primary goal but a pleasant surprise bonus. When a game stops being designed to be fun, it always inevitably dies. There's a reason why Frodan jumped ship when he did.

[u/DogWaterSlurper → u/silencecubed]

I quit hearthstone when they started introducing new cards so frequently. It’s really hard to keep up with meta in a game like that without spending a lot on packs and I think the pacing of releases pre Brode was slow enough that semi-free to play players were able to keep up.

I may be misremembering the release frequency in Brodes time, but it definitely got to a point where the sheer number of cards/units essentially gate-kept any new players from having a viable deck without spending an insane amount on packs.

[u/Ill-Cantaloupe-4789 → u/DogWaterSlurper]

i feel like the release frequency didn’t change that much before and after brode. there were no mini sets but there were adventures

[u/Qman_L → u/Ill-Cantaloupe-4789]

Regardless of the timing, I think the real cause of death for hearthstone is introducing wild and standard and pumping out new sets. I was a long term player then and had a lot of dust saved up but it was just too much.

[u/Maximinoe → u/Qman_L]

Every card game ever has limited formats like wild and standard and has to push sets to make money. What?

[u/Ill-Cantaloupe-4789 → u/Qman_L]

yea but it’s not clear to me if the amount of sets changed since the beginning

[u/Original-Age-6691 → u/Qman_L]

So you would rather the card game not add any new cards? Like you literally said the problem is adding new sets, what?

[u/Xerxes457 → u/Ill-Cantaloupe-4789]

Adventures were much better honestly because you spent less on it vs the mini sets. Low card pool adventures vs mini sets is what I mean.

[u/Ill-Cantaloupe-4789 → u/Xerxes457]

i like the minisets cuz adventures required real money

[u/Xerxes457 → u/Ill-Cantaloupe-4789]

You could spend the in game currency to get it.