I've been looking for a game like LoL for about two years now and finally came across it about a month ago after rage quitting that terrible pvpless game known as Diablo 3. I came across LoL thru an online friend and have been in love with ever since!! The items, the runes, the enormous champion and selection in just about every way imaginable just blew my mind. I love this game so much and only have one complaint about it. Why are the camera options so limited!!?? It's the most frustrating thing imaginable!! There are only two options for cameras and both have major flaws! If i lock my camera on my character the camera is two zoomed in where i cant tell what is going on in many parts of the game happening right next to me! If i unlock the camera I am constantly adjusting the camera in team fights when I should be attacking or retreating or using a certain spell many of times I have been killed while just adjusting my camera to see what is going on. There is an easy way to fix this major problem. All you have to do is allow the players to lock in their camera just like it is now but to have the option to zoom out further so you can see what is going on. Its such an easy fix and it seems so obvious i just don't understand why it hasn't been done yet.
I've been looking for a game like LoL for about two years now and finally came across it about a month ago after rage quitting that terrible pvpless game known as Diablo 3. I came across LoL thru an online friend and have been in love with ever since!! The items, the runes, the enormous champion and selection in just about every way imaginable just blew my mind. I love this game so much and only have one complaint about it. Why are the camera options so limited!!?? It's the most frustrating thing imaginable!! There are only two options for cameras and both have major flaws! If i lock my camera on my character the camera is two zoomed in where i cant tell what is going on in many parts of the game happening right next to me! If i unlock the camera I am constantly adjusting the camera in team fights when I should be attacking or retreating or using a certain spell many of times I have been killed while just adjusting my camera to see what is going on. There is an easy way to fix this major problem. All you have to do is allow the players to lock in their camera just like it is now but to have the option to zoom out further so you can see what is going on. Its such an easy fix and it seems so obvious i just don't understand why it hasn't been done yet.
There's been years of debate over camera zoom level in MOBA games. To answer your question succinctly, it's very difficult to justify additional zoom, as the game was designed to be played at the default zoom. In other words, additional zoom creates balance problems; you see ganks much easier, Nidalee would never hit you with a spear ever again, and you generally will be blessed with much more map awareness than you should have.
For your specific issues, I suggest playing with unlocked camera, but getting accustomed to holding (or periodically hitting) Space Bar to center the camera on your champ every once in a while.
That makes sense where you don't want the player to be able to see everything but when you lock the camera in you literally can't see 500 range away especially if you are on purple running downwards. When I play twitch I have 700 range on my ulti and can't even see who I want to shoot at much of the time. Wouldn't it make sense to zoom out a little further when in the locked camera position?? The fog of war creates surprises galore and allowing players to see what they want to shoot at, or chase, or run away from while in locked camera position seems more of a necessity than it is a balance issue. Your defense shows fault in the design if I am forced to use an unlocked camera or be at a disadvantage why even have a locked camera position. I'll tell you why, so players like me playing on their laptops (mouseless) can play without having to be at a severe disadvantage. If you had the camera in locked position and zoomed out further like I want you would have the same chance of dodging nidalee's spear as you would if you had your camera unlocked and shifted toward her side anyway.
You're right to an extent. Shifted camera does have its faults; you're paying less attention and lose visibility behind you. As a long-time Evelynn main, I abuse this a lot; it's always more beneficial to approach from behind, because reaction time tends to be much slower.
If the game were built from the ground up to support a more scalable camera (like the RTS Supreme Commander), it'd be OK.
My one and only complaint about this amazing game
For your specific issues, I suggest playing with unlocked camera, but getting accustomed to holding (or periodically hitting) Space Bar to center the camera on your champ every once in a while.
If the game were built from the ground up to support a more scalable camera (like the RTS Supreme Commander), it'd be OK.