History
Nearly twenty-six years ago, this June, is when the world was introduced to not just the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but the new game, Quidditch. Quidditch has been a big hit among fans since its debut, having its own game released back in 2003, Quidditch World Cup.
Quidditch World Cup featured the four Hogwarts houses, choosing one to play throughout the “year”. Once you have finished the challenges and the year, winning the Quidditch house cup, you are then able to move on to the World Cup, choosing different countries to play in and make your way to winning the World Cup.
Since then Quidditch has been adapted for College games and actual World Cups, but never received another stand-alone game. While Quidditch did reach many colleges and a World Cup Association was created, due to the situation J.K Rowling is involved with, that same Association has changed the name Quidditch to “Quadball”.
At long last, in the near future, there is another quidditch game. There is no set release date, however, they just launched their first playtest.
What We Know
Not a whole lot has been shared about the game itself in terms of what to expect with any customizations, how the game will play out, or if the “solo” play is PVE/Story or just queuing alone for random teammates.
One aspect we do know is it will be Team based on competitive Multiplayer. Much like Century: Age of Ashes, or Overwatch 2, Valorant. They have also promised character customization, which hopefully is better than what Hogwarts Legacy had. We know, as custom to Quidditch teams, it will be 7 vs 7, one keeper, one seeker, two beaters, and three chasers.
Expectations with the Community(Theories)
Due to the lack of information, and the first playtest underway with an NDA enclosed, there can only be speculations and theories as to what to expect, and as usual, the fans are always full of them. In this section, I’ll break down the current departments, with what the fans think, and a separate one for my thoughts.
Character Customization
Community
Many are baffled by the concept of customization with teams and how this, in particular, could be acquired. Some wondered how team colors were chosen, whether at random, by team “captain” or if the team voted beforehand, much like the team would vote who no one could play in League.
There was also some hope for paler skin, some said darker as well as pale or white eyes to give the sense of the character being blind. Very few expressed an interest in being able to take a photo of themselves and have the game create the player with it.
Author's Thoughts
Having been disappointed in Hogwarts Legacy’s character creation, I had hoped this game will provide better options. However, some of what the community expressed is not entirely out of the realm of possibilities. The Developers very well could add fully customizable characters to a multiplayer game and still have players be on the same team.
World of Warcraft is a perfect example, in that you can have your character decked out in any outfit, transmoged or not, join other players, and run through the story.
In most FPS games, you have different-skinned characters, but the definitive way of knowing who is on your team, is the outline around them, and health bars above their heads. Having a fully customized character from head to toe, and not having a “team color” is 100% viable given what other games provide.
However, with Quidditch Champions, it does suggest that this goes beyond just the simple Quidditch House Cup or the World Cup(unlikely) but with this in mind, it would be completely out of the realm of Quidditch authenticity. The best possibility is to have the team colors randomly chosen. alternatively, creating team robes as cosmetics is another viable option, if they plan to operate cosmetics much like any other team-based game.
Environments
Community
The one thing many in the community seem to agree on is the season’s cycle. Have games in the fall, spring, summer, and winter. Another suggestion was that there should be various stadium maps to have the seeker something to explore while searching for the snitch. The last suggestion was to have environmental storms to affect the gameplay, such as snowstorms, sandstorms, tornados, and hurricanes. These could assess speed, stuns, etc.
Author's Thoughts.
I wholeheartedly love the idea of the season cycling. it could get boring having the same plain scene for the stadiums. Having each map with different times of day, seasons, and weather is a remarkable idea. This would give Warner Brothers, and Portkey Games good traction to implement all these into the game.
The downside I see is the weather conditions. If the conditions are randomized, and frequently change(IE, wind direction who gets hit/stunned and the possibility of the storm leaving, or the possibility for a storm to form on a clear stage) it could be a hindrance that could make many fans quite miserable about playing.
Frankly, I welcome the idea of storming weather and having a play on the field. The neutral party exists only to hurt anyone and everyone.
Team Position Roles
Chaser
Community
Most people seem to be in agreeance the role of the chaser is quite obvious. The three players coordinate with one another, keeping the quaffle out of the hands of the enemy team, and scoring as many points as possible.
It was also suggested that chasers were like Football players, in that they “tackle” to take the quaffle from the enemy team and fly off with it.
Some believe that the trio is meant to be in a loose triangle formation throughout the entire game, mostly having to deal with just each other and enemy chasers primarily.
Author's Thoughts
Traditionally the chasers are meant to deal with just the quaffle, but it would be nice if the chasers interacted a tad more. Say throwing the quaffle at an enemy beater, or seeker. This is to primarily stun them, and throw them off balance. As I recall from QWC(Quidditch World Cup), being a chaser had combos to move faster, dodge enemy chasers or even kick at them. This was a nice touch, made chasers position not terrible to play as, but being able to stun the enemy players as well to minimize their usage, I feel would add a nice flare, with a team-based competitive game.
Keeper
Community
There definitely seemed to be some hesitation with this position. Many are unsure of how to properly expect this position to be utilized, but not much else is said, or expected. Mostly the same phrase as “Slytherin Keepers!”. It seems with no questions really directed at the role, many may be assuming that the role is purely to block the quaffle from the goal.
Author's Thoughts
The primary goal of the Keeper is to keep the Quaffle from entering any of the goalposts. In most Sports, while important can get pretty boring. I believe this could be remedied in one of three ways.
One way is allowing the Keeper to move up on the field when the center mass of players(IE Chasers of both teams) is further down the field. In this way, the Keeper could be used as a “fourth chaser” in a defensive manner. The job could still be boring, but at least they’d be more likely to give callouts that perhaps other players are not seeing.
Another method, or paired with the first, is rotating who is Keeper. This could be done over a time limit, so many points scored, etc. The rotation would primarily be with the chasers, perhaps throwing the beater’s in there as well. For the sake of an example, let’s use the chasers. The chasers are the players constantly maneuvering, throwing a ball around, and “tackling” and stealing the Quaffle from one another, tossing it with the aim to get a goal. anyone who has played a sweaty match in any other FPS shooter team-based game knows this can make the hands tired, and the mind exhaustive.Â
Not only are you having to be aware of the teammates around, but there are also likely obstacles to avoid(and I don’t mean just the bludgers). After the time or score has been achieved, one chaser would rotate to be the Keeper, and the Keeper becomes a chaser.
The last suggestion would be to eliminate the Keeper, entirely(which is not authentic to the Quidditch game.). It could become a fourth chaser, or create a 6vs6 dynamic.
Beaters
Community
The Community doesn’t seem to have much to say about the beaters but is rather excited to play as such. Some wondered about the homing code for the Bludgers. One person was curious if the Bludgers get sent to the next nearest player or if, as the Beater, you could aim where the Bludger goes.
Author's Thoughts
Beaters certainly would be a particularly fun role. To Fly around and keep the Bludgers from hitting your teammates and knocking the enemy team off their broom. The role itself seems exciting. As for the purpose of the role I have to agree with the few members mentioned previously. How the beater would perform the role is in question.
Personally, I would hope that you are able to control the direction in which the Bludger is hit, with slight homing involved. I think the best, fair, course of action would be, if a Bludger aims for your teammate, you hit the ball successfully in the direction you are facing. The nearest enemy player is then honed in on(this means Seeker, Keeper, or chaser). There is a cooldown, for how long the Bludger would aim for the said member before it becomes neutral, and then targets the nearest player, regardless of team.
Seeker
Community
Many seemed to question the position. Some say that the position of Seeker could potentially be boring up until the Snitch is seen. Even once seen, if the chase takes a while, or the snitch is lost, the Seeker doesn’t do a whole lot.
Another had stated that perhaps the match is timed so that regardless of if the snitch is released, it is not reliant on the seeker to end the game. This also means games where the snitch is never caught, so if by chance the seeker leaves the game it doesn’t ruin the game.
One person suggested taking the role completely out of the game. Some said to have the Seeker be a chaser until the snitch is seen. Another said that the “seeker” is one of the already established chasers and that they play chasers until the snitch is spotted.
Author's Thoughts
I do agree, that the Seeker role will wholeheartedly be boring. having a chaser be a designated Seeker, until the snitch is spotted is definitely a good suggestion, but it means one player has to watch teammates, watch placement, Quaffle as well as a tiny Golden Snitch. This doesn’t bode well as a suggestion.
Having a designated Timer isn’t a terrible idea, going along with the Keeper’s suggestion previously stated. There could be four timers to go with the switch, while also the last quarter being the designated final timer.
While I am a Seeker according to a role test(which will be linked at the end of the article) I don’t think the same dynamics from the QWC game, would be as viable in this case. In QWC you played the chasers until the seeker “spots the snitch” and is then switched over to the Seeker while the NPCs “played”.
I agree that too many the Seeker is deemed the “hero role” because the majority of the time, the team who catches the snitch is the winner. I remember many of the QWC games where I would score more points than the enemy team, even if they caught the snitch. The Role of the Seeker could be remedied with many changes that I will bring up in the next section in more detail.
Game Mechanics Possibilities
The basic concept of Quidditch is easily understood, as what the role of each position holds in the game. Converting that into a multiplayer team-based game is by far a challenge. The game for some roles would be boring mostly, but there could be some changes to the game as we know it, to make it more enjoyable, more of a challenge, and bring more to some of the roles as a whole.
Let’s start with the idea of the environment. I mentioned previously about the extreme storms being a part of the games to affect the gameplay. Adding stuns, freezing or even fire effects could increase interest in the game.
Players could have health bars, and when freezing or fires are not dealt with, then once the player has depleted its health, they have a cooldown before respawning to participate in the game again. This particular dynamic will make or break team fights with the Quaffle for scoring.
Included with the health bars, this means that every player who gets hit with the Bludger takes damage, further depleting their health.
Chasers most definitely should have some shields to help with their defensive part, allowing them to last longer, and as long as they haven’t been hit for a certain amount of time(this includes “tackles”) then their shields can recharge to full, but the health taken away does not.
Seeker, while having to look out for the snitch, this role is very boring of course but to remedy this, the Seeker can be a support. This is the person who can heal teammates, and maybe offer a second barrier of shields at times. having some supportive abilities in this role will balance out the dynamics so far.
Along with this, the Keeper can also have supportive capabilities, also being able to heal and maybe giving secondary heals.
The chasers could have abilities also that damage enemy players, but are not as nearly as needed. These dynamic changes would make the roles more interesting, adds to the games, and gives players a little more than just “bob and weave now score!” to the game. I think it also adds a sense of teamwork to the game, seeing that if a beater is down, a chaser, or worst, Seeker at the most inopportune moment could mean win or lose.
Links
To take the quiz to see what Role fits you, you can take the quiz here
Here is the Official Tweet announcing the game
https://twitter.com/wbgames/status/1647993345342578691?s=20
For the Official website, where you can sign up for the playtesting, that link is below. You can also get their Discord through there as well.
Mom of three, enjoy videogames, board games and phone games. I typically am playing Simulation games or FPS games.
