Minions the unloved!

So I've been asked on a previous forum that I should post my theories here, who knows, maybe be able to keep up some fun discussions as well!

Minions

Your fighting a boss, his routine is attack, defend, charge. Thus you counter with your own defend, counter attack and dodge.

But what happened to the drive? Have you ever felt like saying "God that took forever!"
If so, why? Sure the fight was only five minutes, but to you it felt like an eternity.

Try sitting down and drawing the same circle for five whole minutes. It begins to get boring, maybe you hopped in with excitement at the start, but that same enthusiasm wanes as time drags on.

The same goes for the boss fight, your going in a loop, a routine, it just isn't exciting anymore.

So we need something to spice it up, a little chaos, as your drawing the circle the pencil snaps, your suddenly stuck, you can't finish your circles till that pencil is sharpened, thus you rush to sharpen the pencil and get back to making circles.

Well putting that concept to the boss fight. Your in your loop, your comfort zone, your lazing in your chair as on the screen your avatar is easily beating the boss. Suddenly a minion is behind you readying a spell right as the boss is fixing to hit you. What do you do? The sudden element of chaos has disrupted your routine, you sit upright quick as a flash and lick your lips in anticipation of this new challenge.

I've felt these moments, the sudden injection of chaos making me quiver with excitement, ready to show just how awesome I am!

Other players get this feeling as well, even if they don't know it.

Sure those minions made it tough, but as long as things were made possible to win, it adds excitement to the fight.

Of course you don't want those little guys everywhere. Understanding when it is necessary and when it isn't is a huge complication.

How do I solve this problem?

Easy, I roleplay the scenario with friends using Shadowrun, D&D, Traveller etc etc.

I build the setting, put my players through the fight, and see how they enjoyed it, figure out what could be changed.

Once I have a good feel for the fight, I'd implement it into a game.

As of yet I know a number of students at Brown whom I've given this little tip to that have utilized it.

A minion is a powerful tool that can tip the balance of a fight, even one ranged archer who can be one shot-ed is a challenge to a melee fighter, do you continue to kill the boss, or do you take the extra second to rush over to the minion and kill it? Is there a risk or reward? If I kill the archer I get his awesome bow afterwards? Do I build rage to increase damage bonuses on the boss?

Maybe that same archer in the fight has weaker attacks, enough that he gives the illusion of being a threat without actually being one. Thus the player may or may not be tricked into wasting his time killing the minion.

What are your thoughts? how would you implement a minion?

What about fights where minions are used as an excuse to complicate matters? The final boss of the original Half-Life seems to have this complication. He was a rather big and difficult boss as is, but the inclusion of the adds seemed to make things a lot more frustrating than difficult!

 As for the roleplay scenario for testing level design, I'd be happy to expand on this if asked!  I think it would be great for many Designers who haven't utilized this tool to do so! Creating the situation with pen and paper and implementing it in a friendly session of RP, taking notes on what makes things more difficult and what doesn't!

Till next time GAME ON!