Tonight's red post collection features ricklessabandon with comments on Miss Fortune & Cassiopeia and clarification on his earlier comments on Irelia work, Brackhar with statistics on the popularity of Showdown & One for All modes, a reminder that Team Builder is back on the PBE for a limited time, a note that Skarner's rework will not be in the next content patch and will return to the PBE soon, a heads on on free transfers between EUW and EUNE for qualified summoners, Morello sharing that ZenonTheStoic is working on Warwick prototypes, and more!
Recent News:
- This Week in eSports 1/6 - 1/12: LCS starts this week!
- Champion and Skin Sale 1/14 - 1/17: Dragon Fist Lee Sin, Heartseeker Vayne, Tango Twisted Fate, Shyvana, Kennen, Udyr
- Free Champion Rotation Preseason Week 8
- Patch 4.1 Server Maintenance Announced
- Showdown & Magma Chamber Info - Magma Chamber Cancelled
How are Miss Fortune & Cassiopeia Doing?
ricklessabandon dropped off a few comments on Miss Fortune earlier today, noting that he as some potential changes in mind for her."miss fortune seems to perform fairly well, but with the recent releases and/or updates for other marksmen the spotlight hasn't been on her for a little while. that said, i do have some changes in mind i'd like to get on the pbe soon, so if those go over well they could ship in the foreseeable future."When asked for more details, he commented:
"i'll do a pbe thread/discussion whenever they're going to hit the beta environment. after they first go out the information can change a lot in a short period and it's easier to keep the updates in one place. it'll be similar to the morgana update i did a little while back, if anyone recalls that pbe thread."
As for Cassiopeia, he commented:
"given her play pattern(s), she'll likely remain more of a pocket pick for dedicated cassi players. i think that's fine when it's for the right reasons, and in cassi's case i think it makes sense as you've in part pointed out. that doesn't mean she isn't in want of love/attention on our end though. :3
i spent some time over the holidays thinking about it, and since then have thrown a couple ideas around that i'd like to try out in the near future once i can make time for it. hopefully that's not too terribly far away—it'd be great to be able to do some work on her."
Clarification on Irelia Rework Comments
ricklessabandon clarified his comments on the potential Irelia changes he mentioned a few days ago:"just to be clear, 'more than a small number adjustment or two' could include anything from reworking one ability up to redoing her whole kit—it means that it's more than a couple of days worth of time, and that's about all it means as far as ruling out possibilities.
until someone starts working on her in earnest, i couldn't really say which other kit update (master yi, katarina, trundle, ahri, etc) irelia's would be like."
Team Builder available on the PBE on Monday (1/13) and Tuesday (1/14) from 1:00 - 5:00 PM PST!
Team Builder will return to the PBE for testing on Monday ( 1/13 ) and Tuesday ( 1/14 ) starting at 1 PM PST and ending at 5 PM PST!Here's Lyte with a more info on the latest iteration:
"EDIT [1/13/2014, 10:38 AM PST] ::: Team Builder will be available at 1:00 - 5:00 PM PST on Monday, 1/13 and Tuesday, 1/14. I'll be available on this thread to answer any questions. See you in Team Builder!
Summoners,
Team Builder is coming to the PBE today! On Monday and Tuesday (1/13 and 1/14), we're going to run a PBE test of Team Builder from 1:00 - 5:00 PM PST. Select PBE testers will be able to try out this new feature and give us invaluable feedback on its design and functionality.
We got a lot of great feedback on Team Builder in the first two PBE tests, and we have been hard at work incorporating some of your feedback. Team Builder is a complete re-design of Champion Select, which means it’s extremely complicated and there are a lot of changes. One of our goals is to keep collaborating with players on this feature, and collect feedback throughout the development process.
What does this mean for players?
As players, you’ll be able to help us test the feature extremely early in the process, and work directly with developers to evolve the feature over time.
PBE is a smaller server, so queue times will be longer, and gameplay experiences will not represent a Live server. Matches might be very unbalanced as players of all skill levels will appear in the same match, but our focus is on testing the feature and collecting your feedback.
The following additions have been made for this PBE test:
- Skin Selection now works, but skin preferences won’t be saved from game-to-game
- Role selection is currently limited to "Any Role"
- Limited Match Found Ceremony (you’ll hear a gong!)
- Added tool-tips for several buttons in the feature
- Lots of polish!
The following bugs have been fixed for this PBE test:
The following features are still turned off or incomplete for this PBE test:
- Summoner Spell selections are now saved
- Summoner Icons will now show up in the loading screen
- Team Builder games will now be available for Spectator Mode
- Reduced the volume of sound effects
- Added missing buttons in the Champion Select window
- You now receive a notification when a group disbands
- Team Builder animations can now be disabled in the client
How do I get involved and help make Team Builder awesome?
- Friend Invites from Friends List
- Dynamic Matchmaking Adjustments
- Estimated Wait Times
- Anti-Abuse System
We'll be using this thread to collect player feedback and answer questions about this PBE test. We're looking for more general feedback since we'll be on PBE longer than the previous tests. For example, where are all the places we can add polish to the feature, and are there any points in the feature that seems confusing to you.
RiotDoctahWayne has a thread in the Bugs Forum that will be collecting information on bugs you’ve found in Team Builder.
To participate in future beta testing for League of Legends, apply for beta access here.
Lyte"
Should you find a bug in your testing, be sure to report it to the latest Team Builder Bugs thread.
Missmechazero also commented on the limited team builder hours, saying:
"We will continue to try to expand the hours. Currently we are restricted due to the active support required from our team to make it available, but we do want to try to make it available during a wider interval."
Showdown Statistical Breakdown
To better express the statistics mentioned in the recent Magma Chamber post, Brackhar has posted a wealth of statistics regarding the popularity of both Showdown and One for All mode"Hey Everyone!
With Snowdown now a few weeks behind us, I wanted to talk with you guys about how the mode was received, some of the feedback that was given and what our future plans are for the experience. This post uses One For All as a comparison point, so you'll get to see some neat data there as well. So without further ado, let's dive in!
First, let's start by discussing the feedback we received from the Micro Feedback Tool (MFT). The MFT is a tool where we pose a simple statement to players like "The game of Showdown I just played was fun," and ask them to rate their agreement on a scale from 1 to 5. We use the MFT for almost every feature we release, and it's a great way for us to hear player's first impressions.
For any featured game mode we create, there are three main questions we ask via the MFT: Was the game fun, did it feel different from other game modes, and would you like to play it again. We then collect data at three different times during the event: once when the event starts, once midway through, and once at the end. This helps us understand how player sentiment changes as exposure to the game mode increases, and it can be very useful in separating out novelty appeal.
Generally speaking, we view a response above 4.0 as representing strong agreement in the community, and as you can see above, both 1v1 and 2v2 scored very well on all metrics. Additionally, each question remained stable throughout the different time periods on all questions, meaning, the people who continued to play Showdown enjoyed the mode and left with a favorable opinion. 2v2 generally scored slightly better on each of these questions which we expected given the increased amount of combat interaction. This leads us to believe that Showdown is a candidate for returning sometime in the future.
Next, let's take a look at some play data and see how it compared to One For All.
This is the first time we've shown data like this, so let me give some context. One of the more common metrics we use to measure a game mode's appeal is the number of minutes a player spends playing each particular mode. By looking at the percent of time they spend in any particular experience, we can judge how it holds up against other game modes. Additionally, "minutes played" allows us to compare game modes with drastically different game lengths without biasing in one direction or another. One For All fares very well by this metric, averaging almost 23.4% of all playtime across all regions. Showdown also fared well, though it only accounted for about 2.3% of all play during the time period.
Because much of the appeal of these game modes comes from the novelty aspect, we also do a breakdown of playtime across the lifetime of a mode to see how it falls off. The below graph shows the average play time of both One For All and Showdown as a product of time.
As you can see, both One For All and Showdown had a high spike in playtime when they were first turned on, with One For All accounting for 37% and Showdown 8% on their respective first days. As time passed the amount of time both modes were played decreased. One For All lost 75% of its playtime and Showdown lost 90% by the end. This drop-off for both modes is a pretty good indicator that these modes are likely better suited as short-term events rather than permanent game modes. If the modes were left on permanently, the queue times for each would be pretty atrocious after a few more weeks.
All of the above is in line with how we generally expect featured game modes to perform, and this type of data helps us determine what to pursue next. Both modes successfully delivered on being fun, memorable experiences, and my team wants to thank all of you who played and gave your feedback. We really appreciate your support.
Speaking of feedback, a number of you wrote to us and gave your ideas on how we could improve Showdown in the future. I'd like to let you guys in on some of the early ideas we're discussing.
- The amount of time spent in champion select was too long for how long the games were.
- After playing a number of games after release, this is a point we definitely agree with. One idea we're discussing right now is potentially making each match a best of 3 or best of 5 competition instead of a one-off, which should help while also opening up some interesting counter play opportunities. There are a number of variants we could use also, from letting you bring in multiple champions that you cycle between to not resetting gold and xp so late game champions/builds could potentially shine more. All are open to discussion.
- Players wanted an experience more like top/mid/bot on SR.
- We're pretty happy with the hybrid experience we created by doing Showdown on Howling Abyss, but we also understand the desire to have a matchup that is more true to the lanes of Summoner's Rift. One thing we're discussing is potentially having Showdown return on SR with different queues for top, mid or bot lane matchups. That way people who really do want to see who is the best mid-laner can, and no one will be able to use the excuse that they lost because of the health packs or brush differences.
- It'd be great to have a ladder showing progress.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I look forward to sharing more data with you in the future!
- This is definitely a cool idea and one we want to pursue. Our team doesn't have any web developers on it so we'd have to negotiate with some of the other teams here at Riot, but there's value here for sure!
~Brackhar"He continued, better explaining the % play time measurement:
"We use % play time as a way to measure player's engagement with a game mode and feel that it effectively normalizes for engagement across varying game length since players naturally self-budget their time. Since Showdown had a very low % play time by the end of its lifetime and had much worse falloff than any of our other modes during a same time window after launch, we felt that Showdown was not a particularly long-term engaging mode. The caveat here is that the MFT data shows that the game mode was received well and left people with a positive opinion, meaning that it's a decent candidate to try bringing back with changes in the future. However, as currently envisioned it's not a strong candidate for being a permanent game mode."
When asked if Dominion may ever play host to some of these featured game modes, he commented:
"We want to try and do some things with Dominion via the auspices of featured game modes, we just need to figure out what first."When asked if either of these two modes are coming back, he reiterated:
"Yeap! When any mode is received well it definitely becomes a candidate, with the question of when being dependent on its relative popularity."
Skarner Rework not in next content patch
On the PBE community, Riot Feithen has made some comments on the whereabouts of the Skarner rework - which is currently absent from the PBE after being accidentally shipped to live servers in patch 3.15."Skarner is still receiving final tweaks and his update won't be shipped live with our upcoming content patch. To ensure we don't accidentally ship him live (again... ahem!), we've reverted him to his "live state" on PBE.
Skarner will be back Soon TM!"
Toxic Players on the PBE
Riot Feithen also commented on projects in the wroks to deal with toxic behavior on the PBE and reiterated that players are indeed being banned for toxic behavior on the PBE."There are a handful of projects in progress to help deal with the problem of toxic behavior on the PBE. While I can't speak to their progress or provide a timeline, I want to be very clear that players ARE banned on PBE. We'll continue to work on improving things but you should certainly continue to report toxic behavior."Riot Blackrook swooped in a bit later, adding:
"I can chat a little bit about these efforts.
Since the changes to the PBE platform last year all PBE accounts are linked to their owner's NA or EUW/EUNE accounts. This has been a major step forward for PBE anti-toxicity for two reasons--
- We can take into account the toxicity of players before we let them into the PBE. We're currently tracking toxicity data for a large group of players we let into the PBE last month and so far the numbers show a lower toxicity ranking on PBE (for these players) than the average on NA. There are still quite a few legacy PBE accounts that were let in before we started pre-screening based on their live accounts but we intend to remove these over time.
- Since we can look up your main account based on your PBE account this may be a large incentive to behave on the PBE. We're not currently tracking any data on this because at the moment we think the pre-screening based on behaviour approach is very promising, but still we do have this option."
Email Verification IP Boosts
Here's Veruco with a reminder on how long it takes to distribute the 4 win IP boosts that are being handed out as part of the new email verification system:"It can take up to 24-48 hours for your IP boost to be awarded. You should get it soon :)"
Free Transfers Within EUW and EUNE now available
EU summoners who have found themselves wanting to relocate to their nearest server will be eligible for a free transfer between EUW and EUNE:"Summoners,
We are excited to announce a free transfer period for players within the European servers!
For two weeks from January 13th to 28th 2014, if you are playing on a European server that isn’t the most local one to you, you can transfer to either EUW or EUNE for free. Make a fresh start in your home server and get ready for the start of the 2014 Season!
Remember that the transfer is one way and that the usual transfer cost (2600 RP) applies if you want to return to your original platform!
Check out our FAQ for more information, including who is eligible for a free transfer and when you can expect the transfer to be available on your account."To clear up a questions on who is and who is not eligible for a free transfer, here's a few quotes from the FAQ:
"Q:What does that mean?
A:There are a lot of players in Europe who are not playing on what we call their “home server”. Those players are separated from many of their friends, meaning they can’t play together. We wanted to resolve this in time for the 2014 Season! For example, if you’re a player from France and are currently playing on EU Nordic/East, you’ll receive a free transfer allowing you to transfer to EU West! Likewise, if you’re a player from Poland and are currently playing on EU West, you’ll receive one to allow you to join your friends on EU Nordic/East. There’s a list of all of the eligible regions below."
"Q: How will it be determined what my home server is?
A: Your "home server" is be determined based on the location you played most games from since January 1, 2013."
"Q: When will I get the free transfer?
A: We will start adding free transfers to eligible accounts on January 13, but this may take up to 24 hours. All eligible players should have received their token by 23:59 GMT on January 14. The free transfer will be redeemable until 23:59 GMT on January 28."More info can be found here.
ZenonTheStoic working on Warwick
Morello popped up on twitter yesterday to answer someones question if the Warwick lore seen in the Forecast Janna teaser was for fun or a hint at something bigger. Morello revealed it was just for amusement but that ZenonTheStoic is currently working on some WW rework prototypes!
"Welp, guess the wolf is out of the bag! WW was my first love in league, back in summer 2010."
Morello also mentioned " testing some hypotheses" on updates to Shaco's kit and when asked if there is a Zed skin coming out this year, he commented: "I think so, yes!"
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