Red Post Collection: Party Ip Weekend, Player/Team Names on Scoreboard, 8/27 & 8/28 PBE Updates, and more!

[NA] Test the Servers with Party IP!

"TL;DR: Earlier this week, the NA game servers successfully moved to a new, centralized location in Chicago, Illinois. We continue to work internally, with ISPs, and with players to troubleshoot any emergent routing issues (help us out here !), and have now kicked off a weekend stress test (complete with Party IP) from August 28 - 30. More details below.


On August 25, we successfully completed the final phase of the NA Server Roadmap with the activation of new NA game servers in Chicago, Illinois. These servers are now handling all League game traffic in the US and Canada, and have already improved ping and overall connection quality for a substantial majority of NA players (drastically so across much of the eastern US and Canada). West Coast players have seen an uptick in raw ping numbers, but should also see that uptick mitigated by connection improvements in the form of better overall stability and reduced packet loss.

Connection Clinic Support
As we’ve mentioned previously, our broadest goal for the Chicago move and subsequent fine-tuning is to bring the vast majority of NA players under 80 ms ping. Less than half of NA players used to get sub-80 ping, but since the move we’ve been able to bring the bulk of NA players under that figure. That percentage is also rising further every day as the Roadmap team identifies and corrects wayward connections that aren’t yet taking the most efficient possible paths on our dedicated network to the new game servers. We could also use your help in tracking down any remaining issues! Join us in the ongoing Chicago Connection Clinic Megathread to help us troubleshoot any remaining network pathing problems.

ISP Peering Ongoing
We’re also continuing to push forward with ISP peering deals, another of our key Roadmap efforts over the past year and a crucial factor in making sure your connections are getting to Chicago as quickly as possible. Check out our latest peering list here. A note on some of the more high-profile names missing from that list - we’re currently in talks with Cox, AT&T, and Verizon, and expect to have inked and implemented peering deals with all three within the next couple of weeks. 

Server Transfers
Now that Chicago’s online, we’ve enabled free server transfers for players located in the US, US territories, and Canada who are currently playing on other servers - look for a transfer email from us and a free transfer option in the store on your account! Keep in mind that the transfers are only free one-way, and that they’ll expire on December 25 at 23:59 PDT. 

Lingering questions about transferring your account and how it affects your rank/LP decay, summoner name, champion mastery, and other things? Check out our Account Transfer FAQ. 

Weekend Stress Test with Party IP
With the immediate server transition now complete, we’ve kicked off a stress test weekend from August 28 - 30 to observe how the new game servers handle peak traffic. To help make sure we really put the new Chicago infrastructure through its paces, we’ve activated Party IP for the weekend - check out the details below in case you need a refresher. 

Number of players in party --> Bonus IP awarded

• 2 --> 100% bonus
• 3 --> 150% bonus
• 4 --> 200% bonus
• 5 --> 300% bonus

You earn rewards win or lose, but only if you’re in a party with at least one other player. Make sure to log in, help us test, and earn extra IP from August 28th, 00:00 PDT through August 30th, 23:59 PDT! 

Drop us a comment below if you have any immediate questions, otherwise we’ll see you in the Chicago Connection Clinic Megathread or online throughout this weekend for the Party IP stress test!"

Meddler on Syndra and Zyra changes

When asked why the Syndra passive changes were pulled off the 5.17 PBE, Meddler commented:

"We ran out of time in 5.17 and had to make a call on what to prioritize. Syndra was less urgent, and needed more work, than various other champions, so her changes got pushed back. We expect we'll get back to working on her again soon (potentially for 5.18)."

When asked about the previously mentioned Zyra plant ai changes and if Sona has anything coming, Meddler noted:

"We've got some time put aside to look at Zyra during 5.18's development, she also got shifted back from 5.17. 

Not sure if we've got anything planned for Sona, can't see her on the current list of 5.18 Live Balance work, but that's not necessarily comprehensive yet." 

Repertoir on post-release Mordekaiser follow up

In a thread concerned about the lack of 5.17 Mordekaiser changes on the PBE, Repertoir stopped in to comment:

"I don't think we've come to any particular decisions on this yet, but I will say that Meddler, Scruffy, Jag, and CertainlyT are literally right behind me talking about things we'd like to do for/about Morde for 5.17/5.18. I know it can feel like things don't happen fast enough sometimes, but "Morde post-release" has definitely not fallen off the radar. 

I know you'd like to see exact action plans, but I don't think we're ready to commit to any particular change just yet."

He continued:

"I don't really have any specifics on planned changes at the moment, because there really isn't a concrete set of changes in mind at the moment. If something more concrete comes up, I'll try to pop into a thread and share that info."

Player and Team Names on Scoreboard

Over on reddit, Rayven has noted that they plan to add both player and team names back to the score board.

"Quote:

Why can't we see team names on the tab window in ranked fives anymore?  I clearly remember it being there on the old HUD. Was this overlooked when the new HUD was made?

"We didn't forget them, we just didn't prioritize them. The info is available on the loading screen and a team's tri-code is displayed above champion health bars. 

That said, we are planning on adding them. Same with Summoner names on the scoreboard :o"

When asked if the summoner names on scoreboard will be  a toggle, Rayven noted:

"Not at launch, but we are planning to add an option."

PBE Move to Chicago Someday

Speaking of the NA server move, Riot Feithen also tweeted that the PBE will eventually be joining the NA servers in Chicago although not immediately:

[1] Right now the team are focusing on NA, and there's a few other projects in the works before our PBE move. It'll be a while! 

[2] Someday, though, we will join the party in Chicago. :)

Lyte Ask.FM Roundup

We also have a a few more bits of discussion from Lyte's ask.fm!

[UPDATE] Here's a few additional responses form Lyte regarding players grouping up as five and losing games intentionally as fast as possible in an attempt to earn easy IP during the Party IP Weekend:

[Link] Does riot ban these players who group up as 5, take teleport and smite, give double pentakill to mid lvl 1 and then afk in jungle while enemy team wins in 7 min? ( people do it because of the bonus ip weekend) 

We'll be taking a look at all intentional feeding situations and handing out permanent bans if they are ruining gameplay experiences for players who do NOT want to be involved in this.

[Link] About the farming IP situation, are you talking about when the ENEMY does not want to be involved in the easy win, or are you talking about when someone on YOUR team doesn't want to feed? 

We're looking into the experiences, and if SOMEONE on your team or the enemy team is against these behaviors and hasn't agreed to it, that's the problem experience.

[Link] You want to make changes just because you didn't make it clear who gets the rewards last year. Isn't it like a bit unfair to people who received CR only recently and can't play them out with no chance to reform? And if you want to make changes why you make them just before season ends? 

Unfortunately, this is just going to be a very, very tough call. In 2014, we announced the Ranked Rewards policy for the first time and excluded the most toxic X% of players from rewards; however, one of the biggest complaints was that players had no possible way to figure out if they were "on the most negative players list" or not. So, when the season ended, millions of players sat around waiting to see if they would get rewards, and weeks later could not tell if they were not getting rewards, or if the rewards system was bugged, or whatever. This was a pretty bad player experience. 

So, we were re-visiting the 2014 policy and thinking about ways that we could shape it to still celebrate reform, but make the experience a bit better and less confusing at the end of the season. We wanted to make sure that as soon as the season ended, it would be obvious if you were getting rewards or not. Once we brainstormed a few possible solutions and had some new technology from Instant Feedback Systems that would make some solutions a lot more feasible, we discussed them with players and yes, some players were upset--especially those that would not be getting rewards for sure. 

However, this is part of the challenge of maintaining a "live" game. If we know that these changes are actually better and more clear to 99% of players, should we really be waiting until next season to implement them, or should we just implement them now? A few things to consider are that if we do change the policy, only about 1% of players will be excluded from rewards on a server like North America this year. This is LESS than last year, and still we expect BETTER reform numbers. Also, the player experience will be better because it's very clear if you will be getting rewards or not this year. If we had just kept the 2014 Ranked Rewards policy, the players that are upset with the policy changes would STILL not be getting rewards because they would have been excluded if we kept the 2014 Ranked Rewards policy anyways... so it really makes no difference to them unfortunately.

[Link] What's the behaviour team's standpoint on "GG EZ" being used? Is it seen as a reportable offense or is it not negative enough? 

One of our philosophies is to try to not dictate what's OK or not OK in League of Legends unless we absolutely have to. We rely on data like Reports, Honors, social media, the Instant Feedback System and Tribunal to help determine the standards of what the community believes is OK or not OK. This is why all of our systems are intentionally designed to be community-driven, because we want players to have the ability to invest in and shape their own community. In saying this, looking at the data, "GGEZ" is considered a negative term, and is reportable. Players generally agree that the phrase is rarely used in a positive context, and is a pretty sour way to end a match.

[Link] I understand that you fight against toxicity as much as you do. BUT have you thought about that however much you try it's not gonna help? you seem to aim for it to be removed completely, which is next to impossible.

I don't think anyone has an expectation that we can completely remove toxicity; after all, there is still toxicity and crime in real life societies as well. However, our goal is to make League a more sportsmanlike community, and help players build a community they are proud of. It surprises toxic players, but the vast majority of the community are opposed to that shit. If you look at two of our philosophies when designing systems in League of Legends, they agree with you that the goal is improvement and not complete prevention or removal of toxicity. 

1) Make sure that all actions have fast and clear consequences. Negative behaviors are punished swiftly, and with clear feedback for the player. Positive behaviors are rewarded swiftly, to inspire others. 

2) Shield players from the impact of toxicity, since we can never fully get rid of it, we should have a few systems and features to mitigate its impact when it does happen.

Be sure to visit Lyte on his ask.fm or twitter if you have more questions!

Ququroon Ask.FM Roundup

We also have more ask.fm responses from Ququroon, a member of a the Champion Update team!

[Link] What is the current situation with Evelynn's VU? I know the standard answer is "we don't know what she is yet," but her VU was mentioned back with her rework in July 2012. Ironstylus mentioned a few months back that Lonewingy was looking into Evelynn, but we haven't heard anything else since. 

She's still a priority, and being slowly burned on. Higher priorities right now for full Relaunches. 

Evelynn has the weird issue of being... well... "Evelynn's origins are shrouded in mystery - a mystery she herself helps to perpetuate." People like to make fun of the "dark, mysterious past", but Evelynn is LITERALLY the poster child of that. Is she a vampire? 

Is she a "emotional vampire"? Is she a succubus? Lot of questions to answer. 

I'm confident that when she's finished, she'll be AMAZING though. The fantasy space that Evelynn occupies is similar to a lot of really cool assassin style characters in other games, so there's definitely a lot of inspiration to draw from.

[Link] I'd really like to hear what you think of Amumu. What direction would you want to take him, how much could you realistically change him? 

Hm. Amumu is a little problematic, from the "is he a yordle or a human" standpoint. We could go either way. First step would be solving that. 

Past that... I do like the 'myth' angle that Greed and Tears presented, with people having a bit of a question if he's real or not. Obviously he is, but playing it up, how could that represent itself? If Santa was real (I'm sorry...), would he be sad to hear people say he isn't? 

Thematically, he has a REALLY strong hook: He's sad, he wants friends, and he's hugging you. Pity all his friends die.

[Link] Thoughts on Malphite? 

Small model, looks like a nose, has a strong, if non-engaging kit. Why is his head in such a weird place? Would he look cooler if he had a Krogan-style body? 

Personally, I'd want to diminish the mage identity a bit in favor of a stronger tank/engage one.

[Link] you mentioning champions like galio and eve, but there's not really any evidence if they are being worked on, are they really in progress or still in their ideation phase for like 2-3 years? 

They're not in active production, no. Concept Artists explore a few things at once (with one being a main focus), so there is progress, just not major. 

They'll have their time in the sun (Eve sooner than Galio, I'd wager).

Be sure to visit Ququroon on his ask.fm or twitter if you have more questions!

Community Collab | Helmet Bro: The Animated Series - Shaco

We also have a new installment of the Helmet Bro: The animated series community collaboration - this time dealing with Shaco!

"Everybody loves a clown 

So why don't you 

Animated by Nevercake 

**Created in Collaboration with Riot Games**"

Catch up on what you missed in LoL

Next we have community content creator Professor Milk with a quick video and accompanying post on what is new in the last year of League of Legends, including new champions the SR map update, the hud update, new items, and more much!

"League is constantly evolving, especially in the last year. Some things have gotten makeovers, some are brand new, and others are gone entirely! 

If you’re coming back to League after a bit of a break, you’ve got a little catching up to do. Here’s a breakdown of some of the most important changes so you can hop back onto the Rift ASAP!"

The accompanying article in typical patch note format can be found here.

8/27 & 8/28 PBE Updates

This last bit isn't a red post but just wanted to drop off a note on the small PBE updates that went out in August 27 and 28th. Since the updates were so small, I've just wrapped the changes up in to the 8/26 post:

Gangplank

• Powder Keg (E) ignore armor increased to 50% from 45%

• [NOTE: This is still a nerf vs the live value, which is 60%]

Tahm Kench

• Devour (W) mana cost reverted to 90 from 70.

• [NOTE: Back to live values.]

All of this information as well as an updated look at the "They Are Coming" teaser can be found in the 8/26 PBE post or in the 5.17 PBE megapost.