Red Post Collection: Client Open beta Update #1, Meddler on PBE Syndra/Ryze changes, Piltover champ stories, & more!

Posted on at 1:45 AM by Moobeat
Tonight's red post collection includes Cactopus with an update on the LCU Open Beta, Meddler with context on recent Syndra and Ryze PBE changes, new Piltover champion tales & a free Piltover summoner icon, a collection of Elementalist Lux community creations, & more!
Continue reading for more information!



Table of Contents


Client Open Beta Update #1 

Here's Cactopus with an update post on the League Client Update Open Beta, including current focus, known issues, and rough timeline for many of the features still missing from the legacy client:
"Beginning with patch 6.23 we officially launched the open beta for the League client update. Man, it felt good. 
But we're not done yet! Since then, we've been using surveys, bug reports, and public AmAs to listen to your concerns and hopes for future development on the client update. Today, we want to share some updates about what we're doing in response to your feedback. 
(EXPLAINER FOR NOOBS: WHY WE'RE UPDATING LEAGUE'S CLIENT) 
1. Fixing performance issues is our top priority.  
Players have complained about laggy UI elements and CPU/RAM usage that's affecting in-game performance. Some have even had trouble launching the client. You should start to feel some significant performance improvements thanks to a number of fixes we’ve implemented with 6.24 
  • We've patched up our audio and UI components to make the entire client run quicker. 
  • Champ select has had hellacious problems, so we did some tuneup work on its data flow efficiency (translation: we made that ish run more smooth). We also fixed a few issues affecting the champ grid UI. 
  • We've improved responsiveness and stability for important transition moments like the jump from the play button to the lobby, the ready check pop-up, and the champ select load-in experience. 
  • Some nasty launch problems were being caused by the new desktop icon not pointing to the right place. This has now been fixed. 
Beginning with patch 6.24, we've also added "Low-spec mode" This is a switch in your settings that lets you turn off the updated client's flashier visuals and effects if you're suffering from performance issues. Right now this mostly affects some minor aspects of the champ select experience, but we'll expand Low-spec mode to cover more features in upcoming patches. 
Our goal is to continue shipping performance improvements so everyone can run our fancyschmancy animations and effects to get the full client experience, but this should help a few people out in the meantime. 
2. There are still some weird bugs in the beta client (but we're squashing them).  
Here are just a few of the most-called-out issues:  
Problem: Champion voices are too damn loud in champ select. 
Solution: In patch 6.23 we shipped vastly expanded sound control options. You can now adjust volume separately for sound effects and music, and there are even individual toggles for pick quotes, ban quotes, champ select music, and login screen music.  
Problem: Players can't change their skin in champ select before everyone is done picking. 
Solution: This was originally an intentional design decision to keep the focus on forming a team comp, but we've decided to change this after hearing player feedback. The fix will arrive within a couple of patches. 
Problem: Selecting masteries while in champ select is slow af. 
Solution: This was a two-part problem: design and laggy UI. Players were having to click five times (or shift-click) to assign five points to each mastery. That was slow as all hell and didn't match the design from the legacy client, so we reverted that change in 6.23—now you can click once to assign all five points or shift-click to assign one point at a time. You can also fine-tune point distribution by using your scroll wheel while hovering over masteries. The performance improvements arriving in 6.24 should significantly reduce the UI lag problems, but we'll keep an eye on it going forward. 
Problem: Changes in audio/visual queues are causing some players to miss critical decision moments like pick/ban resulting in unintentional dodges. 
Solution: We’ve improved audio queues for 'your pick' and 'your ban' moments along with countdown timers that are much more noticeable now. We’ve also fixed a number of issues that was causing the client to fail to grab focus during critical decision moments. 
There are many more bugs, and during open beta we need players' help to squash the nasty buggers. If you're having technical issues with the beta client, be sure to report them using the cute little bug button in the bottom-right corner of your client. If bugs are preventing you from enjoying the game experience, know that you still have access to your legacy client. Just click "Launch legacy client" on your login screen.  
3. Players have tons of cool ideas for new client features… but we can't pursue them just yet.  
One of the great benefits of the client update is that it allows Rioters more freedom to efficiently develop and ship cool new features. But before we get there, we've got to complete the open beta by rebuilding all of the legacy client's existing features and make sure they run smoothly for everyone. That means that we can't yet commit to creating any of the cool client ideas players come up with. 
That also doesn't mean that we won't look into these ideas—just that we have to finish the job at hand first. This applies to a whole list of commonly-requested features like: an in-client ping meter, the ability to choose the champ that appears on your profile page, putting champion grades in match history, a skins tab in the Collection, and on and on.  
4. Some of the legacy client's features haven't been added yet, but they're coming.  
We have to rebuild every existing client feature for the client update, so the big challenge for us is deciding what order to build things in. Here's the full list of missing legacy client features, with current estimates for when they'll arrive in the beta client. Note that these features can easily be delayed past the given patch (that's game development for ya).  
THE ROTATING GAME MODE QUEUE - coming with 6.24 
SPECTATE FRIENDS - coming with 6.24 
GIFTING - coming with 6.24 
ACCOUNT TRANSFERS - coming with 6.24 
BOTS IN CUSTOM GAMES - planned for 7.1 
BATTLE BOOSTS IN ARAM - coming before open beta ends 
CAREER RANKED STATS ON THE PROFILE PAGE - likely to slip past open beta 
PUBLIC CHAT ROOMS - likely to slip past open beta 
ITEM SET CREATOR TOOL - likely to slip past open beta 
We've heard a lot of questions about the final three features on this list (profile page career ranked stats, public chat rooms, and item set creator tool), and we agree that each of these features is important and valuable. To be fully transparent, we just haven't yet assigned a dev team to work on them, since the devs are all busy building other aspects of the client and making sure they run well. So, it's likely that these features will slip past the open beta before we rebuild them. We'll keep you updated when we can talk more confidently about these features—in the meantime, just know that we've heard players requests for them and are working on figuring it out. 
We'll keep these sorts of updates coming throughout the open beta. Be sure to catch the patch notesfor additional updates on the latest client changes. As always, please continue to share your feedback on the client discussion boards."

Piltover Champion Tales & Free Summoner Icon

The Piltover page has been once again been updated with new content, including new champion tales - biography and stories for several champions who call Piltover home - and a FREE Piltover summoner icon!

Caitlyn
Ezreal
Jayce
Orianna
Vi


A FREE Piltover summoner icon is also now available - simply visit the PILTOVER PAGE, scroll to the middle, and click the prompt to redeem your icon. Be sure to navigate to the proper region your account is located on using the top right drop down menu or URL!

"IMPORTANT: To register for your icon, please make sure that this site's URL (region/language) matches your account's server region. 
Unlock for your account by 12/13/2016 at 23:59 PT. 
*Icons will be granted up to two weeks after December 13, 2016 at 23:59 PT."
After redeeming this free icon, the message notes to look for the icon to be granted by 12/27/2016.

Finally here is a 1920 x 1080 of the Piltover art seen on the page:
[Direct Link] 

You can find all this and more in our S@20 coverage of the Piltover page. We'll continue to update that article as more stories and content go out to the Piltover page.

Meddler Grab Bag - PBE Context for Ryze + Syndra, & more

Next up
When asked about the 12/7 PBE nerfs for Ryze's Q, Meddler noted:
"A well played Ryze on a coordinated team's too strong. His average performance isn't great, but when played really well he's out of line. Our belief is the Movespeed bonus on Q's particularly well utilized by really experienced Ryze players, hence targeting it as one of the places to remove power."
Meddler continued:
"Quote:
Why not make him more accessible for the lower elos as well while you guys are going through with his balance changes?
I expect we'll do some of that too. Buffing at some skill levels while nerfing at others is a much bigger task though, so in the short term at least we'll probably have to start with a straight nerf until we've got a bit more time to focus on Ryze more."
When asked for context on the 12/7 PBE changes for Syndra, Meddler noted:
"Current thinking:  
  • Syndra's ult being on a lower than average CD early leaves insufficient windows to play against her, especially if she gets ahead in lane. Those windows of safety are particularly important on a champ with high and fairly reliable burst. 
  • The W upgrade arguably allows Syndra to get 7 sphere ults too consistently and without the telegraph and mana cost that keeping that number of spheres around would other wise entail. It also removes a skill test that some established Syndra players value. 
  • If removing the existing W passive we'll need another. The old one wasn't impactful or satisfying, so we don't want to go back to that. Shifting some damage to more target agnostic damage (True damage bonus) has some appeal because it doesn't increase overall damage in the most powerful cases (bursting down a squishy) as it does in the less optimal cases (hitting tanky opponents). 
  • Overall power likely needs to come down."
When asked about different ways to change Syndra's W and passive, Meddler added:
"With you that even a 10% true damage effect would be at least somewhat appreciable. Far from guaranteed that that's the replacement we go with either at this point. Not guaranteed we replace the W passive upgrade at all either, though I think it's fairly likely we do. 
Wouldn't surprise if removing the multigrab W did mean we needed to do some followup adjustments in a later patch too. Agree the multigrab presents from balancing challenges certainly."
As for why they add true damage to kits, Meddler explained:
"We sometimes use true damage because we want to either offer a moderate amount of damage that can't be mitigated (as opposed to a larger amount of physical or magical damage) or because we want an ability to be extremely threatening to everyone, regardless of defenses. With this change it's the first case."
Meddler continued:
"Quote:
Time is an issue though, Syndra cant be left as is and her W NEEDS to be changed, so there simply isn't time to sit around dreaming of a new exciting function for it. 
Slapping on some +True Damage is good, for now at least, because it has easy balance leavers, isn't too polarizing, and doesn't over-saturate Syndra's strengths (it's adding CONSISTENT damage instead of BURST damage)
Yep, time's very much a factor here. We feel we should make some changes in 7.1. That means, given the way patch development cycles work, we'd ideally want to have those changes figured out by Friday, with a hard cut off date of next Wednesday (changes post Wednesday need to wait for a later patch unless they're fixing really serious bugs)."
As for the 6.24 changes to Kog'Maw (W on hit damage up, damage and AP ratio of E down) and why they chose to nerf Kog'Maw this way, Meddler explained:
"We wanted to buff ADC Kog. AP Kog's one of the strongest solo queue mids in the game at present though. That meant we felt we had to trim some power from the AP build at the same time, since the W buff would also increase AP Kog's strength."
When asked if the team has considered changing Azir's passive turret to not decay, Meddler replied:
"Non decaying passive towers are something we've tried, both during Azir's original development and again during the 6.24 development cycle. In some cases it's a fine change, and one that certainly feels better to Azir. In other cases though it leads to Azir stalling a lane out or keeping perpetual pressure if his team's the one sieging. Decaying health's a safety valve as a result, allowing teams to mix waiting the tower out and putting damage on it as responses."

Patch Chat with the Playtest Team - 6.24, Camille release 

6.24 is out on live and that means the playtest team is back on the boards to discuss the latest changes!
"Hey guys! Welcome to Patch Chat, a Dev Corner thread we make to talk about our new patches every two weeks: http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/game-updates/patch/patch-624-notes 

I'm Aesah on Riot's Playtest Team, a group of Diamond+ players who play with the new champions, reworks, balance tweaks, items, and map updates before they are released. It's our job to the test the changes that our designers come up with and ensure that we're introducing positive changes to LoL in terms of both balance and fun. We'll be watching this thread to answer as many questions as we can. 
In 6.24, we're most looking forward to the release of Camille, a diver in the top lane. Other changes include buffs for Azir, Nidalee, Fiddlesticks, Kog'Maw, and Garen, who were below the bar of appropriate strength (e.g., Fiddlesticks struggled with the jungle changes). On the other hand, we have nerfs for Vayne, Rengar, Leblanc, Twitch, and Ivern who were overperforming (Ivern as players learn to play him). Fervor recieved a buff to encourage ADCs to consider taking it over Warlord's again, while Courage of the Collosus was nerfed as it was providing way more impact than other keystones. Finally, Rylai's recieved a nerf so hopefully we won't be seeing it built as a stat-stick so frequently and rather only on mages who strongly appreciate the slow. 
All of us on the Playtest Team are avid gamers so feel free to talk to us as fellow LoL players! 
Adam "Afic" Cohen
Ben “Cezium” Burkhardt
Don “Aesah” Ding
Nicolas “Gleeb” Haddad
Dan “penguin” Hardison
Bao “Bao” Lam
Robert “ROBERTxLEE” Lee
Nicholas “Nickwu” Smith
Blake “S0be” Soberanis
Trevor “ThEntropist” Thernes"
In the ensuing discussion,  Riot ThEntropist noted they are considering Draven and Lucian buffs:
"Draven and Lucian are currently getting looked at for buffs. So we are also looking to see if those guys need a bump"
In response to a comment on the surge of Exhaust, Riot Aesah also noted they are looking into potentially buffing ignite:
"We're looking into potentially buffing Ignite, also last patch we buffed an offensive Keystone and nerfed a defensive one. Control mages got a decent across the board nerf with Rylai's/Blue. 
I find that on average there's about 1 player per team with exhaust, and with a ~3 minute cooldown spread amongst multiple targets you would still have plenty of opportunities to full-combo with ultimate when exhaust is down (if the guy with it is even there in the first place). 
Furthermore a lot of the assassins have decent disengages if you pick your spots carefully so you can try doing something like baiting out an exhaust by then parkouring over a wall and coming back later, etc. "
Bao also mentioned the upcoming Winter Summoner's Rift map will not be enabled in ranked.

As for context on Syndra changes, Penguin noted:
"Syndra is on live gameplay's watch list right now because she likely needs changes that are bigger than simple numbers changes as her winrate isn't actually out of line but her banrate is nuts. This typically means her counterplay isn't there and larger changes are necessary."

Elementalist Lux Community Creations

Here's Riot Jynx with some beautiful Elementalist Lux community creations:
"Explore each of Elementalist Lux’s forms through these beautiful art pieces created by the community! Click on the creator’s names to see more of their awesome work. 
Artgerm and Ayzhelf 
  

CGlas and Chewiebaka 
  

ChubyMi and Dixneuf 
  

   

  

  

KyoMon and MaiuLive 
  

  

  

Renciel and StCygnus 
  

TMiracle and Uri 
   
Dotswapdraws

Fiship

Gumae

Velsinte

Share more of your favorite Elementalist Lux pieces in the comments below!"

Quick Hits -  Snowdown Hextech Materials, Baron Figure Update, & more.

[Quick hits is our own mini news collection inside a red post collection, often including shorter or easy to digest stories and repeat information you may have missed in other posts! ]


  • Wav3Break poked in on the boards to briefly comment on the PBE Karma changes - nothing her W tooltip will be updated to reflect granting True Sight and the rationale behind her  W/ R+E nerfs:
"Karma's W still reveals targets while they are linked. There will be a tool-tip update that calls out the reveal as "True Sight" soon so it's more clear that it can reveal invisible enemies (like Vayne) as well.  
Other players have mentioned it, but we are inclined to take a look at her power due to her meta presence."


TL;DR -- Baron Figures will start shipping now, instead of in April 2017, for all existing orders. http://riot.com/2f3LUxT
We had Baron designed and a production run ready before Battle for Baron began. Since we wanted to make Baron available to all players who completed and bought him during the quest -- and we weren't sure if the existing units would be enough to accommodate everyone -- we originally planned on holding everything until April 2017 (when additional units could be ready) so all players could start receiving them in a similar time-frame. However last week, a small portion of the existing figures were accidentally shipped out early to some players. Given this, we think the fairest thing to do now is to start shipping out all existing orders. So expect to see a shipping notice for your Baron Figure in the next week or so.

There's also a small amount left in the existing run, so if you get questing now and order you can still get Baron shipped out asap. We'll still make sure anyone who completes and redeems the quest gets a Baron figure, so when the ones in stock run out, we'll revert back to the April 2017 estimated ship date as needed. To give players more time given this change, we've extended the redemption deadline for the figure by one week (until 11:59PM PST 12/16/16). You still need to complete the quest by 11:59PM PST 12/8/16 to qualify.

We hope everyone is ok with receiving the figure sooner than anticipated and are sorry for any confusion this caused. We hope you're enjoying the Battle for Baron!

REMINDERS

To round out tonight's red post collection, here are a few reminders on current promotions or limited time events!
  • 2017 Season Kickoff Sale is live through  December 13th! This sale includes 2 for 1 rune pages, 50% off IP/XP boosts, 50% off RP name change, and a multitude of bundles.
  • Purchase Elementalist Lux before the end of the day on December 13th to received the exclusive Elemental Origin loading screen border and summoner icon.
  • 2016 All-Star content is available through December 14th! This includes new Team Fire and Team Ice summoner icons with temporary extra cosmetics, the upcoming 2016 All-Star Ward (available Dec 8th), and larger champion & skin bundles! 

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