Red Post Collection: Ask Riot, April Early Sales, Reav3 on Skin Splash Updates, EUW/EUNE Legacy client retiring soon, & more!

Continue reading for more information!

• Red Post Collection: On Vastayan Evolution,  Xayah & Rakan price reduction, Worldbuilding in LoL, & more! 

• Champion & Skin Sale 4/28 - 5/1
• Cosmic Blade Master Yi Now Available

• 4/27 PBE Update: Updated Maokai and Sejuani skin splash art, the return of Graves' Cigar, and more!

Table of Contents

• Ask Riot: The "Sexy" Factor
• April Early Sales
• Reav3 on Champion Updates & Splash Art
• EUW & EUNE - Legacy Client Officially Retires May 3rd
• Eyes on MSI: Brazil Ep. 1 (2017)
• The Breakdown with Jatt: C9 vs. TSM Final Team Fight (NA LCS Finals)
• Quick Hits - Old WW Teaser, MSI 2017 Capsules 
• Reminders

Ask Riot: The "Sexy" Factor

"Welcome to Ask Riot!

This week it’s sexy champs, art and animation, and competing with other MOBAs. And reminder: Ask Riot’s one-year anniversary is coming up (in a few weeks), and we’re going to celebrate by having Marc “Tryndamere” Merrill and Brandon “Ryze” Beck, aka the co-founders of Riot and co-creators of League, sit down and answer a bunch of them. If you’ve got a burning question for the guys who started this whole thing, ask away! Look for their anniversary Ask Riot sometime SoonTM. 

When will you make more sexy girl champions?

I talked about this recently on Reddit, so here’s a quick copy-paste: 

In 2013 we made a conscious effort to shift away from the “hourglass girls” we had been making for years. We just had so many women in our game that could easily be described by, “Syndra, but in a different cosplay.” We needed more variety. There are a lot of different ways to make compelling female characters that don’t revolve around raw sex appeal. IMO having a large variety of female and male characters is really good for us. Lets us hit a ton of different niches which is important with a roster as big as ours. 

That said, it’s been a loooooong time (over 3 years) since we’ve made a new first order appealing female character (like of Lux, Ahri, or Jinx). I think it’s important we make another, not because “OMG SEX APPEAL,” but because “I feel attractive” is a compelling character fantasy that a lot of players (men and women) really attach to. The key is the character’s looks HAVE TO MAKE SENSE. Visuals should support the overall theme of a character, not be there in spite of it. The way Caitlyn looks makes no sense for a prim and proper sheriff. The way Ahri looks makes a ton of sense for a succubus. 

It is also crucial to recognize that even within the “attractive character” space, there is huge potential variety in the ways that attractiveness can express itself (there’s a reason I used Lux, Ahri, and Jinx in the above example). As long as the character’s visuals serve and resonate with the its thematic we shouldn’t be afraid of going the “sexy” route. 

League’s got room for all kinds. 

JINXYLORD

Champion Designer 

What’s the plan for keeping League competitive with other MOBAs? There are a lot of games with similar setups/mechanics.

At the end of the day, we think it’s a good thing if there are design and other differences among the various MOBAs. It gives players a reason to choose the one that fits their individual play style rather than having a bunch of carbon copies with only superficial differences. For example, some players like last hitting and some don’t care for it. Some players want strong individual agency and carry potential, while others prefer a game where the entire team wins or loses together. While some of the conventions of a MOBA (like lanes and turrets) may feel universal, there is a lot of opportunity for differentiation. DOTA has couriers. HOTS has talent trees. 

We would make an exception if something happened (like a new feature, design or way of thinking about a game) that evolved the entire genre and became the new status quo. 

Many MOBAs for example (including League) have a loot system now, because it’s something players expect. I can’t predict what that thing would be (an editor, a PvE mode, some kind of new progression system?). But if it was something players wanted and was good for the game overall, we’d strongly consider adding it to League as well, rather than just be stubborn for the sake of being stubborn. 

GHOSTCRAWLER

Game Design Director, League of Legends 

What software do your artist and animators use? Any recommendations on what someone should focus on learning if they want to work in the industry/at Riot?

Different studios use different stuff, but common software in the industry is Maya, Zbrush, Unreal, Unity, Photoshop, etc. Many studios also have proprietary software that an artist may need to learn after being hired. What’s more important is that you understand basic artistic principles, can execute on your area of expertise at a high, industry-standard level, and can communicate effectively about your artistic decisions. 

tldr: Learning industry-standard software is a good start, but it’s the quality of your craft and your understanding of how it does or doesn’t fit into the bigger picture that matters. You can always learn new software if you have strong fundamentals, and companies looking for artists are looking more at your work than your software credentials. 

OBIWUNKENOBI

Art Operations Director

Have a question? Head over to Ask Riot and sign into your League account. Check out the Pro Tips, then ask away. 

We promise to read every question, but we can’t guarantee they’ll all get answers. Some questions may already be answered elsewhere, and some won’t be right for Ask Riot. 

This isn’t the best place to announce new features, for example, and we might skip conversations on issues we’ve talked about in depth before (though we can clarify individual points). 

We are listening, though, so keep asking. We’ll make sure your questions are heard by the Rioters working on the stuff you’re curious about."

April Early Sales

April's early sales including Star Guardian Jinx, Worldbreaker Nautilus, Worldbreaker Trundle, Sejuani Dawnchaster, Karthus Lightbane, and several chroma are now available! Here's the official announcement:

"The April Early Sale is officially here! To kick things off, the following non-Legacy skins from the past 4-6 months are going on sale from April 28, 2017 00:00 PT through May 1, 2017 23:59 PT!

Reav3 on Champion Updates & Splash Art

With new Maokai and Sejuani skin splash arts hitting the PBE in the 4/27 update, Reav3 jumped on the boards:
When asked which champion will get updated skin splash arts now that Karma, Maokai, and Sejuani are behind us, Reav3 shared that Miss Fortune should be next!

"Quote:

ok, now can we know who is next after Sejuani and Mokai soon???

We are currently going into the early stages of a Miss Fortune Splash update. She has a lot of splashes that need updating so we are only going to be focusing on just her for now."

When asked if Sivir is also in line for these skin splash art updates, Reav3 noted:

"Quote:

Is Sivir on your radar? I feel some of her current splash arts are in bad shape, even with the replacement of the chinese art by comparison to Miss Fortune, currently.

She is"

When asked about the new Traditional Sejuani art,  Reav3 shared it is depicting young Sejuani:

"Quote:

I always imagined Traditional Sejuani (Even the old splash) as canon, as her not giving in to the brutalities of winter and only adopting armor when war created a necessity for it.

Yes, it is meant to be young Sejuani"

He added:

"It's the moment that she is inheriting the helmet and becoming the leader of her tribe.

WAAARGbobo added:

"Except that she is the one who broke it.... when she killed the previous wearer. (bittersweet--lore)"

When asked when we'll see the next state of champion update blog, Reav3 commented:

"We will likely do another dev blog sometime after Urgot releases in the 2nd half of the year. Plan is to do one every 6 months or so."

He continued:

"Quote:

Does this mean then you'll announce next 2 after Urgot and Eve, rumors are that you guys started exploration already

We have started on exploration for the next 2, yes. The plan would be to talk about them in the next devblog. That is if we have commuted to the next 2 by that time."

When asked who is the design lead on Urgot's future update, Reav3 shared:

"Quote:

Also can possibly ask who is lead on Urgot at the moment, Repertoir said he started him but another dev is finishing. Would it happen to be 20thCenturyFaux

BelugaWhale is currently the designer on Urgot, he took it over from Repertoir. 20thCenturyFaux and SolCrushed are both currently in ideation teams looking into whats next."

EUW & EUNE - Legacy Client Officially Retires May 3rd

After the recent  retirement on NA, the next servers to retire the legacy client fully convert to the updated client are EUW and EUNE on May 3rd with patch 7.9.

"The little blue box carried us from 2009 to 2017, but it's finally time to say goodbye. Beginning May 3rd with patch 7.9, the legacy client will officially be retired in EUW and EUNE. "

A full post covering the retirement, including an FAQ, is available here.a post covering the FAQs:

Eyes on MSI: Brazil Ep. 1 (2017)

With MSI 2017 kicks off on April 28th, and Riot has released the first video in a 4 part series on the teams who made in in to the event in Brazil:

"Eyes on MSI is a four part series that follows the best teams in the world at the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational in Brazil. In this episode, we start at the CBLoL Finals where RED Canids and Keyd Stars battle to represent Brazil at MSI on their home turf. 

Soundtrack List:
“Eyes on MSI Theme” by Riot Games
“Sexy Whispers” by Beatrice, Brigitte Redemagni, Eddy Gronfier, Orion Navaille
“A Lost People” by Miriam Cutler
“Rigga” by Lennert Busch
“Nunca Me Rendiré” by Ali Theodore, Bryan Spitzer, Lovel James, Nicholas Loizides, Sarai Howard, Sergio Cabral
“Matadora” by Sofi Tukker"

More information on the 2017 Mid-season invitational is available [here].

The Breakdown with Jatt: C9 vs. TSM Final Team Fight (NA LCS Finals)

A new episode of the Breakdown is out, this time looking at the final team fight between C9 and TSM at the NA LCS Spring Split finals!

"In the 2017 NA LCS Spring Split Finals between TSM and Cloud9, the five-game series was decided by one climactic fight. The engagement forced extremely quick decision making from both teams - and the delicate execution of that fight is what we're covering in our last Breakdown of the Spring Split. 

Watch more Breakdowns: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
Detailed Match History: http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegend...
NA LCS VODS: http://www.lolesports.com/en_US/vods/... 

Music by: Sean Barrett 

Tweet #TheBreakdown if you see a great competitive play you want us to break down and for more competitive League of Legends visit Lolesports.com!"

Zirene tweeted that he will be taking over The Breakdown series going forward

"As @RiotJatt mentioned on reddit, I will be taking over The Breakdown series. Be sure to tweet me the moments you think deserve a Breakdown."

Quick Hits - Old WW Teaser, MSI 2017 Capsules 

1) Over on reddit, Reav3 mentioned there was a teaser for the (then soon to be) updated Tundra Hunter Warwick in the Frosted Ezreal splash art prior to release and no one really picked up on at the time.

If you look to the left of the splash, you'll see Tundra Hunter Warwick and his distinct back device poking out from behind some rocks. This was added to the splash in the 7/19/2016 PBE update.

2) Competitive Ruling: Felipe "YoDa" Noronha

"TL;DR

• On April 27, Felipe “YoDa” Noronha used racially derogatory language in a tweet;
• Noronha is being issued a 3-game suspension and a $2,000 USD fine for this incident."