Red Post Collection: /Dev: Rocking the Rift, Crit Item Exploration, Demacian Heart, Ask Riot & More

Posted on at 11:28 AM by Aznbeat
Today's red post collection includes a new /Dev on recent champion and skin music, including new sheet music, Crit item explorations from PhRoXz0n, a new Demacian story on the Universe, Ask Riot, and more!
Continue reading for more information!


Table of Contents


/Dev: Rocking on the Rift

A new /Dev is out from ProtoShredanoid, providing some new details on how recent music was made, ad well as providing some sheet music! - "Guitar riffs, following inspiration for Eclipse Leona, behind-the-scenes videos, and new sheet music."
"Hello everyone, this is ProtoShredanoid from the Riot music team with the next installment of sheet music and dev blog music madness. Along with releasing some guitar-focused sheet music sketches and raw behind-the-scenes clips, we’d like to talk about the highly personal process of following inspiration and how it blossoms into a full piece of music. 
Inspiration can manifest itself unexpectedly and comes in many forms. The initial seed could come from something profound like a dream, concert, movie, piece of artwork, etc., or from something as simple as a rhythmic faucet drip, chirping crickets, a quirky pitched pattern in someone’s laugh, a conversation with a friend, or even the universe itself. It could come from literally anything! (I’m guilty of being inspired by all of the above.) 
Once we have that initial seed of inspiration, we need to water it and help it grow. If there is any one takeaway from this blog, it should be, “Never underestimate your raw inspiration.” No matter what it is, tend to it and be prepared to help it flourish. For me, I capture most of my inspiration with (and express it on) the guitar, which leads me to… 
ECLIPSE LEONA 
This piece started with a very simple pattern on guitar. 
Eclipse Leona intro guitar pattern
Eclipse Leona intro guitar pattern
This initial figure, or shall I say “seed,” resonated with me. The key of B major along with the open B string pedal on guitar have a bright quality, which feels like Leona. B major is generally considered a very sharp and bright key, and to me it sounds like a super saturated hue of yellow (“pitch to color” could be an entire post by itself!). 
Now that we have a figure that feels good and we’ve nurtured our initial inspiration, it’s time to find an instrument that could help further create a sonic identity for Leona. (In other words… let’s turn that tiny sprout into a towering tree.) 
Personally, I feel there is something spiritual about the hang drum. Maybe it’s all of the images I’ve seen of hippies and cool dudes with dreads playing it—or maybe it’s just me? Either way, perhaps one could imagine the Solari of Mount Targon using melodic, hang drum-like instruments to connect with the Cosmos and Aspects. The hang drum also has a very metallic quality, which feels fitting for Leona’s shield and armor. It also feels more weighty and stronger when compared to the glassy textures that we normally associate with instruments used for Targonian music. Because Leona is such a tank, this strength and heaviness seems very appropriate. 

Next we add some variation to our pattern with piano and harp, add high-register celeste to further connect us to the Cosmos (it is Eclipse Leona, afterall), and add some organic fantasy magic elements to represent the power of the sun that Leona wields. 

Now that we have something that’s starting to sound like a piece of music (or to follow the metaphor, looks like a tree), the inspiration process snowballs. Our little sketch inspires us to hum a melody (sung by Lisa Thorn in the final version, who voiced the original Diana theme), add rhythmic figures, design big brassy braams, and build into full traditional orchestra. The snowball effect eventually leads us into an entirely new section for the second half of the piece, signifying the power of the Moon. 
None of the above would have happened if we did not trust our initial seed of inspiration and tend to it. While this process will surely vary from person to person, I feel the underlying message remains the same: Never underestimate your raw inspiration.

The initial idea for the Moon section came late at night, floating around the Moon. We felt a calm, cool, darker, more folkloric section would contrast the Sun melody and balance the piece.
Eclipse Leona guitar tablature

And now it’s time for more sheet music. For the first time, we’ve got something a little special for the guitar players: tablatures. There’s also a full orchestral score for Snowdown 2017, just in time for the holidays. Since we’re focused on inspiration today, we also included a brief look at the initial inspiration for each of these pieces. 
We’ll be back next year with more sheet music and more insight into composition at Riot. Happy holidays everyone!"

 [Check out the sheet music for Odyssey, Pool Party 2013, Pool Party 2018, Aatrox, and Snowdown 2017 in the full post!]


Crit Item Explorations 

Here's PhRoXz0n with a thread on crit items, and some tentative explorations into changes:
"Hi everyone, 
I’m here to talk a bit about crit items, bouncing some ideas and getting some discussion going. The exact details are still in flux; don’t want to get caught up on “this number is too big/small” (feedback is still welcome), but am curious to see what you all think and are excited about (either in this post or not) as well as general thoughts. 
Note: None of these things are guaranteed to ship. 
Our current goals for this project (which are subject to change):
  • Crit users have an item path they are excited about.
  • Crit users have defensive options that aren’t way off curve.
  • Crit users are more satisfying in solo queue for all levels of play.
We're considering some potential directions (see below). Direction 1 is more known, direction 2 is a bit more adventurous and at the end, there are a few ideas that can go in either pitch. 
Let me know what you think either in thread or on twitter @RiotPhRoXzOn, I'll be around to answer questions and participate in discussion for a bit. 
IE Direction 1 - IE Reversion 
[IE Reversion]
IE Direction 2 - 5k Gold IE and Zeal upgrade changes, Energized Changes 
[5k Gold IE]
[25% Crit Zeal Items] 
[25% Crit Zeal Items] 
Flexible - (Can go in either pitch) 
[Hexdrinker] 
 
[Defensive PD] 
[Essence Reaver Broadening] 
[Energized Stormrazor] 
[Multi proc Stormrazor] 
[Buffed Last Whisper] 
 
[New Maw] 
EDIT: Thanks for all the feedback everyone. Read all the comments so far."

Universe Update: Demacian Heart

A new story was updated to the Universe! Check out Demacian Heart:
"The boy admired the yellow dormisroot peeking through the frozen soil. It was one of hundreds growing in a tiny patch of vivid color in an otherwise barren landscape. He crouched next to the blossom and inhaled. Crisp morning air and a faint aroma greeted his nose. He reached out to pick the wildflower. 
“Leave it be,” said Vannis. 
The older man towered over the boy, his blue cloak stirring in the gentle breeze. Marsino stood next to him, holding an unlit torch. The three had been waiting for a while, completely unchallenged. 
The younger man smiled down at the boy and nodded. 
The boy plucked the flower and stuffed it in his pocket. 
Vannis shook his head and frowned. “Your time with the boy has instilled bad habits.” 
Marsino flushed at the remark, his smile disappearing. He cleared his throat and asked, “Do you see anything?”"

[Read the full story on the Universe!] 


Ask Riot: Honor and Wish Lists 

Check out this week's Ask Riot - "Plus, will every champion eventually need an update? And what percentage of players play Ranked?"
This week, we’re talking Ranked players, future plans for Honor, wish lists, and champion updates. 
How much percent of the active player base plays ranked? Always wanted to know if it’s like 80% that try their luck in ranked or if most people stick to having fun in normals.

Honestly, a pretty surprising number of players play Ranked. For example, in 2018 around 70% of level 30+ players placed in at least one queue. Not only that, but on a monthly basis around 65% of active players play one or more Ranked games. That’s pretty high participation—we think one reason for this might be because one of the core reasons players try League is for the intense, competitive aspects of the game, meaning they’re more likely to opt into ladder systems. 
Since the vast majority of players engage in Ranked, we have to make sure the system works well for you no matter who you are. For example, elite players in Master and Challenger have substantially different needs and motivations from players who are lower on the ladder since many of them actually know each other and they tend to specialize more often than lower ranked players. We have to take those kinds of differences into account when making changes. 
Lead Designer for Meta Game Systems 
Are there any plans to modify or add to the new honor system?

Currently, we’re prioritizing other features like Ranked and Clash over further improvements to Honor. Having said that, we do think there are a number of things we can do to make Honor better. For example, a common request is for us to bring back honoring opponents, which is something you can’t do in the current system. We’d also like to do a couple other things like provide clearer directions to help Honor level 0 and 1 players climb back to an honorable state and frame the system more around sportsmanship rather than who carried who. 
One thing we are planning to do is integrate Honor level as a multiplier for split points in the new Ranked system, but we’re still a ways away from exploring more foundational changes. 
Lead Designer for Meta Game Systems 
Have you ever thought about implementing a wish list in the shop? I for one would be much more willing to purchase skins for friends if I knew they were something my friend wanted and for someone they played.

Yes, we’ve definitely thought about this. We think giving you more ways to see what your friends are interested in for gifting would be great, and we’ve even done some initial discovery work on it. Unfortunately, we learned that it’d be very difficult to implement on our current tech stack due the way we built the store backend and frontend in the past. 
Right now we’re doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work updating all aspects of the store to make features like wish lists and other cool stuff much easier to implement. In the meantime, we’re going to continue on small quality of life feature improvements. For example, we recently added the ability to gift people directly from your friend’s list. In short—we’d like to add a wish list feature, but we’ll need to finish refactoring pieces of the store before we’re able to. 
Product Manager, Personalization 
Do you guys believe that eventually every champion will require a full gameplay rework, or are some champions good where they are at?While I doubt every champion, or even a vast majority of them, will need full gameplay reworks at some point, it’s always possible they could. It’s hard to say which champions will stand the test of time and which won’t. The game is constantly changing, and because of this, some champions will fall out of favor, or maybe some kits that work really well in the current state of the game might become obsolete down the road. Only time will tell. 
Lead Producer of Champions

Thanks for reading this week’s Ask Riot. 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."

Miscellaneous

There’s nothing better during the cold Snowdown weather than grabbing a steaming hot cup of fan art to warm your bones. The League community went all out for Snowdown (Neeko/Soraka especially!), and here’s just a taste of their amazing creations.
"Welcome to the Creator Spotlight! Learn more about talented League of Legends creators. If you’re looking for more League in your life, follow these amazing individuals! 
Yougelly is a League streamer, aspiring graphics designer, and sippy cup connoisseur. Whether she’s hanging out with her dedicated fans or crushing mid lane with LeBlanc, yougelly is a rising star you should be watching. And what do you know, we asked her questions."

[Check out the full spotlight here!] 

"Our team wanted to be a bit more transparent around server issues, as well as other information that the NA playerbase may want to hear about. This is 100% a work in progress, so feedback around what’s here, or what you might want to see, is highly appreciated! 
Your weekly dose of server problem-os, NA League news, and other! 
Happy Holidays! Stuff happened this week, like some esports across the world, and no bad server burps....yet. Really, pretty chill week overall. 
Follow-Ups:
  • Everyone loves Akali (Love/Hate relationship)
Server Stuff:
  • Nothing major to report
Game Stuff:
  • Nothing major to report
Player Support Trend: 
It looks like TWC, Bright House, and CenturyLink in the US had some widespread outages over the last day or so (12/26 ~12/27). If you have either provider and saw some unusual ping/drops with your internet over the last day or so, that might be your answer! 
We may be Blitzing, we may be running amok in normals, or possibly just enjoying the RNG in ARAM. Happy Holidays! 
Morgageddon & Couch Commando"

Reminders

To round out this red post collection, here are a few reminders on current promotions or limited time events!

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