8-2 News: Nothing too exciting.

I'm sure if you've tried to play a game of League today you've already noticed our first bit of news, but lets take a peek anyway!  Rjcombo, one of Riot's senior game designers, announced that Riot has activated their new ready check feature on the live servers..

"The community has been asking for a solution to players who are away from their keyboards during champion selection. When a player is “AFK” they end up being assigned a random champion, and other players often feel the need to dodge out of the game and suffer a dodge penalty. Obviously, this isn’t a great experience for anyone involved.

Today we are releasing a “ready check” feature that represents a significant step towards solving the issue. The goal of the feature is specifically to address players who are AFK during the matchmaking event. When a matched game is made, all participants will be given a short amount of time to “Accept” or “Decline” the game (these replace the "Play Now" and "Finish What I Was Doing" options). Champion selection does not begin until all players have confirmed their presence and desire to play by selecting the “Accept” option.

If any participant selects the “Decline” option, or fails to make a choice within the allotted time, the game is cancelled and the following occurs:

• Solo players and premade teams whose members all selected “Accept” are returned to the front of the matchmaking queue.
• Solo players who selected “Decline”, or who failed to make a selection, are dropped from the matchmaking queue.
• Premade teams with one or more members who selected “Decline”, or who failed to make a selection, are dropped from the matchmaking queue and returned to their arranged team lobby.
• There is no dodge penalty or Elo loss for selecting “Decline” or not making a selection.

Going forward, the development team has additional plans for addressing the issue of AFK players. Stay tuned"

Earlier today, Solcrushed posted in the general discussion forums seeking feedback on what players would like to see for Viktor. His post reads:

"Alright guys, I will be looking at Viktor and his augments as my next project after Xin Zhao. Since the mega-thread when I was working on Xin was quite helpful, why not do another one on Viktor?

Viktor players: Why did you decide to play Viktor and what do you like/dislike the most about him currently?

Non-Viktor players: Have you ever even considered playing Viktor or played him in the past? If so, what turned you off Viktor/what did not meet your expectations?

Any kind of general observations/suggestions about Viktor is also welcome!

As with the Xin thread, I will not be replying to most of your posts but I sure will be reading them.

THE EVOLUTION IS NOT-REALLY-SOON(TM)"

Got some thoughts on what Riot should do with the stagnant Machine Herald? Mosey on over to this thread and let them know what you think!

We also have a new sale spanning from August 3rd to August 6th. This particular champion and skin sale features Blitzcrank ( 487 RP ), Veigar ( 292 RP ), Swain ( 487 RP ), Divine Soraka ( 487 RP ), Lil Slugger Trundle ( 260 RP ), and Mad Scientist Ziggs ( 487 RP ).



Last, but not least,  here is a reminder that tomorrow Riot will be conducting an Ask Me Anything ( AMA ) about Diana over on /r/leagueoflegends. IronStylus, Volty, and RiotRuaan will all be present to answer your questions about Diana. Join the fun starting at around 12 pm PST.


P.S: I should have another giveaway up sometime tomorrow. Here is a sneak peek!