Update from Hippalus on upcoming promotions

Hippalus has posted a lengthy update to his previous Introduction and AMA style thread where he was interacting with players and answering any questions they could throw at him.

Continue reading for a sneak peek at what sort of sales and promotions we will see by the end of the year and what we can expect a bit farther out, including new types of purchasable content coming in late 2012, the possible return of legacy skins in December 2012, and much more!

Hippalus, Riot's new eCommerce Director, has been talking extensively with summoners about what promotions they would like to see, what Riot can do to improve bundles and pricing, and a slew of other details. You can read my two previous posts here and here about it or you can just peep the post below where he puts a time frame on most of the things he's previously mentioned.

"Now that this thread has been somewhat derailed (my fault for raising a highly controversial topic), I will make one last post and will then restart the conversations and take more questions in new threads when the time is right. 

Here is my current plan regarding the major topics discussed in this thread:

• Refunds – will be addressed next week
• Rune Pages– 2 for 1 promotion launched yesterday. Will revisit in 2013
• Rune Pricing and Design – Evaluate in 2013
• Champion Pricing– Proposed plan(s) will be presented to the community for feedback in the next few weeks
• Skin Pricing– likely will try a couple things in 2012, with a long term plan in 2013
• Bundles – Great feedback in the All About Bundles thread. Expect to see meaningful progress in 2012
• Summoner Name Changes – Possible sale in 2012 along with another cleansing of unused names
• Free Champion Rotation – Evaluate in 2013
• Gifting to Friends – Targeting partial capability in December 2012
• New Types of Content – Expect the first of many in late 2012
• Skins for IP – Evaluate in 2013 (I appreciate the helpful poll threads)
• Legacy Skins – Potential comeback for some legacy skins beginning December 2012
• Limited Edition Skins– No plans to change

Regarding the Limited Edition skin controversy, there were some great points made on both sides (and some not-so-great points, like trying to make it into a legal issue), but to me it boils down to this: some of our earliest supporters bought Limited Edition skins with the expectation that they would never be made available again, and value that exclusivity highly, while many of our biggest supporters today want nothing more than to get their hands on one of those skins. I would love to find a way to meet the needs of both groups (maybe an auction house where only existing skins could be sold?), but there is no easy solution that accomplishes that goal, and therefore nothing will change for the foreseeable future. 

And to those who accuse me or Riot of being greedy or unethical for even considering how to meet the needs of players who tell me that obtaining a certain skin is the one thing they would value above all else, you are flat out wrong. Everything isn’t about money, and considering various ways to make players happy is not unethical. I acknowledge I could have searched old threads first, but raising the issue here is the most efficient way to understand the current range of views among the players.

At the end of the day I will only be successful at my job if I am able to find and implement solutions that, in the aggregate, a) further Riot’s mission to be the most player-focused gaming company in the world, and b) support Riot’s financial health. Most of the initiatives I implement will attempt to accomplish both, or will attempt to improve one without hurting the other. If I am unsure about the ultimate impact on players of a particular idea, I will ask players first (either in the forum or by survey, depending on what information I need). If I am unsure about the financial impact, I will try to test it out first. The topics I have chosen to focus on first from the list above are the ones where I think I can have the most positive impact with the lowest risk of unintended consequences. That view is always evolving and I will continue to read the forums, so please continue to share your thoughts on these topics and others, even though I will not generally respond.

And most importantly, thank you for the warm welcome on this thread and others! I will be MIA for the next few days but will be back on the 19th with more news.

-Hippalus"