Red Post Collection: VU talk, Nasus change, development diaries, and more!

Another day has passed and we have a few more posts regarding Sivir's future visual update. This time IronStylus reminded that there isn't a tentative date yet, but things are moving along.

"Proceeding well. There's no timelines yet concerning release, but we're past concept, into model, texture and animation. 

PAX Sivir should indeed be awesome ;)"

When asked if Sivir's visual update will also include balance / kit changes, he replied:

"Not sure on the extent, as far as I know just tweaks and some polish."

In response to some questions about a "Traditional Sivir" skin, IronStylus commented that their will not be one.

"Base is different, but not enough to warrant a traditional skin. The current base is universally considered to be sub-par quality and thematically pretty empty."

As for Twitch, IronStylus touched on him briefly, saying:

"We have ideas and opinions on Twitch, he's on the list, but I've got my hands full with addressing questions about Yi and Sivir ;)"

When asked if Evelynn was on the list of champions to get a visual update, IronStylus commented:

"So, we're getting ahead of ourselves quite a bit here but yeah, she's on the list. 

As I mentioned in another thread, Eve might not get another skin until a rework, BUT! that's just a possibility, I only say so simply because we're working with some really outdated assets when it comes to her. There's a ton we can do with her but not right now in her current state. Wonky proportions, model quality, lots of animation issues also.

I'd like us to explore what's core to Eve, and what sort of fantasy/psychology she fills in her current state. From there evaluate what makes Eve, Eve, establish goals, and work from there. Right now she's a blue chick with pink straps. Not terribly compelling. There's sort of some Mystique stuff going on in there which I think we might be able to leverage a little more. I think we can amp her up.

Either way, she's in our brains, but we're only maybe getting close to the concept phase with new Eve explorations."

Nasus Q Display Change
ZenonTheStoic commented on an upcoming quality of life change he is currently working on for Nasus.

"I'm working on a change where the damage that Nasus gets from his Q is shown as a number on a buff, so you no longer have to mouse-over his Q as Nasus / as a spectator to see the number. This also means that the number will be exposed to Nasus' allies and enemies. UI-wise the number easily scales into 5 digits, so I hope that even in super-long games nothing will break visually.

My question to you all is this: are you at all concerned with the enemy having access to this information? Would you say that we are exposing information that wasn't previously exposed at all? Anything else that strikes you as problematic about this change?"

As a follow up to the last part, he replied to someone mentioning they enjoy the surprise of their opponents not knowing how well Nasus is farmed.

"Re: Surprise. Surprises are sometimes good, particularly when they involve cake, but I feel that "oh I guess he can just kill me, huh" is the wrong kind of surprise.

And in the game."

He also replied to someone concerned that showing the Nasus Q numbers could result in being harassed, much like how other players will harass a low CS player.

"This is the first really strong negative feedback in this thread, thank you! You're right, and I did not consider the psychological implications here, but I strongly feel that this will be overshadowed by CS numbers, which are already available. I will talk to our Smart People With PhDs though to make sure we're on the same page here and I don't introduce a change that'll mean more harassment for Nasus players. "

Finally, ZenonTheStoic mentioned his thoughts on this kind of change for similar champions, saying:

"Oh and for everyone who's asking, if this is well-received for Nasus, no reason not to do it for other champs like Veigar. For Sion, we probably want to wait and see if we do a remake and if that mechanic will still be on the kit."

Development Diaries
Over on Reddit, IronStylus replied to someone asking if we could get a complete diary / documentary on a new champion - something to show how the creative process unfolds starts to finish.

"This could possibly be a thing. Actually I like to do a "behind the scenes" or mini-doc about all 3 content teams, Champion, Skins and Relaunch. I think there's a lot of value in showing our thought process, technical pipeline, and feature the individuals who contribute so much to each team. 

It's all really interesting processes. Maybe I'll ask around and see if it's something we can do :)"

Other
ZenonTheStoic also commented that the next champion after Aatrox is the first champion he has had a heavy hand in since becoming a champion designer.

"One that we can talk about once he/she/it hits PBE. I can probably tell you that it's the next champion after Aatrox though. I'm super excited to start talking about my first baby, but this is not the thread for that"

Lastly, we have some confirmation on the, super ultra likely ultimate, Udyr skin's name. According to this currently locked post on the LoL site, the skin is named "Spirit Guard Udyr".