Urf Post Collection: URF ending on April 13th, New URF merch in shop, Ocean Week Reef Update, 2015 Urfitational VOD

Posted on at 11:43 PM by Moobeat
Tonight's URF post collection includes a heads up that U.R.F mode will be sticking around until April 13th, a look at the new U.R.F items added to the merch shop, a VOD for the glorious 2015 URFitational, an update on the Ocean Week reef, and more!
Continue reading for more information!



Table of Contents



Fewer fancy hats but even more rapid fire - URF ending on April 13th

With April Fools' day done and gone, here's Riot with the truth behind U.R.F - which will remain on live until April 13th at 2 AM PDT!
"How about that new old Ultra Rapid Fire? As tantalizing as the prospect of elevating League of Legends to the pinnacle of high-society competition might be, there isn’t a world in which we could have passed up a chance to bring back a favorite game mode. 
April Fools’ Day is a celebration of League’s amazing community, whether we’re poking fun at the 3D fad from a few years back, or releasing a trollish browser game that hit all of our nostalgia buttons like punching in a cheat code. 
So the highfalutin gig is up. URF has returned to celebrate the community alongside skins, icons, and bundles. Plus, you can commemorate the event with merch in real life! Check out the Urf figure and Ultra Rapid Fire hoodie on the merch site for more. 
We’ve added a few new bells and whistles (in some cases, literal bells and/or whistles) to the classic Ultra Rapid Fire mode, and everyone can earn the Thinking Manatee Icon by finishing one game of URF mode before the end of the event. 
Check out the patch notes for more on the mode, the manatees, and the merch, then enjoy Ultra Rapid Fire until April 13 at 2 AM PDT. If you missed any of the joke as it played out, catch the reveal ofNew Ultra Rapid Fire here, the subsequent server surge here, and the local broadcast of theURFitational over yonder."

Urf Mode and Queue Times

With the return of our beloved U.R.F mode, Riot Hawknet popped into the maps & modes board to comment on U.R.F mode, queue times, and some things you may see as the server load fluctuates:
"Hey everyone, 
By now I’m sure you’ve heard of the untimely demise of the New Ultra Rapid Fire preview, and the rise of classic Ultra Rapid Fire from its smoldering rubble. For anyone unfamiliar with terms such as “Helicopter Horse”, or the glory days of Ultimate Faceroll Sona, U.R.F. mode brings with it some truly insane moments for the game. However, alongside the skill spam and huge amounts of death and destruction, the game servers take a serious beating as well. Left unchecked, the extra load can potentially cause Bad Things to happen to the entire region. 
To prepare for this possibility, we’ve been working on a variety of tactics to keep things stable while U.R.F. is rocking. During extremely high server load, you may experience longer wait times than normal when queuing up for U.R.F. In extreme cases, the game mode could even be temporarily disabled. You may also notice that U.R.F. mode against AI bots is temporarily throttled or disabled, which allows more headroom for 5v5 PvP U.R.F. matches. Finally, the minimum number of players needed to create custom games could be temporarily increased. 
Our overall aim is to have as much uptime for U.R.F. mode as possible, without negatively impacting the rest of the region. We’re confident that U.R.F. mode will be a blast, and will take every precaution to keep the rest of LoL gliding along as well. Our hope is that this post gives some advance insight into what’s going on should any of the above tactics have to take place. Alright then, that’s all from us. We’ll be seeing you all on the corpse-strewn hellscape of the U.R.F. battlefield. 
I'll be hanging out to answer questions. Hope everyone's enjoying Urf so far!"

When asked how the servers use resources for game modes vs normal games, Hawknet replied:
"Resources are shared by all running game modes, so the only way to "transfer" those resources would be to throttle or disable certain queues. For example, disabling custom games containing just one player means more room for everything else as a result. The same idea applies to everything else."
As for how intense a game of URF is compared to a normal game, Hawknet shared:
"Our estimates put a regular Urf mode 5v5 PvP game at about 50% more expensive resource wise than a standard Summoners Rift game. The sheer number of extra calculations taking place from all the skill spam and mayhem make things run pretty hot, especially when multiplied thousands of times over."

Looking for more on Ultra Rapid Fire mode? Check out these links:

 New Urf Figure & Hoodie in Merch Shop + "Ultra Random Figure Mode"

With the glorious return of U.R.F, the Riot Games merch shop has been updated with two new items and a special "Ultra Random Figure mode" promotion!
"To celebrate the (admittedly unplanned for) return of Ultra Rapid Fire, we're introducing Ultra Random Figure mode. The rules are simple: If you pick up a limited Urf figure, you'll also get a second random champ figure totally free."


 On twitter, jingofalltrades noted:
"the hoodie will be in the shop until we sell out, but we have a relatively limited quantity of them"


From the shop entry for the adorable URF figure:
"What is Ultra Random Figure mode?
To celebrate the return of Ultra Rapid Fire, we're kicking off Ultra Random Figure mode. The rules are simple: If you pick up a limited Urf figure, you’ll also get a second random champ figure totally free.

How does Ultra Rapid Figure mode work?
Every champion figure in the store could be up for grabs during Ultra Random Figure mode. The second figure will be chosen at random and shipped with your Urf order. Sadly, Urf decreed in accordance with the Mandate of Manatees that each champion figure must be random and cannot be returned or exchanged.

How long will Ultra Random Figure mode last?
The mode will last as long as Ultra Rapid Fire mode is active in League of Legends. Afterwards, Urf Figure will also say farewell to the store."

Urf Triumphant Ward Is Not Legacy

In case you had any worries, Riot KateyKhaos has confirmed the new musclebound URF TRIUMPHANT ward skin is NOT legacy and will be a permanent addition to the store!
"Nope, this ward skin is too awesome to be legacy! It'll be sticking around for a while. :]"
Flexin' for a better look? Check out this URF TRIUMPHANT ward skin preview video!

Ocean Week Reef Update

As you may recall, one of the community rewards from the recent Ocean Week event on the OCE server was to build a real life Nautilus-themed artificial reef !

Here's CptStupendous with an update on how that process is going:
"Hey everyone! 
I want to give you all an update on where we're at with the Nautilus-themed artificial reef. We have been exploring potential sites and toured our first one last week. 
We have been working with a marine biologist and a company that specialises in artificial reef creation to identify the most suitable sites. They are all uniquely different, because the ocean is an amazingly diverse place, so they all have different requirements that impacts the design. 
As you know this is a slow process, so we can't say it will be happening soon, but progress is steady and we will keep you updated as we go! 
If you have any questions please fire them off, but there is a lot we can’t decide on until we find the site.
gg, 
CptStupendous"

The 2015 URFitational VOD

In case you missed it earlier today, here's a VOD for the 2015 URFitational between The Society of Worth Assessing Gentleman (S.W.A.G) and  Ye Olde League Organization (Y.O.L.O) :

"Two teams, each with a storied legacy and decades of achievements, take to the Rift for the finals of the grandest, most elegant event of all time: The URFitational. Watch as titans of League of Legends clash in the most refined competition ever witnessed by humanity."

No comments

Post a Comment