Red Post Collection: May 1st Patch Update, Baron Nashor Icon Available, ARAM Boosts disabled until 5.9, and more

• 4/30 PBE Update: Combat Text Adjustments, Tentative Cinderhulk Changes, and more

MattEnth also commented on reddit:

"We do hotfixes for random bugs pretty frequently, though some bring larger patches than others. This one hit bugs with Morgana, Xerath, Ryze, Facebook Friend Discovery, Champion Mastery, and more."

Declare your allegiance to Baron Nashor

The new Baron Nashor themed summoner icon is now up in the shop for 250 RP.

"Show your fealty to the most exalted monster on Summoner’s Rift with the Baron Nashor icon for 250 RP. Those who gaze upon your profile will tremble in despair knowing you serve the great and scaly worm… creature… thing."

ARAM Skin Boost disabled until 5.9

Unfortunately there are some bugs with the new ARAM "Skin Boosts"  option added in the recent patch 5.8 and the feature will disabled until next patch.

Here's Chager with details:

"Hello Summoners, 

Wanted to give you an update on the ARAM Skin Boost issue. We recently turned this feature on with the 5.8 deploys, and shortly after started receiving a handful of tickets for players who were on the team of someone who purchased the Skin boost not receiving a random skin (IP was received though). 

After doing some digging, our engineers found a bug in the code where some messages around status of Skin Boosts weren't able to communicate with each other inside our platform hardware. We are in the process of fixing the bug, but due to the nature of the fix will be holding off on deploying it until the next release (5.9). Sorry for the inconvenience! 

-Chager"

For those who may be unfamiliar with it, the new Skin Boosts option is only available for ARAM games. For 95 RP these boots grant you 200 IP, your allies 100 IP each, and both of you received a one-time random skin to use for your ARAM champion.

On Skins, 750's having no VFX changes, and more

With seven 750 RP tier skins currently testing on the PBE,

To start us off,  Kindlejack commented on why upcoming or heavy future gameplay changes and events play a role in the schedule of who gets a new skin:

"Quote 

Let me just say that you guys did a great job on Talon in particular. I'm speaking to you as someone who had Talon as his first main, his first champ played, and the first champ he ever bought skins for. I have been waiting a long time yes, but I can appreciate how damn great the skin is. The new W/R shurikens look great as well. 

But with that said, referring to your quoted post now: If limited edition skins aren't considered within a champion's skin release cadence and thus provide hope for a "bigger" skin, then where's Zed's "Second" skin? You don't have to answer directly - it's just that...well. Zed's the only Season 2 champion that technically only has one skin, which is a huge thing when you consider how consistently popular he has been. The reason Yorick hasn't gotten one is because he's badly designed and in need of a rework; is there a similar situation going on with Zed or is he just hated by the skins team?

This was one of my biggest questions when I started! I have since learned some things I can share with you: 

The reason Yorick, Poppy, Taric, Urgot etc. haven't gotten skins recently is because yes they are in the process of being reworked - and the reworks are on a scale that if we released a skin now there would be a chance that it would have to be completely redone in the near future when the champ is updated. This is double the potential work for us but, more importantly, could really suck for players who pick up a new skin only to see it change from what they just purchased. Yes we update older skins that have been around for a while, but we think it would be far worse if you had just bought a new skin and then it was changed (possibly drastically). 

Because in production we all work far ahead of the live game there are often projects in the pipeline that we can't talk about yet. The new Lux skin has been in production for quite a while but we couldn't tell players. Sometimes projects get delayed because of particular effects or features we want to implement or they would fit in with an event and so get shuffled around in the schedule. 

Just remember that everyone at Riot is also a player and there are plenty of Zed and Talon players that raise the same concerns and likewise for every champion. As I said with Talon I was excited that we were doing a skin for him but also prepared for the disappointment at it being a 750. I'm really glad you like it!"

As for if there will be added VFX to the Queen of Diamonds Syndra skin, KateyKhaos noted:

"Queen of Diamonds Syndra won't be receiving new particles. In many cases, we try to offer skins at various price tiers so that players who want all the bells and whistles in a skin have that option, as well as players who just want a new outfit."

Galetta also commented on the Queen of Hearts Syndra skin, which a players have been requesting have it's own unique effects, explaining why it isn't such an easy option to "just" spend more time to add them and increase her price:

"Yo!

So there are several factors that prevent us from simply changing particle colors on skins. The first and biggest issue is time. We have a limited number of particle artist on the team, they are ALWAYS busy. You have to keep in mind that they are working on multiple skins at a time that range from Legendary to 975 RP skins. When someone says "Hey, just change the particles", that would require an artist to stop working on their current skin and start work on this new project. That takes time and it would break our schedule and cause multiple skins to be delayed. There are only so many hours in the day and only so many artists.

We plan out skins months in advance so we can create as many skins as possible each year and if that schedule gets interrupted by a delay there are ripple effects. :<

The 2nd issue is testing. All of our skins go through rigorous testing and different test suites depending on the changes to the skin. 750 skins go through a smaller test suite that requires less time to complete due to the fact that fewer changes were made.

We see it time and time again that the more changes we make to a skin the more bugs we find on that skin and on the older skins that champion has. Again we only have so many testers and so many hours in the day.

Additionally if we were to overhaul Syndra and make her a 975 she would have to go through testing all over again which would delay her greatly."

KateyKhaos continued, diving deeper into the factors of scope/pricing tier of skins and scheduling  when asked why they won't be adding VFX to the 750 skins on the PBE despite community requests:

"I think players often default to this question when something they're passionate about isn't changed, or particular feedback isn't acted upon, and it's understandable, and may appear that way.

PBE is an opportunity for players to get a first hand look at content, try it out, and leave feedback. We appreciate the PBE community, as well as players who don't have PBE access, but take a look at 3rd party coverage at the content and leave their thoughts on the live boards.

We make no promise to change everything that's suggested on the boards. That's not because we don't care, or because we don't want to by any means.

When we plan a skin, we plan scope. (Will the skin have new particles? Will the skin have new VO? Will it have new sounds?) When we decide on the scope of the skin, we then allocate resources to it (animators, particle artists). Resources that aren't being allocated to skin A, are then put on other skins (B,C, etc.) This means that if we scope out a skin which we plan to only have a new model/texture, we don't have a particle artist available to create different particles. When a skin has particles, sure, we can make adjustments to the particles we've created for this skin without much issue.

It's also not just about the content creation. When we create a skin, we complete a fairly lengthy test plan to ensure the skin is working properly and this includes sweeping all of the champion's older skins. By adding new particles so late in the process, it means we need to begin testing over, which would then throw a wrench in the entire testing pipeline, and could delay and entire patch of skins rather than the one skin in question.

Yes, we delayed Debonair Galio, but that was all model and texture changes, and we already had that resource allocated, and the changes weren't high scope changes.

I don't think you're being harsh, I think you legitimately care about the content that's coming out, and to be honestly, it means a lot."

Chroma Packs Discussion

With the first batch of seven chroma packs out on live, discussion and player feedback on the new cosmetic options has been plentiful.
When asked about the option of purchasing single chroma recolors instead of a pack of all three for a specific champion or skin, Hippalus noted:

"We hear you and are looking into this! We originally built chromas as themed packs, which we felt offered higher value and simplified the store experience as we build out the portfolio of chromas. But we may add a way to purchase individual chromas for 390 RP in the future if that is something that many players continue to have an interest in."

In response to another reddit thread advising users to vote with their wallet if they are unhappy with the current chroma pricing options, WizardCrab added:

"This is something we totally agree with. We don't want people to spend money on something they don't like or isn't worth it to them, and spending helps inform decisions in the future. This is absolutely one great way to let us know whether or not you like an RP product. 

So please: buy stuff where the value to you is greater than the cost and don't buy stuff if the value to you is less than the cost."

Be sure to check out the Chroma Packs FAQ for more information.

Risen Fiddlesticks Name

With it's recent release, KateyKhaos popped in to explain why the new Shurima themed Fiddlesticks skin is named Risen Fiddlesticks instead of "Guardian of the Sands Fiddlesticks":

"Heya!

We chose 'Risen' over 'Guardian of the Sands' since he's a mummy who has 'risen' as opposed to a 'guardian of the sands'. Plus, the name Guardian of the Sands Fiddlesticks is pretty long. :o"