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Red Post Collection: Meddler's Quick Gameplay Thoughts March 30th, Ask Riot, The Dive Ep. 4, and more!

This morning's red post collection includes Meddler's quick gameplay thoughts for March 30th, a new edition of Ask Riot, Episode four of The Dive, and more! 
Continue reading for more information and reminders on promotions ending soon!



Table of Contents


Meddler's Quick Gameplay Thoughts: March 30 

With 7.7 wrapping up on the PBE and the 7.8 PBE cycle starting next week, Meddler has returned to the boards for another round of quick gameplay thoughts:
"Hi folks, 
More words below, hope your weeks have treated you well so far! 
Aurelion Sol 
Apologies if I've mentioned this before and forgotten, been seeing some questions about it still. After testing a few different directions we concluded that a mini update on Aurelion Sol wasn't something we thought we should do, at least not in the short to medium term. He's still got a couple of issues we'd like to improve at some point (play and counterplay around star use, Q satisfaction). The possible changes we were testing didn't work out as well as we'd hoped in game though, creating an experience that wasn't more appealing for people who weren't already interested in playing Aurelion Sol and was often felt as worse for those who already play Aurelion Sol. We've cut that work off as a result and are putting the time into other projects that look likely to give more game improvement for the hours spent. 
Aatrox 
We'll be doing some further followup on Aatrox in 7.8. Primary target's going to be making it so Aatrox has a less terrible time of it if he's jungling. Exact changes uncertain, though we'll be looking at passive interactions as a possibility of course. 
Udyr 
We should have some changes to Udyr in 7.8 too. Current things we're targeting there are making Tiger a more viable build and adding a bit of power to Turtle. Probably hitting PBE early next week. 
Responses to these threads 
I'd imagine this is pretty obvious already to anyone who's read through a few of these threads, but for anyone new figured it was worth clarifying how I approach these threads a bit. With the occasional exception I'll put a post up and then put time aside at least once during that day to respond to some of the discussion thread below it. I'll sometimes put time into reading a thread/responding further the day after as well, though that's less consistent. After that I'll have moved on to a more recent thread generally though, so apologies, but anything posted after that's very unlikely to get answered and may not get read either. 
In terms of what sort of stuff I prioritize responding to I'm more likely to get into discussions about some of the things discussed in the opening post, talk on major issues/perceived issues with the current state of the game and champions we've recently worked on or are about to work on. Something I'd like to avoid is every single thread becoming a set of 'What do you think of X champion' for every champion in the game every time, so I'll generally skip those questions if there's nothing concrete to talk about. 
Doran's Shield Changes 
Continue to test pretty well. Highly likely they're part of mid-season as a result."

When asked about timing for the tank update, Meddler noted should still be 7.9 and likely around 18th of April:
"Quote:
Meddler 2 questions:
Will amumu get new ability icons?
Tank update reveal at 18th april? Cheers 
Won't have new icons with the changes in 7.7, possible we might be able to get them done with the mid-season tanks' icons though. 
Somewhere around there I'd expect yeah."
Meddler  noted the Rek'Sai mini rework is still planned for after 7.9/mid season:
"Quote:
The Rek'sai Changes are gonna happen after mid season still right?
Yes."

When asked about the class update following tanks in mid season, Meddler noted:
"Quote:
Meddler! Since you've mentioned before that Xin Zhao's in the Tier 1 list of updateable champions after the Tank Class update, are there any plans/changes for him that you guys are already working on? Any news on him is much appreciated!
Nothing at present. It'll be a while until we're able to talk about class updates post tanks. Right now that part of the Champion Update team's highest priority is getting the tank updates finished off, so their time to figure out what we should be doing next (which class, which champs) is really limited."
He continued:
"Quote:
Do you plan on doing a pass on base armor/mr much like when you changed armor runes even on those not selected?
We'll probably be giving a bit of MR/level to those without any at present (mainly ranged champs). No plans for base stat passes beyond that right now."
When asked for context on the 7.7 PBE Shaco nerfs, Meddler explained:
"Quote:
Can we get a comment on the shaco nerfs? We would like to know what you're targetting with the recent nerfs, as we think bruiser shaco is op and needs nerfed.... But these changes hurt AP and AD assassin shaco more than bruiser. (Specifically the q damage removal. As an AP player losing the 80 base and the ratio no longer scaling off the 130% bonus hurts.) If you think all shaco builds needed a nerf that is fine, we just want to know.
We do want to nerf Shaco in general. What we're targeting specifically here is amount of damage that occurs right at the start of an engagement (Shaco gets a lot of tricks to play with, so shouldn't be too front loaded). Can see some risk of bruiser Shaco becoming too ideal, will keep an eye on that, that's not something we're trying to make happen."

Meddler also noted noted he would try to better reflect on recent changes:
"Quote:
Good evening/morning Mr. Meddler, 
might it be a good idea to open one of these discussions up for reflections on the impact of the newest patch on stuff? Maybe one at the beginning of the non-patch week (meaning, the Monday after Patch Day)?
I'll try and work a bit more reflection on recent changes in where possible. In a lot of cases though it's too early to say much that soon after a patch beyond a basic 'way too strong/way too weak/neither of the above' though."

As for thoughts on bot lane Ziggs, Meddler commented:
"Quote:
Do you still have any thoughts about bot lane Ziggs at the moment? Like nerfs, tweaks, buffs, etc.?
Still looks reasonable."
When asked about a range indicator for Fiddlestick's W, Meddler noted:
"Quote:
Hey Meddler, 
what about the fiddle range indicator for his w - drain? :)
how satisfied are you with the fiddle changes? thanks for reading!
Should be in 7.7 or 7.8. 
Fiddle changes landed around as hoped, no immediate plans for other changes."

Ask Riot: Movie? Voice? Item sets? 

The latest edition of Ask Riot includes a sort of greatest hits of the more frequently asked questions that have already been answered in previous articles.
"Welcome to Ask Riot! 
Many of the questions we receive in Ask Riot have been answered previously, but without an easy way to browse questions/answers it’s not always easy to tell. We plan to solve that in two ways: First, we’re launching an Ask Riot question archive (nothin fancy, just this filter for Nexus), which goes live…now. We’ll also add an actual search functionality sometime in the next couple of weeks, which should make it easier to figure out if the thing you’re curious about has been covered before. 
This week, we’re resurfacing answers to some of the most popular questions we continue to receive, touching on item sets, a League movie, and more. Worth noting: There’s no harm in re-asking an answered question if you think the answer needs an update! 
When is the item set creator tool coming to the new client?

We talked about this one in Ask Riot, but there’s a more recent answer: 
Early in the client alpha we announced that we weren’t planning to rebuild the legacy client’s item set creator tool (although the updated client still supports custom item sets). Players passionately asked us to reconsider, so we did. We now intend to rebuild the item set creator tool, but haven’t yet started development work on it, so it could take quite some time even after we replace the legacy client. It’s back on our to-do list, but replacing the legacy client still comes first. 
CACTOPUS
Senior Writer 
Why are refunds capped at three per account? Would you ever raise the limit?

League of Legends content is intended to be permanent. However we want players to feel good about the content they purchase, so we developed the refund feature to give every player a solution for those rare situations where they purchase content and quickly regret it, and are sure that they will never want to use that content in the future. Many players have never used their refunds, while others have used one, two, or three of them over time. 
We established a limit of three refunds and still believe that is the right number (this gives players leeway to refund purchases but also protects the overall system from abuse). We’ve explored granting more refunds at times, but discovered that the majority of players would prefer free content instead, so each year we have steadily increased the amount of content players receive just for playing the game. Refunds and free content both come at considerable cost to Riot, so we have to carefully focus on which to prioritize to deliver value to players and protect our ability to operate as a business.
That said, while we have no current plans to issue more refund tokens in 2017, it is something we will continue to explore in the future as more players hit the three refund cap. 
HIPPALUS
eCommerce Director 
What exactly do I have to do to win key fragments? I haven’t received one in weeks.

When we originally sat down to build Hextech we played with a few loot systems in other games to get an idea of what was out there. We noticed a pattern of hard monetization gates — in a lot of cases, the game would give you a chest, but ultimately you had to pay to open it. As a player this felt pretty crappy, so early on we knew we wanted players to be able to earn Hextech content without having to pay. 
On the flipside, giving away millions of skins each month can quickly limit our ability to keep investing in better servers, balancing the game, and developing other features that help the game for all players (regardless of spend). From that we came to key fragments as a way to balance giving out free content at a pace that made sense for all players and felt rewarding whether they played a little, or a lot. 
Now that the system has been in players’ hands for the better part of a year, one issue we’ve seen is that no matter how many fragments and chests players get, they say “I’m not getting enough.” Some of that can probably be solved with a clearer feedback system, but some of it might be unavoidable. Who doesn’t want more free stuff? 
The basic rules for key fragment drops are: 
  1. Key frags are only dropped from wins.
  2. Key fragment drop rates work off of a per player cyclical reset timer, similar to chests. Higher drop rates are slightly front-loaded and gradually slow based on the total number of key fragments you’ve received in a cycle until the reset.
  3. It’s possible to earn 4 keys (12 fragments) in a 4 week period. This matches the number of chests players can get.
  4. There is a bad-luck protection rule that puts a maximum number of wins between key frag drops.
  5. Players get a small drop chance bonus if they were in a premade. 
While this ruleset is functional, there is definitely room for improvement. We are looking at some possibilities for where we can take this system next, but aren’t ready to share all the details yet. 
As always we appreciate all the feedback you’ve given around this and hope you’ve all gotten a ton of great loot over the last year. 
SOCRATES
Memer (Meta Game Systems) 
Will “My Shop” ever return?

Yes! “My Shop” wasn’t available during this year’s Lunar Revel because the updated client doesn’t currently support it, but we plan to make it available on the new client in the near future. Right now, we’re focusing on client stability and performance, particularly on low-spec machines. Once we feel like the updated client is running smoothly, we’ll continue to focus on adding additional features like “My Shop.” 
BUBOBUBO
Revenue Lead 
If you value competitive team play so much, why are you against voice chat? It would really make games more coordinated.

In the past, our stance on voice comms emphasized the increased potential for negative behavior. We’ve since reconsidered our philosophy around voice chat and while there are some challenges we want to overcome (keeping it an opt-in experience, for example), we want to do it. 
We believe League as a team sport should reward coordination, and that voice chat is a valuable tool for getting teams (and strangers) aligned. We’ll probably begin deeper investigations once the League Client update is in a stable release so we don’t have to build the feature twice, but hopefully this is a clear update on our philosophy and where we stand. We’ll also give you further updates when the time comes. 
NEW001
Senior Producer 
Will you ever make a League of Legends movie? Or maybe long cinematic episodes?

We dream of films set in League’s universe and seeing our favorite champions come to life in movie theaters, but the track record on video game movies is a humbling lesson. For the most part, they aren’t great. And while the geek in us would love to rush into moviemaking, it’s definitely not something we should rush into. 
That’s not to say that we aren’t exploring. Cinematic storytelling just requires different muscles than storytelling for games, so we’re working on building those muscles and learning as we go. We have a ton of talented folks actively experimenting with different storytelling formats, and it’s definitely a hope that someday we’ll see the fruits of that experimentation on the big screen (or the small screen, or wherever it makes the most sense). We’re also looking at ways to better share all of the stories we’ve already told and will continue to tell, like with the newly-launched Universe. 
What’s most important to us is that any extension of League into other mediums feels authentic to the source and respectful of the passion we all share for the game and its universe. It’s a big challenge, but we think we can get there if we invest the time in learning how to do it right. 
RYZE
Co-Founder, Riot Games 
Where do you believe Riot Games and League of Legends will be in 10-15 years?

When Ryze and I founded Riot and started creating League of Legends 10 years ago, we never could’ve imagined where League and Riot would be today. Every day we’re blown away by the community’s deep commitment to the game and to each other. As Rioters, we have had an unrelenting focus on supporting and improving League of Legends, and while this commitment has on occasion led to some criticism about Riot only having one game, we think it’s been incredibly important to build a foundation that will enable Riot to create great games and experiences long into the future. 
Answering this question with specificity is a tricky for a couple reasons: First, we’re always exploring numerous game ideas that we think players would love to experience 5+ years down the road, but we’re not ready to talk about any of these projects just yet. Secondly, and more importantly, we chart our course as a company a little differently from others. We aren’t driven by external “business goals” such as “ship x games in 5 years” or “go hit X in revenue by 2020.” Instead, we’re guided by a relentless pursuit of creating meaningful experiences that will resonate with serious gamers and that we think players want to see. 
Ideas are the easy part—everyone has great game ideas that would likely be fun if they could become a reality—the really hard part is actually building an incredible product and executing on the idea sufficiently to ensure the experience actually matches the potential that the initial idea promised. League MMO where?! League movie, where?! Those ideas are beautiful when they are in all of our heads, but realizing the full potential of ideas like those is what is really difficult to do. 
So what does that mean for the future of League and for Riot? We do know a few things for certain. We’ll continue to evolve League of Legends as a holistic experience—we’ll keep improving the competitive side of the game while continuing to enrich the universe around the game. We’ll continue to evolve and improve the League Esports ecosystem to try to ensure League remains a global sport that lasts for generations. Beyond League, we aspire to deliver a handful of other games that we hope players love. Just like with League of Legends, we’re less concerned about mass market appeal and are more interested in deeply serving the audience the game is trying to delight. 
As a company we’re dedicated to constantly raising the bar on the games, content, and service that we deliver, so as we learn and grow, we aspire to continue to improve across every dimension. While we work towards Riot’s future, one thing that will never change is who these experiences are made for: passionate gamers who make games in general a meaningful part of their lives. The passion and love within the League community is the reason League and Riot exist today, so we hope to live up to everyone’s expectations in the future as we bring new experiences to bear. 
As a gamer and a Rioter I’m hopeful and excited to see how players and games in general continue to impact the world. There is going to be a lot of exciting change happening within gaming over the next couple decades, and we hope to find new ways to delight and connect with gamers all over the world as gaming continues to play a bigger and bigger role on the world stage. 
TRYNDAMERE
Co-Founder, Riot Games

Have a question? Head over to Ask Riot and sign into your League account. Check out the Dos and Don’ts, then ask away. 
We promise to read every question, but we can’t guarantee they’ll all get answers. Some questions may already be answered elsewhere, and some won’t be right for Ask Riot. This isn’t the best place to announce new features, for example, and we might skip conversations on issues we’ve talked about in depth before (though we can clarify individual points). 
We are listening, though, so keep asking. We’ll make sure your questions are heard by the Rioters working on the stuff you’re curious about."

The Dive - Episode 4

 Latest episode of The DIVE with Jatt, Kobe, and Azael is up - Episode 104: Becoming a Pro.
"This week the gang will be talking about what it takes to be a pro player, the best strats for climbing in solo queue, and a look at the teams heading into the promotion tournament."

Quick HITS: Summoner's Showcase & Super League

[Quick Hits is our own collection within a red post collection, often including easy to digest stories, specialized information, and/or repeat info you may have missed in other posts!]

1) The Summoner Showcase facebook page has recently come out of retirement (since 2015!) and has been updated with a few new logos, fan arts, cosplays, and more. GoMatGo tweeted "Tomorrow" on 3/30 to imply a return of the fan creation based Summoner's Showcase in some way or another.

2) LoL posted a reminder today that players in North America can sign up through SUPER LEAGUE to represent their city in the SLG! See the Super League website for more information. 
"Play with friends, compete in themed matches on the big screen and meet people who also love League!"

3) Riot Support tweeted that tour dates are still available in April for their Los Angeles office!
"Have you seen our bear, Tibbers? Los Angeles tour dates are still available in April. http://www.riotgames.com/tours"

Reminders

Last up, a few reminders on promotions and sales ending soon!
  • As mentioned in the 7.6 patch notes, Nexus Siege returns to the rotating game mode queue March 31st through April 4th.
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