Red Post Collection: Quick Gameplay Thoughts: 11/22, Leveling and Rewards - Improvements to Milestone Emotes, Capsules, & FWotD, & more

[Note: Added info on Lancer Blitz skins and Server transfers!]

Tonight's red post includes Meddler's quick gameplay thoughts for November 22nd, an update to leveling and rewards from Cactopus, the Patch Chat with the Playtest team for Patch 7.23, and more!
Continue reading for more information!

• Red Post Collection: The Next Illaoi Skin Is..., Welcome to the Jungle (Merch Store Event) & More
• 11/20 PBE Update: Four New Skins, New Emotes & much more
• The Hunt | PROJECT: Hunters Animated Trailer
• Zoe, the Aspect of Twilight, Now Available!
• 11/21 PBE Update: Snow Battle ARURF Champ Select Music & More
• PROJECT: Hunters Event [11/22 - 12/4]

Table of Contents

• [New] Lancer Paragon and Lancer Rogue Blitz - Store Issue
• [New] Transfer Service Update
• Quick Gameplay Thoughts: November 22
• Leveling and Rewards - Improvements to Milestone Emotes, Capsules, & FWotD 
• Patch Chat with the Playtest Team - 7.23 
• Quick Hits
• Reminders

Lancer Paragon and Lancer Rogue Blitz - Store Issue 

Here's Nerp1186 with an update on the Lancer Blitzcrank skins missing from the shop:

"Hey All, 

We've been experiencing an issue with the way the store is handling the Lancer Paragon and Lancer Rogue Blitzcrank skins. We removed them from the store shortly after their release when we found the bug and have been working on a solution since. We think we've found the cause of the bug, but it will take time to implement and so the skins won't be available to purchase in the store until Patch 7.24 at the earliest. 

If you purchased the skin before they were removed you're unaffected. The bug is with the store and is nothing game related. 

Sorry about the inconvenience!"

Transfer Service Update 

Here's Hollymonster with an update on server transfers:

"Hey, 

We originally announced that server transfers would come back online this week, but we hit a snag and have to put the date back. We ran into some issues with how our data centers communicate with each other, and our engineers estimate it will take at least 5 to 6 weeks to be fixed. We're really sorry about this. 

We'll update you when we have more news."

Quick Gameplay Thoughts: November 22 

Here's Meddler with his quick gameplay thoughts for 11/22, including 7.24 being the last patch of the year, when it's appropriate to micropatch, and more:

"Morning all, 

Usual Disclaimers 

These posts will often contain talk about future work we're doing, or planning to do, that isn't yet guaranteed to ship. The nature of the work could change or, depending on what we discover, projects mentioned may get put delayed or even stopped. 

If you'd like to see a Tweet whenever a new one of these posts goes up: https://twitter.com/RiotMeddler 

7.24 is the last standard patch of the year 

7.24, the patch currently on PBE, will be the last standard patch of the year as we get close to the end of year holiday period. All going according to plan, it'll go out around the 5th of December. That still leaves quite a bit of time during December where we'll be working on stuff though with a while until the first patch of next year (8.1) in early January. We're planning to do at least a few balance adjustments via micro patch in mid December as a result for anything that's ready to go and safe to do via micro patch. 

When is it appropriate to micro patch? 

Micro patches involve changes to game logic. They don't allow us to add completely new things to the game though, especially not where those things would need new art/sound etc (e.g. skins, new features, champs, items etc). The biggest thing that impacts whether we micro patch a particular change or not is how easy it is to assess the possible impact of it:

• Game code changes tend to higher risk changes, so we're more hesitant to micro patch them. Game code here refers to the core functionality of the game, stuff like how units move around, how fog of war works, that health exists as a concept etc. For many changes, even if they look pretty simple, they can impact so many different things it's not appropriate to micropatch them (micro patches have really limited testing compared to normal changes)
• Game script changes range in risk from high to low. Game script (Lua in our case) controls things like how specific champion abilities function, or how items work. Some changes are easy to assess and therefore safe to change (e.g. changing 'If X>0.1' to 'If X>0.01), especially given worst case scenario is normally that you just mess up one champion ability or whatever. Other changes by contrast tend to cross the risk threshold if they involve changing a lot of logic throughout the script (e.g. rewriting how Pix follows Lulu/people she's E'd for example are much more complex).
• Raw numbers changes. These are normally safest of all, changing something like a spell's damage, a champion's base HP etc. A few of them still have notable risk, in particular if a champion's scripts are really dependent on them (e.g. spell cast ranges or timings). Generally we can change these pretty safely provided there's a strong enough need. It's still better to get a full cycle of testing in, both from a bug and balance perspective, unless the need is urgent though. 

Morg and Zyra changes 

We've got some Morg and Zyra changes in 7.24 aimed at helping them perform better outside of support. Goal there's not to push them out of support though, so if their duo lane performance ends up struggling we'll do some follow up work to get them to a reasonable spot there, possibly in the micro patch mid December. We think the current changes should be ok for support as well, but the amount of testing we get internally's tiny relative to the number of games that get played after a patch goes out. 

No Posts until late next week 

As a quick heads up there won't be another of these posts until late next week. It's the Thanksgiving break here in the US so I'm taking the opportunity to head home (New Zealand) for a week. That means it's also likely I won't be able to respond to this post much either, apologies (I'm writing it at work, but will be posting it while traveling)."

Leveling and Rewards - Improvements to Milestone Emotes, Capsules, & FWotD 

Here's Riot Cactopus with an update on Leveling and Rewards changes:

Hey gang! Last week, we talked about how we're tuning the new leveling system to give out more overall rewards compared to the old IP-based system. Today we're announcing a few new adjustments we're making in reaction to player feedback. 

TL;DR for the post:

• Milestone emotes are now free and we're refunding anyone who already used BE to unlock them.
• Leveling capsules will now give out more raw blue essence and fewer low-value shards.
• To make the "First Win of the Day" more generous, we're making it reset 20 hours after you earn it (instead of 22 hours). 

Let's get into the good stuff. 

LEVELING MILESTONE REWARDS 

First up, let's talk about milestone rewards. Throughout the new leveling system, there are a number of emotes you can earn access to by reaching certain "milestone" levels. Currently, it costs a certain amount of blue essence (from 2,500 BE to 20,000 BE) to actually unlock the emotes once you reach their required level. 

Originally, these milestone rewards were designed with veteran players in mind—the idea was that high-leveled players will probably have too much BE on their hands anyways, so we might as well give them something cool to use it on. Thus the upgrade costs. 

However, we've gotten feedback from some players that these upgrade costs can feel bad if you haven't yet unlocked all the champs you want. For that reason, we're going to make ALL leveling emotes free, and we'll be refunding anyone who already paid blue essence to upgrade their emotes. If you’ve already reached a milestone and haven’t upgraded the emote yet, the upgrade price of the emote shards in your inventory will be reduced to 1 BE. 

We're still gonna find more ways to serve veteran players who have an excess of BE, but we'll probably use tools like the recurring Blue Essence Emporium for that purpose. 

While we're here, let's talk about the milestone rewards in more detail. Along with the champ shards you get at each level, there are also a variety of special milestone rewards (including gemstones) peppered all throughout the leveling system. 

Check out this gorgeous chart which was definitely not copy-pasted from a Google doc: 

In addition to the special rewards listed above, each of the milestone levels also grant a "glorious champion capsule" with an average BE value of 2120. These show up every 10 levels, as well. The only things more glorious than our capsules are our charts. 

This change is going live sometime today. Refunds for folks who already paid for upgrades will likely take between one and two weeks extra. 

BLUE ESSENCE IN LEVELING CAPSULES 

Next up, let's talk about leveling capsules. We're currently seeing some players complaining about getting too many of the same type of shards. 

This is actually a pretty easy problem to solve. We're going to retune the system so that it never drops more than a couple 260 RP champion shards at once when you level up. Instead, you'll now receive some combination of shards along with a batch of BE. This change won't affect the overall amount of BE you get from each drop, but we think it'll make each drop feel a little better. These adjustments are also going live sometime today. 

MAKING "FIRST WIN OF THE DAY" EASIER 

Finally, we're making the FWotD's timer a little easier to get. Currently it resets 22 hours after you complete the FWotD mission, but—starting sometime during patch 7.23—it’ll reset after 20 hours. Now, even if it takes you a few games to get a win on any given day, you'll still be able to grab it quickly the next day. 

We've heard a lot of requests to just make FWotD fully consistent by making it reset at a specific time early in the morning. We're not ready to make that change right now, but we're thinking about doing it in a future patch. 

Alright, so that's it for this week's update! We'll return at some point in the coming weeks to talk about any other adjustments to the leveling and rewards. Hit us up in the comments below and we'll answer any questions you've got."

Patch Chat with the Playtest Team - 7.23 

Here's Riot Novalas with this patch's Patch Chat with the Playtest team:

"Image by xmoonlitxdreamx 

Hey everyone and welcome to the Patch 7.23, the ZOE PATCH! 

I’m Riot Novalas & I’m a QA Analyst on Riot’s Playtest Team, a group of high elo players who work on Core Gameplay playing new champions, reworks, balance tweaks, items, and map updates before they’re released. It’s our job to test the changes that our designers come up with and ensure that we’re introducing positive changes to League in terms of both balance and fun. 

Patch Chat serves as an opportunity for us to talk about the patches that come out every two weeks. You can find the most recent patch by following this link:
https://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/game-updates/patch/patch-723-notes 

The latest black licorice champion in League of Legends hits the rift! Say hello to Zoe, the Aspect of Twilight! Our team has been assisting with Zoe for awhile so feel free to ask any questions, specifically to penguin and King Cobra as they’re the primary playtesters for her! 

Accompanying Zoe, we’re also buffing Gragas and Taliyah, nerfing Shyvana, nerfing Summon Aery, buffing Predator, and more! 

Ask us anything about Zoe, our favorite rune builds on YOUR favorite champions, our favorite pair of socks (please) , how often we execute to jungle camps, and more!... Or feel free to just chat with us! We like people (mostly). 

Disclaimer: We don’t have any insight into skins. 

• Don “Riot Aesah” Ding
• Adam “Riot Afic” Cohen
• Chris “Auberaun” Roberts
• Christy “Riot Ender L” Frierson
• Nick “Riot Endstep” Frijia
• Sigmundur “GangIeri” Helgason
• Arnor “Riot Hjarta” Halldorsson
• Rob “Riot King Cobra” Rosa
• Miktat “Riot Koyuncu” Koyuncu
• Brian “Riot Madness Heroo” Pressoir
• Nabi “Riot Novalas” Barak
• Dan “Riot penguin” Hardison
• Robert “ROBERTxLEE” Lee
• Trevor “Riot ThEntropist” Thernes"

Quick Hits

• Dyquill noted some new lore would be dropping on 11/30:

"Hey r/league - I'm with the team behind this update to Varus, and this was a very accidental early release (PBE, d'oh). Totally get how jarring this is, and I promise there's major context coming. - as in, significantly more than just this bio. 

We don't want to rush the actual release (our plan was to put the whole narrative out on 11/30, and the final preparations for that are happening now), so if it's cool with all of you I'd rather field some questions here that I can answer now, and you can get the full story for Varus when it launches. 

EDIT: gonna call it on the questions for now, and disappearing for a few days with the family for Thanksgiving. Thanks for all the comments, and we'll be back soon"

• Nerp1186 noted that 750 RP skins were not cancelled, but would be few and far between:

"No, they aren't cancelled, but they'll come less frequent"

• Maple Nectar noted that the AP itemization pass would be coming sometime around patch 8.3:

"Confirm that we're working on it, but not confirming us to an exact timeline. Likely going to be around 8.03 give or take a few patches :P"