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Red Post Collection: QGT: August 23, /Dev: Changes to Eternals, & More

Today's red post collection includes Meddler's quick gameplay thoughts for August 23, an update on Eternals, and the NA clash test this weekend, and more!
Continue reading for more information!


Table of Contents


Quick Gameplay Thoughts: August 23 

Here's Meddler's quick gameplay thoughts for August 23:
"Hi folks, 
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 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 
Game Modes and Events 
We've had fewer temporary modes available this year due to our focus on other work, TFT especially. We do want to get back to offering new or variant game modes more often though in the future, especially when there's a larger event happening. We're still figuring out details of how we'll approach that, wanted to mention that this was on our minds however. We agree with feedback that events are a lot better when there's something different to play in them in addition to missions, new cosmetics, etc. 
Looking at how past modes have performed we've generally seen that players tend to play the most in modes that are fun variations on existing gameplay (e.g. One for All, ARURF, the ARAM events, Hexakill etc are SR/ARAM with a twist). It's likely we'll mainly be exploring options like that as a result. Modes that deviate significantly more from base LoL (e.g. Project: Overcharge or Dark Star) do generate a lot of initial excitement. Their play rate then plummets extremely quickly though. We’d rather spend time working on things players will enjoy for longer, hence that choice of focus. 
In terms of timeframe that approach is going to be reflected next year in particular. Sometime in the remainder of this year we should have ARURF back at some point. Hoping to also get something else out there, though still discussing what's feasible and for when. 
Ranked Regalia/Borders from TFT 
Short note on these for anyone wondering. Right now we're using the regular LoL ranked art (borders, regalia etc) since that's what we had available for TFT launch. Longer term our plan is to make some TFT specific art to both better match the tone of the mode and make it clearer where someone earned a particular rating. We think it’s good for regalia etc to be displayed in a variety of contexts for people looking to display their accomplishments. Should also be clear though what exactly is being represented and shared art makes that somewhat unclear at present. 
Some context on the next few patches 
9.17
Changes are locked at this point and we've ended up pulling Aatrox and Akali from the patch. 
9.18
Plan is to take another pass at Akali and Aatrox. Rather than just stats nerfs we'll be investigating small mechanics changes that are solo queue positive/pro negative if possible.
We’ll also have some Teemo quality of life (ish) stuff likely in 9.18 too.
Likely to be a fairly small patch overall, given focus on preseason and desire to keep things stable. 
9.19
Is the patch Worlds will be played on so will also be fairly small on the SR side. Will have some balance changes in it based off whatever’s needed at the time, not planning anything beyond reactive balance work for it though. 
9.20+
Here we'll shift focus more towards a mixture of solo queue driven work. Shaco and Garen work potentially land in or around 9.20 for example.
The SR team will also be spending a lot of their time getting preseason changes ready. 
Preseason: Potential Edge of Night change 
Speaking of preseason we're looking at updating at least a few items in preseason. One case that's been testing well so far is Edge of Night. Current plan is to change the spellshield on it to a Banshee's Veil one (refreshes every X seconds while out of combat instead of having it come from a channeled active. For those of who you use EoN regularly, or have in the past, would love to get your thoughts on how you'd feel about such a change?" 

/Dev: Changes to Eternals 

Here's Riot KenAdamsNSA with an update on Eternals - "We heard your feedback and we’re making some adjustments."
"Hey everyone. After spending the last two weeks reading all your thoughts and collecting feedback from players all over the world, we’re ready to give an update on Eternals. We know it took longer than some of you wanted, but we wanted to be able to share the concrete changes we’re making. 
In case you missed it, Eternals are a new type of cosmetic that let you showcase your accomplishments in League, counting both unique and general gameplay milestones on a per-champion basis. In-game, you’ll see milestones “pop up” on the side of the screen as you hit statistical checkpoints for that Eternal.
Other in-game features include a new flair for that champion’s Mastery emote, a list of Eternals at the back of a champion’s loading screen card, and a showcase of your Eternals on enemies’ death screens when you take them down. You can track your progress for each Eternal in the Progression tab of the client when not in game. 
Now that we’ve refreshed on what Eternals are, on to the changes… 
We’re delaying the launch of Eternals and are making adjustments based on your feedback, including: 
  • Lowering the price of Eternals sets
  • Separating sets into Uniques and Commons
  • Creating more Unique Eternals per champion
  • Making Common sets available for BE during Essence Emporiums
  • Creating discounted Eternals bundles for those with larger champion pools
Eternals will now be separated into two set types: Common and Unique. 
Common sets will only include broadly-applicable Eternals, such as Kills, Objectives Destroyed, and Takedowns. They’ll be available year-round for 225 RP and twice a year in the Essence Emporium for 3500 BE. Similarly to chromas, they’ll only enter the Essence Emporium once they’ve been live for six months, but as a special launch celebration, all Common sets will be available immediately in the Essence Emporium. Each Common set will contain three Common Eternals per champion. 
Unique sets will only include custom-built Eternals for each champion, such as Sylas’ “Stop Hitting Yourself” and Shen’s “Party Crasher.” They’ll be available year-round for 590 RP. Each set will contain three Unique Eternals per champion. 
We’re also exploring ways to offer discounted multi-champion bundles for players who want to pick up Eternals for multiple champs, but we haven’t figured out all the details just yet. We’ll have more to share as we get closer to the new launch. 
If you’d like to try out Eternals now, head over to PBE to test them out on all your mains! They’ll remain on PBE until they go live, especially since we want your help coming up with new Unique Eternals and testing the ones that we’ll be adding regularly. We’ve already seen some great suggestions for new Eternals, and we hope you continue to share those—and your thoughts on the ones in testing—on the PBE Boards. 
Your candid feedback after the reveal has been incredibly helpful, especially from those who saw what we saw in Eternals and took the time to outline what specifically felt bad and what you’d like to see improved. We hope you keep the comments coming as we work to create the best version of Eternals."

NA Clash test starts August 19 

Here's Grumbles with details on the NA clash test:
"Team creation for the NA Clash test opens August 19. To qualify, finish your ranked placements and make sure you’re above Honor level 2. Tournaments run on Saturday and Sunday—you can play for free (no ticket required) over one or both days. 
NA Clash Test Schedule: 
Each day, you’ll have two chances to participate in a tournament. If you’re watching the LCS finals that weekend, we recommend aiming for the flights at 8:00 PM PST. 
Prizes 
Test participants will receive loot boxes, an icon, and victory points, which add up to unlock in-game banners and team logos. 
What We’re Testing 
We’ve spent a lot of time on solutions to address server load. During this two-day test, we’ll give the following a trial run: 
Rolling Bracket Starts: Instead of a single start time per skill tier—where everyone would need to lock in at say, 5:00 PM—-your team will be able to lock in at any time during a multi-hour window. Once locked in, your team will get placed into a bracket as soon as one is available, and the games will begin. This will help us to stagger game start times and also allows players who can’t make the lock-in time to still join the tournament. 
For example, lock in for Tier IV teams will start at 6:00 PM, Tier III will start at 6:30 PM, Tier II will start at 7:00 PM, and Tier I will start at 7:30 PM Lock in for all tiers will end at 8:00 PM. 
Two Single-Day Tournaments: Rather than one three-day tournament, we’re changing Clash weekends to be two separate one-day tournaments. This significantly reduces the complexity of the tournaments, making it easier to repair brackets or matches that end up breaking for whatever reason. There will be 8-team brackets on both days, and your team can enter on one or both days. 
Bracket Recoverability: With the tournament structure simplified, we’re building in additional bracket repair tech to help fix any issues that crop up over the course of a given tournament. If your opponent disconnects before the match, for example, we can try to repair your bracket by substituting in another team for your first match. 
Thanks for participating. GLHF!"

Teamfight Tactics patch 9.16B notes 


Here's Riot Beernana with the TFT patch 9.16b notes:
"Hey Tacticians, welcome to the Teamfight Tactics patch 9.16B notes. 
In true B-side fashion, this patch will be fairly light. The biggest change is to the in-game matchmaking system, which should prevent you from seeing the same opponent too often. This change will be an improvement on past versions, but we're still not completely happy with the system and we'll continue to tinker going forward. For gameplay, the meta is in a pretty good spot following the inclusion of our Hextech friends, and we're giving out a few small bumps to the outliers. 
Now, let's get into it.
Blake "Riot Beernana" Edwards  
Traits 
Brawler
  • Bonus Health: 300/600/1000 ⇒ 250/500/900

Champion Nerfs 
Draven
  • Health: 700 ⇒ 650
  • Attack Damage: 75 ⇒ 70
Jinx
  • Ability Bonus Attack Speed: 0.75/1.0/1.25 ⇒ 0.6/0.8/1.0
  • Rocket Damage: 100/225/350 ⇒ 100/200/300
Kayle
  • Shield Duration: 2/3/4 ⇒ 2/2.5/3
Lucian
  • Ability Damage: 150/250/350 ⇒ 100/225/350
Vi
  • Mana: 50/125 ⇒ 75/150

Champion Buffs 
Aatrox
  • Spell Damage: 250/600/950 ⇒ 300/600/900
Anivia
  • Health: 650 ⇒ 700
Gnar
  • Bonus Attack Damage on Transform: 30/60/90 ⇒ 50/100/150
Miss Fortune
  • Ability Damage: 800/1250/1700 ⇒ 900/1300/1700
Morgana
  • Armor: 20 ⇒ 30
  • Ability Damage: 200/325/450 ⇒ 175/300/425
Shen
  • Health: 650 ⇒ 700

Items 

Luden's Echo
  • Damage: 200 ⇒ 180

Bugfixes 
  • Further adjustments to in game matchmaking to prevent seeing the same opponents as often.
  • The Hextech trait now disables Ionic Spark for the appropriate 8 seconds instead of a whole round."

Ask Riot: TFT Ranked Rewards 

Check out this week's Ask Riot - "Plus champion reworks, Teemo, and mail in Runeterra."
Today we’re talking about reworks, TFT, snail mail, and Teemo. 
Will there be any rewards for TFT Ranked?

Yup! Actually, we’re starting to figure out out ranked rewards for TFT. We don’t have specifics to share—yet—but we have some goals we want to hit, regardless of what we end up doing. 
We think ranked rewards should be about your journey and accomplishments over the season. Whatever we give out should have deeper meaning for competitive players, so we want to avoid generic rewards like XP or Blue Essence. Lastly, we think rewards should have a social component—something you can show off or something that other players see regularly. After all, at the end of the day, you’re just trying to get to a higher rank than your friends… right? 
Senior UX Design Manager 
Is Teemo still getting a buff or mini rework? I saw on PBE there were some changes a while ago. 
A few months back, we tested out some potential Teemo changes on the PBE, including moving his poison to his passive and changing his stealth to camouflage but allowing him to use it everywhere. Teemo players popped outta the bushes and gave us some really helpful feedback, but they were split on whether they liked the direction. We tried a few variations of the changes, but in the end, it seemed like we couldn’t make a change without being deeply divisive—and we weren’t comfortable shipping something unless the majority of his playbase was on board. We’re still planning on doing some small QoL work on Teemo in the future, but we don’t currently have a live date. 
Technical Game Designer, Champions Team 
Are there zip codes in Runeterra? How do citizens receive mail? Is there even mail? 
The very concept of mail (and its delivery) probably varies a lot across Runeterra, and most likely even within each region. There is certainly no single organization that fulfills that role, and I’m pretty sure there are no post offices on the slopes of Mount Targon…
Piltover seems like the most likely place to see anything like what we’d recognize as a modern postal service. Within the city, couriers and other officials might be tasked with hand-delivering messages, or they might use limited telegraphy to deliver more secure information. I could well imagine there being public mailboxes, even regular delivery routes—but only for those who can afford such services. 
The empire of Noxus probably uses its military to deliver messages across long distances. Orders from the Immortal Bastion can reach a city governor in Shurima with the next supply ship, although this could take several months and would require some accountability on the part of the carrier if there is any response to be relayed back. 
Basically, the only way to ensure a letter reaches the hands of the recipient is probably to take it yourself, or pay someone you trust to do it for you. 
However, that highlights another truth about Runeterra: traveling is hard, and dangerous. There are no passports to guarantee safe passage. There is probably very little tourism, if any at all. Even champions aren’t completely free to wander wherever they wish… so when they do, it’s a pretty exceptional and exciting thing. 
Lead Narrative Editor 
What’s the next champion rework after Pantheon?
The next big reworks we have planned are for Fiddlesticks and Volibear, the two champions players chose for a VGU earlier this year. It currently looks like Fiddlesticks will come first, as we’ve found an exciting direction for him earlier than we did for Voli. We’ll be back with more details on how these reworks are progressing—as well as some hints for upcoming champions—in the champion roadmap later this year. 
Lead Producer of Champions 
Have a question? Click on the button below, sign into your League account, and ask away. 
We’ll do our best 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."

Miscellaneous


Reminders

To round out this red post collection, here are a few reminders on current promotions or limited time events!
  • Make sure to check out the LoL Twitch Prime rewards! - "Get up to 3 Legendary Shards, a full Legendary Skin, 7 Skin Shards, and 4 Exclusive Emotes as long as you stay a Twitch Prime member."

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