Red Post Collection: New Riot Client, /dev: Tackling AFKS, TFT Dev Drop: Sept 2021, & More

Today's red post collection includes details on a new Riot Client, a /dev on tackling AFKS, the TFT Dev drop for September 2021, and more!

Table of Contents

New Riot Client Coming Soon

Here's details on a new Riot Client coming soon!

"We’re excited to share that we’re preparing to launch a brand new Riot Client in the coming weeks! 

So Why Launch the Riot Client Now? 

Over the last few years, we’ve finally put the ’s’ in Riot Games, and you’ve created diverse and thriving communities around Teamfight Tactics, Legends of Runeterra, VALORANT, Wild Rift, and of course League of Legends. We wanted to develop a client that would give you the best experience possible and get you into your favorite desktop game quickly while also giving you the opportunity to explore all of what Riot has to offer. 

All the Riot titles have actually already been using this multi-game client but skinned for each individual game and without a way to access your library of Riot games. We’re now adding a new user interface, streamlined features and even more on the way after launch. With the new Riot Client, it’ll be easier for you to discover and access all of what we have to offer. All desktop Riot games will be accessible from one client, with each game having its own dedicated product page with game-specific content including the latest news and events. You’ll be able to clean up your desktop and only have one Riot Client launcher where all your favorite Riot games will live! However, if you prefer, you can maintain your existing game desktop shortcuts for a direct path to your favorite game. 

What Building the Best Client Experience Means to Us 

• You won’t have to manually download or install anything new to upgrade.
• You’ll always have access to relevant news, updates, and information when you want it.
• And you’ll be able to go straight to game (and being hard stuck silver) when you don’t. 

What It Will Look Like 

Even though all Riot’s games will be housed under one Riot Client, each game will have its own dedicated landing page with game-specific details and dynamic call to action. Game pages will include cinematic backgrounds, previews of events and relevant news to you all while being able to install or patch the game. You can also scroll and explore all Riot games in the games library.

Riot Client Rollout Schedule 

We want to be as transparent as possible with this launch to avoid any confusion and ensure a seamless transition. 

The new Riot Client will begin rolling out on September 20. After a few weeks of ensuring stability, the client will be rolled out to all players worldwide starting October 4. Please note the worldwide launch date is subject to change if the team requires any updates or changes. We want everyone to have the best experience possible when it fully launches. 

What’s to Come 

We are continuously striving to make the best player experience possible. The Riot Client team is working hard on features for after the launch that will make it easier and more rewarding to play. We’ll have more updates on this in the months to come. 

Questions? 

So you’ve probably got some questions about the new client and the rollout. Visit our dedicated Riot Client support article for more information and Q&As. We’ll be actively updating the Support page over the coming weeks with more Q&As. 

Riot Client PO Bradford Barrett"

/dev: Tackling AFKS 

 Here's the latest /dev from BarackProbama and TimTamMonster on AFKs - "Discussing new changes to reduce the frequency of AFKs."

"Hey players, BarackProbama and TimTamMonster here, the design and product leads for League’s Behavioral Systems Team. We know that AFKs and leavers are some of the most disruptive behaviors you face, so we're happy to be coming to you today with an update around AFK and Leaver punishments, which we last talked about in April before temporarily tunneling in on Queue Dodging. 

One small note for the rest of this article—we'll be referring to the combination of AFK (idle behavior) and Leaving (intentional or otherwise) as just AFK.

Our approach to reducing the frequency of AFKs in games has a few prongs:

1. Add additional tiers to our penalty structure so that players who continue to AFK/leave consistently, incur these new punishments
2. Add a new penalty type to shield players from repeat offenders
3. Improve the way we evaluate attempts to reform in our games

Let’s get into it. 

New Penalty Type 

Up until now, we've penalized AFKing with Queue Delays. Queue Delays are a speed bump on an offending player’s way to their next few games: Upon clicking the play button, the queue blocks them behind a short timer. The purpose of this is to change behavior. If someone who goes AFK gets to experience what having their time wasted is like, they are less likely to perpetrate it in the future. For most folks Queue Delays work well, but about 9% of our players worldwide engage in consistent AFK behavior and don’t seem to be deterred by a few delays between their games.

For players who continue to AFK we are introducing a new penalty: Queue Lockouts, which are basically like mega-delays. When a player experiences a Queue Lockout, they will have a popup displayed explaining their punishment and will be unable to start games in MOBA queues. When we issue a Queue Lockout, we're not saying "hey, doesn't it suck to have your time wasted?" We're removing the player from the population for a while so they can't continue to AFK in games. Once a queue lockout does expire, it's followed by the maximum-level queue delay so we can still maintain the benefits of behavior modification and players who take a break don’t get to sit out their entire punishment. Queue Lockouts apply to all MOBA queues. 

An important note is that any player that is currently at a very high tier will be reset to Tier 3. They will get a chance to reform before the Queue Lockouts begin. 

This table shows the new tiers as well as their associated lockouts and delays.

Tier level is not a time-based system. The best (and only) way to lower your penalty tier is to play games without going AFK—you can't just wait it out. 

Evaluating Behavior 

One challenge we discovered within our existing system was that once a player had reached a high penalty tier it was very difficult for them to lower it even through repeated demonstrations of good behavior. We’ve moved to a more sophisticated model that looks at multiple factors and will be much more effective in moving reformed players down the tiers than the previous one. That said, consistently AFKing will still be detected and consistent offenders will still be doinked. 

These changes enabled us to create Queue Lockouts, since it means that we have higher certainty that a player at a high AFK tier is actually being consistently disruptive and isn’t stuck there for other reasons, like intermittent connectivity issues, which can be particularly common in some regions. 

Looking Forward 

As this is rolled out, we are committed to continue to monitor AFKs, both in regards to the frequency of this behavior and regional specific connectivity issues. We want to ensure we are being equitable across all regions who may experience different levels of connectivity. To be safe, we're going to start by testing these changes in a few regions before rolling them out globally; keep an eye on the patch notes for status updates. 

This is not the final word on AFKs. We’re working across teams on gameplay to address some of the root causes of these issues such as:

• Not enough ability to come back from behind
• Inability to deal with other disruptive behavior in game
• Connectivity challenges

We'll have more to share on these subjects in future updates!"

TFT Dev Drop: September 2021

Here's the latest TFT Dev Drop for September 2021 - "A new set, mechanic, and lab? Oh my! Discover everything coming to TFT in the latest Dev Drop."

The TFT twitter also posted a preview for 11.19 changes: