Would you say Zoe's hook is stealing summoner spells or catapulting one shots from wacky angles?
Zoe's hook is her super long range burst. The summoners spells are more of a unique input that make her feel very different to play then other Champions, which is also important, but isn't really a super unique output
u/Reav3 how high is Quinn on the priority list? As a an assassin lover like yourself, could you imagine a ranger/companion assassin combo working out in league?
She on the list but not super high. I think she could be really cool when her time comes, might throw her on the next "Choose a VGU" poll to gauge community interest, though I haven't finalized who will be on the next one yet
Thanks for the response!
Yeah, League's greatest strength is definitely it providing a constantly changing experience, which keeps it fresh and fun throughout the years.
And while Mordekaiser definitely changed more compared to "modernized" kit approaches like Akali and Warwick, he still retains a lot of his core gameplay hooks while amping it up to eleven.
Speaking of Morde, I just wanted to say thank you again for coming in and giving us great feedback on the VGU. As seen in the imgur link below Morde was one of our most successful VGUs of all time and I believe that part of that came success from your visit with the team.
Hi Reddit!
We’re game engineers working on League of Legends, and we’d love to chat with you about how the game works. If you have questions about how League works under the hood, send them our way. For example, we could talk about the Dimension tech of Mordekaiser’s ult, differences between TFT’s game loop and Summoner’s Rift’s, your favorite weird bug, or what it’s like to be a game engineer.
There are a few sensitive subjects we won’t talk about (anti-cheat, for example), but we’ll do our best to answer as many of your questions as we can! We'll start answering questions around 10:30.
Participants
RiotLtRandolph - Champions Team
Penrif - LoL Tech Lead
NoopMoney - Champions Team
RiotEntquine - Champions Team
RiotNullarbor - TFT Team
RiotTony - Core Tech Team (Aus time zone)
Spawndog - Gameplay Tech Lead
Riot_DarthBatman - Core Tech Team
ShaqFuuuuu - Champions Team
External link →No, thank YOU mysterious internet stranger.
I think a lot of people hold Jhin in high regard as one of the best designed champions in terms of thematic design, voice lines/acting, and gameplay. What was the brainstorming/design process for him like, and what do you think was the key to making a champ that incredibly well designed?
I think Jhin comes off as exceptional because of how well his "non-gameplay" side came through. The VFX/SFX/Anims/VO fit him soooo well and make you feel like you're in the head of the virtuoso murder man.
Jhin came from a basic concept of "The perfect sniper." The idea was that he was a guy who was such a good shot that he would think up creative ways to shoot things to keep himself entertained. We also knew we wanted him to be mysterious/off-putting/weird. Pretty sure almost all concepts of him from day 1 had him in some kind of mask, bandanna, or robotic covering. He eventually started to transform into "the crazy art guy" when we locked his 4th shot mechanic. We knew we wanted to make a sniper, and we knew his 4th shot would be his strongest, but what competent sniper saves the best shot for last? Narrative came up with the idea that he was OCD about the number 4 and was wanted to make every kill artistically perfect (Which mean waiting for the 4th shot). We then a...
Read moreWe're not all sad about this
i'm sad
What is your favorite part of the champion design process?
When you find "the mechanic" and the whole champion falls into place and everyone starts getting hyped to play it. This was stuff like Ekko R, Jhin passive, and Jinx passive for me.
I remember a Jinx playtest where Squad5 had just helped me get in her current passive after like 5 failed other passives. She killed a Xerath, went so fast that she lost control of her character, ran into a tower and died. It was perfect!
Even after all her nerfs?
Yes, I love playing her to much to stop
here's a vague one, will the next toplaner be more of a bruiser, tank, or skirmisher?
Ask me again tomorrow
Non-traditonal Marksmen.
So we got more than one coming?
;)
What are the highest and lowest win rates in the history of League? I have a feeling you should have that data somewhere.
And why were those numbers the case? I'm expecting something along 70% and 30%, so what went wrong with those champs and why did they end so notably under or overtuned?
I think release Syndra might have been under 30% (it's either her or Yuumi with the lowest release winrate). Syndra was due to a combination of being undertuned, hard to play, and buggy in ways that prevented her from combo'ing her spells. Yuumi on the other hand was likely due to being entirely dependent on her allies needing to know what she was trying to do.
There was a patch where Karthus literally could not be killed due to a bug. Even while being invincible his winrate only hit 80-85% or so.
Gameplay hooks can come from a variety of spaces. Like RiotScruffy mentioned one way is from designer brainstorm meetings they hold pretty often. Sometimes they can come from product strategy, like Pyke's hook came from the opportunity space I created to make a support Assassin. Others can be derived from a thematic/visual pitch. Kai'Sas hook, for example, came from the idea that BravoRay came up with when he was doing concept exploration for the champion. He came into one DNA meeting with this awesome drawing of this "Void Diver" her called it and said that it was Kassadins daughter. The concept looked so bad ass, that the whole pod got excited about it which led to RiotJag coming up with the Ultimate which was basically her "diving into the void"
It really depends on the designer. August, for example, prefers to start with cool concept art, then derive a gameplay hook that he feels matches the character art. He's always like "Draw me a awesome character and I'll make you...
I really just want artists to tell me what to do TBH.
How do you begin the process of designing a champion? What do you find as inspiration for their toolkit?
Inspiration can come from a variety of places, and I personally think that having it come from multiple places leads to a more diverse and exciting release schedule. Every Champion starts with a opportunity space that I create as the Product Lead for Champions Team.
For example the opportunity space for Zoe was to create a high mechanics mid lane with a cute/adorable thematic. As I felt this was something missing from League, with all our high mechanics mid laners champions being edge lords/dark themes. This opportunity space then goes to a "Core Pod" consisting of a Kit designer, concept artist, and narrative writer. They all then brainstorm ideas that fit the opportunity space. They all kind of inspire each other and that's how the Champion eventually forms
145
whew. Looks like the upcoming one is safe.
when will you LET ME MAKE A VAMPIRE ALREADY!!!
...
?
lol ok imma still play garen jungle tho
blocked
How happy are you about the Asol changes?
So far we are optimistic about them but it hasn't been long enough to fully evaluate.
Read moreHere it is, my magnum opus:
DEMACIA, AT DAYBREAK
The sun begins to rise, its rays cutting through the morning haze. The smell of bread fills the air as bakers prepare to open their shops. Children began to wake for school. And in a courtyard in Demacia's capital city, one man in commoner's clothing practiced maneuvers with a greatsword, while another in full plate offers suggestions, adjusts his posture, demonstrates with his own weapon.
After a particularly challenging set of exercises, the smaller man lowered his sword and leaned on it, breathing hard. He wiped the sweat from his brow, and smiled at the man in plate. "Well, what do you think?"
"It may not feel this way, but your form is beginning to improve, my friend," said Garen, watching the man in front of him attentively. "Though maybe not as much as I'd expect. Have you been practicing daily?"
"I've been trying," said the smaller man, with a hint of a whine. "It's...
lol ok imma still play garen jungle tho
Oh I got quite an odd question regarding VGU's.
How do you guys feel about the outcries of former mains when it comes to their champions being changed this drastically?
I personally adore the new Mordekaiser, but our community has been somewhat split with the release of his VGU, which is kind of sad to experience.
Aatrox mains is a very prominent example of this actually since the old mains are still very upset about this radical change.
On a brighter note:
Really looking forward to what you guys have in store for champion VGUS down the line, especially Fiddlesticks and EVENTUALLY even Skarner!
Happy 10th anniversary, glad to have been here for the past seven years!
Overall we feel it's important to keep the game feeling modern and fresh since we believe that LoL has the ability to last a very long time. This means that we feel it's good for the long term to update things that are old and dated in our game like old Morde and breath fresh life into them. We feel this is important enough to do, even it it does cause change aversion among some of the mains of a Champion. It's also something that the community asks for and wants as player demand for VGUs is always very high when we survey players.
Aatrox though is a case where we felt we strayed too far from his previous game play identity. While he was pretty successful from a engagement perspective, we decided not to push Champions that far from there identity in future reworks.
devtrackers.gg