Category: Development (Page 15 of 51)

What does the extended server downtime mean?

February 1, 2011 / Jeff Morgan

Server Unavailable

For the past two weeks we’ve seen extended server downtime on patch day, a trend that bucks several months of mostly problem-free patching. As good as the last several months have been, I immediately think of the long downtime associated with patches before Season One, back when servers would go down for the entire day, sometimes more.

I’m hoping the recent extended downtimes mean Riot is preparing the servers, software or hardware, for new feature releases. These last two patches have been remarkably light on content. There have not been major champion changes and Riot has yet to introduce any major client updates. Barring those things, there isn’t much that should delay the update process as much as we’ve seen.

Could we see a client update before March 1st?

Current Affairs, Development, league of legends

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Zileas explains the upcoming mana regen/survivability changes

January 31, 2011 / Jeff Morgan

If you’ve seen the latest patch preview or been to the forums lately, you’ve no doubt heard about the upcoming changes to mana regeneration and the mana runes. It’s a controversial subject, and it looks like the drama finally prompted Zileas to step into the forums to try to clear things up.

His post is fairly long, so I’ll leave you to read it at your leisure. As far as mana regen is concerned, the basic issue development is trying to address is the disparity between level 1 and level 30 players. Riot wants the two to be closer, not further apart, which at first seemed kinda weird to me. Why have the leveling system if it won’t make a difference? Isn’t the whole point of tier 1, 2, and 3 runes so that you can see some sort of progression as you level up and (hopefully) improve?

It is, which is probably why they’re only nerfing mana regen runes. Zileas says they feel necessary on some characters, and I totally agree. The whole point of a mana system is to limit your ability to deal burst damage, not necessarily to limit your spellcasting over time. For that reason, I think this is an okay thing. It’s pretty easy to burn through a mana bar right now without any kind of regen runes. The change will shift some of the regen from runes to base character stats, meaning runes will still be good, but every character should be better. That’s not a bad thing.

The other change is to the Doran’s items, which gets a little more complicated. Riot has said in the past that the laning phase is too passive. To address that, this patch will increase the cost of Doran’s items so it’s no longer possible to buy Doran’s and a potion at level 1. Health quints are also getting a nerf. The hope is for a more active lane phase because of less regeneration. I’m not sure that’s actually how it will play out.

For one, players are passive now because jungling makes it very risky to be in lane with less than 50 percent health. With jungling remaining prominent, it seems unlikely that a shift like this will do much to create a more active lane phase. Also, a nerf to regeneration could be an inadvertent buff to strong harass. Think about laning against Caitlyn when you can’t buy some early HP with a potion. There’s a difference between making things active and crippling melee lanes. This is one of those wide-reaching changes, the effects of which we probably won’t totally understand for a couple weeks.

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Development, league of legends

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Champion Sneak Peek: Karma, the Enlightened One

January 26, 2011 / Jeff Morgan

The sneak peek for the new 3150 champion has arrived. Karma, the Enlightened One will be joining the League next Tuesday if things go according Riot’s usual schedule.

I want to first commend Riot for not only giving us a model viewer for the sneak peek, but for making her black and putting some clothes on her. It’s just a simple mermaid dress but I already like her design better than any of the recent female champions. Let’s hope we don’t get a burlesque/boobie tassel skin for her on patch day.

Here’s the official blurb on Karma:

If you’re a fan of Ionian champions, or just a fan of fans in general, you’re really going to take to this next champion. It is my pleasure to introduce, Karma, the Enlightened One, to the League of Legends. Along with a pair of particularly deadly looking fans, Karma brings an elegant look and a particularly level headed disposition to the League of Legends. Keep an open mind. After all… we can all use a little enlightenment.

All of the standard questions remain unanswered. Ranged or melee? Caster or DPS (I’m almost positive she’s not a tank)? Mana, energy, fury, or no resource system? Check back this weekend. I’m sure we’ll have details by then.

Champions, Development, league of legends, News

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Why Minecraft matters to gamers

January 21, 2011 / Jeff Morgan

I’ve been hesitating to write about Minecraft for about a week now because I wanted this article to go live on our main site first. I first heard about Minecraft probably six months ago or so. In fact, I think I remember taking a peek at it last April, but that could be wrong. At any rate, I didn’t get too involved with it. I was deep into League of Legends at that point, so there really wasn’t time in my gaming schedule.

Fast forward to today, when my LoL schedule has become fairly casual. Now I understand the appeal of the open world. It’s an incredible game, despite the primitive graphics and the fact that the game is still in beta. If you’ve played it, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, well, you need to.

I won’t say much more than that for now, mostly because I’ve written an article for our parent site about the importance of Minecraft’s design. Here’s a quick excerpt:

For all of the fun and magic that makes “Minecraft” great, the thing that makes “Minecraft” important is its design. The game’s original developer, a guy named Markus Persson that the “Minecraft” community knows as Notch, did something a lot of AAA developers would laugh at. Instead of trying to immerse the player in a world by using narrative, he chose to focus on gameplay. By simplifying the controls, the world, even the graphics, Persson created a game world that players can call their own, a world they want to shape and be a part of in ways that other games don’t allow. My own first experience with “Minecraft” was so overwhelming I actually sat and giggled as I played. There is so much potential – truly unbounded creative potential – that I was immediately transported back to childhood, sitting in front of an upturned bucket of Legos, wondering what I should build next.

You can check out the full article on Bullz-Eye.com.

Development, Editorial, Minecraft

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Champion Sneak Peek: Renekton, the Eater of Souls

January 10, 2011 / Jeff Morgan

Nasus has a brother, and he’s not a dog! Amazing stuff, no? Riot’s just released the Champion Sneak Peek for next week’s champion, Renekton, the Eater of Souls. Here’s the official blurb:

Lately, we’ve seen quite a few sibling duos enter the League of Legends. While Garen and Lux may have been the first to make membership in the League a familial affair, since then Cassiopeia and Katarina have been making a point of highlighting the importance of good genes. Of course, not all families get along, and if we’re going to broach the subject of sibling rivalry there’s probably no better place to start than with Nasus’ brother Renekton, the Eater of Souls. We’re personally not sure that we’ve ever seen a fraternal relationship with more animosity (no pun intended).

You want to know why Nasus and Renekton don’t get along? They have different dads, and Nasus knows it. I’ll be curious to see where Riot goes with this pairing. While Garen and Lux didn’t necessarily have similar skills, their skills worked well together and they had similar art design. I’m not sure what similarities exist between Katarina and Cassiopeia. Their ults do work well together, it’s just that Cassiopeia’s skill ceiling is somewhere in the stratosphere.

I’d love to see Renekton and Nasus share thematic similarities, but their fraternal bonds will probably only extend to the art design. Let’s face it, Nasus has one of the least cooperative playstyles in the game. He’s basically a solo farmer who, if he shows up for teammates, you can’t really remember what he did. He’s great at pushing, and his ult looks awesome, but I never walk away from a Nasus game thinking, wow, we could never have done that without a giant, bipedal dog on the team.