[Updated] Red Post Collection: Team Builder 2-day Live Beta, EU Service Update Feb 2014, Lich Bane Changes on PBE, and more!

Posted on at 7:51 PM by Moobeat
[ Update: Added info about the 2/28 Patch Update - Undo fixes and more changes to Teriffy ]

Tonight's red post collection features the announcement of an upcoming two-day live beta test of Team Builder, Errigal with a an update on the EU servers and the Amsterdam datacenter, Riot Repertoir with context on the Lich Bane Changes currently testing on the PBE, and Dannamoth commenting that Riot no longer uses Pando Media Booster to patch anything.
Continue reading for more information!

Recent News:


[ Update ] 2/28/2014 Patch Update

There has been a small update to fix a few issues with patch 4.3, namely the Terrify changes and a bug with the Undo button:

More Terrify(ing) Changes

"When we made the changes to Shaco / Fiddle / Nocturne’s fear mechanics, we wanted them to have more strategic consistency in their use (as opposed to fearing and hoping they stay nearby). That said, with the change we made in 4.3, we significantly undertuned on the flee mechanic so feared opponents were running away too fast (which makes sense if you think about it...). Still, we’re reacting quickly here to crank up the Movement Speed slow so that a feared target doesn’t bolt out of range too fast while still maintaining the spirit of the change."
Shaco’s Jack in the Box, Fiddlesticks' Terrify, and Nocturne’s Unspeakable Horror
  • Targets now flee away from the caster much more slowly than before

Bug Fixes

  • We fixed a bug where the undo button was nearly killing players in ARAM and normal games

Announcing Team Builder two-day live beta

As you may have noticed in the latest patch notes, assets for a Team Builder beta test were included in the 4.3 patch and the team is ready for a LIVE beta test NEXT WEEK!

Here's Status Kwoh with more details:

"Team Builder is a new queue where you select a specific role, champion and position before joining a team. Everyone knows what they’re playing and where they want to go, laying the foundation for great teamwork. Because this is a beta test on live servers, each region will open Team Builder testing for 48 hours through a staggered roll-out starting with RU and EUNE the week of March 3-7.
We took into account the size of each region, the available architecture and hardware, and the current player experience (such as current queue times for all levels) to design the staggered launch. Check the calendar below for the tentative schedule of when your server will start their two-day Team Builder live beta: 
Current live beta test schedule: 
If we find critical bugs or issues during any of the live betas, we’ll be on standby to ensure the health of the system and monitor the results of each test. Our main goal is delivering an awesome experience so we’ll postpone or revise the schedule as needed, and each region will have a thread keeping you posted on the current status.  
We’re looking forward to joining you in Team Builder!
And here's the Team builder FAQ:
Is Team Builder replacing other queues?
  • No, it’ll exist alongside normal blind and normal draft pick for unranked Summoner’s Rift matchmaking. It’s a complete re-design of champion select, and we’re trying out a lot of new ideas. If a feature works extremely well in Team Builder, we may look into applying some or all of the features to other queues and game modes in the future.
Why is Team Builder not available for ranked?
  • Because Team Builder is a brand new way to handle champion select, we started with basic elements such as choosing the champion, position and role you intend to play in a given match. We know that the ban and pick order mechanics of the draft process are critical to the competitive nature of ranked mode, and we’re not quite sure yet how these would fit into Team Builder.
Will I have to wait longer in queue if I select an unpopular champion/role?
  • A majority of players will have reasonable wait times regardless of their champion, position or role; but it is likely roles in high demand will have shorter queue times. There’s actually a really close balance of players who prefer and love each role as their first pick, but we’re going to keep a close eye on queue times for every role just in case. Although some champion/role combinations may have longer queue times, you’ll be in position for a great experience because you’ll join a team that is genuinely excited to play alongside your creative idea.
How do estimated wait times work?
  • When we first go live, estimated wait times will be very inaccurate and fluctuate. As the system collects data and we see how players are using champions, roles and positions, the estimated wait times will become more accurate.
What is the difference between queuing as a solo player versus as a captain?
  • When you want more control over your team composition to try out a new team strategy, that’s when you want to lock in as a Captain and build your own team. For players looking to battle as a particular champion in a particular role or position, queuing as a solo player gets you onto a team into a match with your preferred spec in no time.
Can captains set up teams however they want, or will Team Builder enforce a specific meta?
  • You and your friends can play Team Builder however you like. Whether you’re looking to double jungle, split push or fill the standard roles, Team Builder encourages players to experiment with different compositions. It might take longer for you to find four players who want to rampage down a “middle lane only” strategy, but when you do, you know you’re going to be in for a great time with four players with the same plan in mind to try and win as fast as possible.
Are there penalties for solo players who decline or leave a group they’ve been placed into?
  • Yes. Solo players that are AFK often or reject more than a reasonable number of groups may face increasing cool-downs before they can join another group, or lose their privileges to use Team Builder altogether.
Are there penalties for Captains who abuse their powers and kick a lot of players?
  • Yes. Captains who abuse their powers and kick an extreme number of players may find that they are locked out of Team Builder for a period of time, or that it takes longer for them to fill their team because they have cool-downs before the system begins looking for potential teammates.
How are the matchmaking adjustments in Team Builder different from other queues?
  • Because Team Builder knows what champion you are going to play and where you are going to play that champion, it will eventually be the first matchmaking system to take into account your experience with your current champion, position or role.

Whether you’re interested in playing as Jungler for the first time, or you’re excited to try out that new champion you just picked up, Team Builder will balance the matches accordingly so that you have time to settle in and master your new specialization.
While this feature will not be available at launch, you’ll know when we enable it by way of a visual icon indicating that it’s turned on.
Can you select multiple preferred roles?
  • Initially, you won’t be able to select multiple roles in Team Builder.
Can Team Builder teams be matched against non-Team Builder teams?
  • No, because it’s a separate queue, Team Builder teams will only be matched against other Team Builder teams.

EU Service Update February 2014

Errigal, the Managing Director for EU, has returned to the forums with another update on the EU server situation and the Amsterdam data center:
"Summoners,

So far this year we've seen an increase in attacks on our infrastructure. We're dealing with several attacks daily while continuously improving our internal and external protection. I encourage you to read the Stability Update prepared by Sonicdeathmonk, Riot's VP of Network Operations. DDoS has been the main recent problem, but there was also an emergency platform restart last Sunday. Riot TMX posted information about the restart in his post-incident thread. The restart was not attack related and it was the first major platform issue since last December. As always, our live and engineering teams are on duty, constantly working on monitoring and improvements.

Apart from daily tasks, we're fully focused on our major European goal: The Amsterdam datacenter. As most of you know, our teams have been busy building out Amsterdam since the end of last year. We've had many Rioters in Amsterdam physically installing hardware, configuring the core infrastructure and imaging servers, while Rioters in worldwide offices worked remotely on additional configuration and design support. It is a truly collaborative effort across various fields of Tech Operations: building up brand new EUW platform (over 70 different services powered by hundreds of devices), networking, racking and imaging of game servers, installing security devices, power management, bandwidth and connectivity configuration, monitoring, and more.

What's our current status? We're making progress and have already completed all major Environment Build milestones set for January and February. All the physical devices that will form the new EUW platform are in place, racked, connected and configured. Game servers are being imaged, and the capacity we're building will exceed our current capacity in Frankfurt. Power management is set and security systems are already in place. Network and corresponding services have been completed and we're already plugged into Amsterdam Internet Exchange - which by is considered a true heart of the EU internet and one of the best peering points this side of the world. Again, using Riot Direct we plan to skip the usage of the 3rd party bandwidth providers.

Our next step is to finish deploying the core platform and afterwards, we will perform various load tests and then the final steps are data migration and thorough QA passes, which will take us into the live transition period. The period from load test to live contain a number of unknowns, so unfortunately I can't give an exact "go live" date. As mentioned, this an extremely complex project and even though we've made great progress, there are a lot of tasks & sub projects to finish before we're fully operational. 
I hope this gives you some insight into the issues affecting us at the moment and how the new datacenter is progressing."

Lich Bane Changes on PBE

Riot Repertoir has popped up on the PBE community site to chat about the tentative 4.4 Lich Bane Changes that are currently testing on the PBE:
"Hey guys, 
As some of you may have noticed by now, we're looking into some potential Lich Bane changes for the upcoming 4.4 patch. The item's current power is coming with some unintended consequences, so we want to scale things back a bit on the item and potentially give back to a few of the item's primary users. These changes are pretty much straight nerfs to Lich Bane, and we know that can be a hard pill to swallow. It is our hope that by getting the item into an acceptable state, we can move forward with the item continuing to help certain champions feel extra powerful, but without having these same champions feel incomplete without rushing it. 
Here's the proposed changelist: 
Lich Bane
  • stats granted unchanged
  • 50 base damage replaced with 75% of the character's Base Attack Damage
  • AP ratio reduced to 0.5 from 0.75 
Fizz
  • Seastone Trident active Ability Power ratio increased to 0.25 from 0.15 
Diana
  • Passive Ability Power ratio increased to 0.8 from 0.6 
Twisted Fate
  • Pick A Card Ability Power ratio increased to 0.5 from 0.4
  • Stacked Deck Ability Power ratio increased to 0.5 from 0.4 
As you guys check out the changes on PBE, please post feedback relating to the above changes here. Thanks!"

He continued, explaining why Lich Bane is getting some attention:
"A big problem with Lich Bane is that it currently provides such a crazy AP ratio on top on AP ratio that characters already have attached to their basic attacks in their kits. See Fizz Q+W, Kayle E, TF W+E. We hope that by lowering the AP ratio on this single item, champions can have slightly higher AP ratios on their AP-based basic attacks in their kits, thus making Lich Bane not as mandatory and not as crazy a spike in power. It should be especially useful for these characters in games where they're behind and have to rush a more defensive option like Zhonya's Hourglass. Additionally, it should make the times where they do get to rush a Lich Bane not quite so terrifying for opponents."
As for why Diana - the oddest of the four - got buffs, Riot Repertoir commented:
"I agree that Lich Bane does feel a little bit different on Diana than most these other guys since the attack on which she procs the Lich Bane usually is not the one on which she procs her passive. That being said, I think it's fair to say that being successful on Diana should include using her passive effectively on opponents, so the proposed AP ratio increase on her passive should help make up for whatever hit she may incur from a Lich Bane nerf."
He continued:
"Quote:
nefing lichbane while buffing only a small amount of champions makes lichbane a specific item for specific champions
Though I can understand where you're coming from with that, keep in mind that the champions that have proposed buffs are currently on the weaker side. Ones that are already on the stronger side have been mentioned elsewhere in this thread, and they are performing pretty well for the most part. If these nerfs go through, then even despite the nerfs, most of these champions will still regularly be able to hit with basic attacks that deal around 100% of their AP (assuming they have a Lich Bane)."

Pando Media Booster Concerns

Dannamoth has posted on the forums regarding a reddit thread urging summoners to delete Pando Media Booster.
"Hey guys. We Responded to the Reddit thread with this, but I'm posting here as well (just got out of a meeting). 
Pando Media Booster is a 3rd party peer-to-peer system that we have used in the past in order to distribute files (especially large ones when you install) to players with the idea that P2P can reduce download times. 
It doesn't affect your ability to play the game if you remove it and, beginning with patch 4.3, LoL no longer uses Pando Media Booster to patch anything. 
If you're concerned about Pando, feel free to delete it. We no longer utilize the application for anything.

We can't just delete the executable off players machines because other games could be using it and we don't want to negatively impact them. We already talked with the company about the whole browser/bookmark fiasco and that won't be happening."
He continued:
"The base install doesn't use it to patch anything either. However, we haven't stripped the pando executable out of the installer yet. We have plans to remove it."

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