Red Post Collection : SGU Promo Vids Changes, Updates on Lifetime RP Icons, Xelnath on Yorick, and more!

Posted on at 5:15 AM by Moobeat
Need something to fill that gap between the NA and EU LCS? How about some RED POSTS!
Continue reading for red posts regarding the changes to Spirit Guard Udyr's promo videos, Hippalus commenting on the promised lifetime RP purchase Summoner icons, Xelnath discussing Yorick, Riot interested in what you want from LCS stats, and a time frame for Oceania transfers to get their skins!

SGU Promo Site Videos Changed
If you noticed, the stance videos on Spirit Guard Udyr's promo page were tweaked and reuploaded day.

Here is TonsofSpinach with the details:
"We changed the videos because a few of Spirit Guard Udyr's lines didn’t make it into the release build because they required additional QA. We’ll be adding them in by the following patch, but didn’t want to misrepresent what you get if you unlock the skin on day one."
The lines in question are the character specific taunts while SGU is in certain stances - Nidalee while in Tiger, Rammus while in Turtle, Voli while in bear, and Anivia while in bird . As noted above, they will be back.

Lifetime RP Purchase Summoner Icons
It's been a while since we've heard about them but Hippalus posted a few things about the promised lifetime RP purchased summoner icons - that is, icon's given to players who have bought huge amounts of RP in their career as a summoner - today.
"The icon rewards for lifetime RP spending are still a high priority, but to make them as cool as we'd like (automatically upgrading as you reach new tiers), they need some new tech that is part of a larger initiative. It now looks like that tech might not be ready until next year so we either have to wait on lifetime RP icons or come up with an interim solution that is less awesome. In general, Riot is more focused on the long term and would rather wait to do it right."
He continued, elaborating on the problem:
"In this case it's that the tech and design for the larger initiative are complex and interrelated so I can't just ask the tech guys to ignore every other aspect of the project and give me the tech for the Lifetime RP icons. Sorry that's not much of an answer but it's all I can share at this stage."
He continued, explaining his rationale for not releasing the icons individually:
"Two reasons. 1) We want to have a lot of tiers so players don't have to wait as long between upgrades. If players have qualified for the 12th tier, it's a little strange to fill their icon library with 12 relatively similar icons. 2) The current limitations of our icon design space make it hard to make a progressive series of icons like this awesome, so the end result should be much better if we wait for the new tech."

He also responded to a summoner upset that Riot is taking so long to create something for summoners who spend a lot of money on the game, even going so far as to call them greedy:
"I don't mind being called out when we don't live up to our commitments, but what is disappointing (to me anyway) is when players automatically jump to greed as the reason for anything related to money that they don't like. Sure we are a business that needs to make money to invest in the game, but if greed was our primary motivation I would have my team working overtime to make sure that big spenders like you were constantly rewarded and given incentives to spend more money. Instead we treat all players the same and my department focuses most of our efforts on projects that give all players more value for their RP (flexible bundle tech, new kinds of sales, gifting, etc)."
Let's Talk about Yorick
Just as he did with Xerath, Xelnath has taken to the forums to brainstorm ideas for fixing up Yorick.

His initial post:
"I recently polled players on the most frustrating Top Laner to face. 4 champions floated to the top. Singed, Yorick, Teemo and Jayce. I then read the comments about those four champions to determine what the issues where.  
Jayce: "He can poke me, escape and he's hard to face." --> Tuning Amplifying Mechanics
Singed: "He can farm all day and killing him means nothing." --> Bounty Mechanics
Teemo: "He can poke me, escape and when I reach him I'm blinded." --> Champion Mechanics 
Yorick: "He is a brick wall in lane, with no counterplay, who often loses the game when he can't turn that power into a victory later on." --> Champion Mechanics deny satisfaction from both Yorick's opponent and Yorick's team in the late game.

Aka, the most toxic kind of experience a champion can bring to league of legends.

While it is likely a *very* long time before I'll have anything major to show, help me understand how you experience Yorick better.

Yorick Players:
  1. What is the fantasy of playing Yorick?
  1. What are the high moments of Yorick?
  1. What do you dislike most about playing Yorick?

Yorick Opponents:
  1. What is the most frustrating part of facing Yorick?
  1. How do you win a game against Yorick?
  1. What do you enjoy most about facing Yorick?
  1. How does Yorick lose a game?"
 A few hours later he threw up some initial musings based on the feedback to his first post:
"This is unprecedentedly good feedback. ZenonTheStoic is helping me gather feedback on the EU German forums as well.  
So my general take aways so far:
  • The general fantasy Yorick players have is very consistent and unsatisfied.
  • Yorick is much more offensive to players than I had imagined.
  • Yorick players come in two major categories.
  • - Pick Yorick for his Theme (Necromancer)
  • - Pick Yorick for his Raw Power (Broken sustain/poke)

This guy will probably be a much more severe rework than Xerath. However, it seems clear what direction he must go:

1) Yorick must feel like he controls an "Army of the Damned" - multiple minions, not one powerful one
2) Yorick must feel like he can make skillful plays, using his ghouls.
3) Yorick opponents must feel like they can outplay his moves.

Some Yorick players show that they appreciate how powerful and uncounterable Yorick is. However, this is not healthy for league, as I think most players will agree. The surprise to me is that these Yorick players feel that he prevents other, worse, champion playstyles from becoming dominant in top lane.

If this is true, it means we may need to simultaneously investigate those issues, if Yorick is the last bastion counter champ.... I will confer with higher skilled players to see if this is consistently true.

Either way, his "no-brain" playstyle clearly must go."
 Xelnath also commented on Yorick's gameplay vs that of the previously mentioned champions:
"Singed and Jayce are being handled by other people in different ways.
Teemo... *shudder*.

Jayce, Singed and Teemo all bring cool, unique experiences to league in the form of tactical shrooms, gateways with dodgable balls of explosiveness and poison trail.

Yorick brings none of that. Maybe he clones a fed ADC once in 20 games.

Yorick is toxic in lane, detrimental to his team in the midgame and outright useless unless absurdly fed. So yes, its a mix of personal passion along with the confirmation granted by the feedback in these past two threads that has solidified my belief that Yorick needs to be reworked."
Where's my Ziggs and Pool Party Ziggs on Oceanic Server?
As you may have heard, the Oceanic League of Legends servers are up for beta and those who transfer over have been promised Ziggs and Pool Party Ziggs as a transfer incentive. Many summoners have already transferred over and a few have taken to the forums curious where their promised skins are.

Meddler responds:
"Ziggs and his Pool Party skin will be distributed on the Oceanic server sometime after PAX Melbourne (which is the 19th-21st of July)."
Riot wants to know what LCS Stats You're Interested In!
 Riot jayway is seeking feedback on what sort of LCS statistics summoners are interested in - both for the website and during the LCS broadcast.
"Hello Summoners, 
I am looking at leveling up the statistics that are displayed during the LCS broadcast as well as the esports website. I believe there are plenty of fans who want to know the winning percentages of taking first tower (~50%), which champ has been first picked the most (Jayce with 8), or champion win percentages (Caitlyn ~77%). Stats allow shoutcasters to tell intriguing stories and give writers the opportunity to back up their compelling articles with cold, hard facts.

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What I would like from you guys, is what stats are you interested in? What do you want to be tracked and displayed? I have several ideas in mind and I would love more input. I cannot guarantee anything since a lot of specific stat tracking requires a massive amount of engineering development work but I can at least get the ball rolling on some of stats you guys want to see. Some things I am looking at and possibly tracking already… 
• Ban and pick rates per champ and per team. Champion steal rates (stuff like Regi picking Diana away from Scarra)
• Summoner Spell selections per player and per champ
• Win percentages for champions, objectives (taking first tower AND first dragon, taking first two inhibs, taking the first second-tier mid turret, gold lead %, gold lead durations, game length, blue vs purple, etc.)
• Career stats for pentakills, positive KDAs, # of times hitting 80cs by 10mins, etc.
• My personal favorite – imagine seeing a DPS chart immediately after a teamfight. Who did the most damage to champions in that teamfight? Who was CC’d the most?

Again, I cannot write a response to everything in this thread but I will promise to keep this bookmarked and read through it all. Thanks a bunch!"

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