Transcript for 'League of Legends Developer Chat', Fri Sep 11 2009
Matthew-BBY: Welcome to the live chat! It will begin in 5 minutes.
Dorothy-BBY: Welcome to our live chat with the creative minds of Riot Games who developed League of Legends. Please feel free to post your questions!
Dorothy-BBY: One moment while the developers start answering your questions! Thank you for your patience!
RiotGames: Hey guys! It's a pleasure to be here. We currently have Marc Merrill (President), Tom Cadwell (Design Director), Steve Snow (VP of Production), and Steve Mescon (Community Director) here to answer your questions.
RiotGames: League of Legends is scheduled to be released on October 6th.
RiotGames: We're having some slight technical difficulties. Give us just a moment!
RiotGames: Tom Cadwell: The most important map that we're working on right now is a new user tutorial map. We're also working on a smaller map that will support 3v3/4v4 team sizes better.
RiotGames: Answering Guest-16's question - Tom Cadwell: Balance is of course very important to us. It takes a lot of time and iteration to "get right" but we definitely understand the importance. Regarding your question about leavers - in addition to the more advanced reconnect feature that we rolled out recently, there are a number of things that we're going to be moving onto the beta servers in the next few weeks that should help significantly. I can't reveal a lot of details right now, but we look forward to sharing the specifics with you when the time comes.
Guest-19: Is LoL using a proprietary game engine or a licensed engine?
RiotGames: Marc Merrill: League of Legends is being built using both a proprietary game engine and a proprietary platform designed specifically for this type of game.
Guest-6: Can we see a list of your priorities in terms of the overall development? For example, are you aiming for champion balance right now? Or will you be working on the front-end more? Which takes priority?
Guest-24: Are there going to be new maps added to the beta when it becomes open?
Dorothy-BBY: We are getting a bit backlogged on questions, and we are working dilligently on getting them all answered! Hang tight, it might take a bit to get to all of you, but we appreciate all the enthusiasm around this very cool new game!
RiotGames: Tom Cadwell: We aren't planning on releasing new maps specifically with open beta - but we definitely plan on adding plenty of different maps and new game modes over time.
Guest-5: What are the plans for how Influence Points will affect the game?
RiotGames: Influence points are earned at the account level by playing individual sessions. Players will be able to use their influence points to purchase Runes, Champions & Skins, and other things that allow you to tailor your gameplay experience to your likeness.
Guest-51: Will current beta testers keep their current accounts go live?
RiotGames: Regarding users keeping their beta accounts - Pendragon: Summoner level, IP, Runes, etc will definitely be reset. Our aim is for beta testers to be able to keep their actual accounts and names once the game goes live. No promises though!
Guest-46: When will the armory be implemented and will we get bonus credits to use during beta to buy stuff?
RiotGames: Regarding users being able to keep their beta accounts - Pendragon: Our aim is for the beta testers to be able to keep their accounts and names. No promises though!
...
RiotGames: Regarding the Armory: We're doing internal testing on the game store now. When we roll it out to beta we'll give players an allowance to be able to test the functionality properly.
nmaster64: Does Riot have any plans to overhaul the user interface, specifically on the PVP.NET side? Can we expect big changes visually, or will these merely be optimizations of the current interface?
RiotGames: Steve Mescon: We've made a number of changes to the PVP.net interface since we've started beta and will continue to make additional improvements as time goes on. We intend to operate League of Legends as a service, and as such - nothing is ever final and everything is subject to change!
Guest-59: How long will it be before you release the open beta of LoL?
RiotGames: League of Legends will have an open beta shortly before the launch in early October. That being said - we're committed to delivering a high quality product and won't go into open beta until we feel we're ready.
Guest-19: Will there be a ladder/player ranking system in future?
RiotGames: Tom Cadwell: Absolutely. League of Legends is fundamentally a competitive game and we view ladders as an important part of that. We're going to be releasing more details about our long term plans in the next few weeks.
Guest-37: how frequently will you add content to the game post launch?
RiotGames: We're going to be keeping our full team working on League of Legends for quite some time. You can expect updates and additional content at a very regular pace.
prawnstar: What are the odds that a men of Riot swimsuit calendar will be available with the retail product as a bonus for purchasing at Best Buy?
RiotGames: We've got top men working on the men of Riot calendar, it's sadly not going to be available by the time we release though.
Guest-59: Are you going to be giving out any more beta keys anytime soon?
RiotGames: We're giving out beta keys every day! In addition to promotions we do with various media outlets such as Zam.com, Curse.com, and IGN.com - you can always follow us on our facebook page at http://facebook.com/leagueoflegends for a chance to get some beta keys every Friday.
Josh-BBY: Will you be developing any quest material later on in the game's lifespan?
RiotGames: There's always a chance that we're going to add content like that if it's what the players are looking for. We always encourage our users to be vocal about what they're looking for on our forums - and we often make decisions and change priorities based on the payer feedback that we get. Right now though - we're focusing on making the core PVP/Multiplayer experience as polished and awesome as possible.
nmaster64: Will free-to-play players always have a non-monetary way of unlocking everything that paying customers have access to, at least among things that impact gameplay?
RiotGames: We're taking a very hard stance against "selling power". This means that a paying user will never be able to purchase something that will augment gameplay in a way that could potentially give them an advantage over another player. We fully expect that many of the top players will never spend a dime.
Guest-11: How many champions will be aviables during launch?
RiotGames: We're going to have 40 Champions available at launch.
Guest-105: How many champions are we looking at in a final roster?
RiotGames: There's really no such thing as a final roster for us. We're going to be adding Champions for quite some time at a very regular rate. There's definitely no shortage of good ideas out there!
prawnstar: How will LoL distinguish itself as a competitive game? I know that Riot wants to have it eventaully join the club of SC, Dota, WoW arenas, etc, but what are the steps you are going to take to take it from a fun game that is competitive to one that really shines beyond the rest?
RiotGames: We've been making a lot of changes to the game to make it more viable as an "eSport" and will continue to do so. We are regularly consulting the top tier of DotA players and competitive players from other games, as well as competitive organizations to get advice on what we need to do to turn League of Legends into a successful game. We recently brought 7 of the top North American DotA players to the Riot office for 12-hours of design discussions and workshops, and we also hosted a $15,000 USD cash prize DotA tournament at Gamescom in Germany. We're going to be releasing additional information about our competitive plans in the near future and encourage people to watch us on Facebook and follow our website for more details.
...
RiotGames: Pendragon: The Suggestion Engine (tm) is actually a piece of web technology that we're developing. It's a huge project and we're not ready to release details about it quite yet, but I'm really excited about it. It's very much unlike anything out there right now - we're pretty sure you'll be impressed!
Guest-48: will League of Legends support community modding with things like skins and maps?
RiotGames: Pendragon: Some modding (like skins) is already available to an extent on the client side. The way our network architecture works - most of the important logic for the game exists on a server which makes user-created maps significantly more complicated. I think that modding communities are really strong though, and it's definitely something that we'll want to explore as much as we can.
Guest-17: What 6 heroes will be available in the non retail version?
RiotGames: We've actually made some changes to this. As opposed to 6 free Champions - we're going to have 8-12 Champions that are free - and rotate them on a regular basis. We're going to be releasing more information about this pretty soon.
Guest-116: Does Riot have any plans to sell store items via SMS transactions in order to allow people with no credit card access to extra goodies?
RiotGames: Pendragon: It's something that we're exploring. We know that it's a payment method that's really popular in Europe.
...
Guest-120: Do you plan to eventually port the game to be playable on Macs running OSX?
RiotGames: This is something that we're definitely exploring. We know that Mac users are a growing percentage of the gaming population.
nmaster64: Any plans for alternative options and modes like many other MOBAs feature, such as Easy Mode or W.T.F. Mode?
RiotGames: Anything's possible. Since our platform and engine were built specifically to support this type of game - the possibilities are endless.
Guest-14: Do you guys plan on introducing the ability to 'switch' between teams within game(like DOTA) or intro a bot if a player leaves? Coz right now, a 4v5 game with both teams being good usually has the team with 5 winning.
RiotGames: We're going to be trying a number of things to game to help even out situations where teams are uneven such as increasing the gold and exp gain of the team that's short-handed. Ultimately we'll find the right solution through lots of testing and iteration.
Guest-121: Will the champions be able to deny creeps?
RiotGames: Denying is a mechanic from DotA that was removed from League of Legends for a number of reasons. You can find more information about the decision on our beta forums: http://beta.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=60
Alybeth: Why should I invest in buying the collector's edition at Best Buy when this is a free to play game. Is there anything cool that I can get there?
Dorothy-BBY: Hey folks! This chat will be ending in 15 minutes! Make sure you get your last minute questions in under the wire. 
RiotGames: There are a few great things about pre-ordering the collector's pack. You'll get a Champion skin that's exclusive to the preorder (Ryze), a skin that's exclusive to the retail box (Kayle), a physical map and game manual, and you will start with 20 Champions already unlocked.
Guest-6: How much customization will be left up to the user? In-game menus, skins, key binding, In-game status bars, In-game health bar, In-game etc.
RiotGames: Our general philosophy is that giving users a choice is never a bad thing. We're definitely going to make as many things customizable as we can.
Guest-8: Will you sell a retail boxed copy of LoL after the game releases?
RiotGames: We do plan to continue to maintain a retail presence after release with exclusive retail-only content.
Guest-90: is there/will there be a way to see the actual numerical values of heroes abilities, dmg, speed, etc. outside of the game with and without rune/mastery/item affects?
RiotGames: We're currently working on building out our community website which will contain this information.
Dorothy-BBY: Five minutes left, we are getting down to the last few questions. We would like to thank you all for your participation and we look forward to seeing you in League of Legends!
Guest-133: Will the Runes that are given through pre-order obtainable through just playing the game?
RiotGames: Those specific runes will only be available through purchasing a Collector�s Edition.
RiotGames: A quick note for clarity - The Collector's edition will indeed continue to be available for purchase after launch, but you'll only be able to get the exclusive Ryze skin by pre-ordering.
RiotGames: We'd like to thank Best Buy for having us. It's been fun chatting with everyone here. Don't forget to pre-order the Digital Collector
Dorothy-BBY: Thank you to everyone who participated. You can find the pre-order at http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9460727&st=league+of+legends&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id...
Dorothy-BBY: Happy Gaming!
RiotGames: Woops - the Collector's Pack (at: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9460727&st=League+of+Legends&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id...) and follow us on Facebook at http://facebook.com/leagueoflegends
Dorothy-BBY: Yay
 |  Agent Aaron|Geek Squad® Community Connector | Best Buy® Corporate | | |
Private Message