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League of Legends announces ranked team play, Summoner Spell changes
Riot Games has announced that Season Two will bring ranked team play to the online MOBA title League of Legends. Previously, players have had their own individual gameplay rankings, but starting with the game's Season Two update, teams will be able to form up on either the 5v5 or 3v3 maps, and get their own rankings as a group. Teams will need a captain to create and invite or remove members, and will be able to choose a name and tag to go with their rating. The company is also tweaking the in-game Summoner Spell abilities. The Rally and Fortify spells, which Riot calls "underused," are being removed from play, and in their place will be Surge and Promote. Surge will allow Summoners who chose it to boost themselves up with an aura buff, empowering their champions and anyone around them with extra combat effectiveness. And the Promote spell has made its way over from the Dominion gametype, so players who choose it will be able to beef up a minion in the standard game now. Season Two doesn't have a release date yet, but it will also bring the long-awaited Spectator Mode to the game, which has already been seen on the servers in preview form. Odds are that we don't have too much longer to wait for the full update.
League of Legends announces ranked team system
Changes are coming to League of Legends' ranked team structure. Riot Games announced today that it is going to be introducing a brand-new feature: ranked teams. Players can form a premade 3v3 or 5v5 team, give it a name, and track its progress as they work their way up the ladder. Team ratings will operate independently of the members' individual ratings, thereby making the new system a true "measure of you and your friends' ability to work together in a competitive environment." More information will be made available closer to Season 2's launch.
League of Legends spotlight introduces Shyvana, the Half-Dragon
Earlier this week, Riot Games released details of League of Legends' Shyvana patch, including small nerfs to champion Graves and some much-needed buffs for Shaco and Wukong. Each patch is named for the champion it introduces, and this time it's the turn of melee champion Shyvana to take center stage. Shyvana excels at dealing damage to one target and scales up extremely well with attack speed, as each of her abilities modifies her basic attacks. Twin Strike causes Shyvana's next basic attack to hit twice, Burnout increases her movement speed and deals damage in a radius, and Flame Breath deals damage to a target and lowers its armour. Where Shyvana really comes into her own is with her ultimate -- a spell with no cooldown that transforms her into a dragon. Shyvana leaps in the target direction and deals damage to everything in the area as she transforms, and gains bonus armour and damage while in dragon form. Shyvana must gain 100 fury by landing enough basic melee attacks before she can transform, and while in dragon form her fury meter depletes over time. Fury is still gained by landing melee attacks while in dragon form, which can be used to extend the duration of the form. Skip past the cut to watch the full League of Legends Shyvana champion spotlight video in HD.
The Daily Grind: Do you play the system in games to get more freebies?
I was chatting with a friend recently about the referral system in League of Legends, debating the wisdom (or lack thereof) of a player creating multiple accounts and playing them to level five in order to get referral rewards. The ease of getting free email addresses makes this a snap -- as long as you don't mind playing levels 1-5 over and over. The argument we've both heard is that this is just how it works -- the developers know that this goes on and they don't mind. It set me to thinking. Whether it's creating multiple characters on every server in Dungeons and Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online to rack up Turbine Points, creating multiple email addresses to take advantage of referral programs, or any of the many other ways out there to get more freebies or save some cash, is there a line to what's acceptable? Does it vary with each person's personal comfort zone and the devs' willingness to look the other way or is there a definite list of things that no player should do? Hit the comment button and let us know what you think!
League of Legends Shyvana patch delivers Shaco buffs and more
All this week, Riot Games has been releasing snippets of information on League of Legends' upcoming melee carry champion Shyvana, the half-dragon. Shyvana's sneak peek comic hinted that the champion may be able to transform into a full dragon form. When the champion's mechanic preview article went live, we got the first details on how this ability will work. Shyvana builds up stacks of a resource called Fury with each basic melee attack she lands, and once she has enough fury, she can activate her ultimate to transform into a dragon. The ability interestingly has no cooldown, so enemies fighting against Shyvana will need to be aware of how many fury stacks she has to tell when her ultimate is ready. In a new LoL patch preview video, Riot delves into the details of the upcoming Shyvana patch set to introduce the champion alongside a series of balance changes and gameplay tweaks. In addition to the draconic champion's arrival, players will find new champion Graves has been nerfed following feedback demonstrating that he's a little overpowered. Monkey King WuKong will be getting buffs to his offensive capabilities and his decoy ability will see a series of bug-fixes that should make it a more useful skill. Read on to find out how Shaco is being buffed and what's happening with Dominion, to watch the full patch preview video, and to have your say on whether this is a good patch.
Riot Games' close calls with disaster
Riot Games CEO Brandon Beck gave the closing keynote at last week's IGDA Leadership Forum in Los Angeles, California, and during the talk (in which he made the point that "Riot's secret weapon all along" has been its employees), he gave a few interesting examples of how Riot's staff had really gone the extra distance to turn League of Legends into the successful online phenomenon it is today. His first example was about the matchmaking system -- originally, Riot struggled to make sure that players were matched up against each other in an interesting and effective way, and the company ended up bringing in not a game developer, but a programmer with a PhD in computational biology whose "thinking was radically different and compelling," according to Beck. A month after this hire, the company had a whole new matchmaking system, and in the end, it turned out to be "too fair" -- the games were too close. Since "what players remember are the outliers," according to Beck, the team developed "snowball items," which were "risky purchases that rewarded flawless execution." That bit of gameplay mixed up the matches, and came to be the system the game uses today.
Why you might like Blizzard DOTA
Fans of Defense of the Ancients, the immensely popular Warcraft III mod that spawned an entirely new genre of gaming, are already conditioned to love Blizzard DOTA. I got to play it this week at BlizzCon 2011 and had a great time getting into the very familiar world. However, many Blizzard fans are not DOTA enthusiasts or even privy to the genre itself. WoW players may not really understand what this Blizzard offering is about or even why they should be interested. Warcraft fan-favorite characters Thrall and Arthas are making appearance in Blizzard DOTA, which means gamers who have ever wanted to pit these monolithic figures against other Blizzard staple characters will get the chance. Here's what you need to know about Blizzard DOTA and why you just might like playing as one of your favorite WoW personalities. Defense of the Ancients was originally a Warcraft III mod that became so incredibly popular that it spawned the genre know known as MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) or ARTS (action real-time strategy), depending on who you ask. The game consists of three paths that connect two bases with destructible buildings and towers along the path routes. Waves of minions or creeps, NPC characters that spawn endlessly from both bases, meet in the middle of these lanes to do battle. You control a powerful hero who levels up, gains skills and abilities, and can purchase items from a shop. Your goal is to fight these minions and enemy players, destroy the enemy towers and buildings, and win the game.
Prime World shows the glory -- and defeat -- of combat
For DOTA and League of Legends fans out there, Nival's Prime World shares a competitive spirit that's worth keeping an eye on as it goes through development. The Facebook-integrated game encourages players to build up their castles, band together to fight mobs, and face off against each other in battles of supreme strategy and bloodsplosions. Nival has released a new set of screenshots today showing off Prime World's combat in action. The studio is proud of the rich colorset and visuals it's created for the game, and the team is hoping that they will appeal to those interested in good-looking PvP. You can check out all of the action-packed screenies in the gallery below! %Gallery-125703%
League of Legends turns two, reskins Fiddlesticks
It's hard to believe that League of Legends is two years old this week, but time marches on and so does the requisite birthday celebration. Riot has updated its website with an anniversary post and the game itself boasts a new legendary skin for Fiddlesticks, also known as "everyone's favorite Harbinger of Doom." The special model will dent your wallet for 975 Riot points (what, you didn't expect to pay for your birthday gift?!) and it boasts "new and sinister" sound effects on all the champion's abilities. Party hats and balloons are also part of the package, as are some "frighteningly festive" spell effects. As always, more info is available on the official League of Legends website.
League of Legends season two details creep out
With the first season of League of Legends over and done, Riot is beginning to share details about Season Two. Throughout the year, players will compete for a piece of the previously announced $5 million prize pool, with the final championship tournament taking up a full $2 million. Also part of the season two festivities, Riot has begun a limited beta of the League of Legends Spectator Mode, previously available only on the game's tournament realm. True to its name, this spectator mode allows players to watch games without participating. Players will be able to see both sides of the game, examine stats, builds and even turn off the fog of war. For now, spectating is limited to custom matches only – no matchmade games, in other words – though Riot plans to expand functionality in the future. Also, spectator mode will only be available during "designated testing periods." A quick check has revealed that, as of this writing, now is not one of those periods. Summoners who like to watch should check out spectator mode FAQ.
Riot Games announces LoL's Season Two Circuit, Spectator Mode beta
Riot Games has announced that the League of Legends Season Two Circuit is on its way to North America and Europe, and we've got some details on what players can expect from it. All live events from this point forth will award the top eight competitors in each event with Circuit Points. At the season's end, the top players from each region will go on to face off with the rest of the world at the League of Legends Season Two Championship, which features a prize pool of a whopping 5 million USD. If you're a pro LoL player who has already participated in events such as the Intel Extreme Masters or Major League Gaming tournaments, don't worry. Riot will be retroactively awarding points to the top players from those events, though it's important to note that players can only earn points from events that take place in their region. The long-awaited Spectator Mode has also entered limited beta. During designated testing periods, players will be able to jump into a game as a spectator and watch the action unfold. The feature is limited to custom games for now, but Riot stresses that "like all things League of Legends, there are still plenty of updates to come." For the full details on the Season Two Circuit and Spectator Mode, head on over to the official announcement at League of Legends' official site.
Riot releases new art and screenshots for League of Legend's Graves
Riot Games recently released its latest League of Legends champion, and the ranged damage-dealer known as Graves has proved popular with players thus far. The company is looking to keep its new gunslinger in the spotlight, and to that end it has released several new pieces of concept art as well as a gaggle of screenshots of Graves in action. The one constant in all the shots -- aside from various versions of the BFG9000 -- is damage, and whether the new champion is throwing smokebombs, spraying cone nukes via his buckshot ability, or chasing down other champions who've decided to run away, he'll be pumping out a lot of damage (and he'll look good doing it). You can learn more about Graves at the official League of Legends website, and be sure you check out the art and screens below. [Source: Riot press release] %Gallery-126155%
League of Legends turns two this Thursday, celebrations planned
The relatively new MOBA genre has seen a massive surge in popularity over the last few years, due mainly to the popularity of DotA remakes like League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth. It's hard to believe it, but League of Legends is already almost two years old. The free-to-play giant celebrates its second birthday this Thursday the 27th of October, and the developers at Riot Games aim to make sure the day goes down in players' memories. Celebrations have been planned for the big day, but Riot is keeping the details a secret until the day. Players are urged to keep an eye on the LoL website on Thursday. To help celebrate reaching the two year mark, Riot has released an interactive development timeline page showing the game's development from launch day all the way up to last week's Graves patch. The timeline shows when each of LoL's champions was implemented, as well as major developments like the Twisted Treeline 3v3 map, the player-mediated banning tribunal and the recent release of the Dominion game mode.
League of Legends releases champion spotlight for Graves
Every few weeks, popular MOBA League of Legends adds a new champion to its already impressive roster of opponents. This week ranged damage-dealer Graves enters the fray, with some interesting abilities that really set him apart from other champions. His passive ability, True Grit, encourages players to stay in combat by granting Graves a stacking bonus to armour and magic resist. The buff will wear off if he leaves combat, but the added resistance and armour could get you some very close kills. Buckshot fires out three nukes in a cone, and enemies near the shot can be hit with more than one projectile, making it great for farming creeps. Smokescreen throws an area-effect smoke bomb that slows enemies within its radius and reduces their vision range to within the smokescreen. Quickdraw makes Graves dash a short distance and gives him bonus attack speed, making it the perfect skill for chasing down fleeing champions. The cooldown is reduced each time Graves lands a basic attack. Graves' ultimate, Collateral Damage, fires a high-damage nuke that explodes on contact with an enemy champion, spraying a cone of shrapnel behind the target champion. For more information on Graves and to see how he plays in a game, skip past the cut to watch the official champion spotlight video.
League of Legends unearths harrowing Halloween skins
It's not too late to sign up for Riot Games' Institute of Horror, brought to you by League of Legends and your deepest, darkest nightmares! During the Harrowing event, fright-proof players can enjoy Halloween goodies and decorations sprinkled around their favorite maps. Skin collectors (ew) will be delighted to hear that there are four frightfully fascinating variations to nab, as Annie, Blitzcrank, Nidalee and Nocturne now boast a spooky makeover. These will be available as soon as the patch goes live. Unfortunately, these skins will be gone once the Harrowing is over, so get them pronto or forever hold your peace. You can view League of Legends' severed-tongue-in-cheek Harrowing trailer after the jump.
MV Guide: October 17-23, 2011
MV Guide is a weekly rundown of the MMO gaming events planned on Massively's Livestream channel. Every week, the Massively staff logs in to play various MMOs live and in person, and we'd love for you to drop by the channel and visit. We have a combination of regular weekly games and new surprises, so you'll find a variety of titles to take a look at. During livestream events, you can participate in the live chat, ask questions to learn about the game, and simply spend some time with Massively staff and readers. (Of course, livestream events are subject to the whims of outside forces like server-side gremlins once in a while.) Follow along after the jump to see what's on this week's schedule!
League of Legends patch preview describes Dominion balance changes
Last week, Riot Games gave League of Legends players a sneak peek at upcoming ranged damage-dealing champion Graves. In a new patch preview video this week, Riot explains all of the balance changes and updates that will be released alongside the new champion. Skarner's crystal slash ability is having its mana costs reduced to ensure it remains a viable attack in late game, his autoattack speed will be increased and his ultimate will now last longer. Champion Corki's gatling gun is also being redesigned to give it more consistent damage output. A series of changes are heading our way for LoL's new Dominion game mode. Popular item Hextech Gunblade turned out to be far too powerful in Dominion games, and is due for a nerf. In addition to tweaking the item's stats, Riot is removing the ability to stack several of the item to multiply its spell vamp. The personal score system is being modified to better reward players for team-based accomplishments rather than just kills, assists and attacking points. Due to the popularity of late-game carries in Dominion, developers are adjusting the rate of XP gain to make late-game dominance of those champions less inevitable. Skip past the cut to check out the video and find out the full details of all the changes coming to League of Legends in the next patch.
GDC Online 2011: Riot Games' Travis S. George talks game production
Gamasutra has its hands on a new interview with Riot Games' lead producer Travis S. George, straight from GDC Online 2011. In the interview, George goes into the finer points of game production and outlines five habits into which producers can find themselves falling if they aren't careful. These habits are things like writing down tasks and documentation or resolving all conflicts; in sum, they're all things that sound harmless, or even benevolent. George warns that the true danger comes when the five habits are combined, like some kind of bizarro-game-production-Captain-Planet. It's a truly interesting piece for anyone interested in game production or design, and let's be honest: There are worse people to learn from than the lead producer of Riot Games. For the full technical details, click on over to the full article.
Riot reveals new League of Legends champion
There's a new League of Legends champion heading to town, and with a name like Malcolm Graves, you know he's probably a little bit of a badass. Riot Games has just unveiled the newest playable character for its mega MOBA hit: a quick-drawing outlaw who brings a bit of gunfighter 'tude to the fray. The LoL website highlights Graves' buckshot, smokescreen, quickdraw, collateral damage, and true grit abilities, while also giving players the skinny on Graves' lore. Yes, League of Legends does have lore, and once you've had a good chuckle over that fact, you'll want to head to the official site to check out the new champion's details.
Free for All: Smedley helps us understand free-to-play
John Smedley has been in this business a long, long time. Under his eye, Sony Online Entertainment has released some of the most influential and controversial titles out there. It should surprise no one that he has had to become very flexible when it comes to his customers, but he's also very decisive when it comes to fluctuations in the market. One of those fluctuations is the coming of free-to-play gaming and unlimited trial payment models. Of all the audiences in the world of gaming, SOE's tend to skew a bit older. These are players who might not appreciate all changes and who definitely know what they like. And so when Smedley and SOE released freemium titles like Free Realms and rolled out free versions of one of their most popular titles, EverQuest II, some said it would be the end of SOE. Well, they're still here. And Smedley was kind enough to take some time to talk to me about this very subject. Click past the cut for more!
