League of Legends has millions of players all over the globe, today Riot announced their 2016 Season Update. Players are in for a treat come next year as it seems to be their biggest changes yet. There will be tweaks to existing content as well as new social media integration, an easier way to team up and an exciting new player reward system amongst other things.
This change takes place for the end of season period. The year 2016 could not be a better time to join one of the world’s most popular games in its genre!
The official site has a lot of detailed information regarding the update but I’ll do my best to summarize the most important changes. The champion select is having an overhaul, Riot will be changing the way you build your team in the majority of its game modes.
Break out your best champs in your favorite roles. With new champ select, everyone is on the same page before the draft even begins. Each player chooses two positions (or fill!) before queueing up to find a team. A new feature, “pick intent”, helps everyone understand the champ you want to play and the contribution you want to make to your team’s comp. With the draft underway, a new ban phase distributes one ban each to the players who receive the last three picks, while the top two have a shot at securing priority champs for the team. Put simply: champ select should leave every teammate – and every team – better placed to smash the enemy nexus.
Another exciting new feature is the announcement of some kind of ‘loot’ system. They’re going to be offering a new way to pick up skins, champions and other stat-boosting items, and all you need to do is play the game. Riot had this to say on the matter:
We’re introducing a new system called “Hextech Crafting” with two goals in mind: one, create a new way to pick up randomized loot at large discounts (we’re tuning the drop stats here but, if you want something specific, a direct purchase will still be the most efficient), and two (this one may be more important for some of you), allow players to earn their way toward champions or skins for their in-game accomplishments. Free.
Later in the new season, you’ll be able to earn Mastery Chests and Keysas you team up and compete with your friends. Upon acquiring (and combining) the two, you’ll be able to unlock the chest, earning loot items ranging from 7-day rentals to permanent skins and champions.
You’ll have the chance to randomly pick up Keys and Key Fragments after each win. Playing with your friends will result in getting a few more keys than going solo and, if you’ve got the right kind of friends, wins should be easier to achieve as well! Once you pick up enough Key Fragments, you can convert them into full Keys at the crafting table.
Mastery Chests will be tied to your post-game grades, which have always been a combination of your personal and team performance for that game. We’re still settling on the number of chests we’ll give out this way over the year (so it’s not a grind and we can get a clear view of the ecosystem we’re creating), but we’ll also be exploring ways to give out chests (and keys) for other modes and events.
For those who just want to pick up loot at a significant discount, we’ll also be offering unique types of chests in the store that are guaranteed to be good deals! Finally, if the rewards you earn aren’t something you see yourself ever using, you can swap them for other content via the crafting table.
Socialising with your friends in-game and out has always been a big part of League of Legends. Riot are planning on releasing a smartphone app next year, so pretty soon you won’t even need to be sitting at your PC or laptop to keep in touch. Here’s what they had to say:
Use the League Friends app to hit up your buddies for a match any time they’re available—even before they’ve booted up their rig. The app syncs your conversations from any device, so you can keep up the team trash talk long after smashing the enemy nexus.
It’s a lot easier to organize your team games when everybody is online. Optional push notifications ensure that you’ll get the message when your squad feels a late-night itch for a 5v5.
Clubs are player-named (names must be unique), player-organized, and player-controlled social groups. The idea is to help you grow the amount of available friends at any given time so you can head to the Rift with the right teammates, every game.
Out the gate, each club provides a persistent chat room that lives across login sessions for all clubmates. This social hub facilitates friendships and naturally provides a place to organize games. Club leaders wield a full set of moderation tools, allowing them to invite or kick members at any time. Leaders can share the management burden, unlocking invite and kick powers for chosen officers. At launch, clubs max out at 100 members, but we’ll likely increase that number over time.
What’s in a club? Well, that’s entirely up to you. From esports fans to collegiate gamers, clubs can form around just about anything. And as a bonus, you can rep your club on the Rift with tags attached to your summoner name. Just as a note: because you can be a part of multiple clubs at the same time, there’ll be a way to swap which tag you sport in-game.
The last thing I’ll mention is one that will probably make a lot of players rejoice with happiness: Riot mentioned creating a new client. Not much else has been said regarding the details, but the mere mention that they are thinking about it should be enough. Many players have been disappointed for some time with the current one.
Are you excited about the future for League of Legends? Which part of the update are you most looking forward to? Let me know in the comments below!
