This morning's red post collection features a heads up on Maokai being disabled and the Nidalee 'glitchy movement' bug, info on the new "Nemesis Draft" featured game mode, Lyte on delayed LeaverBuster penalties, an update on NA Live events in 2015, and IronStylus discussing the ChampUp team and more!

Table of Contents

[BUGS] Maokai Temporarily Disabled and Nidalee's Glitchy Movement

Triggs

"Maokai has been temporarily disabled due to a bug on all 5.1 regions. | http://status.leagueoflegends.com/?en_US#na | #LeagueOfLegends"

Riot Repertoir

"Hey guys,



Here's the deal on Nidalee. With the 5.1 patch, we put in a change that we had hoped might be causing the visually glitchy movement with Nidalee. Due to the nature of the bug being difficult to reproduce (despite some people apparently seeing it every game?), we did not document the change because we aren't completely confident that it's a fix.



If anyone can provide a video and any other information regarding how to reproduce the bug on the 5.1 (so since this morning), it may be useful in helping us get it fixed.



Equally useful to get us an idea as to whether it's still happening may be if you were experiencing the bug before the patch and now aren't, or you weren't experiencing it and now are, or if you were seeing it beforehand and still are since the patch.



Thanks in advance for anyone who happens to get a video of it happening on Live servers since this morning."

New 'Nemesis Draft' Featured Game Mode on PBE

L4T3NCY

"Hi everyone!



Our first Featured Game Mode for the year, “Nemesis Draft”, is on its way to the PBE. This time around, you’ll be choosing the champions for the enemy team, then making the champs you’ve been given work in battle on the Summoner’s Rift. Let the 'creative' comps begin. :)



Some notes:

-- Nemesis Draft is a 5v5 featured game mode played on Summoner’s Rift.

-- Nemesis Draft allows each player to choose 1 champion for the enemy team for a total of 5 per team.

-- Each team will still get 3 bans. Do you bans champs do DON’T want to play, or leave them up to give to the other team? It’s up to you. :)

-- Available champions for you to give the other team are allowed from the collective pool of champs on your allied team.

-- There is a free trading period after all champs have been locked in, allowing you to organise amongst your team who would be best playing which champs. Even if you don’t own a champion, you’ll still be able to trade and play anyone you’re given.



Known issues:

Play flow artwork is still a placeholder.



Nemesis Draft will be live on the PBE soon™. We’ve paid special attention to the champion select phase this time, to make the picking & trading phases as clear as possible, so feedback on that flow will be welcome. Also "Thanks!" again to you PBE guys that always help us catch things early. Even if we can’t respond to every bug or report individually, we do read EVERYTHING and fix as much as possible.



SO.. we’re excited to see how scheming & creative you guys are. Are we about to uncover some diamonds in the rough? Will it be, “Give them all melee champs!” or “Give them all AD so we can just build armour!”. And then the inevitable, “Ok guys. We’ve got 4 junglers and a support.. but so do they! Let’s do this.” I can’t wait. :)



See you on the Rift. ^_^"

Delayed LeaverBuster Penalties

Lyte

"There were some firewall and networking issues recently and we decided to turn LeaverBuster off to ensure that players were not mistakenly sent to low priority queue. When the server issues were fixed, we turned LeaverBuster back on, but the penalties weren't firing. As a result of this, we're seeing that some players who left/AFK'd in games after the firewall and networking issues resolved did not receive their penalty until this week.

Sorry about the confusion! All low priority queue penalties should be granted immediately after leaving/AFK games now, instead of after a delay."

Riot Tantram

"Hey all,



There were some firewall and networking issues recently and we decided to turn LeaverBuster off to ensure that players were not mistakenly sent to low priority queue. When the server issues were fixed, we turned LeaverBuster back on, but the penalties weren't firing. As a result of this, we're seeing that some players who left/AFK'd in games after the firewall and networking issues resolved did not receive their penalty until this week.



Sorry about the confusion! All low priority queue penalties should be granted immediately after leaving/AFK games now, instead of after a delay."

"People will serve the penalty for punishments they earned. We turned off enforcement in order to prevent people suffering from a known bug from being punished. We did this to help players. So yes, if a player earned a punishment, they do have to work it off."

NA Live Events in 2015

RiotPDB

"Hey guys,



I’m RiotPDB, and I head up the NA team at Riot. I’d like to provide some insight into our goals and plans when it comes to live community and esports events in NA during 2015.



This past year, we attended more live events in North America than ever before. From Boston to Seattle to Toronto to Atlanta, we had a great time exploring new places and ways to interact with the community in person. We’re still learning and have lots of new things we want to tackle, which means further changes to our event strategy in 2015. Broadly, this year we’re going to shift our focus away from some of the bigger cons and instead experiment with new event formats and, more importantly, new locations.



One of the first changes you’ll see is that we’re toning down our presence at PAX East. We’ve had an amazing time there over the past few years, but this year we’re scaling our presence down to speaker panels and the Cospitality Lounge for all the hardworking cosplayers. Similarly, there’ll also be a shift on the esports side as we won’t be hosting the NA LCS 2015 summer playoffs at PAX Prime in Seattle. PAX has been an awesome host for the finals the past two seasons, but this year we’re exploring ways to bring that experience to even more players across NA.



So what’s the upside? Well, you can expect at least five live League events across the US and Canada in 2015, and likely more. The specifics will vary between dedicated esports events and broader NA community events built around things like collegiate play or specific League topics (content creation, cosplay, etc), but the goals will be the same - to give players an ideal setting for sharing their passion for League with each other.



When it comes to esports, this year we’re planning to bring LCS to more esports fans across North America. This means more stops and events outside of the West Coast and more opportunities for esports fans across the region to join us for live events. Additionally, refocusing away from existing conventions like PAX gives us the chance to create a tailored experience for League players and esports fans, with venue setups specifically optimized for the live esports experience rather than the space and logistical restrictions that come along with being part of an existing con. Check out today’s announcement about our Mid-Season Invitational and All-Star 2015 for a sneak peek at just a few of the events we’ll be sharing more details on soon.



As the NA event scene continues to evolve, we want to make sure we’re hosting amazing live events for League in different locations (all across the US and Canada) and for all types of players. While that means you might not always see us at the same events every year, it also means we can explore new venues and opportunities. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as we finalize our plans and give you plenty of advance notice for events, so keep an eye out for announcements on Boards and lolesports.com.



As always, we’d love your continued feedback as we provide further updates. Whether you’re most interested in meeting pros, chatting with content creators, seeing cosplay, or watching matches (or all of the above!), make sure to let us know and help us put together kickass League events in 2015."

Aklaen

Aklaen

"Hey, TheSleepingOne. I can say for sure I'll still be attending PAX East so we shall definitely meet again and there are also going to be a lot of cool Rioters at the panels and helping at the Cospitality Lounge, so don't feel like you can't come say hi and talk to them.

As last year we focused on attending a lot of anime/ gaming conventions, this year we switched the focus on different types of formats that will also allow us more flexibility on the location. It doesn't mean we won't be back there in the future and it definitely doesn't mean we're not going to have events outside of esports, on the contrary, as RedBeard said we're looking more into developing esports events that have a lot of different elements to them including the community aspect, on top of the community events we're planning for 2015."

Aklaen

"Hey MostlyAdequate,

I totally understand your point of view and get that this isn't ideal for you and other League players who have already bought tickets. That's why we put together this announcement as soon as we knew our presence at PAX East would be smaller this year. Sadly, as you point out tickets already went on sale, but we wanted to at least provide this heads up so you'd know what to expect. Ultimately, this is a trade off that'll let us explore awesome new event possibilities that hopefully you can all enjoy throughout the year. While our presence at PAX East will be different and definitely smaller, we're still really excited about interacting with the community through panels, and I personally hope to see you there."

"Hi HeyBriansOn,

I totally get where you're coming from, and I'm sorry to hear to hear that this throws a wrench into you and your friends' plans. We put together this announcement as soon as we knew things would be different for us at PAX East this year, but I know it's unfortunately a bit late for players like you who already purchased tickets and expected the same kind of League booth as in past years. We've made this change with the goal of putting together awesome League events later in the year, and I hope you and your friends will be excited by the details once we announce them.

On the plus side, with regards to your second question, we'll 100% be showing some love to the east coast this year with our wider event plans. More details to come!"

Aklaen

"I'm really happy to hear you have enjoyed our Cospitality Lounge at Comikaze. I had a great time there as well. As far as SDCC goes, we have no plans on attending it on the exhibit floor this year. We will keep you updated with the events we will hold during this year and I hope to see you there."

"We had a great time at Anime Expo last year and it was awesome meeting you guys there and supporting a bit the great (and super warm) cosplay gathering that Kohalu has organized. As part of our events strategy for this year we're not going to have a booth at Anime Expo, but we're definitely going to look into ways of supporting the cosplay community there. We will keep you updated on this closer to the date though."

Tristana's Upcoming Splash Art Update

Tristana will be receiving a completely new splash art for her champion update, Riot KateyKhaos reminded: When asked ifwill be receiving a completely new splash art for her champion update, Riot

"As Kory mentioned, we won't be giving her a totally new splash, but we'll be fixing up her old one to make it match more closely with her new look."

"Splash art has many layers, and since they're done digitally with a tablet, it's pretty easy to change the look of a splash (although it still takes a good chunk of time), without needing to start completely over."

IronStylus reflecting on the Champ Up team

IronStylus

"Aww..



Well, I'll say this. I'm extremely grateful to be a part of this team. It's evolved so much since it was first "created", by which I mean a few of the 3D artists slowly replaced old content on the side. It's so strange that that little passion project turned into one of the pillars that make up our content teams. I'm astounded and humbled.



Honestly, I think we struggled for a while. I know that I certainly did. There were hurdles we faced as a team and hurdles we faced personally. I went through a lot of growth during the first year I was on the team. It was tough for a while. In terms of my own personal issues, I wasn't taking feedback the way I should have been, I wasn't as transparent as I should have been and I was, at least I feel, being exclusionary in some ways. I think I've turned some things around but I feel like I still have a lot of progress to make. But hey, that's growing up.



I want this team to really be taking multiple disciplines inside Riot into account when we make content and I want vast cooperation between really smart people to make really cool stuff. I want to foster good relationships, project positivity and ease pipeline kinks. There's still stuff I'm critically looking at. What I'm thankful for is that this team has let me, in a safe way, fail and not collapse. I've been able to learn from a craft perspective and an inter-personal perspective. I've been able to make stuff, but I've also been able to help others make stuff. That's a great feeling. Giving other people ownership and autonomy to make decisions and follow their heart.



This happened with Tristana. For a while I was the only concept artist on the team. Now we have one internal artist (lonewingy) who's my partner in crime. She's amazing. Tristana was one of the first things she worked on when she was transitioning onto the team. She designed Tristana in about 2 days. It was like a punch in the heart it was so good. Normally, if she wasn't part of the team, I'd either have to do the work myself or find someone outside of the team to get to dedicate time to it. But with lonewingy working with me, she was there to fully embrace Trist while I focused on other stuff. It was fantastic to still be part of the process but to have someone else to lean on, to get feedback from and to passionately take hold of that project.



I'm grateful that she's a fundamental part of the team, because we sometimes have opposite interests of stuff we like to work on. It works out well, and seeing her hit a home run with Tristana is an amazing feeling. I honestly had VERY little to do with Tristana's base aside from fleshing out her weapon a bit. Sure, I was giving feedback and keeping track of some stuff, but this was mostly lonewingy's show. Now that we're at the end of Tristana's journey through the pipeline, despite not having a huge part in her actual concept production, I still feel like I've helped or help enable someone. I want to spread that feeling to others. I want our team to feel empowered to execute. I think we're there pretty much, I think it's been a learning process. Team members, stakeholders, producers, external/partner teams all play a part in this symphony. I'm elated to be witnessing ChampUP grow up. I am full of pride and satisfaction, and I think the team shares those thoughts.



That said, it's never about an individual, it's about the team and it's collective pride, pride mixed with being humble. I never want us to seem as though we think we're some sort of hot shots, I just want us to act in the player's best interests and do our homework when we want to achieve that. We have to be on top of our processes, pipelines, frameworks and communication to carry this out. It takes a special group of people to gel in a way we have, though I wouldn't say that that's exclusive to our team at all. Riot is FILLED with teams that have amazing internal dynamics. It's fascinating really. I want us to continue to foster the culture that's uniquely ChampUP and keep taking on more. I think everyone at Riot wants that for their teams. We want to feel at home with peers that trust, respect and collaborate. When you find that niche here the feeling is one of being at home. I'm sure there's countless people like me who've found that home inside Riot. Most everyone I know has a dynamic in their team or discipline that makes it special and allows things to work uniquely for them.



My hope is to keep our dynamic as unique as other teams, but as agile enough to integrate seamlessly with other teams that we can either serve or collaborate with. At Riot it's about people, not about a person. That doesn't mean the removal of autonomy, that means the product, the game, the content is much bigger than the sum of its parts. It's a choreographed dance, it's a musical number, its a crafted piece of art. It all has to come together properly, in sync. If people are just single individuals bumping into one another then nothing is going to get done. But if we understand that we each affect each other in many different ways, we can have a positively charged atmosphere which creates excitement and energy instead of chaos.



This team is so fun, so solid, and so pro. Sorry, that little bit of pride is going to leak out of me. I feel like I've found that little home and I couldn't be happier being immediately surrounded by those who I am allowed the honor to work with.



The thanks goes to them. The credit goes to the team :)"

IronStylus

"Quote:

As one of the original Yordle and probably the main figure among all of them, he could really use that visual upgrade.

Now that Tristana got her visual upgrade, I hope our little badger Teemo is next (they make quite the pair in lore too)! Nope. Plan is for Poppy, but that's not yet solidified. NO PROMISES!"

Continue reading for more information!Following the release of 5.1 to live,has been disabled due to a bug that made him completely untargetable In addition to the note on the service status page noting he is disabled, here'sIn a reddit thread discussing the issue, commented on the recent"teleporting" or strange movement bug players have been reporting since 4.21:In case you missed the announcement in the 1/15 PBE update , Here'swith a heads up on our next featured game mode -is now testing on the PBE! Check out this post for more info. popped into the forums earlier today to explain a situation where players legitimately left games to earning LeaverBuster punishment have received them on a delay due to a bug after the system was turned off temporarily for server issues.also reiterated this in a different thread, saying He continued has posted an update regarding Riot's presence at live events in NA for the 2015 year, including pulling away from the annual PAX events and distributing events more evenly across the country!also hung around to answer questions and concerns regarding the announcement.In response to concern on the upcomingand that Riot is focusing more on the eSports side of thing for this year's line up,When asked why this announcement - which included mention that there will be no floor booth at- wasn't made before players had already purchased tickets and made travel plans,She also commented on the timing of this announcement in another answer, saying:When asked if Riot plans to attendas, she noted When asked how this is possible, she continued Check out our PBE coverag e for a better look atupcoming champion update!In response to a thread thanking the champion update team for their recent work,offered his thoughts on the team's evolution and how proud he is to be a part of it.Speaking of Champ Up and Yordles,also commented onas the next yordle update: