Note: Between now and June 21st,



This morning's red post collection includes an update on the community's Team Up Week Progress including the +100% bonus IP for premade five player groups unlocked and active, a heads up that IronStylus will be doing a boards Q&A on June 17th at 1 PM PST, Reinboom discussion upcoming pathfinding changes that are now on the PBE, LCS Summer Finals tickets now on sale, and more! : Between now and June 21st, you now have double the change to mystery gift Legendary skins This morning's red post collection includes an update on the community'sProgress including the +100% bonus IP for premade five player groups unlocked and active, a heads up thatwill be doing a boards Q&A on June 17th at 1 PM PST,discussion upcoming pathfinding changes that are now on the PBE, LCS Summer Finals tickets now on sale, and more!

Table of Contents

Between Two Turrets - Chat with IronStylus on 6/17!

IronStylus

"Introducing Between Two Turrets, a new Q&A series from the NA Community team in which we’ll connect you with various Rioters to chat about League, life, and…other things that start with ‘L.’ You can expect an installment every couple weeks or so, with Rioters from all over jumping in to spend some time with you on the boards.

First up, we’ve got concept artist (and lover of all things parrot) IronStylus - come chat with him on the boards June 17 starting at 1 PM PST!"

Team Up Week Update - June 17th

passed 5 million points

[ ACHIEVED 6/17 ] At 5 million points, we'll unlock Team UP IP rewards, granting +100% bonus IP for playing with a five player premade group.

] At 5 million points, we'll unlock Team UP IP rewards, granting +100% bonus IP for playing with a five player premade group. At 15 million points, we'll earn a ton of sales including the champions, skins, tshirts, ARAM skin boosts, and more!

At 25 million points, we'll unlock a Pool Party themed summoner icon & a free Mystery Champion for anyone who has connected to the Facebook Friend discovery feature

At 35 million points, we'll have Pool Party themed minions enabled for the duration of patch 5.12

At 45 million points, we'll unlock a Party IP Weekend at the end of June

At 55 million points, everyone who contributed during Team Up Week will receive the upcoming Pool Party Mundo skin for free

Upcoming Pathfinding Changes

Riot Reinboom

"Hey everyone! Riot Reinboom here with context on an upcoming change to pathfinding.



The short of it: We're rewriting a lot of the "stuck pathing" rules the game has in order to make the system more predictable and, when 'stuck', more forgiving. Ideally, helping alleviate a lot of the creep blocking pains.



This change will be on the PBE but will not be going out with next patch. Changing anything with pathfinding could have some serious feels unknowns that we would like to capture and understand first.



There are three major areas this change should touch.

1. What happens when a unit is actively on top of and sticking with another unit. If you've seen someone get stuck by Krugs or a ward this is a major part of it. The new rules should detect for overlaps better and let the champion walk away freely from their overlaps (effectively, a pseuo-ghost effect if your directly on top of something).

2. How units path between packs of units, like a large minion wave. The goal here is to make this more predictable. It should be more obvious why your champion may try to move through a group of minions or why they won't try.

3. How units predict where they can go towards. For pathing, there's some amount of look-ahead needed in order to make sure a unit isn't moving towards an area they will soon be stuck in. Ideally, your character (and minions!) should be avoiding areas that will soon block them more so than on live.



We're extra interested in any reports where you get stuck by a single unit anywhere on the map. Screenshots and videos super super useful if you do find any.



Any feedback about last hitting as a melee champion is also highly encouraged. :)"

Reinboom

"Separately. There's some strange issues with how we built our navgrid that left some bad "hinting" in it. One of our engineers was looking into and has a change in the 5.12 version of the navgrid that should help.

There's also a change around Krugs (in purple side jungle) that provides an extra cell worth of pathable space that should also help blocking there. Both of these are in the 5.12 navgrid changes."

Exact Health Cost on Soraka W Tooltip

Riot Vesh

"I can probably add this for you guys. Need to double check it doesn't violate any clarity guidelines. As a lot of other people have pointed out, there comes a point where you have so much information that it actually detracts from the information that's important. Anyway I'll of course see what I can do here"

"If you've ever played a japanese mobile game you'll understand what I'm talking about. Too many numbers, although accurate, sometimes obscure the readability of information. That heal is on such a short cooldown and is often used under stressful situations, so I felt it was more important to give the player an idea of 1/10th of my health bar instead of an exact health amount that they would then compare to their current health. It's easy to say "of course it should show everything" but it's a bit more complicated than that."

Xypherous on "Hand of Baron" buff

Xypherous

"Quote

because you are the hand of baron, after proving yourself capable of lore worthy baron battles he gives you an entitlement to exercise his will, empowering all the minions to take down a corrupt nexus government

This was basically the idea. By defeating Baron in a fight - you've proven worthy to be his envoy in the world. Defeating Baron is the interview for the position of being his hand in the world.

When I originally scoped out this buff - I had some pretty grandoise pie-in-the-sky unworkable art desires for it. For example, I think I was pitching stuff like the empowered recall would've been you recalling - and then 4 seconds in, Baron getting impatient and then eating you and dropping off in your base like a sandworm.

Additionally, I think my original pitch for the empowered minions would've been void corrupting them into their enhanced forms (Hence, you becoming the lieutenant leading Baron's void corrupted minions) - still want to do that someday - but the gameplay behind them probably still needs to be refined a bit more."

Legal Legend: Interview with a League-playing law professor!

Riot Silog

"It's not every day you run up against a law professor in solo queue, but we found one! Tom Griffith is a professor of Law at the University of Southern California Law School and has been involved in gaming for nearly his entire life. I spoke to him about his lifelong passion for games of all kinds -- and how they can connect to studying and practicing law.





Can you tell us a bit about the origins and development of your gaming career?



As a young child and a teenager my favorite free time activities were games and sports. Like many LOL players, I am a lifetime gamer but, unlike the typical player, I have been playing games for over 60 years. I played Monopoly as a young child, played in a Dungeons and Dragons event hosted by Gary Gygax and, while a law student, took breaks from my studies to play Defender and Galaxian.



After graduating from Brown University and receiving a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, I taught high school social studies for 7 years where I coached the Women’s Basketball and Volleyball teams. I incorporated a business simulation game in my Economics class. During these years I played Bridge, board games and lots of sports. I also played Dungeons and Dragons.



After seven years, I left high school teaching to attend Harvard Law School, where I still found time for an occasional D&D game or trip to the arcade.



After law school I practiced law in Boston for two years—very low gaming years—before leaving the firm for the University of Southern California Law School where I remain today.



Over my thirty years as a law professor I have continued to play a variety of games including Magic (one trip to the Pro Tour), D&D and a variety of board and miniatures games. And like most gamers, I have had video game systems from Mattel’s Intellivision to the PS4. My wife is a moderate gamer and we play console RPGs like Fallout or Dragon Age.



For me, being a law professor is the best job in the world—I love teaching. And it is fun to talk with the occasional student about gaming.



How did you get into League of Legends?



I was unaware of LOL until I saw a poster advertising the Season Two World Championship at USC’s Galen Center, which is located only a couple of blocks from my office.



On the first day of the LOL world championship, I was amazed at the thousands of gamers lined up outside the Galen Center. I was even more astonished to learn that they were lined up not to play, but just to watch the game. So I downloaded the game, played the tutorials and many AI games and then entered Normal games. Despite lacking the quick reflexes of youth, I greatly enjoyed the game. The goals and structure of the game were simple, but there was tremendous strategic depth and variety. I particularly liked the team concept and the differentiated roles.



In addition to the game itself I was impressed by the LOL community. The quality of community-produced artwork, music and cosplay produced are remarkable as is the enthusiasm of LOL fans at live events. I also appreciated Riot Games's effort to encourage the participation of women by featuring female LOL players in their community showcases and elsewhere.



What kept you playing all kinds of games for so long? Do you feel like you got something out of your gaming habit besides simply entertainment?



The key reason is fun, but successful gaming develops analytical skills. For games like D&D and LOL the ability to work with others also is important.



I also like the social aspect of gaming. I would much prefer to spend an evening playing games with friends than going out to dinner and chatting. It is more active and challenging.



I am also interested in the cultural aspect of gaming. It is important, for example, for games to avoid racist and sexist stereotypes. I have been pleased to note the incorporation of same-sex relationships in games like Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and Dragon Age: Inquisition.



Any words of advice for student-gamers looking to balance the two (or maybe find opportunities for their studies to benefit from their gaming habit)?

It is important to limit your gaming time both as a student and as a legal professional. During the school year I typically play one game of LOL each night after I have finished my class preparation and other work. One attractive feature of LOL is the ability to finish a game in about 30 minutes. And unlike some online RPGs, there is no need to log many hours of play in order to keep up with your friends. Law study and practice can be stressful but while you are battling on the Rift, you can put that stress aside.



Do you ever come across any particular player/role archetypes (mid laners, tanks, that annoying guy who pings way too often) and think, 'that person would be well suited to a career in law'?



The LOL players who would make the best lawyers are those who take the lead in communicating effectively with their teammates. Some of the same skills that are important in legal work also are relevant to League play. These include picking a style which fits your skill set, researching successful strategies and identifying and correcting your mistakes.



In both legal work and LOL, teamwork is critical. And both LOL players and attorneys need to have wards placed against unexpected developments. Finally, even in a large city the legal community is small and maintaining a reputation for honesty and reliability is critical. League players who rage at teammates or who go AFK are unlikely to be successful attorneys.



Know of any other community members doing rad things IRL? Let us know in the comments below!"

LCS Summer Finals Tickets are now on sale

"Come cheer on the best teams in North America and Europe as they duke it out to be crowned champions at the LCS Summer Finals in New York City and Stockholm on August 22-23. Tickets are now on sale to catch all the esports action live from Madison Square Garden and Hovet Arena!"

Continue reading for more information!will be swooping on to the boards to host a Q&A at 1 PM PST on June 17th!Between, the community is participating in! This week, each server is earning points by playing matchmade games with five player premade groups and sending gifts to other players to earn variousrewards for all participating players next week!The current community point total , as of June 17th, hasand the +100% bonus IP for playing in a premade five player team is unlocked and active until the end of the week!As a reminder, here are the Pool Party Rewards the community is working towards and what we've achieved:Be sure to check thefor more information on the event and the upcoming rewards! That page will be updated each day atwith an updated point total!Here'swith context on Pathfinding changes currently testing on the PBE but willbe going out to live in patch 5.12:When asked if this will do anything to address the pathing around the base gates,When asked if it was possible to haveW tooltip list exactly how much health required to cast instead of just "10% Max Health",He continued In a reddit thread asking whybuff is called "Hand of Baron" whenLast up we have interviewing Tom Griffith, a professor of Law at the University of Southern California Law School and an avid League of Legends player:As previously announced, tickets for both the EU LCS Summer finals in Stockholm, Sweden and the NA LCS Summer Finals in NYC are now available for purchase! Check out this post for more information on the venue, ticket pricing, and more!