TL;DW: ARAM, Inting & More Dev Update

A short rundown of changes from today’s Dev Update.
Dev
Pabro, Phrost

Hey everyone, Pabro, Phrost, Riot Cadmus, Phlox, Phroxzon, and just a capybara here with a quick TL;DW of today’s Dev Update:

  • For Act 2, we’re adding multiple maps to ARAM, with Howling Abyss, a Spirit Blossom-themed map, and the Butcher’s Bridge.

  • There are small changes to each new map to help keep games feeling fresh and exciting.

  • We’re also trying out Champion Cards, rather than re-rolls.

  • In Champ Select, you’ll get 2 Champion Cards to choose from, and the unused will go to the bench, which anyone can pick up.

  • Yunara is a traditional, auto attack-based ADC, and will be out in a few weeks.

  • Check out some of your favorite content creators to learn more about her kit in two weeks.

  • There will be a 2.5D side scrolling beat-em-up metagame featuring Yunara and Xin Zhao.

  • The game will be entirely self-contained, so you don’t have to play League to progress.

  • There will also be a spiritual successor for Spirit Bonds where you can befriend spirits, which does require League gameplay.

  • We want to continue to experiment with meta-games, and will try different cadences, genres, and styles to try to create something for everyone over time.

  • We rolled out our improvements to the inting and griefing detection system a bit conservatively so we didn’t accidentally punish lower-skilled players.

  • We currently have a 99.95% accuracy rate, so we’ll start rolling out tougher punishments.

  • We are going to hold high-skill players to a higher standard than lower-skill players.

  • We’re also making improvements to things like spammed Anivia walls or Trundle pillars.

  • Additionally we’re going to be punishing repeat Ranked offenders with aggressive Ranked queues, rather than forcing them to play Norms or Swiftplay.

  • We’re looking at a new feature that will automatically terminate games with egregious game-ruining behavior, similar to how Vanguard works with cheaters, but we want to hear your feedback first.

  • We’re working on improvements to the Honor system to better line up with your expectations.

  • MSI will start on June 27, and will have Pick Ems for the first time ever!

  • All skins used by the winning team in finals will go on sale the week after.

  • Dear Viktor Nation, we’ve seen your feedback, and we’ve been listening. We’ll be releasing a throwback style skin later this year. Maybe named... Thicctor? We don’t know. Give us your thoughts.