In line with the launch of the Dynamic Queue for League of Legends (LoL) and the new champion selection, there is now information about what will follow in 2016.
In an interview with Travis Gafford (Gamespot), League of Legends Design Director Greg “Ghostcrawler” Street shared some exciting details about what Riot Games will offer us in 2016. Over the past months, some of the new features have already been tested and implemented on the PBE servers. Some of these features are now close to completion.
The new client is set to give LoL a fresh look
Probably the news that most of you are looking forward to the most: Finally, the long-announced new client for League of Legends is coming. We can finally say goodbye to the outdated system (and especially Adobe AIR!). With this new client, players will get a completely new gameplay experience, almost as if they are playing a completely different game. Unlike the old, outdated client, the new one should feel like something from the 21st century.
A lot has been refined visually. One should see a solid concept that runs through every area of the client. Similar to what you know from the Hextech Crafting System or the new Champion Selection . For example, when you earn mastery points, IP, or XP, animated bars now fill up in the client – this is meant to make the game feel much more modern, instead of the confusing bars distributed across various points in the current game.
The LoL shop will also be revamped
If you have ever looked for a new hero or skin that you might want to buy in League of Legends, you will have noticed that the shop is cluttered, and you have to sift through many pages.
With the new client, this clutter is intended to be eliminated so that players have a better experience while “shopping”. In the past, Riot has experimented a lot with suggesting champions to players based on the champions they frequently play. If you often played a certain AD carry, an AD carry with a similar playstyle was suggested to you. This seemed to work so well that Riot was often praised for this feature, and it will now be integrated into the new client.
Game HUB similar to Battle.net
Although the current focus is on League of Legends, developer Riot Games will launch more games in the future. So that you do not have to part ways with your friends you have in LoL, there will be a GameHub through which you can stay in contact with friends while playing different Riot Games games. Currently, you know this from Battle.net, when you can communicate with your friends in Diablo while playing Hearthstone.
Updates for LoL will happen step by step in 2016
Similar to the introduction of the new “Summoner’s Rift” map, the changes of the new client will be implemented step by step. Players should not be overwhelmed and feel like they no longer recognize the game.
The PBE server will start with ARAM maps and possibly create an event that is only temporarily available to then check the feedback. If the feedback is positive, additional new features will be implemented so that by the end of 2016, one can say “Okay, THIS is League of Legends – the old client is completely gone”.
I personally am very much looking forward to the new client because the recent changes have pleased me a lot. The new champion selection simply feels better and is a significant step in the right direction visually. Especially important in my opinion is that we say goodbye to Adobe Air. There were just too many problems and bugs. If you want to watch the interview with Ghostcrawler yourself, you can do that on the Gamespot website. Here is the article on Gamespot.
What changes are you most looking forward to?
