League of Legends: Reborn in Season 3, Tuning the Entire League

Chapter 262 Champion Skin Confirmed!
The idea of ​​streaming with Riot Games executives to interact with viewers, discuss details of the championship skins, and reveal some changes for the next season is undeniably appealing to League of Legends players.

That evening, before Riot Games even launched its Twitch livestream, Tencent's TGA, which had acquired the same broadcasting rights, had already started its pre-show promotions half an hour earlier.

To be honest, you can criticize Tencent for its low drop rates and monopolistic practices, but its professionalism and efficiency in the industry are unmatched by small workshops. While it's despicable that Tencent makes everyone pay six yuan for their first game purchase, it's even more disgusting that Tencent makes people pay six hundred or even sixty thousand yuan.

That's why there's a saying in the gaming industry: no matter how good a game is, once the operator is confirmed to be NetEase, players and competitors can almost relax—because their operations team will ruin itself.

Returning to the issue of championship skin design, due to the relatively small size of Riot Games in Seasons 2 and 1, and the fact that the tournaments held there did not generate as much buzz as those in Season 3, the championship skins were not actually designed with the players' opinions in mind. In other words, they were originally created simply to create a limited-edition series to make money.

Hmm, does this sound familiar?

That's right. The idea of ​​communicating with the players to select the most popular heroes that are closely related to their style, and even directly targeting the popular heroes that were released that year, was proposed by Tencent's operations team.

The origin of this change can probably be traced back to Season 5 in the original timeline. The first championship skin that Riot Games made for SKT was of such poor quality that it completely ignored Easyhoon, who had made great contributions to the team. It was heavily criticized by players and had to be reworked. Starting from Season 6, Riot Games established the tradition of consulting with players before releasing championship skins.

Did they have a change of heart?

No, it's the championship skins that really make money.

With T3 or even T4 level effects, it can sell for the price of a T2 level skin...

The fact that this tradition has now been brought to the forefront is simply because NXG's popularity is so appealing that Riot Games doesn't want to miss the opportunity to have them cooperate with promotion and advertising for free.

At 7:00 PM sharp, the live broadcast signal was officially connected.

The countless bullet comments that were already floating in the room suddenly increased to an exaggerated number.

[Wuhu, front row, front row!]

JM, I'm your fan! I want to have your babies!

[Hey, why are you dressed so handsomely today? You're almost threatening my good looks, the "Northeast Daniel Wu"!]

[(Raising a knife) Where's Chun-Li? Where's that Chun-Li guy? Tell him to get out here right now! I have a big treasure for him!]

Thanks to the extensive nerfs to the popular champion Irelia, Chun-Li, as the designer, is extremely well-known among Chinese players. Now, with an opportunity to meet with Riot designers face-to-face, a group of loyal Irelia players showed friendly and kind smiles, expressing their desire to give Chun-Li a hug.

Players in the European and American regions don't have as many rich language expressions; they're busy spamming all sorts of strange emoticons in the live stream chat.

Somewhat surprisingly, the number of viewers in the OGN region was also quite large.

While they resented NXG's victory over SKT, which brought them back to second place, they also felt a deep fear of Jiang Ming and his seemingly invincible team, constantly wanting to learn more about them. Fortunately, they successfully avenged their defeat in the later matches.

"Hello everyone, I'm JM, the head of NXG Esports Club and captain of the NXG team!"

After receiving a message from the staff member in charge of the live broadcast through the headset that all platform signals were connected, Jiang Ming waved to the camera and said.

Mike, who was standing next to him, also introduced himself.

[Go away, what captain? You're clearly just an NXG substitute.]

[Exactly! You dare to split a documentary about winning the championship into two parts? You've got a big head.]

[You scoundrel! Wasn't today's livestream supposed to be about voting for the team championship skins and discussing the details? Where are the rest of my NXG teammates?]

[JM, pick Teemo! Pick Teemo! I want Teemo's championship skin!]

Looking at the various comments scrolling across the small monitor in front of him, Jiang Ming smiled but remained silent, not responding immediately.

Mike, standing next to him, instantly switched to Knight, activated his taunt skill, and took on the task of drawing aggro.

The first segment was a Q&A session with the audience regarding Riot Games' plans for the next season's patch.

"Oh yeah, the support heroes' lack of economy is far from being solved by just having a Sightstone. We have realized this serious problem, and the first change we will make next season is to improve the economy of the support role."

"The strategic importance of the jungle?"

"The strategic importance of the jungle has not affected the balance. On the contrary, after the changes made at the S3 World Championship, we are happy to see that different positions can step up and carry the game."

As is customary for Riot Games, Mike certainly wouldn't admit that the patch changes for this World Championship were somewhat hasty. Besides, the release of patch 3.60 made the game more balanced, rather than one lane dominating, which was a very correct update!
Professional teams that can't adapt to the current version of the game lose the match. Isn't that their own problem?
"Not just junglers, we will also consider enhancing the strategic importance of other positions in the game in the future, such as AD carry... and top laner!"

"Haha, I think the best buff for top lane champions would be to give them an extra little buddy before Baron Nashor spawns at 20 minutes. Top laners in the Rift are just too lonely."

"Defense tower?"

"Oh, this is the one that needs a buff. We increased his attack power in version 3.60, but it's clearly not enough. His fragile body allows some professional teams to quickly gain an economy by destroying strategic points on the map."

【Hahaha! 】

[Mike, I think you'd better run quickly, otherwise I really can't guarantee your safety.]

[JM: Talking about nerfs next season in front of the newly crowned world champions? Dude, you better pray your head can withstand an S686 shot!]

[Hooray! The turrets are finally getting buffed! Let's see how NXG will manage to gain an advantage through fast turret pushes next season.]

[It is suggested to increase the intensity of the laning phase. For example, the side that gains an advantage in the lane should have more ways to acquire strategic resources. The league only focuses on macro-management, reducing team skirmishes. Matches that end after only twenty minutes of macro-management are simply too unwatchable.]

This is a comment from an OGN player.

Regarding Riot Games' changes for the next season and the announcements of some major moves, Jiang Ming, in addition to being a professional player and team owner, also took on the role of an ordinary player, offering his views and opinions on the game from this perspective.

If Riot Games is going to start disciplining the entire league, then it's best to avoid their mind-boggling moves and constantly changing patch notes if possible.

As the saying goes, a normal game needs constant changes to maintain its vitality, but League of Legends needs its designers to stop coming up with random ideas and making haphazard changes...

In response, Jiang Ming presented a trial proposal entitled "Pioneer Suit".

This was specifically in response to Riot Games' frequent changes to champions, including reworks, modifications, and reverts, which resulted in a severe imbalance between the general player base and the professional scene.

The Pioneer Server is essentially a test server and a trial server. Although Riot Games has set up a dedicated tournament server, it has not served as a buffer between professional players and ordinary players.

Often, players painstakingly develop a strategy, only to have it banned overnight by the designers because it's too overpowered in matches. This undoubtedly dampens people's enthusiasm for the game.

Setting up a pioneer server can ensure synchronized version updates across all major regions, reducing the unhealthy environment where top professional players all flock to the Korean server or other regional servers for daily training. It also allows for early validation of new content's feasibility through the experience of a small group of players. Crucially, it establishes a two-way communication channel between developers and players.

The game company conducts technical verification and stability testing, and then collects different player behavior data to optimize the established version content. The most crucial point is that it can use low-cost methods to avoid major risks and prevent bizarre operations such as reverting the data of a certain hero after a version update.

However, Jiang Ming didn't have high hopes.

The concept of "preview servers" was first used in Lilith Games' "AFK Arena" and "AFK Arena" around 17. Although the code for League of Legends is not yet fully formed, it has already shown some promise. It's hard to say whether the designers are willing to put in the effort to develop and manage this preview server.

Half an hour later, when Riot Games revealed the map changes and other major moves they had carefully prepared, the live stream reached a new peak in popularity.

"It's a year ahead of schedule!"

Looking at Mike's incredibly excited expression, Jiang Ming sighed inwardly.

Riot Games has always wanted to shed its DOTA image, and changing the map was a major strategic move for them. Now, with their involvement, League of Legends has seen a significant increase in its player base in the LPL region compared to its predecessor, so it's understandable that the plan was brought forward.

No sooner had the Q&A session with Riot Games ended than the five members of NXG, who had already finished their tour of Riot Games, sat down with their boss under the arrangement of the staff.

Mike then took on the role of host.

"Let me first explain to you the principles we use to determine the champion candidates for the championship skins." Mike looked at the live stream. "First of all, after internal discussions, it was unanimously agreed that the champion skins for the players must be for champions that they have used in this World Championship."

"In addition, theoretically, you cannot choose heroes whose championship skins have already been designed."

"At the same time, due to the special nature of the two mid-lane players in the NXG team, we have also considered that other teams may have a starting player and a substitute in the same position in the future. So, in addition to making championship skins for the starting players, substitute players who have played more than two games in the World Championship that year, or who have fought for the team for more than 60% of the year and played at least one game in the World Championship, will also have the right to receive championship skins."

[This selection is flawless; choosing heroes who have never been used before for championship skins is indeed inappropriate.]

[Yay! I was worried about how JM, with only six people, would create five skins, but now I can relax.]

[(Humorous) Two games in the World Championship are enough. I think I've found evidence that JM was slacking off at the World Championship.]

[I just can't pick a champion with a championship skin. I was thinking of sorry, picking Ezreal instead.]

[Pangpang, tell me quickly, which hero are you going to choose?]

The audience's first focus was on the support player, Pang Ran.

Currently, Thresh has the highest vote count on the voting channel open in the live stream.

Pang Ran has been struggling with this issue for the past few days. Thresh is very popular, Zyra is also good, and Nami is his darling...

"Thresh, please!"

Since they couldn't have it all like adults, Pang Ran followed his brother Ming's advice and considered the audience appeal of the heroes. After all, they had a sales commission for the championship skins. Although Riot might default on the commission for the championship skins, as long as they got the money in the end, that was fine. The more they sold, the more money they would make.

With the hero chosen, Pangpang then shared his thoughts on the championship skin with the audience.

Riot Games explicitly told them that the focus for this championship skin design would be on improving the skin's texture and effects; simply put, it won't be a reskin-like effect like the previous two championships.
"For Thresh, I'd like to add some special effects to his chains, lanterns, and ultimate wall. Ideally, we could swap out his head. What do you guys think about restoring the hero's original appearance?"

What was said in jest was taken seriously by the listener. Pang Pang's conjecture made the designer behind her eyes light up.

Yeah, why didn't we think of making some skins that fit the hero's background but have a different timeline?

Thresh's human form before he turned into a skull!
Wow, that's so cool.

After Pang Ran, it was Xu Jing's turn. At this time, Vayne, the Night Hunter, was far ahead of the other two candidates, Caitlyn and Corki, who were not even in the running.

"Oh my, you're all so enthusiastic, it doesn't seem right for me not to choose Vayne."

Without the EZ option, Xu Jing chose to concede defeat and quite obviously opted for the most popular Night Hunter skin as his championship skin. After all, one must satisfy either ideals or money.

"As for the details... white hair, it must be white hair, that's my only requirement."

After Xu Jing finished speaking, he looked at Shi Zhenyu and said, "Hehehe, I've decided on Little Stone's skin, it'll be Lee Sin!"

"whispering sound!"

"Is there any normal jungler who doesn't want to pick Lee Sin?"

Little Stone scratched his head. "I wanted to choose Sword Demon!"

It seems reasonable for junglers to choose Lee Sin for their championship skin, given his high skill ceiling and unparalleled mechanics, making him a champion that can be played in any version.

Despite his teammates' advice, Xiao Shitou ultimately followed his own heart.

In this World Championship, compared to Lee Sin, who only won once in the knockout stage, Aatrox was the biggest contributor to his team's victory.

The mid laner regretfully gave his championship skin to the Ice Maiden he played brilliantly in the final game of the finals.

When it came to the top lane, facing the fan war between the two brothers, Renekton and Nasus, in the end, it was the status of the Nasus forum moderator that prevailed over the other voices, winning the championship skin for Mr. Oasis.

【JM!】

【JM!】

[Sword Saint! Sword Saint! It has to be Sword Saint!]

[My Ahri is so beautiful, Ahri is the best in the world, please, JM, choose Ahri! I can cosplay as Ahri to warm your bed.]

[As for the robbery, I don't care anymore. You bunch of ungrateful bastards! You used to call me 'sweetheart,' but now that someone new has taken over, you call me 'old hag,' is that it?]

Is it possible that JM never used Zed in the World Championship?

【knock!!!】

Amidst the "howls" of countless Zed players, NXG's final and most crucial player's choice of a championship skin sparked a frenzy among viewers from numerous regions.

What will JM choose?
Facing the camera, Jiang Ming smiled brightly and uttered that classic line from a hero:
"A true master always has the heart of a student!"

(End of this chapter)