“Preseason 2021’s gameplay changes will focus on a fully upgraded shop interface and a top to bottom rework of the item system!” – Riot Scruffy
It is weird to mention about preseason 2021 in June, while the season 2020 just started half a year ago. However, Riot Games want to start the convocation early so League players have plenty of time to prepare and give feedback.
According to Riot Games’ Dev News 2 weeks ago, when Riot developed last year’s preseason 2020, Rise of the Elements, Riot Games wanted to expand and evolve League of Legends in an unexpected and exciting way. Elemental rifts add even more spice and each game of League presents a new challenge.
Goals for Preseason 2021
Riot Games decided to take a different approach this year. They are going to invest in League’s future by building up and refining one of League’s foundational gameplay systems.
- Item purchasing is quick and intuitive.
- Every champion can make strategic decisions through item choices in every game.
- Items build enable exciting ways to master your champion.
- Items feel epically powerful and enhance your champion’s fantasy.
- Iconic items are retained and you don’t have to relearn everything from scratch.
Polishing Every Item
- Items have a clear, unique, and single purpose.
- Items fit one of two archetypes: Either a contextual purpose or a kit augment.
- Contextual purpose Situational items that allow players to counter certain champions or events in the game (like Quicksilver Sash).
- Kit augments are items that are pickable in any game, and have satisfying synegy with champion kits to make them feel more complete (like Lich Bane).
- Interesting build paths provide variety and small choice opportunities.
- Item design is elegant and we use only the mechanics that we need.
- Items contribute to an overall healthy game by not removing counterplay and weaknesses.
The Big Shop Upgrade:
The New Shop seems more interesting with new design and better suggestions based on current meta. This way, newbies or veteran players won’t feel lost trying to find the right items or right build.
Recommended Items
- Better recommendations: Compared to the current handmade recommended items pages (which can easily become out of date), Riot Games want to directly integrate their data to have always up-to-date recommendations based on highly skilled player choices.
- Focused choices: Not every item is equally viable at any given point in a game, and the shop can make it hard to find viable choices since it presents hundreds of options at once. Riot want rec items to dynamically surface the top few choices to players at any point in the game.
- Don’t remove the strategy: Even though this is more curated shop experience, Riot still wants to present options to players, not a linear build path. Knowing when it’s the right game for Thornmail or Randuin’s Omen is still a decision they leave to the players.
- Contextual Analysis: Helping less experienced players gain experience with reactive item decision making is a core goal. Riot Games are adding some new systems to analyze the allies and enemies in each game and show the player which items offer effective counters or synergies.
All Items
- All items that you need on one screen: This is the one-stop shop for an expert player to go to and find and purchase items with the fewest clicks possible.
- Consistent position: Riot Games wanted to make this a place where items are placed in logical layouts on the screen and more them rarely if at all. This can allow players to develop muscle memory over time and learn where each item lives in the shop.
- Data enhancements: Riot also want to integrate their new data capabilities into all the items interface to highlight viable items for your champion. Finding items and buying quickly will be easier than ever.
This is only the beginning of a long and exciting road to preseason. Riot Games want to reveal their plans as early as possible so that they can see and process as much of the players feedback as possible.
What do you think about the new Shop Design? Are you excited for the new Season to come already?
Credit: Riot Games Dev’s Preseason 2021 Gameplay Plans
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