We interviewed Jeff Jew, Executive Producer of Legends of Runeterra, to talk about gameplay, business model, news … before its final version.
After 11 years dominating the competitive environment and having created one of the most successful esports of all time, League of Legends, Riot Games begins its great expansion. Well, to tell the truth, it already started it last year by launching Teamfight Tactics, framed within a new genre known as autochess, but it is during this 2020 when that strategy was definitively consecrated with the arrival of two titles with the competitive multiplayer character as denominator common: the shooter Valorant, which has started in a very strong way, and the one at hand, Legends of Runeterra, a card game with whose executive producer, the very young Jeff Jew, we have been able to talk, and which will be released in its final version this next day 30, also on mobile.
LoR strategy: launch, content, etc …
Jew, despite his youth, has a 13-year experience at Riot Games, and although the card genre is not at its best, with games like The Elder Scrolls Legends or Gwent far from having reached expectations and a Hearthstone, who continues to struggle to survive, believes that the experience on the competitive terrain for his team is his main value. "Launching a new game always has its opportunities and risks, in any genre, and the cards are no exception," begins Jew. "LoR has many strengths, among which we emphasize great access to cards, interactivity between players between rounds, and the powerful Champions, who are the stars of the deck." Having said that, as we said before, he believes that "taking into account our experience with League of Legends, we want to bring exceptional service, frequent updates and communication to the card genre."
As for the launch, it is clear, but we want to know what strategy to follow in the long term, where they have to find a balance between knowing how to recruit new players, capable of being frustrated if the barrier to entry is too great while keeping veterans happy, giving them enough depth. "Making sure new players come to LoR and have fun is very high on our list of priorities," says Jew. "Even during the open beta, we wanted to be generous with the way cards are collected, and during Rising Tides, new players will gain experience more quickly through the Paths of Regions." As for the players who have been enjoying the open beta for months, he believes that they will also be satisfied. “There are 11 new Champions, 6 of them for regions already present and another 5 for Bilgewater, and with them, tons of new mechanics and combinations with multiple ways to attack, build decks and strategies. I am confident that veteran players are also excited about the new content. ”
We wanted to delve with Jew also into the economic model and the reward system, which has already undergone changes during the open beta. "We want LoR to always feel rewarded, regardless of whether you're a casual or hardcore gamer," says Jew. “You should always get rewarded for your time, and during the beta we've made adjustments based on player feedback. For the launch of Rising Tides we are going to add new features such as a seven-day login bonus, in addition to increasing the Region Roads for each one already present, plus a new one for Bilgewater ”.
You always have to see your time rewarded. With the arrival of Rising Tides we will include new ways to earn rewards.
But as we said before, we believe that everyone who has been able to try Legends of Runeterra has been powerfully caught by its business model, according to which it completely dispenses with random card envelopes, to offer a card crafting system. With it, we can make the deck we want, without chance by, provided we have the necessary materials: fragments or jokers. “Many team members, including myself, grew up playing physical card games, where there were upgrade packs, which is an established model, but over time you learn that there are tons of filler cards that are completely useless, and it takes a lot time and money to get what you want or need ”, recognizes Jew. “For us, the fun of a card game comes from creating decks where you can get creative, and that only works if you have more access to the cards. It also has to be an interactive game, where you feel like you have what it takes to deal with the opponent's strategy. That only happens by developing a radically different system for card acquisition, and that's where the promise comes from not selling random card packs, and giving generous ways to collect. ”
The fun of a card game is in creating decks and having enough tools to face your opponent, hence our promise not to sell random card packs.
Gameplay, balance and various nerpheus
Of course, we wanted to talk to him in the gameplay, current and future, and in the content to come, specifically for a player, where currently there are only several tutorials to understand the mechanics of the game. Legends of Runeterra, as we know, is based on the rich lore of League of Legends, but there are many players who have never tried this one and do not know their Champions and other characters. Is there an option to delve into them by experimenting with a single player mode? "That sounds like so much fun!" He exclaims. The players and our team always talk about that idea and we'd love to do it one day. We have nothing to announce today, but I agree that LoR is a fantastic vehicle for developing the amazing League of Legends lore. ”
Speaking of gameplay, one of the most common criticisms that Hearthstone has been making – of which Jew confesses himself as a fan and player since his closed beta – or rather Blizzard, is that when an overly powerful mechanic or deck appears It takes time to react when nerfing. Blizzard's policy is to wait for players to be able to find solutions, so we want to know what Riot's is. "It is a difficult balance to find, of course," he anticipates. “Our preference is to give players time to find the tools to deal with the metagame, therein lies the fun. Anyway, if we see that there are few options, or there are patterns against which to play is not fun, we will act faster ”.
We prefer to give players time to find solutions to metagame problems, but if there is something too lopsided, we will act fast.
What patterns are those? From Meristation we have asked him specifically about Elusion, an aggressive and sometimes frustrating mechanic. Jew doesn't think so much. "I don't think Elusion has too much inherent power," he says. “In any case, it is an archetype that we monitor and that we have already acted on in beta, reducing the health of many units with this ability, and nerfing some cards that support them. I think it is important to have aggressive keywords like circumvention, but they need to have your counter. In this case, for example, it's direct damage, and I think Rising Tides will offer even more ways to deal with elusive units. ”
We also hope that with Rising Tides come new ways to give use to Champions who at the moment are not having much presence in the metagame. We are talking, for example, of Vladimir, Kalista, Jinx… Are you planning to do something in Riot so that we can enjoy all the variety of LoR Champions? "We keep an eye on the use ratios of Champions for their win percentage and will support those who are below expectations, as well as other cards," Jew promises. “Personally, I was hoping that a discard deck with Jinx and Draven could have more presence, and that it would be more powerful during the beta, so with Rising Tides we have included aspects that could improve that archetype. We have already touched on Champions who were not performing as well, like Yasuo or Kalista, and we are committed to everyone exploiting their potential throughout future releases and updates. ”
For now, the most immediate is the final release of Legends of Runeterra in its final version, which will be this Thursday, the 30th, not only on PC, but also on mobiles, something that will surely help new players to cheer up. to try this Riot Games title. From Meristation we will continue telling you all its news and emphasizing all the changes that occur both with this great update and with set 2, Rising Tides.
