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[INTRO] Jo “Fearless” Graylock - Lead Designer, Gameplay Systems

RiotFearless·12/8/2015, 8:58:05 PM·1 votes·29,060 views

WHO AM I? Hey everyone, I’m Jo Graylock. Before I came to Riot I was an RPG designer for most of a decade, as well as Jiu Jitsu instructor and metal radio show host. The vast majority of my developer experience comes from my time at Obsidian Entertainment. Lots of awesome people making awesome games there, but I couldn’t pass up a chance to work on my favorite game.

I try to play a ton of everything, but favorites are LoL, Fallout 1 and 2, Xenoblade Chronicles, Tactics Ogre, Dino Run, FTL, and Risk of Rain, with healthy amounts of D&D and Warmachine at the table. When not gaming, I’m usually doing lots of tabletop painting, playing volleyball, or spending time with family.

I currently own: 2 cats.

WHAT AM I DOING AT RIOT? WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT NEXT YEAR? I started as an individual contributor at Riot, working on the Sona update before moving into systems work, first on the Jungle Update for 2015 before following up with Cinderhulk. After that, I moved to lead the Lead Design spot for Gameplay Systems. I’ve been lead for the Juggernaut items and the 2016 Season work so far. I’m really looking forward to keeping this season exciting throughout the entire year.

WHAT AM I GOING TO TALK ABOUT? I’m going to be here to talk about all the systems stuff in LoL. This means items, the map, the jungle, and all the other rules level stuff in the game. A lot of our changes can be pretty easy to miss, but also a little mysterious or obscure. I’m really excited to bring this stuff into the light, as well as the reasons behind why we change the game. I’m also really happy to talk about how we work as designers, both in what our day to day looks like, and some stories about how we think about problems and overcome them. Riot designers were super inspiring to me before I got here, and I’d love to give back a bit of my time to pay that forward.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR FROM ME? Let’s talk about stuff, for realzies. The openness and honesty of Riot was a big reason to work here, and I’d like to keep that tradition going. :)

EDIT: Going to meetings for a bit, will be back around dinner time.

EDIT2: Alright, heading out for some dinner. Thanks for talking everyone! Look forward to a lot more!

87 Comments

ploki12212/8/2015, 9:44:05 PM3 votes

Volleyball, metal, LoL, Tactics Ogre, and RPG/design interest... I might have a new Rioter to pester. As a bonus, you even worked with people who worked on Kotor 2!

WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT NEXT YEAR? [...] I’m really looking forward to keeping this season exciting throughout the entire year.

Kinda mean to tease in all caps before not hinting/spoiling the slightest juicy bit. So... what can we expect next year? :P

I’ve been lead for the Juggernaut items and the 2016 Season work so far.

With "rework blocks" like the Juggernaut update, and the Marksman update as well as the previous Support update and the upcoming immobile sieging mages, we've seen time and again that such drastic changes often not only skew the balance in that role's favor (since the shiny new objects invariably pump a bit more power in their kit, at the very least in the form of adaptability), but also make the affected champions much more played than normally.

How much does that temporary "collateral imbalance" matter in your eyes while working on a system, and did it ever happen that you decided to break down a massive batch of changes into smaller ones just to let it trickle in and not overwhelm players with it (like junglers, maybe)?

Riot designers were super inspiring to me before I got here

Let's go for some candy questions : Who are your favorite ex-Rioter and current Rioters (not necessarily designers)?

Unrelated to OP

Otherwise, let's go for some more generic questions :

  1. What is in your opinion the best/worst niche in LoL right now in term of design (split push, mobile mages, tank supports, poke supports, all in mid laners, AP junglers, etc.)?

  2. What would you say is the biggest pros and cons of the current way PBE functions?

  3. Favorite champion?

  4. What design from another game would you like to see in LoL (even if unrealistic) and why?

  5. If you were ice cream, what flavour would you be and which of your 2 cat would eat you first?

Pika31012/10/2015, 6:20:29 AM3 votes

What's it feel like knowing that every project you've worked on since joining Rito Game has not only been deemed complete failures, but ones of such game-shaking effect that they continue to negatively impact League to this very day? ...and that all have been met with such severe backlash that you've made a name for yourself as one of the most hated employees in the entire company?

How is it that despite the above and both the sullied image and economic repercussions to Rito that have ensued in direct cause to your actions that you've not only avoided being held personally responsible for those failures, you've actually managed to somehow crawl up the ranks of Rito's employment ladder to your current position?

Moving on to a more specific question, what was the mindset that made you arrogantly believe you were ever qualified to work on Sona? A champion that you yourself have openly admitted you've never played as, with or against and had literally zero understanding of; for a role and class that you do not play? Furthermore, how much gall did it take to openly and repeatedly lie to the community both during and after intentionally ruining her?

Lastly, what was the initial catalyst that led to you hating Sona so deep-seatedly that you were willing to sacrifice your own morals as well as your company's name and profits just to make certain she never see play again?

biomaster12/8/2015, 10:02:42 PM3 votes

Hi just want to know what's happening to cull? I heard that it's a bit weak, and i really want to not be criticized for buying it. i really liked avarice balde and it's saddening to see it's predecessor suffer so. Wondering what if any plan you have for it?

A Wild AP Sona12/9/2015, 7:45:14 PM3 votes

You should lose your job at riot games for making sona unplayable garbage with your biased 40 nerf bullshit just because your awful at this game and dont know how to lane against a champ thats piss easy to kill

it took until s6 when sona got INDIRECTLY buffed through new masteries/frost queen before she became viable again you forced through an awful rework that NO one wanted despite the massive outrage in the sona community then you ditched us for a year and ignored all negative feedback regarding the million nerfs you hammered through on an underpowered champ

you immediately need to be fired

Earl Eulrich12/8/2015, 10:17:27 PM2 votes

Well, nice to have you here.

What I would be most interessted in is talking about Design Philosophy, especially in regards to recent itemization-changes:

For me I feel like last season i had a lot more options to adapt a Champion to my playstyle and the Setups...e.g. i had a lot of sucess on sth. like bruiser-graves, AD-Caster Sivir, All-AD.MF...but currently everything but crit is just not really viable anymore - and crit is just really bad for a guy that must have really insulted the RNjesus in a former live. Last season i could trade a little bit of scaling and dps for reliability and some more aoe on most Champs, this season it´s just all about stacking crit and getting lucky (until your at 100%obviously, but at that point most games are already decided).

So did you streamline buildpaths on purpose so less decissions could be made and inexperienced players have an easier time or do you plan to fix some of the mess (http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/kIqG66Ao-detailed-preseason-feedback-part-1-items%29?) with the current items?

Mordepool12/8/2015, 9:03:55 PM2 votes

Which edition of D&D and what's your favorite class/ character?

Straight to the hard hitting questions

Merxamers12/8/2015, 9:05:30 PM2 votes

Hey, great to meet ya!

  1. How much thought goes/went into the location, angle, etc. of the 'skinny' walls, which you can jump over with a 3rd Riven Q, etc.? Or was it a case of "these were already there, don't change them?"

  2. What's your favorite D&D character you ever made and played with?

  3. If you play MTG, what kind of decks do you like to run?

Jeddy01712/8/2015, 9:13:49 PM2 votes

Okay,I have something simple I want to ask you about.What are your opinions on the other permanent game modes besides Summoner's Rift?You know know,ARAM,Twisted Treeline & Dominion.

And before anyone post it,"Hurr durr what's a Dominion?"There,I said the joke,we got that out of the way.

I know you're probably not part of the team responsible for the other permanent game modes.So I'm not asking for a 20 year plan for Dominion.Just give me simple opinions.

Eph28912/8/2015, 10:02:22 PM2 votes
  1. 'm curious about your thoughts on champions that have skills that buff certain stats but then have lower base stats to compensate.

For example, Lissandra has her mana recovery passive, but lower mp5 than most of her mage colleagues. Is the idea behind the passive/skill to give Lissandra (and other examples) a different play pattern, or to give her a strength?

  1. Thoughts on the AP "CDR gap" relative to the new Essence Reaver? Is the expectation of 40% CDR on a max mage build more-or-less something Riot is not designing around?

  2. Juggernaut items have been hit-or-miss. Dead Man's Plate is great . . . Sterak's Gage kind of underwhelming. What are your evaluations on them?

  3. Are there plans to create a more defined subclass of AP Juggernauts? Right now if you do mostly magic damage and don't really scale with AP, you just build tank. AP bruiser seems like an unexplored design space to me, but what do you think?

Pyro12/9/2015, 1:20:32 AM2 votes

When you guys designed items like Jaurim's Fist, did it ever occur to you to think about recipe as item's identity?

Currently we have an increasing number of items sharing the exact same building blocks. Phage and Jaurim's Fist, Serrated Dirk and Caulfield's Warhammer, Giant Slayer and Executioner's Calling (and Vampriic Scepter!). Even big items like the Kircheis Shard upgrades, or summa summarum the Last Whisper upgrades. And things like Aether Wisp/Fiendish Codex (or all the Ruby Crystal upgrades) have already existed before.

What are your thoughts on the diversity of item recipes, or lack thereof? Does it bear any value to you?

Awkward Couch12/9/2015, 2:55:10 AM2 votes

Sorry just found out about this thread and I've been at work! :/

  1. Can we possibly get mastery points in Twisted Treeline? I like the game mode but it is often overlooked.

  2. What part did you play in the new Rageblade. It seems broken to me still after the nerfs (but then again I'm silver so I'm not that good :P so maybe I'm just exaggerating a bit). I don't think cost was it issue I think it just gives too many stats for one item.

  3. Fall out 4? I haven't played it yet and I want to know your opinion. XD

  4. Is this preseason like a giant PBE right now? It kind of feels like it and I think a lot of players do not like it.

  5. What is your all time favorite bug in LOL?

  6. This isn't a question but I like how there have been more step items to get to larger items. The biggest one for me is giants belt being build out of ruby crystal. Just wanted you to know.

  7. Are the late game champs (Vigar, Nasus) going to get some love soon? Games are finishing up a lot quicker than in previous seasons and that makes the late game Nasus not as scary. And that makes me sad on the inside. :(

Thanks for reading and if you don't want/can't respond to all of these I totally understand! XD

Kei14312/9/2015, 5:58:50 PM2 votes

Am I too late to the party?

*Fires random shots anyways even if I'm late *

  1. Have you played D&D with anyone within the Riot Office?
  2. Have you ever done that during regular hours, get caught for it, and be able to justify yourself?
  3. How much time do you spend planning for your games as DM?
  4. Do you think being a DM has helped in your Rior career at all?
  1. Ever going to explore dropping the turrets HP back down, now that the armor/MR scaling is back?
  2. Not sure if this is the right place, but your thoughts on MF being able to 100-0 3 ally members before someone can disrupt her?
  3. Are "Artillery Mages" the next batch to be looked at? If so, which champs are in that sub-class?
  4. Theres multiple tool tip confusions for the new masteries. Are they being looked at?
  5. Are there going to be more Sona changes coming to make her "feel" more impactful?
  6. Are there going to be more major / minor Marksmen changes? If so, what is being looked at? Or are you going to move onto the next sub-class already?
  1. Do people sign up for these Developer introductions? Or is it** STRONGLY **suggested that your team members participate?
  2. Was this inspired by "in-between the two turrets?" If so, why not just wait for your turn for "in-between the two turrets?"
LongHair Fox12/9/2015, 12:17:33 AM1 votes

Any tips for a person who is making his own table top rpg rules set? I find it quite fun, but I am currently a bit overwhelmed by the theoretically endless possibilities.

laststanding612/9/2015, 12:31:20 AM1 votes

What are some of the funniest bugs you have encountered while balancing a champion?

Deep Terror Nami12/8/2015, 9:04:34 PM1 votes

What RPG's did you work on?

Malicious Metal12/8/2015, 9:22:10 PM1 votes

Metal Radio show host, eh?

Favorite Metal band?!

LoZfan0312/8/2015, 10:41:54 PM1 votes

1 - Some of my favorite design stories are about the stuff we never get to see. Were there any preseason mastery or item ideas that got axed along the way but created insane or funny moments in testing?

2 - You mentioned a lot of little changes can be mysterious or obscure - is there anything already live that you feel is unnoticed or underappreciated so far?

3 - I picked up FTL recently, and I'm excited to give it a crack since I've just 1001%ed Binding of Isaac. Any tips going in?

Finally, thanks for all your hard work! This will be my 4th season with League, and it's already been my favorite start. I'm sure things will settle into a groove over time as usual, but the game feels more well-rounded and varied than ever (Yasuo/Trynd for the first half-patch notwithstanding).

ItemsGuy12/8/2015, 10:56:59 PM1 votes

I have two main questions, although these aren't about League in particular:

  1. "Game Designer" is a pretty vague and wildly-used term, but thankfully nowadays I'm starting to hear more specific terms like "Systems Designer" and "Technical Designer" and "Content Designer." What kind of designers work at Riot, and what kind of tasks do they usually handle?

  2. What was your journey to becoming a Systems Designer like? (More specifically, getting to the point where you first started working on game systems, rather than what you've done since then with Obsidian etc.)

Mostly asking since while game design has always been something in my crosshairs (especially re: mechanics and interactive systems, like MOBA kits and item systems), it's always seemed like my skillset's been incompatible with that path--coming from a primarily art-focused background, hearing about how every game designer has come from a programming background and how dev companies heavily favor designers with a CS degree makes me a bit anxious.

I know every company is different, but do you know if there's a place at Riot for a less tech-savvy designer? Or is that something that someone would have to carve out with their own hands?

aperson112/8/2015, 11:13:15 PM1 votes

Are you guys going to rework Guinsoo's Rageblade? The item seems pretty "out there" considering all the changes to other items this preseason that really focused their identity. Right now it's turned into a kind of "you can 1v1 anybody, splitpush forever" item and I think that's pretty boring for a stack-on-autos type of item. What are your plans for the item?