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[RE-INTRO] August "groovylord" Browning, Champion Design/R&D

RiotAD Yuumi·9/20/2016, 7:38:49 PM·1 votes·51,960 views

Hi friends, I'm August. I did an intro post a couple months ago and I figured now would be a great time for another as I'm about to both change my screen name AND change teams.

WHO AM I? I'm a megagamer who loves thinking about how to design resonant characters. I grew up in Alaska, majored in economics at Dartmouth, and then started at riot immediately after graduation. This month marks my 4 year anniversary with the company and I've loved every day of it! I used to be an almost-pro TF2 Scout/Medic(logged like 1400 hours into that game) before switching to League around the Malzahar patch. Am currently a D2 support main.

On the subject of the name change. I've used the name "gypsylord" for the past 12 years. It was a homage to my first doggo, Gypsy. Growing up in the US (and Alaska especially), I never realized how racially charged the term "gypsy" is in parts of Europe. I've gained a more global perspective over the years and so I'm making the personal decision to move on from my old handle and start with something new.

WHAT DO I DO AT RIOT? For the last 4 years I've been a champion designer. I designed the mechanics for Vi, Jinx, Ekko, and Jhin. Also worked on Gnar w/Meddler I spent the first 4 months of this year working on what was to be my final champ, but ended up handing him off to Jimmy "BeatPunchBeef" Steorts in May. He's still a long ways off, but you guys are gonna love him for sure. Super exciting character, can't wait to see where Jimmy takes the concept.

As of about a month ago, I've moved off of champion and onto a team in our R & D department. Sadly, I can't say much about what I'm going to be doing asides from we're still trying to get that "S" into Riot GameS and I'll be continuing to leverage my strengths at designing characters. Hoping to learn a lot and eventually deliver some awesome experiences to all of you in the far future.

Asides from direct mechanics design I have done other things!

  • Was heavily involved in early concept ideation for many of the champs developed in 2014 and 2015.
  • Headed up the keystone mastery project with Stashu and Squad5 and convinced them to add a 3-hit passive to every champion in the game. Thunderlord's wooooooo.
  • Worked with our skins team on gameplay clarity (if there were any unclear skins released over the last year you can blame me D:)
  • Moonlighted as a live designer for a month and half where I proceeded to bop Kindred (hopefully for the last time) and attempted to Unbench the Kench.

WHAT DO I WANT TO TALK ABOUT?

This will be similar to my last thread. Feel free to ask me about any of my past champs or projects. I'm their #1 fan and know A LOT about them, be it theme, lore, or mechanics. Also , if you want to know anything about growing as a designer (or just as an employee at a company) I can speak to some of that. I started out here as a baby, and had the immense privilege of being able to learn from a lot of talented people older and more experienced than myself. Perhaps I can pass some of those learnings on to you!

And of course, if you have anything you want to talk about outside of those topics feel free to bring it up. This can be an AMA of sorts. Can't guarantee I can respond to everything, but I'll try when it falls within my sphere of knowledge. I'm on a recruiting trip in Boston at the moment so I'll be hopping in and out to respond to things over the next week.

**UPDATE --- WILL BE HOPPING IN ON AND OFF THROUGHOUT THE DAY FOR THE NEXT WEEK. Will answer as much as I can.

349 Comments

JMoormann9/20/2016, 7:56:21 PM7 votes

What is your biggest regret, and why is it making Ekko better as a tank than as an assassin?

Decrit9/20/2016, 8:33:23 PM4 votes

The man who debunked 3-hit passives :D

Good luck with your new position! Make a proper and nice tabletop roleplay manual for LoL!

( let' s be serious - you are so going to do it! )

Vanjie9/20/2016, 8:39:07 PM4 votes

I am trying to get a response from someone in this Department that cares about Karma. You are at this point ignoring her. No one in your Department has given this champion the justice and work she deserves, especially after being the least worked on and lazy worked on champion. Legit . . . you guys completely BUTCHERED this champion with her relaunch. 90% of her problems can be fixed with a properly worked on visual update . . . which has YET to be worked on or completed.

I am asking that Riot seriously considers giving us her original visual update back . . . . and fix what little problems are wrong with that. The way the guy who worked on her handled Karma is insulting and very unprofessional. Yes the community whined. Her fans could have been put on a skin it made sense. Her dress could have been put on a skin. Yet you gave us a poorly worked on and oudated visual update. Again. Ignored.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zrHgmN6uoto/maxresdefault.jpg

She doesn't need a complete VGU. She needs minor work and her original PLANNED visual update applied. If you make the community wait the five to ten years you expect us to wait . . . . for you to do your 3 to 4 VGU a year . . . . League will be long gone. You don't care Riot games. Don't tell the community you care about a champion when you have YET in the three years you butchered her . . . . you care.

Ýones9/22/2016, 6:07:05 PM2 votes

I love your champs, Jhin is my next favorite adc (below Tristana or Miss Fortune) and Gnar was one of my first mains. Your designs are awesome, and you're my 2nd favorite designer. (BeatPunchbeef is best imo, I main Illaoi.) Psyche! Everyone, gasp. Enough being a pussy, I have a challenge for you. Create a champion in under 10 minutes which I give the role and character for you to make. Uh, role: Juggernaut, and for the character theme: King of the jungle.

DwarvenGiant9/20/2016, 8:17:02 PM2 votes

Not sure if off-topic, but your new name made me giggle. What made you change it from gypsylord to groovylord? :o

Malicious Metal9/20/2016, 8:07:18 PM1 votes

On a champion design perspective what are your thoughts on Mordekaiser. He may be my main (with over 640k mastery points) but I've been really enjoying Vi and wanted to know what her designer might think about a champion design as ancient as Morde^^

ggGetJinxed9/20/2016, 8:37:28 PM1 votes

What is the hardest part about nerfing one of the champions you worked on if they are truely out of control, because since you helped design the kits, you'd know if a nerf would be too much, yet know they need toning down?

warpenguin5559/20/2016, 7:52:55 PM1 votes

So whats things looking like for Azir?

Time429/20/2016, 8:44:57 PM1 votes

What are your thoughts on Teemo purely from a gameplay perspective? He seems to have elements of assassin, marksman, and disruptor all mixed together in his kit. :P

P.S. When are you streaming again, I'm in the UK and I keep missing it. :(

ZaNJeTsU9/20/2016, 9:00:13 PM1 votes

Do you see Ekko as a tank bruiser top laner or as an assassin, I wanna buy ekko and main him, but I'm not sure what's the best thing for him, also did you have passion for champions design before you started with Riot, or Riot games was the reason u loved champions design job

Nicolitis9/20/2016, 9:19:53 PM1 votes

First of all, thank you for taking time to answer our questions! It's always exciting to be able to ask questions to people that played a part in building a game we love.

My question may be a bit specific, so apologies if it's not on the answerable side. A while ago, on the Jhin Q&A, you mentioned some characters that you felt could be improved, among which was Caitlyn. I agree with your comments on her and as a big fan of her character (and even more so of the potential she has), I'd like to ask what you feel could be improved to give her character a sense of an unique identity.

Would it involve a gameplay update or do you feel like her kit is in a nice spot and what she would benefit from is an improvement on her visuals, lore, VO, etc.? If you don't want to be that specific, just a general outlook on what you feel could be improved for Caitlyn.

Thank you for your time!

Solidair39/20/2016, 9:20:23 PM1 votes

If you could rework teemo today, and give him a healthier kit, how would you do it?

Alternatively, choose a champ who you feel has an ult that doesn't fit their thematic very well, how would you change it?

Zerenza9/21/2016, 4:10:42 AM1 votes

Do you guys ever look at the Concept/Creations thread and see champion design or maybe a mechanic that seems interesting and actually test it or build champions off of it?

PS: I LOVE ALL 3 -hit PASSIVES THEY ARE SO FUN AND I DON"T UNDERSTAND WHY XD

Merxamers9/20/2016, 7:48:37 PM1 votes

Hey! You watch any anime this season? Any thoughts on Re:Zero (if you've seen it)?

With regards to league- was Ivern a champ you worked on? His theme seems intriguingly different (pacifist jungling, etc.) What kind of themes did you all want to hit with him that League may have been missing?