2015 League of Legends Esports Q&A [COMPLETED]

1. The current plan is to twofold: (1) Invest in the broadcast so that it increases in quality. While the core casting team is strong, there are a bunch of opportunities to get the quality of the cast up. (2) Figure out how to get each game cast live. We're dedicated to doing that. We foresaw the bandwidth issue at launch but understand that in the long term, this will result in a great experience for LPL fans. We've seen that it takes a major investment to create a quality esport broadcast and we're ready to do so for the LPL.

2. Can't really speak to this, sorry.

3. There are no immediate plans to have an English LMS broadcast that I'm aware of. The team's primarily focused on running the new league and delivering a strong local broadcast (which I agree with - those should be the priorities). I'd imagine once the foundation is laid, English cast will be on their priority list.

4. Our "central" esports team in LA works in partnership with our Riot office in Hong Kong and Tencent, similar to how we work with OGN/Kespa/Riot Korea. We let the local teams take the lead in both cases but we're there to advise and help them improve at a high level.

5. I've talked to the OGN crew via Riot Korea and that 1080p option wasn't "true" 1080p. They've told us that they output in "true" 720p so that's what we're going with. I'm honestly not a technical expert here on these matters so I don't want to venture into waters where I can't speak with much authority. We won't call it 1080p if it's not 1080p - and to be clear, OGN controls bitrate and output quality. In terms of the LCK monicker, we let the local offices take the lead on the league name - it's not mandated by the central team. Calling it 'OGN' never made much sense to me, as an aside.

6. I think future pro players can get plenty of spotlight through challenger and streaming, but we're certainly interested in helping create opportunities for and spotlighting potential future casters.

edit: clarity on #5

Perhaps - whenever NA gets Worlds next, Canada would definitely be considered for one of the stopping points.

The idea behind the #WeAreLCS campaign was to convey the message that it's not just the players on each team that make up the LCS. Without really high level play and without passionate fans, the LCS wouldn't be a thing. This concept isn't unique to the LCS - this can be said for any sport - but I think what really makes the LCS different is the very direct connection many fans feel to their team and the players on their favorite teams.

We will be doing roadshows this year, and are still working on confirming the locations in both NA and EU. Riot will be announcing plans for Gamescom in the coming weeks.

On the visa front, ultimately its up to the teams to apply for and acquire the visas for their players. We help by connecting teams in need to immigration lawyers familiar with the visa process, and we supply the necessary paperwork and letters to vouch for the players as they apply.

$115.37

The kind with bacon and other deliciousness inside. Too wild for just cheese.

This is Ariel Horn, for those that don't recognize the tag. Good question. Among the 1080p or 60fps upgrade, I think we would see an appreciable increase in game smoothness and clarity from 60fps. We are working with our tech team to potentially purse this direction. We already produce our shows in 60fps so it's a matter of testing to ensure that the distribution partners can accommodate and won't default to variable bit rates or fewer frames.

{quoted}

Will we be seeing an upgrade to 1080p or 60FPS for streams/vods this year?

This is Ariel Horn for those that don't recognize my tag. We are testing for 60fps as that will have an appreciable positive affect on in-game smoothness and clarity. We need to confirm that the distribution partners can accept this and will not switch into variable bit rates and frame rates. Pretty confident that this will be rolled out in the near future.

In no particular order - better season format (shorter regular season / longer playoffs / circuit points), international upgrades (formats and schedules are more aligned, MSI makes more sense to celebrate spring winners, added ASG at the end of the year, international league content more available), and third, I got baking soda

Venues are found for the most part but still in final negotiations with various venues. We are looking to announce in a few weeks when contracts are signed.

Our goal is focusing on viewers who are knowledgeable in League of Legends. By making an esport that you guys want to watch and are passionate about, we believe it will spread naturally (much like how League of Legends grew - through passionate individuals sharing with their friends and family). There are clear challenges with presenting any esport above and beyond sports that are easier to understand at a visual level, and that's why having League of Legends players/fans watching alongside those new viewers is the best way to make our esport "stick" outside of players.

Still working on our roadshow locations, but we do want to try and make it out east to show fans out there some love.

The 11th hour

We were very pleased with Imagine Dragons at Worlds. They are genuinely great guys and passionate gamers. Glad that you appreciated the collaboration. We're looking at a lot of different ideas for 2015 Worlds but would always want to collaborate with artists that share a similar authentic connection with our community.

Hard to say if we take it more seriously than other sports, as its difficult to know exactly what's happening behind the scenes in other leagues. With that being said, we do take it very seriously:

• On your point about competitive advantage, its more about the damage that tampering can do. Imagine a scenario where a player is approached to play for an opposing team during playoffs. If I was that player, I would be less interested in performing well knowing that I have a spot on another team when the season ends. This sort of tampering can have massive implications--for players, teams, as well as fans.

• The league is relatively young, and we want to crack down on this particular issue (along with many others) now before it starts to trend in an unwieldy direction.

We've had the benefit of seeing how damaging tampering can be in other sports/esports, which has shown us how important it is for us to get involved. This isn't all of our thoughts on the topic, but illustrates some of the reasons why we take it so seriously.

Definitely something that we're talking about. The World Championship brings up some logistical issues with that model:

• Currently player contracts must end by a certain point in the year (mid November). If we have a 1 month restricted free agency, this could have adverse affects on players attending Worlds. Imagine players negotiating contracts with their opponents during the World Championship, because they're under restricted free agency. I wish the solution was as easy as moving up the contract end dates to sometime in December to avoid these types of negotiations, but a change like that would mean less time between contract end dates and the start of the season. This would mean less time for visas, sponsor acquisitions, player brand development, etc.

• Additionally, players not attending Worlds would have a leg up on the players attending, as they don't have to focus on playing and can focus on contract negotiations and shopping around.

This is something on our radar and something we are putting a lot of thought into before moving on.