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I'm going to be real here, patch cadence kinda sucks.

Masala Chai·5/12/2018, 5:13:06 AM·12 votes·7,109 views

At the beginning of the year, Jessica Nam announced that patch cadence and structure for the year. The idea was to focus on larger patches every 4 weeks, followed by a smaller patch 2 weeks later that would focus on smaller changes and address anything weird that pops up.

We've seen that structure over the past 5 months now, and given my initial observations after around March of this year, I'm not convinced that the patch cadence offers much of anything when improving the quality of the game or making a better player experience for anyone.

Issues:

  • Champion reworks and updates scheduled for that appear on PBE for one cycle often get pushed back two until they get released on live. This kind of feels awkward especially because it almsot feels as if that Riot is purposefully trying to make the reworks fit patch cadence, as opposed to fixing problems as quickly as possible.

  • Addressing anything weird that pops up in the smaller patches rarely happens. Certain champions that have clear and oppressive strengths in solo Q that almost regularly ruin game quality aren't translated to direct changes on the PBE in the following cycle, or any of the next ones after. Riot needs to focus on FINDING problems quickly and coming up with holistic solutions to those problems that are quick and effective. Fixing problems that lie beneath the surface which form the core of the systems that League has built over the years would be more effective in both the short and long term. Games lose popularity from the inside-out, not the outside-in.

  • The smaller changes pushed forward in these patches are often discussed long before, which often makes the bandaid fixes from the previous patch much more lacklustre, and often lead us to question why these changes weren't tested during the PBE cycle either.

7 Comments

Khristophoros5/12/2018, 5:17:56 AM10 votes

Most champs that need reworks have needed them for years so I don't think several patches makes any real difference on this issue. You're thinking really short term. Are you going to look back in a year and be like "Man I can't believe they delayed Irelia's rework for 2 patches when it was ready"

Other than that, well you're simply not seeing eye to eye with Riot. They have said they wanted the game to be more stable. You are saying you want things fixed faster which means the meta would change more frequently. Every time there's a nerf it changes the meta. So we can't have both. Are you saying balance adjustments are more important than meta stability?

yoshi27905/12/2018, 1:19:56 PM1 votes

I don't understand your first issue. Isn't it good that they leave things on the PBE for further adjusting?

Häxel5/12/2018, 4:58:14 PM1 votes
  • normal vgus and new champions get released in one patch no amtter if it is a big or not (Swain, Irelia). Just the smaller changes that were kinda reverts from previous work like Rengar, leblanc and Ahri had more pbe patches and it was not realy cause you ahd these cycles, jsut to test more or cause work was not finished: rengar was 2 cylces on pbe. Lb 4. Ahri 3. Lb for exampel was still missing some visuals till 8.8 so you can't blame the rythm for that.

Your other 2 points are nothing new and jsut a general problem. Pbe patches always work like that you don't change anything anymore the secodn week to log in the changes and test for bugs. Same time you already look up things for the next patch. When the patch rolls out you test these changes and have a week time to look up what happens on live and how to react to that. Mostly the first half of week 1 is the most analysed as you can discus directly after it changes you wanna test on pbe. And than secodn week ahppens it already gets loged in again.

This is far more problematic for proplay as lcs plays 1 week later their patches, lck 2 for exampel. So problems you see in the lcs get fixed most times 2 patches later and rarely immediately. Only in rare, to big cases like the banner of command which already could be fixed fast one patch later.

the rythm of big small patches leads to more meta shifts and more diversity. Also problems get a bit more focused and unlike you said: ofcourse things get watched and fixed after a big patch directly the patch after: You didn't see how Kog'maw, Twitch and Shyvana got directly readdressed one patch later after their nerfs?

Bogdan19455/12/2018, 8:14:53 PM1 votes

It'd be interesting to have a cadence like this during a period of 5 weeks : Big patch (week 1) , small patch (week 2), small patch (week 3),Big patch (week 5) Regarding names it could be : X.Y ; X.Ya ; X.Yb ; X.Z The cadence would feel better where X.Ya would be used to quickly adjust based on initial impact , and X.Yb would be a second response based on data during X.Y up to X.Ya + X.Ya initial impact , X.Yb could also have small adjustments/fine tuning besides addressing X.Y patches (number changes only , no new mechanics) .

Pro play patches could always use X.Yb patches , and it'll be far better than how it is now with a lot of Pro play patches having a lot of op/REALLY strong picks in them(post buffs kai'sa , post buffs swain , release Zoe )