Tune in to our playtester stream on Wednesday from 6 to 8 PM PDT!

RiotAesah·Aug 16, 2016·18 votes·24,152 views

Hey guys! I'm Don "Aesah" Ding on Riot's Playtest team, a group of Diamond+ players who play with the new champions, reworks, balance tweaks, items, map updates, etc. before they are released. It's our job to the test the ideas that our developers come up with and ensure that we're introducing positive changes to LoL in terms of both balance and fun.

I host the Playtest Stream along with another member of our team every Wednesday from 6 to 8 PM Pacific Time. The main focus of the stream is to answer any questions you guys have for us. We will also be playing games with viewers (in a custom game where the password is announced in the chat) and delivering a few high level gameplay tips.

All of us on the Playtest Team are avid gamers so feel free to talk to us as fellow LoL players. While we can't answer specific questions about anything that would be considered confidential or a leak, you guys can also use this opportunity to ask us anything about Riot.

Feel free to use this thread to leave any questions, suggestions, or comments about the Playtest Stream, and see you guys at www.twitch.tv/leagueoflegends!

EDIT: as of 9/28/16, this stream will be on hiatus. I'm not exactly sure how long but definitely AT LEAST a few months.

113 Comments

rtbf225618241Aug 16, 20163 votes

Which type of ability mechanics do you enjoy testing the most?

RiotAesahAug 17, 20164 votes

Personally I like flashy stuff that is new/unique. League already has 130+ champions so while a new kit isn't necessarily boring if it doesn't have anything flashy, it doesn't excite me as much as something crazy.

FlleshAug 16, 20163 votes

here is my question, supposedly the majority of the player base is located in gold and below... why is the game play tested and balanced to plat+?

RiotAesahAug 17, 201616 votes

The game is not balanced solely for plat+. It's a common misconception though- in fact one of the most frequent complaints I've seen from players is that X champion isn't performing well in high levels of play, therefore he needs buffs. However we definitely care about other brackets, aka the majority of our playerbase.

DeathBurstAug 17, 20166 votes

Balancing is done with all brackets in mind, but a disproportionate (in the mathematical, neutral meaning of the word) attention is still given to high brackets, I hope. 'Cause if a champion is "OP" in low levels, the counter-play does exist already, it's just that people don't know it or how to execute on it. Whereas a champion that is "OP" in high levels, well, it's just actually OP, without quotes.

So of course, Riot has to take care of the situation if a champion is balanced for LCS but has a 70% winrate in Bronze, of course that's not a sustainable state for the game. But the game MUST be precisely balanced at high levels, whereas at lower levels, it just needs to not have too many too big outliers.

Akhmnra3Aug 19, 20161 votes

Lol ok 1v1 me pleb

DeathBurstAug 20, 20165 votes

Care to elaborate?

League SJWOct 7, 20161 votes

Bring back the old guinzoos and devour

AdauchiAug 16, 20162 votes

Will you guys be talking about the assassin changes? Or just talking about the possible changes happening for the world's patch? Just PBE changes and tweaks?

RiotAesahAug 16, 20166 votes

We can give our opinions on anything that's been announced already/general direction of changes/etc. But we can't talk about anything that would be considered a leak, e.g., the first time a champion's new ability is revealed. It would be pretty lame and boring for you guys to hear about that from us, right?

DementeSep 9, 20164 votes

No it wouldnt. Some players have played the champions you are reworking for years. The champions you are reworkiing arent movies that can be spoiled by a leak. Its like a pet. Imagine your pet is in an opperation that lasts a week. Would you only like to know if your pet survived or not, or would you like to know if the opperation is going well? Plus from a marketing stand point. These champions are old, they are owned by alot of people, you dont need to sell them to them, you should actually get the comunity hyped. OFC there are some changes that are going to amaze the comunity. Like maybe a new mechanic that can wow the player base, like from what I heard stealth, so maybe not leak the whole champions kit. But atleast give more info to the player base. But again this going to be one of those things "We know that it has been a mistake on our part to not get you guys updated on the class updates".

CardiSep 19, 20162 votes

In reference to this post from reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/4en3fi/serious_playtesters_plz/) quite a few months ago, is Riot still hiring candidates for their playtest team?

RiotAesahSep 20, 20162 votes

Not entirely sure- the best thing to do is to check our careers page on the main website

Liquid Poro Aug 16, 20161 votes

Will you able to test the assassin rework on pbe?

redfeenixAug 23, 20162 votes

Yes but not for a long time it's still under development

ObalazsSep 10, 20161 votes

I thin try again

togapikaSep 11, 20161 votes

Glad to hear Robert is doing well. I used to watch him stream before his accident.

LEÄHCIMSep 14, 20161 votes

test

T0k3n blackguySep 16, 20161 votes

gimme moneySep 20, 20161 votes

item 3632

trapbirdSep 20, 20161 votes

When will we see the new Talon come around?

Vegan ManSep 23, 20161 votes

Sounds fun!

Maximus PaineSep 26, 20161 votes

Hello, Did you guys broadcast last wed 9/21? I don't see the video on Twitch. :/

Maximus PaineSep 29, 20161 votes

No answer, but I found the recording..only I think it's mislabeled as "September Q&A with Ghostcrawler - Begins at 2PM Pacific". :/ Oh... it's a recording of the first 9 minutes...

AMYS GRAVESep 26, 20161 votes

is there a reason this thread is still stickied on the boards a month later?

C 1Sep 27, 20161 votes

Nice :D

Nivek SkrapsSep 28, 20161 votes

Hiii

League SJWOct 7, 20161 votes

You should Chang guinsoozs rageblade back to the way it was before it was reworked and bring back devour and fix the bugs on master yi

imofchinaeseOct 8, 20161 votes

I want to get PBE..................... LeeSin [zombie-nunu-tears]

mannyshbOct 9, 20161 votes

TSM

rengar voreOct 10, 20161 votes

Rip tsm Amumu item 3070

xBatousaiOct 12, 20161 votes

when is the lol record match history thing coming out?

HEdi01Oct 14, 20161 votes

end ban

artini1Oct 18, 20161 votes

what is thiss??

AnimalGetiOct 19, 20161 votes

Well as an assassin main i will just say this here. The update is fun for sure for some assassins for others not so much.

Katarina i must say it is fun and looks okay. (and inc ad katarina xD)

Talon Talon, i feel like his potential for roam is amazing and to kill the jungler (which i think most high elo player will focus on that mostly because well he can get fast in lanes but he cant really do anything with out a blink....and no a dash is not a blink)[slayer-jinx-unamused] . so i am not sure about him being playable.

Leblanc Leblanc, well it looks like she will have easier farm mechanics Ryze for the rest i cant tell. And for sure she wont b able to escape anymore almost at all with no double W. (she dies fast a slow effect will destroy her)

Rengar Rengar, it looks like the ulty and the W are very good the Q tho i dont know... i mean okay the basic aspect riot dev focused was to give counter play and not die in 0.5 sec from rengo ulty but with the change on ulty you already nerfed the teamfight ability to assassinate why a change in Q. I cant tell if its good or not until i play.