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Between Two Turrets - Come chat with Lomar! [COMPLETE]

RiotA Small Man··11 votes·57,539 views

http://i.imgur.com/sz5LZII.png

Welcome to the latest installment of Between Two Turrets, a Q&A series through which we connect you with various Rioters to chat about League, life, and anything in between. You can expect an installment every two weeks or so, with Rioters from all over jumping in to spend some time with you on the Boards.

This week, we’ve got head of Live Support, former Riot lawyer, and eternal voice of Brolaf (check out this blast from the past that gave us the mugshot above), Logan “Lomar” Margulies!

EDIT - Calling it a night guys, thanks for coming out!

What's up dudes and dudettes? This is Logan, coming to you live from the sunny west side of Los Angeles. You guys may also know me as Lomar (or as the voice/inspiration for Brolaf). I'm probably more known for doing an over-the-top frat guy impersonation than my actual work at Riot - a fact that makes my wife very, very proud. Once upon a time I was a lawyer for Riot, but after realizing that I may have been the 10,000,000th person to go to law school for the wrong reasons, I transitioned over to our Live team. Today I head up our Central Live Support group, which includes teams like Player Support, Localization, Release and Fraud/Risk. TLDR: we all work to make sure that players can experience the game without problems - and when they do, we work to get them fixed.

I'll be here for a few hours to answer any questions you guys have about Riot, me, my work, Impressionist art, English poetry from the Victorian era, or why the Cleveland Browns are so damn awful. When I'm not at Riot, I enjoy downtime with my wife and my dog, when they'll have me. I also like beer - I make my own, and I drink a lot of that, and I drink a lot of other people's beer too. Sometimes with permission, sometimes without. Among other things, I play ultimate frisbee (got hooked and played club in college), hike, and read - particularly history. I'm also a die hard football fan from Ohio, which means I live and die by Ohio State (mostly live) and the Cleveland Browns (mostly make me want to die). I also spend an inappropriate amount of time on fantasy, mostly just football and LCS, though I dabbled in baseball this summer - really giving me a chance to nurture my inner stats nerd. Variance is your friend. Kinda.

So with that, feel free to hit me with any questions you may have!

141 Comments

Moobeat7 votes

never forget https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnVLWKsO6CQ

RiotZwill7 votes

item 3070

RiotLomar6 votes

{quoted}

never forget https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnVLWKsO6CQ

<3

Hecc1 votes

Hey Lomar, I'm a big fan of League. I wanted to ask you some questions:

  1. How is working at Riot? Is it fun?

2 - not really a question) I made a couple animations on Adobe Flash CS6 and I wanna show them to you! Here's one (http://imgur.com/zd4gcEx). It's a GIF of Teemo (Satan), and if you pause at the right moment, you can see Omega Squad Teemo.

  1. Do you even lift?

  2. Why did Riot ban VideoGameDunkey (look him up on YouTube)? After all this time he's been promoting you guys he gets banned and the Rioters just said "Nope, you're toxic.".

  3. WHY WOULD YOU MOVE THE SERVERS TO CHIGAGO?? I live in Hawaii so the ping is horrible!!

Thank you! OlafOlafOlaf

LittleBlast3 votes
  1. What was voicing Brolaf Like
  2. Did you have any interesting cases as the Riot Lawyer?
  3. Do you play ranked, if so, what rank are you and do you want to duo :)
RiotLomar7 votes

{quoted}

  1. What was voicing Brolaf Like
  2. Did you have any interesting cases as the Riot Lawyer?
  3. Do you play ranked, if so, what rank are you and do you want to duo :)

  1. It was pretty awesome. I remember getting the lines the day before from our writing team at the time. I love those dudes, and they're great writers, but it's an understatement to say they had very little familiarity with bro culture. So the night before I told them I'd write myself. It's hard to write realistic lines to that sub-culture that aren't patently offensive to some group, but I think we struck a good balance of being true to what the stereotype is without being a dick to anyone. And then, they basically took me to our sound booth up in Burbank at the crack of dawn, hooked me up to a Redbull IV, and had me go through the lines. Some of the best stuff ("your mom" on death) came from ad libs. Those were fun... and I really hope we've since destroyed those tapes. :P

  2. Being an in-house lawyer is a very different experience from Phoenix Wright - that is, being a litigation or trial lawyer is a very specific skillset. Some companies retain these folks in-house, but most of the time the company's legal department hires an outside firm with specialists. I was on the back-end side of a few interesting things, but unfortunately I never had the chance to do my Matt Damon southern lawyer "your awn-ah" voice in open court. Probably for the best.

  3. Not this season, no. My issue has been time. If I dive in I'm all in, and I haven't been able to make that commitment. I'm playing pretty hard casually right now with a few friends on a smurf, but I'm going to need to get a nice chunk of time before I go deep into ranked again.

Tristana x Poppy3 votes

What are your views on brogot? Urgot

RiotLomar10 votes

Can he even lift?

DennisLu2 votes

I know this is not the right place, but is it possible for you to get someone to look at the help & support section please. Honestly.summoner 3

biomaster2 votes

1.Out of curiosity what was it like being a lawyer for riot? They never really struck me as the suit and tie kinda guys so I can't help but wonder what you did for them. 2. how does one transition from lawyer to player support? 3. what are your thoughts on Shaco? Love, hate, mix of the 2?

RiotLomar2 votes

{quoted}

1.Out of curiosity what was it like being a lawyer for riot? They never really struck me as the suit and tie kinda guys so I can't help but wonder what you did for them. 2. how does one transition from lawyer to player support? 3. what are your thoughts on Shaco? Love, hate, mix of the 2?

  1. If you actually want to be a lawyer (and I'd say do your research and understand what it really is before you do), I'm not sure where else you'd want to do it. The issues are interesting, and you're surrounded by video games. Not a bad gig. As for suit and tie, I mean, even lawyers come in all types. In three years I never wore a suit, and I'd guess 95% of that time I was wearing flip flops.

  2. For me it was more about what skills I could build. I wanted to be challenged as a leader and scale there. My time in legal also made it clear I knew next to nothing about operations, and I was really keen to learn that too. So from that perspective, taking the role that I did in PS made a ton of sense. What I didn't know at the time was that there was a boatload of talent that was at the time maybe a little undervalued. Watching how that team has grown over the last few years and the things they've accomplished has been awesome. I can honestly tell you it's the best career move I ever made. ;)

  3. Pretty much always hated. In most games I'm usually not into stealth mechanics, I'm more of a "here I am come and fight me" type.

w0nky d0nkey2 votes

Favorite Stone Beer?

RiotLomar3 votes

{quoted}

Favorite Stone Beer?

Can I cheat and say a collaboration? Highway 78, it's a heavy Scotch Ale they did with Pizza Port and Green Flash. I'm a big fan of high ABV dark beers that basically have the consistency of motor oil... and I'm also a big fan of scotch. You put those together? I'm in.

w0nky d0nkey2 votes

That's not cheating. I've been getting into microbrews these past 6 months and have been to the stone brewery in SD a few times. I really like the dry hopped IPAs. Not a huge fan of the Scotch or Bourbon Ales but I can still appreciate them. Pizza Port and Green Flash are great breweries as well. =)

jrNw6WW73A2 votes

Hey Lomar! Notice me senpai. I just recently applied for a job at customer support and I was wondering if you had any tips for the hiring process. :-) Thanks!

RiotLomar3 votes

The roles the team's hiring for are generally a little different than the average CS job. We're not really looking entry level, and looking more for folks that have a clear skillset that can solve player problems at a magnitude greater than "one dude doing tickets". So if you've got that, make sure the story of how you've acquired and used those skills stands front and center on a resume. And one page... unless you're my dad's age... one page. ;)

welcome2egypt2 votes

Ok 2 things:

  1. What's being on the Localization team like?
  2. Why do the Browns suck?
RiotLomar4 votes
  1. We do localization in a really interesting way, in that we do the actual translating and contextualizing in the appropriate regional office. Kinda makes sense, having Rioters who natively speak the language handling the thing. :P

The Central team is much more about making sure translations for the game and media (videos, promo sites, etc.) get routed properly and everything comes together perfectly and is launched at the same time. It's a relatively lean (for what they do) team of badass ninjas. They routinely make me feel lazy.

  1. I could make this really, really long. Basically the front office doesn't understand relative value. We can't draft a successful quarterback in over a decade. We have trouble developing skill talent. We pay too much for veteran players. It's a curse. All of the above. I could go all day.
Saint Haven2 votes

Tell me about why the Cleveland Browns are so damn awful

RiotLomar2 votes

I mean, the defense isn't bad. Joe Haden doesn't get enough love - everyone just talks about Sherman and Revis, but statistically he's right with them. Front 7 is vastly improved. But ultimately... we still run by committee. Receiving corps is spotty. And quarterback? We just sat Johnny Manziel for Josh McCown. Think about that.

Rebelhunter012 votes

As a Lawyer, what's your opinion on the many LOL rip-offs that have been appearing recently, such as 300 Heroes and Summoners Alliance? Is there anything that Riot can or should do about them?

Young Dyrus2 votes

I have a bit of a long handed question and im internally raging about it. summoner 31 So I started playing around the Harrowing of Season 3, which doesnt make me the oldest or newest player. (Currently Plat) At the end of Season 3 you released championship Thresh Thresh to the market. Season 4 you released championship Shyvana Shyvana along with Thresh Thresh coming back. Me thinking the Thresh skin was gunna be a bit more exclusive. Now I can understand bringing back the previous year's skin the new one, that's fine. But now in Season 5... 2 years later you are still going to offer it, which is also fine. But why are these championship skins (thresh in particular) less valuable then championship Riven Riven which has never came back onto the marketplace or has been bundled with some of sort novelty? There is a personal dilemma i have with this decision. What i feel is happening is that you are making the era in which I started playing less valuable than the previous and im fine with you doing whatever you want offering my (not as exclusive) skin till the end of time. All i ask is that you be more fair, meaning the same should have been done with championship Riven Riven in season 3 and something in season 4. To end this rant, I basically feel cheated on, that you would offer the Championship Skin I earned that I was a part of and that represents me when i started playing and my loyalty to LoL and would not do the same the prior Season just 1 year apart. -Young Dyrus

RiotLomar2 votes

[{quoted}](name=Young Dyrus,realm=NA,application-id=cIfEodbz,discussion-id=sUEHZnjL,comment-id=001f,timestamp=2015-09-24T00:34:46.907+0000)

I have a bit of a long handed question and im internally raging about it. summoner 31 So I started playing around the Harrowing of Season 3, which doesnt make me the oldest or newest player. (Currently Plat) At the end of Season 3 you released championship Thresh Thresh to the market. Season 4 you released championship Shyvana Shyvana along with Thresh Thresh coming back. Me thinking the Thresh skin was gunna be a bit more exclusive. Now I can understand brining back the previous year's skin the the new one, thats fine. But now in Season 5.. 2 years later you are still going to offer it. Which is also fine. But why are these championship skins (thesh in particular) less valuable then championship Riven Riven which has never came back onto the marketplace and has been bundled with some sort novelty. There is a personal dilemma i have with this decision. What i feel is happening is that you are making the era in which I started playing less valuable then the previous. And im fine with you doing whatever you want offering my (not as exclusive skin) till the end of time. All i ask is that you be more fair. Meaning the same should have been done to championship Riven Riven and season 3 and something in season 4. To end this rant, I basically feel cheated that you would offer the Championship Skin I earned and that I was apart of that represents when i started playing and my loyalty to LoL and would not do the same the the prior Season just 1 year apart. -Young Dyrus

I get what you're saying. A couple things to think about:

  1. We eventually did use Thresh differently. I 100% can't say what the future for Riven will be, but you never know.

  2. Sorry if this comes off as blunt, but so what? Ultimately, you earned the skin and the achievement that the skin represents. That's yours forever. So other people have the skin under other circumstances. Great - how does that really devalue what you accomplished? Maybe it's just me, but I don't really understand that part.

Leythis2 votes

I do have a bit of a question here: Weren't the Championship skins released to be on the store? I see you're both saying "earned" when anyone with RP could purchase them. I think the whole point here, or at least the one he's trying to make, is "Why has Thresh been re-brought to the store and not Riven?"

Old Man Riven2 votes

Hi Lomar,

I'm a 2L student in Ohio, and a fellow OSU alum - are there any insights you have into working or getting employment as a lawyer in the gaming industry? How did you go about it and were you house counsel or some other, more particular role?

Also, from a practical standpoint, are there any courses you think are always useful in actual practice (I hear trial advocacy as an answer to this quite often)

Thanks for answering! (or just reading)

Last question - why did you ultimately transition from a legal role?

Lin Jun Jié2 votes

i think riot needs set up a new server for western players cuz we can't play with 160ping. I live in Canda. i can't enjoy the game with this ping. if this problem will not be solved i think i will unload this game

TheRealStavros1 votes

Lomar, I am using the account that was logged, this account (TheRealStavros) I forgot my password, I have been using my smurf account, I haven't been able to get the forget password thingy Emailed to me, can you please tell me what to do :( I am literally begging you, I have too much on that account. Please reply

RiotLomar1 votes

{quoted}

Lomar, I am using the account that was logged, this account (TheRealStavros) I forgot my password, I have been using my smurf account, I haven't been able to get the forget password thingy Emailed to me, can you please tell me what to do :( I am literally begging you, I have too much on that account. Please reply

So if you're not getting the e-mail, it means you either didn't use a valid e-mail address, or it's not what you thought you registered with.

Head over to here. Send in a ticket, and make sure you frontload it with the relevant info in the article. That should speed things up significantly. ;)

TheRealStavros1 votes

How can I send it to my current email?

RiotLomar1 votes

{quoted}

How can I send it to my current email?

That's something that'll have to be fixed on our end, since you can't access the account yourself.

TheRealStavros1 votes

How can you guys help with it and help me recover this account back :(. I forgot to mention, I didn't forget, sorry for lying about it. I actually got hacked, the hacker stole my account, logged on, made my tab close, then changed the password right as he did it, I can't do anything to get it back. How can you guys help me recover it. I appreciate that you tried if nothing can happen, but may you please try. I'm counting on you =(

RiotLomar1 votes

{quoted}

How can you guys help with it and help me recover this account back :(. I forgot to mention, I didn't forget, sorry for lying about it. I actually got hacked, the hacker stole my account, logged on, made my tab close, then changed the password right as he did it, I can't do anything to get it back. How can you guys help me recover it. I appreciate that you tried if nothing can happen, but may you please try. I'm counting on you =(

The team won't be able to help you until they can verify that you own the account, that you're not sharing the account with someone who has an equally valid claim on the account, etc.

I'd really go here and put in a ticket. That's the best path.

TheRealStavros1 votes

Got the ticket, do I just wait for another email, or is there something specific?

RiotLomar1 votes

{quoted}

Got the ticket, do I just wait for another email, or is there something specific?

There's always a bit of a backlog to get through on account recoveries, but they should be reaching out to you within a day!

TheRealStavros1 votes

Is it gonna be sent to my email??

RiotLomar1 votes

{quoted}

Is it gonna be sent to my email??

Whatever email you used for your support site account, yes. ;)

TheRealStavros1 votes

I my account back! So thanks Lomar!

TheRealStavros1 votes

I my account back! So thanks Lomar!

LambGotTheCakes1 votes

Hello! I have done a little bit of dabbling, and it really seems like Riot is a place I would love too work at when I finish school; However, from what it seems, most of the available positions now require a bit of experience, and as someone who will be coming out of college, that will be something i'm lacking. To get to my question, are there any entry level positions at Riot, or would I be better off getting some experience under my belt elsewhere and come back? Thanks for your time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DsPfOfyE-8

RiotLomar2 votes

[{quoted}](name=Beyond Control,realm=NA,application-id=cIfEodbz,discussion-id=sUEHZnjL,comment-id=001b,timestamp=2015-09-23T23:56:08.459+0000)

Hello! I have done a little bit of dabbling, and it really seems like Riot is a place I would love too work at when I finish school; However, from what it seems, most of the available positions now require a bit of experience, and as someone who will be coming out of college, that will be something i'm lacking. To get to my question, are there any entry level positions at Riot, or would I be better off getting some experience under my belt elsewhere and come back? Thanks for your time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DsPfOfyE-8

There are always entry level positions that pop up, but they may or may not really be in the field you're interested in. "Getting your foot in the door" in an area you're not passionate about can be risky. I've seen it work, but it's not something I'd recommend.

I'm speaking generally because I don't know your specifics, but I'd focus down on what you really want to do. If we have a real entry-level role that puts you on that track, go for it. If we don't, don't slow down. Go somewhere that does. Get the experience and apply for the larger role here. You're ultimately building a career, and that shouldn't be beholden to any single company. So definitely explore options, and prioritize building a compelling set of skills and a story for how you're "the" person we, or anyone else, should hire to do those things.

Malicious Fury1 votes

@Lomar

What is your favorite League of Legends greatest play video? Can you link it? THank you ^_^

RiotLomar4 votes

[{quoted}](name=Malicious Fury,realm=NA,application-id=cIfEodbz,discussion-id=sUEHZnjL,comment-id=0021,timestamp=2015-09-24T00:41:12.203+0000)

@Lomar

What is your favorite League of Legends greatest play video? Can you link it? THank you ^_^

Anything in this.

Dude really is on another level. Often you look at plays and you're like, "I could never execute this, but I get how he thought of it." With Faker... no clue.

IWipeForward1 votes

You ever smoke some danq ass bud?

RiotLomar3 votes

{quoted}

You ever smoke some danq ass bud?

I didn't inhale?

IWipeForward1 votes

{quoted}

I didn't inhale?

weak, man ganja takes me back to highschool. when everything was so simple. it's cool though bro, beers just as fun - the hangover. (and possible liver failure, but hey we're American. who cares)

Doubleknot1 votes

In the future can you please provide a link to the board version on your announcement? I spent all day today at http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/community/q/come-chat-lomar-9/23 waiting for you to come on. It was really dissapointing. All it said regarding chat location was "come chat with him on the boards" i thought that post was the board you were on. I know it's not your fault, but it was misleading and ruined my day.

RiotLomar3 votes

{quoted}

In the future can you please provide a link to the board version on your announcement? I spent all day today at http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/community/q/come-chat-lomar-9/23 waiting for you to come on. It was really dissapointing. All it said regarding chat location was "come chat with him on the boards" i thought that post was the board you were on. I know it's not your fault, but it was misleading and ruined my day.

I'll make sure the team knows. On my end, didn't really think that part through. At this point I basically just go where people tell me. :P

That said, if you have a question, throw it my way. I'm still checking this. ;)

Doubleknot1 votes

I just wanted to know your thoughts on a "Functioning Alcoholic" Brolaf easter egg where barrel abilities used against him it deal -1 dmg with the modifier showing up on status effects for the duration of barrel slow. Similar to the Commando skin line having the -1 dmg easter egg against Leona passive. Not expecting you to have any say in something like that being implemented, just curious on your personal thoughts.

Dark Ice Caster1 votes

Lomar u think nocturn good or not?

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