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Chat with Bioluminescence on 11/4!

Riot··6 votes·10,030 views

Join us tomorrow for 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 couple weeks or so, with Rioters from all over jumping in to spend some time with you on the Boards.

This week, we’ve got Senior Level Designer (and League story enthusiast) Amanda “Bioluminescence” Jeffrey - come chat with her on the Boards November 4 starting at 1 PM PDT!

60 Comments

lightdragoon8813 votes

Coming in to say hi before it is flooded with "Where the Harrowing skins?"

infinyx6 votes

It is funny how out of EVERY rioter we get the chance to talk to, we will be talking with the ONLY rioter than managed to help and talk to us during the recent harrowing problem.

Jeddy0176 votes

By the glory of Urgod!This is awesome!

Ralanr1 votes

Level designer? That's her position? I'm a bit ignorant, but what does that mean?

Jeddy0171 votes

I don't know.All I can tell from her comments is that she doesn't work on LOL specifically. Best to go ask in the Q&A & hope she's able to spill the beans.She might not be able to talk about it though.

RiotBioluminescence17 votes

{quoted}

I don't know.All I can tell from her comments is that she doesn't work on LOL specifically. Best to go ask in the Q&A & hope she's able to spill the beans.She might not be able to talk about it though.

Worth a try though, eh. What's the worst that can happen.

Ralanr1 votes

But I always miss these! Cause I'm bad with schedules!

Jeddy0171 votes

Hmmmmm,challenge accepted.

Cantrips4 votes

This Rioter rocks. :D

KRP Baron Nashor

Are you serious?? "Senior Level" designer... lolz

DiMoose2 votes

Senior Level Designer means Senior Level, not Level Designer. It means she's no rookie.

Hellioning6 votes

But we don't need a Between Two Turrets with bio, she's the only person who talks to us anyway (besides Katey and occasionally Meddler.)

T0PH BEIFONG6 votes

how come graves cant have a cigarGraves

TurquoiseYoshi4 votes

Would you be willing to talk about our lord and savior Bioluminescence, our true lord (lady?) Rioter, the one who will bring upon the Lollipoppining and put League into a state of full balance?

We would also like to say that Meddler and Repertoir are not the true saviors of League. Any who disagree are destroyed first in the Lollipoppining.

RiotBioluminescence7 votes

I would like to state that I have caught glimpses of the Lollipoppining, and none will survive. I was once sane, would you believe.

joliesse4 votes

The first thing I thought was Bioluminescence is one of the coolest Rioter names ever

poopta2 votes

My question: What's your number

Saltiest Yordle2 votes

Random Question... What are your opinion on splash art now having all the champions in one portrait rather than each one of them have their own? (Heres a simple example. Pool Party Graves and Ziggs have their own splash art. But Lulu, Zac, Rek'sai, Mundo and Draaaaaaaaaaaaven share one)

Pinkheartnyx1 votes

Yay Amanda!:D

Mandingold1 votes

Excellent

Mandingold1 votes

Finally, someone with some designing skills to question.

NI No Kuní1 votes

Well, :^)

KatieKatt1 votes

Current College Student for Game Design here! Just want to say great work on the game and love the way the level has progressed over the years. The Lore and the characters are absolutely amazing. The trailers that you guys and Blur studios worked on make me feel like I know the characters personalities! Just all around Great Work!

Stexe1 votes

Level designer? I assume that means you're working on the unannounced title and not LoL? Unless we can expect more "levels"? Or does a "level" in LoL count as game modes or what? Seems like a confusing title for an AoS / "MOBA" like LoL.

My name is Sora1 votes

Grill?!

AURF1 votes

As a League Story enthusiast, what are you looking forward to in the Lore Reworks?

Smorgasdork1 votes

Looking forward to it! Big fan of her League of Legends food love. :P

Jetti1 votes

When are they going to make 1 mastery page for each champion, and add another when a new champion comes out? I have to change mastery pages according to certain champions, and they all have different needs. Furthermore, sharing mastery pages for different types of champions is confusing. Additional, variety is what makes this game fun, so it would make things smoother to have one mastery page per champion available, not just the 20 pages.

Rozzeta1 votes

Yay, Bio!

75321 votes

What does a level designer do? also your really pretty (:

Nyaa Nyaaaaaan1 votes

Hey Bio, we miss you over at Factions! You should drop in sometime and say hi!

TimsUpLetsDoThis1 votes

Shaco item 3512 item 1028

TimsUpLetsDoThis1 votes

dont mind this

20IQ Asian1 votes

Leave a commentGraves

Goose Goose Honk1 votes

I hope the people behind her leak some juicy content, like Champion announcer packs! Looking forward to Bard and Rammus as well as RekSai 's announcer packs.

humphreydump1 votes

is it wierd that im already composing a list of questions id like to ask ?

Traverse7681 votes

I would like to comment on the disrespect riot gives players for approaching the game in team orientated fashion and would like you to comment on these factors.

It seems more and more that team champions, items, abilities and summoner skills are being nerfed, downgraded, and reduced while individual skills, items, abilities keep getting buffed. Defense gets more nerfs and offense keeps getting more buffs and the trend is for more kills more plays and less and less ability to help a team with team functionality.

Just for reference I will list 25 nerfs, reductions, and downgrades to champions, abilities, items, and summoners that reduce a players ability to help someone else on their team. Though if I tried it could easily be a 100 or more. Single player functionality has been greatly buffed and I defy anyone to name one major upgrade of a skill, ability, item, summoner, or mastery that has been added to the game where a champion is actually better able to help a teammate compared with the champions ability to make a play himself.

This is becoming a 5 v 5 game rather than a team game. And its sad to see. Everyone wants to "carry" and it seems fewer and fewer players actually care more about helping a team to win than in doing the best on the map and "carrying". And after the game the carries sneer at the others who had less impressive stats but actually did more to help them win. Its getting sad.

Ok heres 25 ways team functionality has been reduced. And I will give you all the global passives being eliminated for free.

Support Champions

  1. Sona - Heal nerfed hard
  2. Soraka - Mana replenish eiiminated - Healing other players kills her
  3. Gallio - Righteous Gust - Cooldown raised
  4. Janna - Tailwind nerfed Hard
  5. Thresh - Dark Passage only shields one ally
  6. Zilean - Time in the bottle is a nerf - Chronoshift is a hard nerf along with rewind due to longer cooldowns
  7. Nidalee - Primal Surge Healing nerfed hard
  8. Karma - Inspire Shield - Reduced
  9. Braum - Stand Behind Me - Bonus Armor reduced - Bonus Magic Res Reduced - Huge Massive Mana Increase
  10. Alistar - Triumphant Roar - Healing Reduced - Cooldown Increased - Mana Cost Increased - Now heals allies at 50% of heal

Other Champions

  1. Sivir - Team Move Ult - On the Hunt - Massive speed nerfs for the team
  2. Gangplank - Raise Morale which boosted team speed and AD replaced by powder keg which is an individual skill
  3. Nunu - Blood Boil - nerfed so hard and in so many ways that hes considered a jungle champ rather than a support. Hes rarely played in Jungle either.
  4. Jarvan IV - Passive team attack speed bonuses reduced - Passive Team Armor bonuses eliminated.
  5. Shen - Vorpal Blade Base heal reduced many times, cooldown raised health scaling nerf, Stand United increased channel time decreased shield time.

Items

  1. Ardent Censer - Team attack speed buff nerfed 40%
  2. Aegis - Team Health Regen removed - Team Aura Magic Res nerfed 40% - removal of armor for wearer - Locket Shield nerfed from 5 secs to 2. Price raised.
  3. Zekes Herald - Team Life steal and Attack Damage - Removed from Game
  4. Will of the Ancients - Team AP buff and spell Vamp - Removed from the Item
  5. Righteous Glory - Team Active speed boost cooldown increased 50%

Summoners

  1. Eleisas Miracle - Removed
  2. Heal - Cure for Grievous Wounds Removed - Speed boost nerfed hard - Actual health heal reduced
  3. Clarity - Soon to be removed

Wards

  1. Pink Ward isnt stealthed - when Killed its value skyrockets to 130 (100 against you to +30 enemy) or almost half a kill. No item to buy provides them.

Dragon

  1. No longer grants gold to the team.

And do not even get me started on Solo / Duo Queue without any respect for 3 or 4 player Q.

.............................

Honestly, I could list dozens more nerfs to team play. Its endless. A jungler cant risk taking a dragon to push gold to a top laner losing lane. The dragon becomes less important until you start approaching dragon 5.

It becomes more and more and more pointless to play to help others on your team. If you want to enjoy this game now you better be able to show up and make plays and carry. Nobody can do things for OTHER people to help their team. Maybe there are a few hooks stuns and knockups to help people but there isnt a single item you can buy that honestly helps someone on your team. If you buy pink wards you are giving the other team half a death. Costs you 100 gold and when they kill it and they will they get back 30. 130 is pretty close to half a payout from a 274 gold kill. You buy 6 pinks in a game and youve basically thrown 3 feeds to the other team. Everyone wants the support to buy pinks with every recall but its ruinous.... Especially when you now need to make plays to win and you cant count on the others.

I know that I will never have the finger twisting skill shot landing abilities of teenagers that can play this 12 hours a day. But I enjoyed showing up, trying to out think my opponents with ward placements, item purchases, quality dragon calls, and champions that helped other people play better.

Now its land skill shots, get kills, carry the game or lose.

There is no respect for the player that can lead his team to victory by helping others become better.

Nowadays, when I play there is just so much filth, cursing, trash talking, and people pointing fingers at each other and blaming and reporting each other for crap that its really a sad game. And riot encourages it more and more and more and more by refusing to reward team players, team abilities, and team items and limiting the game to skill shots, people that can "carry" and everyone pretty much thinking they are better than others and better than they really are and only playing to benefit themselves rather than engaging in a team concept game.

This includes stealing jungle, kill stealing, split pushing for farm, and on and on and on.

Honestly, why should anyone care about lore or history or storyline when you are building a game that should only appeal to individual players. If you completely discourage real world players from getting along playing as a team or helping each other in team friendly fashion.

Honestly, why should we care if a fictional Taric is friends with a Fictional Sona.

Ive played LoL for 3 years and day after day after day this turns into a ruder game and ruder place to play. And Riot constantly feeds us and gears us towards a game where insta kill is the meta. Today, I got hit by a Sivir basic attack that did 1800 damage. Riot thinks the only way to play the game and enjoy it is to play kill or be killed. Helping others has no place, merit, or respect in this game.

And if you get rid of the people that actually do want to help others.

Do you honestly think the bloodthirsty crowd gives a care in the world to storylines and lore.

Seriously, you are on the wrong track.

Im going to buy fewer and fewer and fewer riot points in the future because I feel my team first play style just isnt welcomed or appreciated or desired in this game.

And if I could find a game like how LoL used to be then Id leave in a heartbeat.

Lore doesn't matter to me when this is just a gore and bloodbath game with no strategy to be found, team co-operation needed, or team first attitude respected.

I realize you cater to the teen market but my age group is the one buying riot points.

I realize most people reading this would have the opinion of bye good riddance and I realize The Evil Dead made enough money to inspire a remake.

But you guys jobs depend on attracting and keeping players. And the kind of game you are building doesnt seem that much different or really interesting to me to play over Call of Duty or Halo.

Its rare Rare RARE ... that I meet a new player anymore that I want on my friends list. And its obvious that you are catering to the immature and rude players.

Sure their might be Diamond and Challenger level players with a team first attitude. But I have other things in my life to do besides devote my life to a game.

I dont need lore. I dont need Storylines. I want a game where teamwork is valued as much as ability to land a skill shot. And Riot, thats not you anymore.

Chat all you want about how great this game is but if you keep up with this path ... you will turn yourself into the next version of Mortal Kombat where people are tripping all over themselves to show more and more blood and gore rather than improving the quality of their game. And the type of player base you are catering to is the least loyal you could ever hope to find.

Kind people stay more loyal than rude ones. And you seem to be kicking the kinder gentler crowd out the door by saying fun lives in killing others.

Its a mistake and you should really consider it. You have psychologists and others and all kinds of people working for you.

And you still work harder and harder and with great diligence to cater to the whims of the basest of personalities and crowds.

You can comment if you want but I know you wont. And Im sure you are talented enough to find another job.

Youve had need to do so before .... havent you ...... Did you learn from it ?

Good Day

noodle151 votes

dead man's plate, steric's gauge, massive buff to railay's and several other changes to itemization make tanks extremely effective this patch. sure those items focus on individuality however that is the whole point of this game: five individuals using their unique and individual talents to work together and win the game. I agree that the loss of soraka's mana donation was sad and that a champion should come along soon to pick that skill up again as it was one of the most unique in the game however her new kit and all of those mentioned are still very good for team play. Try not to be mad at riot for making changes that force you to play different champions or builds. That is a part of why I love this game so much. It is a constant process it will never be finished and yet it is still more finished than EA's Battlefield 4. if you're an old dog who refuses to learn new tricks maybe it is time you set aside league and never looked back.

RiotBioluminescence4 votes

{quoted}

I would like to comment on the disrespect riot gives players for approaching the game in team orientated fashion and would like you to comment on these factors...

<snip!>

...You can comment if you want but I know you wont. And Im sure you are talented enough to find another job.

Youve had need to do so before .... havent you ...... Did you learn from it ?

Good Day

Hello, Traverse768

I know you didn't post this in the 'Between Two Towers' thread, but I wanted to get back to you after it anyway.

First, and most importantly - I don't work on League. I work in R&D on something else that I can't say anything about - but I do care deeply about how League players feel, and how the game treats them.

Secondly, I am a support player - I really don't play any other lane at all. Sona is my main, and reading your comments, I think you have an interest in her gameplay viability also. (I also dabble in Thresh and Nautilus support, too.)

Thirdly - I am no spring chicken. I'm not one of those young, early-20's developers that you seem to think you're addressing. Your comments at the end of your post I found rather odd, and out of tone with the level headed and rational attitude of the rest of your post. I suspect it was the frustration you're feeling doing the talking, however - and I know how that can feel.

With that all aside, I'd like to address what I feel is the main crux of your comment - that you believe that League of Legends is becoming a game that favors solo-queue carry behavior from low-reaction-speed young'uns, interested in personal glory only. You've clearly outlined why you think that's the case, so I understand where you're coming from - however, I'd like to state that while I believe that that player type IS welcome, it is not the only player profile that League rewards and encourages.

In fact, I would say that players who exhibit the behavior you describe yourself having, being the rock upon which a successful League of Legends team is built!

Riot is famous (infamous?) for its attempts to combat in-game toxicity - a very difficult problem that affects groups of humans in most anonymous situations. The automated machine learning system is trying to catch toxic behavior and deal with it far faster than a mere human could do. The new champ select methods (and team builder before it) is a fairly drastic change that is being introduced in order for players to have less conflict during the pre-game phase - so that players may get the role, and hopefully the champ, that they want to play. Players will be able to queue up with 1, 2, 3 or 4 of their friends (hopefully leading to games with more co-operation) and be matched with people in similar groupings. Heck, they're even making it so that if you leave the fountain without a trinket, you'll get the ward trinket by default! Vision, and the coordination that it is supposed to lead to, is of supreme importance. Lastly, I believe they've now made it so that kill bounties awards team gold? So that might counteract the loss of the dragon gold.

Now, obviously you called out many of the changes and nerfs to champions you consider that particularly support a cooperative playstyle, but while nerfs and extreme balance values aren't my specialty (you'd do well to ask in the gameplay board about this, rather than to me) I would caution against seeing these changes in a vacuum. Success rate of these champions and their influence on the game is monitored super carefully, and if those guys on the balance/live team found the changes imbalanced, then they'd seek to change them, or make other changes to even things out.

Personally, as a Sona player, I do not feel the heal nerf to be particularly crippling - my sustain is still fairly obnoxious for the enemy team, and I usually do well at keeping my ADC alive with careful use of the shield, and the haste, etc. If anything, I am holding my breath to find out how much she will be affected by the upcoming removal of mana potions - because in the early game she is pretty mana locked! However, I trust those guys not to make her unplayable for someone like me who mains her.

I'd also like to state that I often run with an Abyssal Scepter and/or an Aegis of the Legion - bringing team-assisting auras to the rest of the champs on my side, and often turning the tide of a teamfight because of it. So your statement that there are no team helping items confuses me a bit. (Note - I've not memorized the Season 6 item changes, so if those items have been changed or removed, please go easy on my ignorance).

Now I am not for a second dismissing your concerns - I feel them, and strongly understand them, being the sort of player you self identify as. I'm older, a support player, and one who judges my success not by my own triumphs, but in how well I have empowered my team to excel. I think this is still the game for us - but I encourage you to continue to keep us focused on this. There are many younger devs at Riot, bright, brilliant, and driven - and it's super important for the voice of age and experience to be available when they seek help.

What I hope, is that League will continue to support both the grandstanding glory hogs and the powers-behind-the-thrones, that we can make efforts to improve the teamwork of every game, win or lose, and that we can establish that toxic behavior isn't acceptable at any time and will only result in losses and worse games. Alas, there's no magic button for that :(

I do encourage you to ask about particular champ buffs/nerfs/changes over on the Gameplay board, where better minds than I can hopefully answer your questions!

Thank you again, Traverse768.

Kalidroms1 votes

We need to have a sit-down and talk with Stuns, Slows, Knock-ups/Backs, Disorients, Throws, silences, and complete lock-downs in general. In a game where EVERY second matters, and you're not able to control your character for more than 3 seconds truly hurts and is uncalled for, when facing a team that has nothing but the listed above. Being too tanky is one thing, but when you have champions like Leona whose chain stuns are what makes her good, then we have a problem. There are always ways to counter, but in team fights one person is almost always locked down and nuked first, leaving you dead weight with nothing to do, even if you're not caught off guard. Something needs to be addressed and the issues stated above needs to be fixed. Cause Diminishing returns don't mean shit in this game unless they pertain to Armor and Magic resistances.

kamiyab1 votes

Jinx

crazyclay91 votes

So she designed the rift and twisted tree line

MiTsuO Akai1 votes

A lot of Quinn mains have been disappointed at the news of the changes made to Quinn, mainly because of how her move-set now feels totally different. It would seem that riot only concentrated on her being able to "get back to lane quickly", but forgot to add points that make her viable during team fights or fights 1v1 that she may get into. Seeing that these changes have had such a negative response will riot listen to the league of legend community and give Quinn more viable changes?

Flash441 votes

How long will you be answering questions? I have questions I want to ask but will be at football practice until 5 pm est which is... 2 pm pst? Will you be on after 2?

WarsWorth1 votes

Do you think we will ever see any way that League of Legends will support LAN in the future? Sometimes people go through periods of unstable internet and would like to continue playing to keep their mechanics up to par. It would also help local tournaments with Ping spikes.

Emanon1 votes

volibear buffs plz ... plz

DarudeCaneStorm1 votes

OMG A GRILL

Shadooby1 votes

why does fiora exist?Fiora

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