Legacy Client Now Retired

Riot·Apr 21, 2017·25 votes·335,207 views

Starting today, the legacy client is officially retired.

It has gone to a good, happy place with a lot of other very nice software. In this magical land, the sky is made of AOL internet trial offer CDs. BonziBUDDYs swing from treetop to treetop, happily making Vines and Geocities webpages. Everyone plays copies of E.T. for the Atari 2600—it's their favorite game. The legacy client will live happily ever after here, surrounded by friends. Not dead. And never forgotten.

In other news, we've got two really big updates to address concerns players have about the client.

FIRST, we've finally got a date for the return of the Item Set Creator Tool. We're now aiming to bring the feature (which lets you edit item sets from the client without using a third party tool) to the PBE with patch 7.10. Barring any problems, it will then come to live servers soon after. We'll update you in the patch notes if anything happens to delay the tool's release further. Check the FAQ below for more details.

SECOND, beginning with patch 7.9 you'll finally be able to start new conversations and see which of your friends are online while in champ select. It'll all be accessible through the chat module in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

We’ve put together an FAQ to address some questions you may have:

What’s the big deal about the new client anyway?
The updated client has been built from the ground up to use newer technology that allows us to develop features faster. Most importantly, it gives League a strong foundation it can stand on for many years to come—because we will support League for a LONG time. Since the beginning of open beta, we've shipped two big new features on the updated client: Practice Tool and Replays.

There are also a slew of quality-of-life improvements:
- Pop out the message window, move it around wherever you want, and resize it freely
- Automatically hide mobile or offline friends in a group on your friends list.
- Drag'n'drop to rearrange rune and mastery pages
- Shift-click to assign all runes at once
- Change in-game settings from the client
- More control on sound settings tunings than in legacy
The work on the client’s not done yet. We’re hard at working on performance and stability improvements as well as new features. When we’re confident that it offers a better experience than the legacy client, we’ll upgrade all players to use the new client.

Check out our previous beta update to learn more about why we're replacing the legacy client and our future plans for rolling it out.
There are some other things I don't like about the new client. Why replace it now?
We've talked about a bunch of the reasons here.

Short version though: there are huge development costs to maintaining two clients. Killing legacy unblocks Riot to go full steam ahead on new client feature development. Until we move on from the legacy client, things like 10 bans just can't happen (or we'd have to develop them twice).

We'd be bullshitting you if we said we think the new client is 100% perfect. It's not. We've been listening to players' complaints and concerns throughout the process, and we're going to keep improving the new client after the legacy client is gone.

Here's a few concerns that we've heard from players which we'll be mindful of going forward:
- The current design of our drop-down menus makes editing masteries take more clicks (and scrolling) when compared to legacy client. We'll think about how to solve the UX issues they've been causing.
- The chat module covers up vital parts of the client, including the "confirm" button which lets players get into game. This can be solved by popping out the chat module and moving it wherever the player wants, but further work could probably be done here.
- Players are forced to wait until pick phase is over to choose their skin. This was not the case with the legacy client.
- Champ search could be improved in a few different ways to let players sort the list how they want.
- Profile is missing many of the "career stats" which were available in the legacy client. We've actually committed to rebuilding more stats into the client during upcoming work on the profile page.
- Players dislike being unable to close or minimize the friends list. This could potentially be solved by allowing players to cover that area with other content.
- The "first win of the day" timer should show the countdown down to the minute or second rather than just the hour.
We've heard this feedback (and more), and we take it very seriously. While we can't solve this stuff before we retire the legacy client, we will continue to improve the new client and take this feedback into consideration.
Who got the upgrade?

Everyone. If you haven’t upgraded your legacy client, next time you launch League, you’ll see a new screen that will highlight the upgrade process. Once the upgrade process is complete, when you click on “LAUNCH," you’ll launch into the new client.

If you have already upgraded and have been using “Launch legacy client” option on the new client, we have retired that link along with the legacy client.
Can I go back to using the legacy client?

No, the goal of the client rollout is to replace the legacy client. To learn more about why we're replacing the legacy client, check here.
I gave it a try before and it was too laggy/slow. Why should I try it again?

Performance and stability has come a long way since the beginning of the year. We’ve also introduced a Low-Spec mode that automatically detects your specs and defaults to recommended settings to ensure a smooth experience. If you had trouble before, we're confident you'll have a better experience with our latest patch.
I liked item sets—why isn’t the item set creator tool in the new client yet?

Initially, due to the low use of item sets, we hadn’t planned to bring it back with the new client and focus on making other areas better instead. However we’ve heard a lot of feedback and reconsidered our decision. The item set creator tool is now in progress, and we intend to ship it to PBE with patch 7.10. It could slip further—game development is spicy—but we'll keep you updated if it does.

In the meantime we still totally support item sets in-game (you don't lose your existing item sets when you update your client).
I have feedback to share, how do I submit it to Riot?
There are two ways to share your feedback with us:
- Client Discussion boards
If you run into technical issues / bugs, please use the icon at the bottom right of the client to submit a bug report.
What’s next?

We will continue rolling out the updated client to more and more regions while continuing to work on new features and improvements.

Running into problems upgrading to the new client? Click here to get help.

940 Comments

RiotRiot CactopusApr 24, 2017113 votes

FIRST

but really tho ask me questions about the client and I'll get answers

SupzApr 24, 201713 votes

[deleted]

RiotRiot CactopusApr 24, 201720 votes

The social panel permanently being there is a design choice we made for the sake of future functionality we're going to add in. It already has the ability to hold additional info like your time in queue, game invites, and club information (whereas before all of those things were relegated to individual little tabs and popups). So, later on, we'll likely use the space for other things as well so it feels more valuable to you.

Also, unlike in the old client, there's nothing hiding behind the social panel—every screen was designed to fit alongside it, to leverage more information we plan to display. We couldn't just minimize it without a bunch of other stuff breaking, so this isn't a change we're planning on making to be super straight with ya.

redfeenixApr 24, 20178 votes

What exactly are you looking to expand here?

In my opinion, this particular "chat" UI doesnt look very good, and it feels very cluttered and filled with information. If you add EVEN more stuff, I fear that it will become too much.

I'll trust you guys to come through strong though!

SpideraxeApr 24, 20174 votes

Are there any plans on integrating bios from the Universe site and or Dev Blogs from Nexus to the client now that we got a new one

RiotA1RD0GApr 24, 201716 votes

You can find them on the "News" tab. http://imgur.com/a/paSyD

SpideraxeApr 24, 20177 votes

How have I not seen that and I've used since beta

jdrago16Apr 24, 201740 votes

will there be performance updates to make champ select even faster? possibly disabling fancy animations even more than low spec mode currently

RiotRiot CactopusApr 24, 201730 votes

Low-Spec mode pretty much nixes all of the champ select animations that cause lag. We are thinking about ways we can improve it further but a lot of the more recent general performance fixes (that work for everybody and not just those using low spec mode) have had a really big impact. How's it working out for you on the latest patch?

Why ShiroApr 24, 201715 votes

Rip me cause low spec mode still runs like crap. I'm basically updated Rengar

OfTheTreePeopleApr 24, 201726 votes

[deleted]

RiotRiot CactopusApr 24, 201743 votes

If you're having trouble with champ select it really wouldn't hurt to try out low-spec mode, no matter what kind of machine you have. All it does is turn off animations and unnecessary visual effects.

TBH we probably should have named it "No Frills Mode" so people don't feel weird about using it.

CaveslothApr 25, 201710 votes

I'm using low spec mode, but it makes the window so tiny i cannot read anything so i boost the resolution size, but after every game or loggin its back to small again.

DCYOUNG888Apr 24, 201715 votes

When will the stat info be fixed for champion ability details (e.g. range, AD/AP ratios, cost, base damage, etc.)?

RiotRiot CactopusApr 24, 201715 votes

It's cut out for now because we realized that a problem with the actual game file system was making the information incorrect. We'll update you as soon as we know more but I think they might not come back for a while. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news :/

AeszarckApr 24, 201717 votes

Will it be easier to write Notes for friends in the Beta Client?

Legacy Client: https://www.hiveworkshop.com/attachments/legacyclientexample-png.266272/ Beta Client: https://www.hiveworkshop.com/attachments/betaclientexample-png.266271/ ~~I lost my picture of the Legacy Client note writing system~~ EDIT nevermind found it, but basically, in the Legacy Client I could read basically the entire Note while editing it because it allowed me to see multiple lines of text. In the Beta Client there is only one line, so I need to do a lot of side scrolling if I need to edit a finished note, which is annoying.

The current system for writing notes is workable but a bit frustrating. Could you this get changed?

EDIT: Hijacking my own post to remind everyone to support their region by buying the 1 IP icon and wearing it in matches!

ChocChipCookieApr 24, 201723 votes

We don't have plans right now but can look into it. What type of information do you like to put in a note? Maybe we can think of other solutions that better give you the info you want too :)

AeszarckApr 24, 201729 votes

{quoted}

We don't have plans right now but can look into it. What type of information do you like to put in a note? Maybe we can think of other solutions that better give you the info you want too :)

Hi, thanks for the prompt response! I like to put how I met a friend (for example, if it was via a game, then I'll put my score and my Champion so that I can quickly find the match via Match History), what the friend likes to do, the friend's name if I know him or her in real life, and the friend's old Summoner Name if the friend changes his or her name to something else. I don't edit the notes frequently but sometimes something just comes up that I feel like I should note down, then I will do that. The Legacy Client made it easier than the Beta Client to do editing. I like writing Notes so that if the person changes his or her name I'll still know who he or she is, and if I leave League and come back, I will still know who all my friends are. In the unfortunate situation where I forget a friend, I can always just refer back to my handy notes and say "oh right, that was the game where we met, now it's coming back to me, this guy really likes X Champions and is a generally pretty friendly person."

DiverdownApr 24, 20171 votes

This is already a feature. Right click your friend and select "edit note".

AeszarckApr 24, 201712 votes

{quoted}

This is already a feature. Right click your friend and select "edit note".

I know it's already a feature. I provided the information above because ChocChipCookie asked me what I used the Note feature for.

I would like an easier to use interface for the editing of Notes on the Beta Client. Right now it is one line and I can't see the entire note when I edit it, which is mildly frustrating.

ChocChipCookieApr 24, 201726 votes

This is cool insight and some stuff we've talked about showing for you (like when a name changes) down the line. Thanks for sharing. We'll look into how the text box expands as well :)

CoronarVirusApr 24, 201734 votes

when will y'all add voice chat?

FamixApr 24, 2017156 votes

When the world stops being toxic. [zombie-nunu-bummed]

RiotRiot CactopusApr 24, 201793 votes

idk mang

i'm just here to help people transition to the new client lol

iGoogledYourMOMApr 24, 201734 votes

Could the Popup Notification be Move to the Center so that it doesn't BLOCK "Loot & Store"?

RiotRiot CactopusApr 24, 201748 votes

We know notifications are kind of annoying right now. We'll fix

Sweet KatarinaApr 24, 201723 votes

my 5 cents:

I cant view profile for all lobby members, I have to add them to friends to do that.
I cant manually edit blocked users list. I can block some only after game.
I really miss tabs on bottom chat. There is most time 3-5 friends who I chat with. And horisontal chat tabs which is always shown is better.

StinrygarApr 24, 201727 votes

Why does almost everything take more clicks? Even scrolling the chat requires more effort. It's not a huge deal but the interface seems extremely inefficient from a UI standpoint.

I also miss the option to minimize the friends list. There's no reason to always have it open and it's pretty annoying on smaller screens.

Finally, while I'm very happy to have replays, it would be nice to be able to put my favorite replays into a sort of vault which won't obsolete them with future versions of the game. I'm not sure on the technical feasibility of doing so though.

1Free Hong Kong1Apr 24, 201752 votes

I know this is off topic but as a support main I gotta ask, can y'all add Karma and Leona to the support page. Karma is listed as a Mage and Leona as a Tank, and while both of those are true, you don't see Braum listed as a tank over Support or Sona listed as a Mage over Support so it can be a hassle when I'm in champ select.

5000000000000000Apr 24, 201714 votes

I wish they would start using the new classes and subclasses

Doctor Gonz0Apr 24, 2017106 votes

Why is the random champion button gone, and can it be brought back?

RiotRiot CactopusApr 24, 2017424 votes

tbh I'm not really sure. Will pass on this feedback

in the meantime there is a workaround you can use. Get really close to your microphone, hold your nose with one hand, close both your eyes, and randomly click somewhere on the screen while screaming "RNJESUS TAKE THE WHEEL." then lock in and proceed with your game. works every time.

ShiningRawrApr 24, 201744 votes

Logged in just to upvote RNJESUS taking the wheel. Classic.

DrCyanideApr 24, 201782 votes

Instructions unclear, I've acquired a 20 minute delay before queuing up now.

Tyler 420 Apr 24, 201751 votes

**WHEN ARE YOU MAKING AN APPEAR OFFLINE FEATURE? **

ME UNGA ME SMASHApr 24, 201728 votes

How will you fill the void in my heart the old client left :(

RiotRiot CactopusApr 24, 201749 votes

here's an E-Hug, Mike

huggles

ME UNGA ME SMASHApr 24, 201726 votes

That'll do.

I'll be in denial for a while.

But that'll do.

JadApr 24, 201727 votes

RIP Old client, you will be missed.

RiotRiot CactopusApr 24, 201715 votes

A toast to the legacy client: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JWTaaS7LdU&feature=kp

BoxMoeApr 24, 201719 votes

So minus the fact that the Item Sets are gone I legit have a new computer and it still runs slow and buggy... After each game I have to wait like 15minutes for the client to come back up JUST so I can come back to the home screen....[slayer-jinx-unamused] so Idk what's going on but I still enjoyed Legacy the non flashy stuff cause it to lag and in game I am running on 15ing so it's not me [zombie-brand-clap]

RiotRiot CactopusApr 24, 201738 votes

Item sets aren't gone. All your old ones still work, and the creator tool is coming back sometime after it hits PBE with patch 7.10.

Also I bet I know your problem with the long delay after games end. Check your settings and see if you have "close client during game" checked

Queen RinApr 24, 201711 votes

So are y'all going to add a new block function to the new client? It doesn't seem logical that I have to add someone I just argued with for 40 minutes and hope they add me so I can block them.

AeszarckApr 24, 20172 votes

[{quoted}](name=Queen Rin,realm=NA,application-id=Ag8jgd8Q,discussion-id=rN1Ezrbe,comment-id=001e,timestamp=2017-04-24T21:09:28.924+0000)

So are y'all going to add a new block function to the new client? It doesn't seem logical that I have to add someone I just argued with for 40 minutes and hope they add me so I can block them.

I think you can already block friends. EDIT: I see my mistake now.

Queen RinApr 24, 201711 votes

{quoted}

I think you can already block friends.

I am aware that you can block friends, but that is the only way to block someone and that is not efficient/logical. The legacy client had the ability of just using their summoner name to block.

RiotRiot CactopusApr 24, 20175 votes

Can you tell me a little more about this? People can't PM you anyway unless you add them as a friend, right? So why would you need to block them if they aren't a friend?