Can you bring back U.R.F?!?!?

momonga·Feb 8, 2015·97 votes·3,996 views

I decided to follow EUW's example right after they got the new boards beta, one of the top, if not the most popular discussion was to bring back URF. In my opinion URF was the best thing that happened to League since 2009. Like honestly this mode just completely neglects the cons and enhances all the pros of what an "ideal" (my opinion) fun game mode should be like.

Thanks for listening to yet another whining URF fanboy, but the intention of this post is for Riot to respond to the the community their clear intentions on this matter, and hopefully give us some comfort and/or hope.

43 Comments

Infiny MageFeb 8, 201516 votes

Had to comment to up vote. Would be great to see this mode again. Best case scenario of course would be if they just kept it live.

iluvalarFeb 9, 20153 votes

The unsolvable problem in URF is a balance issue. If we accelerate one part of the game (say cdr and attack speed) but not the remaining at the same speed, we end up with unsolvable balance problems. Potentially up to the same magnitude as the changes scales. So if we multiply the cdr by 5 time, we should expect the champions to be anything from 1 to 5 time stronger then before. same goes for items.

Such changes create a top tier champions who are 30-40% stronger then the remaining of the rooster. it's just a matter of time before players realize which champions and items can just walk over the opponent and stump them no matter the skill involved. We saw that happening with 10 champions and 2 items banned and 6 champions quickly rebalanced in only 7 days of the mode. It's just logical with the game theory behind the scene. and there is no reason that it would end there.

To maintain URF online, riot would have to ban 10 champions and 2 items per week to keep the gamemode fresh and prevent everyone to play the same 5 champions with the same build. It's way too much work for a game which will be doomed no matter what after 2-3 months of that regime.

Edit: Even with those changes, there would always be that elitism phenomenon which would greatly favor players with more games played in that mode who already have a good idea of the OP flavor of the week. Which would ruin the experience for other players who would want to try the mode just once in a while.

momongaFeb 9, 20155 votes

Interesting comment, although I can't praise you on all of them some of them make good points. However you're looking at this too complexly URF shouldn't be meant to be played as a "meta" game mode or even needed to be balanced, URF itself is the solution. If we saw new champions being played in a number of different ways, followed by Riot making changes, then theoretically there should be a large amount of diversity in playing each champion because no one is technically "the best" in URF, who's "created" the meta where so and so champion is the best champion hands down, no, URF hadn't been long enough on live for someone to even come close to this. There's also gonna be a meta no matter what, you can't control this, without nerfs/buffs/items that is. Like right now you're bound to see at least Ahri, Azir, J4, Gnar in solo queue almost every game either banned or picked. I would even go as far as to say URF promotes anti-meta, for example I myself half way through URF was kinda pissed at all the Zed's and LB's one shotting me while I was squishy, then one game it hit me, Swain, his infinite ult was the solution was for tankiness, sustain, and not getting one shotted so I went to the store and instantly bought him, it did take me a few games to get use to him but when I did it was really fun. I even went to play him fairly successful after URF in solo queue, and how many Urgots, Sonas, Skarners, Alistars, and other non-meta picks at the time did you see on URF, fairly more than usual. All I am saying is that in URF every champion is theoretically given a chance to be able to be played as a really strong pick, and you know why? Because of the PLAYERS, in my opinion League of Legends players are some of the most creative people I've ever seen, with being able to play odd picks at odd roles, and fairly well or even better than currently strong picks at said role.

With all that being said in my opinion Riot needs to only do 2 things in URF and do it good:

Fix champs where they are OP enough to take down baron at spawn, render you completely paralyzed to the point where you can't take a step without dying, or never die i.e. Sona/Maokai, Teemo, Zilean. I don't know the "best" possible solutions to these but I'm sure Riot can easily come up with them
Probably the more important one, make an MMR or ELO exclusively for URF where it's based on the number of wins and games played respectfully. This way players with more experience play with each other and if one player discovers a certain champion does something extremely well and practically carries the game single-handedly then he deserves to win for putting the time and effort to discovering things. I feel like this way people who know better/more will at the top and people who don't know who are "the best" picks will play each other and to me that's perfectly understandable.

Sorry for the long post and if I am not clear enough, I am not really good with words and I feel like this isn't exactly what I'm trying to say but it's the gist of it.

EDIT: Since this was kinda long (from KILLER X 12) I did not bother to proof read this, and i do not intend to. lol Peace.

LelouchViBritianFeb 9, 20151 votes

This is surprisingly very well thought out.{{summoner:2}}

IsajohoffFeb 9, 20151 votes

Got an idea for all the healers: make all heals no permanent shields

Guy Fox TeemoFeb 9, 20151 votes

Why does URF need to balanced? IT doesn't matter if it's balanced or not who cares if a champion is "OP". Every champion is technically OP in there own annoying way in URF and i could careless if a champion dominated every other champion in every way cause the mode is just for fun. Cause who wants to play Hecarim 24/7? When you could just as much fun playing any other champion whether it may be you get joy from having infinite amount of stuns with Brand Or love flashing around the map 24/7 with Ezreal.

mjack33Feb 10, 20151 votes

I admire your optimism...... but those people do exist. And they would make the mode a living **** if you weren't playing an "op" champion.

DracobaltFeb 10, 20151 votes

{quoted}

The unsolvable problem in URF is a balance issue. If we accelerate one part of the game (say cdr and attack speed) but not the remaining at the same speed, we end up with unsolvable balance problems. Potentially up to the same magnitude as the changes scales. So if we multiply the cdr by 5 time, we should expect the champions to be anything from 1 to 5 time stronger then before. same goes for items.

Such changes create a top tier champions who are 30-40% stronger then the remaining of the rooster. it's just a matter of time before players realize which champions and items can just walk over the opponent and stump them no matter the skill involved. We saw that happening with 10 champions and 2 items banned and 6 champions quickly rebalanced in only 7 days of the mode. It's just logical with the game theory behind the scene. and there is no reason that it would end there.

To maintain URF online, riot would have to ban 10 champions and 2 items per week to keep the gamemode fresh and prevent everyone to play the same 5 champions with the same build. It's way too much work for a game which will be doomed no matter what after 2-3 months of that regime.

Edit: Even with those changes, there would always be that elitism phenomenon which would greatly favor players with more games played in that mode who already have a good idea of the OP flavor of the week. Which would ruin the experience for other players who would want to try the mode just once in a while.

I agree with pretty much everything...but this can potentially be solved for the most part...how about they open up URF mode for lets say...a week every few months? would give us something to look forward to and I mean...having had this much time and seeing how players reacted to just the little while it was out..I'm sure Riot has thought about URF mode and made plans for "balance" though at the same time...the mode was never made to BE "balanced" it was pretty much made for people to randomly enjoy themselves with everything that isn't possible even with full builds. No mana needed...cooldowns were close to nonexistant and so on. Yes some champs were banned just because they had a little bit too much of an edge but could've potentially just lowered the max cdr on those champs to help "even" them out a bit. All that being said...I would love to see URF mode back. Not as a permanent part of the game as I would assume everyone would end up tired of the game mode and then feeling Summoner's Rift is too "slow" and quit the game. I'd like to see URF mode as a game mode that would happen for a week every few months though not just a possibility of once a year....

AXDSorcererFeb 18, 20151 votes

{quoted}

The unsolvable problem in URF is a balance issue. If we accelerate one part of the game (say cdr and attack speed) but not the remaining at the same speed, we end up with unsolvable balance problems. Potentially up to the same magnitude as the changes scales. So if we multiply the cdr by 5 time, we should expect the champions to be anything from 1 to 5 time stronger then before. same goes for items.

Such changes create a top tier champions who are 30-40% stronger then the remaining of the rooster. it's just a matter of time before players realize which champions and items can just walk over the opponent and stump them no matter the skill involved. We saw that happening with 10 champions and 2 items banned and 6 champions quickly rebalanced in only 7 days of the mode. It's just logical with the game theory behind the scene. and there is no reason that it would end there.

To maintain URF online, riot would have to ban 10 champions and 2 items per week to keep the gamemode fresh and prevent everyone to play the same 5 champions with the same build. It's way too much work for a game which will be doomed no matter what after 2-3 months of that regime.

Edit: Even with those changes, there would always be that elitism phenomenon which would greatly favor players with more games played in that mode who already have a good idea of the OP flavor of the week. Which would ruin the experience for other players who would want to try the mode just once in a while.

I can pretty much tell that Riot Games had nearly a year already to come up with ideas that will re-organize URF Mode, hence their statement when they closed the event...

Ultra Rapid Fire will come back in one form or another

I know they want to make League of Legends progress and make innovations and I know they're working hard for this, I'm positive they will start with URF Mode :D

#URFModeBack

Killer X 12Feb 9, 20153 votes

Let me tell you a story...2 actually. Forgive me if its long. I'll try to give a TLDR at the end.

Back before Urf came out i was having a pretty hard time in college. Not grade wise or anything like that, i'm a good stupid and was getting ready to take Grad classes. I just had a lot of stress on me, and i like to relax by playing video games. League is one of the games i like to relax with, but i can't play to many normals because it won't be 2 games before someone pisses me off and i'm worse off than before i started. I play a lot of aram's because those are relaxing...but they get boring quickly. I quit League some time in March last year. On April Fool's a friend of mine linked me to the Urf video and i was honestly excited. I remember it saying stuff about how things that cost mana aren't fun, having no mana isn't fun, and having to wait for cool downs isn't fun. I 100% agreed with those statements. I then read the comments about how it was a joke...i was upset. Luckiliy though they did release the mode and i could have a shit load of fun. I must of played 60 or so games of Urf. It also got my old 5s team back together so my friends and i could mess around, and we kept playing after the mode was done. Now they only come back to play when new game modes are out...and until recently i've been the same way.
Smite, yes that OTHER MOBA, has a game mode "cooldowns runneth over." I check Smite almost every day to see the game mode of the day (and to get favor since they want you to actually be able to buy things lol). This mode was on yesterday and i didn't check smite till like 1 in the morning before i went to bed. Fucking, i was pissed, becuase i had wasted time playing league normals when i could of been playing this mode. In this mode you play in the Arena map, with all GOds unlocked but you are assigned a random one. You all start at max level with 100k gold and 75% CDR (used to be 80%). Shit is crazy. I played that for a good 4 hours before i went to bed (i do feel bad because it seems like the people who play smite are just...worse at games so i won like 10 games and lost 2). I will stop what i'm doing to play this mode of the day. Same with Urf.

TLDR: I quit LoL. Urf came out. I play LoL again. I only stick around for new game modes.

Smite has an improved version of Urf. I will stop what i'm doing to play this mode, because the shit is great.

EDIT: I did not bother to proof read this, and i do not intend to. lol Peace.

Major SparklesFeb 9, 20152 votes

Bleh I hated smite. To all their own.

Killer X 12Feb 9, 20151 votes

I'd like it more if Baset and Loki did not exist, or if you could actually switch out actives later in a game, but i go play Smite when i want there to be more...skill in the gameplay. I only say that because even auto attacks are skill shots.

Origin PulseFeb 9, 20151 votes

In my own opinion i think that that this is not improved at all. They let you start at full build and also allow you to buy those 3k pots. And even though it is random you start at max level with 100k gold so theres no point in farm and deaths wont set you back in gold for items since your rich.

Killer X 12Feb 9, 20151 votes

Because 1) its in arena, so the only reason you'd be farming is for the tickets/stacks on items (both teams start at 500 like in a BF game). 2) farming isn't fun 3) its about killiing people.

I certainly don't see an issue with those things, if anything me not having to worry about being ahead or behind in items means the winner will always be who can actually hit their skill shots. Smite snowballs way to hard, someone can be level 20 when everyone else is level 11 if they keep getting kills. And again...farming isn't fun, i don't know why i'd want to do that. And deaths are bad because you lose tickets..and thats how the game is won lol

PikmintsFeb 9, 20153 votes

It was released April 1st last year, so they may end up bringing it back for the anniversary.

Bear in mind that Riot said they'd probably end up tweaking a few things if they brought it back, keeping that trend they have with their temporary gamemodes. Has anyone speculated as to what they'd do? Riot got a generally positive response from TT:Hexakill, so maybe URF on TT? Or even Hexakill URF as it would probably be the smallest change to the original URF formula that would register as still a change. URF dominion would be a hell hole of abilities flying everywhere, or they could combine it with Nemesis Draft to cause some spicy matchups, admittedly to probably less of a positive response. Any thoughts or ideas?

RogueWillFeb 9, 20153 votes

Patience, it will be back for april's fool. I can bet anything you want on it.

Snowshowdown comes ever year, harrowing comes every year, urf will come back during april fool.

In the mean time you will have to be happy with nemesis draft, the new game mode that is currently on the PBE

What Is SmiteFeb 9, 20152 votes

They should bring it back but, instead of a legit gamemode, let it be an option for custom games that way people are not playing it as much over SR which Riot's main focus is on

ChrisB5Feb 9, 20152 votes

What about Doom Bots? Now that I've had more practice, I'd love to give it another run.... would be lots of fun to see it re-surface once in a while.

4JQxd93H2MFeb 9, 20152 votes

I would love for URF mode to come back but sadly I don't think it will because I'm pretty sure URF mode was for the release of Gnar. The 80% CDR is because he gets 80% CDR if he catches is Q, the resistance to dinosaurs and no use of mana because Gnar doesn't use mana! I might just be speculating but sadly I think it may be true.

RoyaiChaosFeb 9, 20152 votes

They already confirmed they're bringing it back April 1st this year, this is a waste of a thread.

AsdeftFeb 9, 20152 votes

They have already confirmed about a week after it left that it would definitely be coming back, but with some changes. Just go with the flow.

Silents429Feb 9, 20152 votes

They already said it would come back, why the hell don't people listen?!

And as much fun URF was it wasn't long before a meta for it started forming and people taking it serious would get pissy for losing.

Rew711Feb 9, 20151 votes

I remember the day Riot made the video for URF. I was literally going crazy. I was like "their going to take away Kassadin, from the game?" then it came and I was like, now I understand.

This mode should be for all areas. Summoner's Rift, Twisted Treeline, Crystal Scar, and Howling Abyss. Speaking of Howling Abyss, when is Showdown returning? I liked having only 5 to 10 minute matches with only myself or a friend. Really helped when I didn't feel like doing a full 20 to 40 minute match.

SinspunchFeb 9, 20151 votes

signed. BRING URF BACK! Its not rocket science this game mode was by far the best!

DepóngoFeb 9, 20151 votes

It's kind of ironic how I'm the only one who hasn't played it. I was too busy playing ranked, so I didn't notice it much. And now, when everybody is complaining about how good it was and how they all want it back, I feel like I just missed heaven.

Antemos XaosFeb 9, 20152 votes

Missed the rapture, but at least you have ELO.

LearndingFeb 9, 20151 votes

I remember when like 5 people wanted ARAM in the game and they did it in like a month. I remember when half of the League of Legends community wanted Urf back, and Riot never did it.

RoyaiChaosFeb 9, 20151 votes

Look, ARAM has already developed a meta and it's no longer really a "free fun mode" like it was. If Urf was there 24/7 it would soon develop it's own meta too and become boring. People were already complaining about this at the end of the urf cycle.

LearndingFeb 9, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Look, ARAM has already developed a meta and it's no longer really a "free fun mode" like it was. If Urf was there 24/7 it would soon develop it's own meta too and become boring. People were already complaining about this at the end of the urf cycle.

ARAM doesn't have a meta at all, and the mode isn't "Fun", because they've put literally 0 work into it. The random aspect of ARAM is complete horseshit, rendering some games completely unfair because your random team got the spree of ranged poke champions as apposed to my entire team of Udyr. Urf mode has diversity, because each fucking champion can be played in different ways.

RoyaiChaosFeb 9, 20152 votes

Lmao, at the end of the URF cycle it was literally the same champions being played over and over and over again. And my point is, even that ARAM is random people have already created ARAM accounts with champions good at ARAM so they can win, that's the reason ARAM isn't fun anymore. If people will go to those lengths of creating a new account just to win, there's no reason people won't pick the same champions over and over again in URF just to win. They'll be even less diversity than in normal SR.

DeadlyQuestionFeb 9, 20151 votes

"The random aspect of ARAM is complete horseshit" All other points aside, when I have all champions unlocked and ARAM selects Mordekaiser 5 times in a row for me to play, I tend to agree with this and similar sentiments

Rito Chugs DongsFeb 13, 20151 votes

I agree with the fact that most of the time the teams are atrociously unbalanced. however every once in a while you get a perfect match up and a 40 min who wins the next team fight wins extremely fun match. all they have to do is get this to happen 50% of the time and I would be happy.

Dr CatFeb 9, 20151 votes

They're probably going to bring it back for this next April 1st. Riot is fully capable of comprehending it's players opinions. Hang in there 2 more months, buddy!

SugawaraFeb 9, 20151 votes

Pretty sure they'll bring back URF on April 1st like what they did last year.

Patience.

Plus Nemesis Draft is coming out soon, so who knows.

mjack33Feb 9, 20151 votes

Do you remember what happened with URF last year?

Kassadin, Ryze, Sona, Hecarim, Kayle, Soraka, Nidalee, Alistair, Skarner - banned from the mode

Gragas, Irelia, Master Yi, Shaco, Teemo, Zilean - all needed a change to one of their abilities

Revive - removed after a few hours

Smite - had to be nerfed to only 60% CDR reduction

Mejai's Soulstealer and Sword of the Occult - removed

..... I don't even know how some of that happens. Except no wait. Yes. Yes I do. The mode was never made with balance in mind. No one ever thought, "Hey, what happens if Teemo can have dozens of mushrooms on the map?" Well I'll tell you what happens. They had to hotfix it later. And they missed most of the broken crap just because they knew they wouldn't have to deal with it in a week.

It will be back on april 1st, but not permanantly.

AFK PushFeb 9, 20151 votes

Why can't anybody just wait for URF day? Riot said it is coming back sooooooooooooooo

BlainezyFeb 9, 20151 votes

They made a post saying they are releasing it again

The HexmageFeb 9, 20151 votes

Riot said that this mode will be back soon

junglerboy16Feb 9, 20151 votes

Only a couple months left, and it shall return!

By the way, for everyone who keeps asking that it be permanent, please keep in mind that if it became permanent, it would get boring pretty fast. People would find a dominant meta just like normals, and it would soon just be another meta bound game mode that Riot doesn't really bother with (like how Dominion and TT are almost never looked at by Riot).

lDontLiftIcarryFeb 9, 20151 votes

after 4 days on NA urf had its own meta and was completely ruined by like 20~ champions. Just like solo queue. gonna need more bans.

VaurenFeb 9, 20151 votes

Rito has already confirmed that they are bringing URF back. Likely it will return april fools again. No need to worry fellow URF fan.

weirdman25Feb 11, 20151 votes

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