Ascension Q&A with the Play team. 9/18, 8AM - 10AM PST

RiotL4T3NCY·9/18/2014, 2:57:21 PM·30 votes·195,254 views

Hi everyone ^o^/

The sands of Shurima have brought with them our latest Featured Game Mode, "Ascension" and the Play team is here again to field any suggestions and questions you guys might have! We take care of all the Featured Game Modes, so feel free to ask us anything about Ascension (or previous Featured Game Modes). Tell us about your own personal strategies in Ascension. What team comps are the strongest? Who is the most OP Ascended?

We'll be online from now for 2 hours, from 8AM ~ 10AM PST / 4PM ~ 6PM BST. Come tell us your stories! <3

-L4T3NCY -BuffMePlz -Riot Case -RoboLions

EDIT: OK guys, we need to get back to making the next FGM! Thanks to all the EU and NA peeps that stopped by to ask questions. I'm glad we could give you guys some insight into what went into making Ascension!

See you in the sandstorm. >o</

220 Comments

Shouta Aoi 9/18/2014, 4:33:11 PM50 votes

Can we keep ascension? The hell with Dominion.

Thryale9/18/2014, 3:52:11 PM8 votes

Well, as for a suggestion, mine is more of a plea. Will you please stop making the camera snap to my character every time I teleport into battle? It is so friggin annoying trying to click ahead and get ready to fight, only to have my camera snap back and disorient me.

RiotRiot Case9/18/2014, 5:14:54 PM6 votes

Thanks for all the questions folks! See you next game mode!

Shadowchampion9/18/2014, 4:02:56 PM6 votes

What is the meaning of the skull on the top of the map in the shadows and the iron solari icon at the bottom of the map ?

xDnB Blizzard9/18/2014, 3:53:17 PM5 votes

At one point, the client said that Xerath obliterated Yorick, I was just wondering what happened to need to disable him at that point in time, if you are able to share that. Curiosity killed the cat and all that, but did Yorick have that bad of a time with Xerath? lol.

Jace779/18/2014, 4:02:51 PM5 votes

Have any of you played movespeed oriented on the map? I played a movespeed Hecarim for my last game I will play on ascension and had the most fun yet.

another question. why 200 points? games feel REALLLLLLY long even though most of my 13 or 14 games only lasted 20-25 min. and were super stressful while trying to get the perfect icon. also why i will not play another game.

great job though! first few game were awesome but then it got kinda tedious/ stressful cause i primarily wanted the icons.

TheUpperHand9/18/2014, 5:14:00 PM4 votes

Hi, I would just like to share my opinion about the perfect ascension. When people have suggested achievements in LoL, the general (and correct) response has always been: "No, in League there is a single goal, and adding any additional goal will corrupt the game at its core." Now, with the new game mode, Riot has done exactly that. They have created a game with a clear goal for every player: Reach 200 points, but in addition to that, they have decided to reward players for doing something else. To get the icon, a team needs to win a game without the enemy ascending a single time. They have created a situation in which people are playing the mode solely for the icon, and since failure is irreversible (once the enemy ascends it's over), there is no point in continuing playing the game, because the icon was the reason the player started the game to begin with. This creates a lot of negativity, since every game there's a clash of A) people trying to win, and B) people trying to get the icon. Once getting the icon is no longer possible, group B) will be in a state of defeat, while A) is still trying to win the game. Something needs to change because honestly, ruining a great game mode by adding some random icon is a damn shame.

ChaosThief9/18/2014, 3:24:59 PM3 votes

Do you think some things on Ascension(equal levels/gold for both teams for example) could be used on other modes? And was there anything in this mode that you considered a major success?

Also, akali is banned so much it isn't even funny.

Tiropat9/18/2014, 3:00:23 PM3 votes

Why is Azir able to place a tower where xerath spawns? I was under the impression that he couldn't use his passive on dominion.

Salty Kappacino9/18/2014, 3:11:03 PM3 votes

What was the inspiration behind ascension, it seemed to go far away from the destroy nexus goal, felt like a 5v5 teambattle seen in first person shooters thanks

25571890_DEL9/18/2014, 3:27:42 PM3 votes

Is URF mode coming back in any form?

I'm not that good at english so I don't really read lore's. Why is Xerath the boss in Ascension? I though it was very cheap of you to make it that way but there must be a connection with the lore if you put HIM there.

                                                                                                                                                                                               Thank You in advance.

Daen9/18/2014, 3:34:28 PM2 votes

Did you have any unexpected or hilarious moments/glitches during setting up and/or testing Ascension?

Final GirI9/18/2014, 4:45:40 PM1 votes

How long does it normally take you all to make a mode like Ascension? Obviously you had to take away the nexus on the dominion map (Where does that go anyways?) and all the normal spots that you can claim for points. What is the process you have to go through to take all these things away and add new things, like the relics and all the sand? Not to mention having all the Shurima champs say special things. On another note, why Shurima? Can we expect Freijlord events? Or Zaun events? Or does Shurima just have a special place in the hearts of Riot employees. It is a pretty cool place after all. Thanks for reading my rant!

Pıchu9/18/2014, 4:57:10 PM1 votes

Are there any other ideas of new games modes already?
Could we get some hints what it possibly will be? :)
Why did you decide to knockback all enemies which stand nearby the new Ascendant?
Why exactly did you decide to be the only way to get onto the battlefields? To avoid extremely fed champions to camp your base?
Are you allowed to tell us when the Summoner's Rift VU is probably coming on the live servers?

Thank you in advance! :3

Sandrie9/18/2014, 3:32:15 PM1 votes

What do you think was the hardest to implement into Ascension? Was there anything that was really cool that you wanted in the game mode, but just wasn't able to for whatever reason?

houruser9/18/2014, 3:39:32 PM1 votes

Did you guys have a clear idea of what characters would work best in this mode? As in bruisers tend to do better in this mode, rather than supports.