Chapter 318: New Version, Ranked Mode
This video, just over four minutes long, left everyone stunned, unable to snap out of it for a long time.
"Holy crap? This is CG this high-def?"
"So awesome!"
"There are several heroes in this, the Card Master, Annie, Garen, Tryndamere? But there are a few I don't recognize?"
"Are they new heroes?"
"This is incredible, gotta go check out the new version update content!"
"The style just shot up instantly!"
"After all, it's Thunderbolt Film Studio, standard procedure, everyone sit down."
Compared to "Warcraft" and "Diablo," the CG animation for "League of Legends" took a completely different approach in terms of content.
Blizzard-style CG like "Warcraft" emphasizes narrative content, often capturing key moments of famous events, using highly condensed content to showcase the essence of the story. Every line of dialogue is worth pondering over repeatedly.
But "League of Legends" uses chaotic multi-hero battles as its main CG content, somewhat ignoring the rationality of the plot.
This is because, for this type of MOBA game, the primary consideration is hero diversity and balance. Developing new heroes is mainly to enrich the game mechanics, not to fill out the storyline.
At the same time, all these heroes are protagonists with distinct personalities. Trying to cram them all into a single narrative framework makes it very difficult to create an outstanding story.
So, although "League of Legends" later continuously developed the League of Legends universe and enriched its world, players' recognition of Valoran was always slightly weaker than their recognition of Azeroth.
Of course, this is mainly due to the inherent limitations of the game genre itself.
Although the "League of Legends" CG didn't have much plot, it did a great job showcasing the heroes' traits and game mechanics. So, as a promotional tool, this CG was more than enough to get players excited and cheering.
...
The main update content for the new version of "League of Legends" was as follows.
First, a game CG was added. In Chen Mo's previous life, this CG was released during Season 3, titled "The Twist of Fate." Choosing this CG as the opening for "League of Legends" was mainly because the heroes in it matched well with the initial version heroes Chen Mo had planned. The Card Master, Garen, Tryndamere, Annie, and others were already released heroes with a certain level of influence among the player base.
Second, new heroes.
This version update added five new heroes, one for each position: Ryze, the Rogue Mage; Fiddlesticks (the Scarecrow); Katarina; Sivir (the Battle Mistress); and Janna (the Storm's Fury).
Among them, Ryze, the Rogue Mage, was strictly speaking a mid-lane hero. He could be played top lane, but it was relatively rare.
(Of course, the old Ryze was a popular top laner in Season 4 and even achieved the feat of a 3:0 victory against the Korean team in the hands of Gogoing.)
These heroes were released in this version mainly because Ryze and Katarina were both very classic, veteran characters with significant screen time in the CG, so they were released together.
However, on Ryze's tags, Chen Mo checked both the top lane and mid-lane tags, allowing players to choose freely.
Both Ryze and Katarina had undergone reworks. Before the rework, they were beginner-friendly heroes; after the rework, their mechanics became more complex. Chen Mo continued his previous design philosophy and directly implemented the new version's skills.
Although the old Ryze's spell machine-gun style and the old Katarina's face-rolling keyboard were fun, they were difficult to balance. If their numbers were slightly high, they were too strong; if slightly low, they were permanently benched, lacking diverse playstyles.
Chen Mo considered that if the opportunity arose later, he could create a separate "Wild Mode" for these historical version heroes, but for now, he wouldn't update them on the official servers.
This way, all the heroes from the CG were present, except for Nocturne, the Eternal Nightmare.
Nocturne was also a jungler, overlapping somewhat with Fiddlesticks, so he was reserved for the next version's development, also serving as a bit of a cliffhanger for the players.
Besides the CG and new heroes, there was another very significant update: the introduction of Ranked Mode.
In fact, players had been eagerly anticipating this mode for a long time.
In "Warcraft," Chen Mo had already established a very complete ranking system, and ranking points had become the most important measure of a player's skill.
Many veteran "Warcraft" players fully understood the significance of this ranking system for the game itself, so everyone knew that "League of Legends" would eventually introduce a ranking system.
It just came earlier than everyone expected.
Actually, launching Ranked Mode at this point was still a bit early. With only 30 heroes in "League of Legends," in Draft Mode, both sides had ban slots, and heroes couldn't be repeated. A pool of 30 heroes was somewhat shallow.
Chen Mo's consideration was to help players find a clear path as quickly as possible, allowing skilled players to escape the low-skill "fish pond" early on, so the game could get on the right track faster. Hence, he introduced the ranking system.
However, considering there were only 30 heroes, a 10-ban system was a bit too brutal. For now, a 6-ban system was adopted, meaning the blue side bans and picks first, with both blue and purple sides having three ban slots each.
The new Ranked Mode system also sparked heated discussions among players.
On the official "League of Legends" forum, an enthusiastic player posted an analysis of this version's update content. After briefly analyzing the pros and cons of the new heroes, he spent a lot of space interpreting this new Ranked Mode.
"I think the most exciting part of this update is the Ranked Mode. If the CG is the face and the new heroes enrich the game content, then the Ranked Mode essentially gives 'League of Legends' its soul."
"Anyone who has played 'Warcraft' knows what I mean. Playing ranked and playing casual are two completely different gaming experiences. Driven by the incentive of ranking points, various strategies for this game will be continuously developed, further boosting its popularity."
"Moreover, if you carefully read the ranking rules, you'll find that 'League of Legends' has adopted a more refined ranking system than 'Warcraft.'"
"Under the new Draft Mode, players can ban heroes, which tests each player's hero pool and, to some extent, prevents repetitive team compositions."
"The major tiers, from Bronze to Challenger, might seem like just a change in terminology, but in reality, they give 'rank' a very intuitive image. It's no longer just a dry score."
"Furthermore, with the addition of concepts like promotion series, minor tiers, and major tiers, this ranking system becomes much richer and better at eliminating luck factors, showcasing a player's true skill."
"You can imagine, before, when someone asked you what rank you were, and you answered '3000 points,' they'd have no concept. What level is that? But if you answer Gold, Diamond, or Challenger, the concept becomes very clear."
"Of course, the most important thing is that it satisfies my need to show off. Don't stop me, I'm going to play ranked and climb to Challenger!"