Arrow just kicked off its eighth and final season with what is easily the series’ most dramatic status quo shift ever. Oliver Queen is a man with a new mission, helping the Monitor prepare for the coming Crisis and literally watching Earth-2 disappear from existence in front of his eyes. And even as Ollie fights to save his world, he’s faced with the knowledge he’s doomed to die,
We had the chance to chat with star Stephen Amell after watching the Season 8 premiere. Amell discussed the big changes coming Oliver’s way, the joys and challenges of reliving Arrow’s Season 1 era, and where exactly Ollie’s new mission will take him next.
Riot Games is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a series of new game announcements, but one of the more left-field announcements from today is the League of Legends Esports Manager. Similar to other sports management sims, the Esports Manager will put players in charge of building and managing a League of Legends pro team.
Just as in games like Football Manager, LoL Esports manager is a team management game currently in development. Players will take the role of an esports team manager and sign players to contracts, build a team, and eventually take a squad to the LoL World Championships.
Arrow’s Season 7 premiere may have seemed like a huge status quo shift for the series, but it’s got nothing on “Starling City.” This episode shakes up Oliver Queen’s life and mission in a profound way, transforming him from humble vigilante to a man who holds the fate of all existence in his brawny hands. Arrow is both a very different and a much-improved show as Season 8 gets underway. It’s kind of a shame the end is so close.
Riot Games, the developer of one of the world’s most popular games in League of Legends, has announced its next game. “Legends of Runeterra” is a free-to-play strategy card game that takes place in the League of Legends universe. It’s aiming to launch in 2020 for PC and m
Just like Blizzard’s popular CCG Hearthstone features characters from its source material (Warcraft), Legends of Runeterra (LoR) will include League of Legends characters in its card decks. Each has “their own style and strategic advantage,” Riot said.
“LoR’s gameplay is built around dynamic, alternating combat that demands players use their skill, creativity, and cleverness to succeed,” Riot said.
Players can spend real money to acquire cards in LoR or they can grind to acquire them through gameplay. “Shards” are earned through gameplay while “Coins” can be purchased with real money at any time.
To unlock new cards and content in LoR, players can complete quests to earn experience that in turn unlocks new cards. The game has numerous different “regions,” and players can determine which region to pursue, and each has different cards to unlock.
Each week, LoR will add new chests to unlock from what’s called the Vault. “The Vault levels up as you play and upgrades the chests inside, which increases the number of cards you get from each. Individually, both the cards and chests have a chance to upgrade into something even better, and at level 10 and above, you’re guaranteed a champion,” Riot said.
LoR also features cards called “wildcards.” These are rare cards that can be turned into any card you want. A “limited” number of these wildcards will be available in the store each week.
“We know that sometimes you just want a guaranteed way to get specific cards. So instead of waiting for the right drop, you can unlock cards for your collection using the Shards you’ve earned or the wildcards you’ve acquired through play or purchase,” Riot said.
“In Legends of Runeterra, you will never pay for randomized packs, and you have a bunch of different ways to get the cards you actually want and build multiple decks for both casual duels and the competitive meta,” the company added.
Riot could seemingly make more money by offering wildcards for purchase all the time. However, the company said it is limiting their ability to “ensure you always have something you’re looking forward to unlocking, and that you’re constantly discovering new cards and strategies.”
Riot added: “Slowing down how quickly the entire set of cards can be unlocked is one method for helping us accomplish that goal. There’s a lot more to it than that, so expect to see an article soon that dives deep into how card acquisition will work in LoR.”
“We’re all huge card game fans on the LoR team, so we know the issues with the genre: things like excessive cost, over-the-top randomness, and seeing the same decks over and over,” executive producer Jeff Jew said in a statement. “We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what we’d do differently, and now we have a chance to shake up the genre by keeping what’s great, improving what’s not, and adding some new twists of our own.”
“We’ve been hard at work making the best card game we can imagine–one that we hope players everywhere will love,” he added. “We’re pretty excited to show players what we’ve got so far, and we can’t wait to hear what they think!”
Riot is promising to update LoR frequently with new content and gameplay balance changes.
Pre-registration for LoR is available right now. Everyone who pre-registers will get a chance to play the game ahead of its official release, while they’ll also get the “Poro pet chroma” at release.
Riot is letting people play LoR immediately, as those who pre-register can play a “preview patch” now through October 21. A second preview patch will be available in November.
Riot, which is owned by Chinese internet company Tencent, has been in the headlines over the past year regarding gender discrimination claims against the studio. California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing is currently investigating the company.
Legends of Runeterra is a brand new digital card game based on the League of Legends universe, and from our time with it during PAX Aus 2019, it actually feels like it has some interesting new takes on the genre. Here’s how it works.
Naturally, Legends of Runeterra is based around Champions, many of whom will be familiar to League of Legends fans. Champions and other cards are associated with six of the major regions of Runeterra (Demacia, Noxus, Ionia, Piltover & Zaun, Freljord, and the Shadow Isles), which represent the idea of classes or colours, in other card games. But the game features plenty of aspects that will be familiar to players of other digital card games, too.
GAME FLOW
Your mana pool increases steadily each turn, much like Hearthstone, which sets the pace of play. Mana allows you to play things like creature and champion cards, which have the typical attack and defense stats as well as other abilities or buffs which decide how they’ll fair in battle. You want to be able to attack your opponent’s Nexus (which every MOBA-fan should hopefully be familiar with) bringing its health to 0 to win the game. Games tend to last for about 15 to 20 minutes.
However, where Legends of Runeterra separates from other examples of the genre is in the finer details on how you can do Nexus damage. Spells, for instance, can do direct damage but they use a different mana pool from your character cards and can almost always be countered. Some spells will be fast or slow, and they queue up in the middle of the battlefield according to their order.
All cards are played out in turns, which is not something I’m used to seeing in digital card games. These spell turns are segmented into rounds, where one player will be on the offensive and the other defends. There are multiple turns in these rounds, where each player has a chance to play their characters and spells until the actual attack. This adds some interesting strategy–you can bait another person out by slowly adding to your arsenal, rather than playing everything at once. Then, the attack actually happens and unless a status on the card says otherwise, it’s blockers choice.
CHAMPIONS
The champion cards have objectives on them, which allow you to level up those cards and become more powerful so long as they aren’t taken out during the battle. You can choose to use one champion to build your decks around or add more–which is limited depending on the game style–and the idea is to create a synergistic playstyle. This aspect feels reminiscent of Magic The Gathering and the choices it offers in mixing colours for new playstyles.
For example, a champion may level up after you’ve dealt a certain amount of damage to enemies and another may require you to have targeted a set number of enemies. Having both of these cards in the same deck would allow you to level them up and gain their heightened abilities at the same time, without wasting any resources. Perhaps stacking this deck with cheap cards so you can target enemies faster would help you level up even faster to gain an advantage. On the other hand, having different objectives might also offer more flexibility, so deciding how you build decks to achieve your own goals looks like it will add several layers or potential strategy to games.
For fans of the lore behind League of Legends, there’s also the promise of plenty of new narrative content. Fresh stories will also play out through Legends of Runeterra with plans to introduce new characters and champions as the game builds, which will also allow for new cards and playstyles. Legends of Runeterr and League of Legends share the same universe, so it’s not some weird spinoff where everyone’s just playing cards in a tavern.
META AND MICROTRANSACTIONS
Legends of Runeterra all plays quite well, and as someone who’s quite familiar with different digital card games, I was able to pick it up quickly after a few rounds in the tutorial. It has the same drag and drop style you’ll likely be familiar with, and getting into it is just a matter of learning all the new terms, quirks, and cards. The game definitely struck me as the kind that’s simple on the surface, but with extra complexity stashed away in the deck-building meta, if that’s your jam.
The good, and somewhat surprising news is that when it comes to deckbuilding, there appear to be no purchasable random card packs. Legends of Runeterra is still a free-to-play game, however, and though you can’t spend your hard-earned real money on random cards, you can instead pay a set price for “wild cards.” These differ in cost based on rarity, but are a straight swap for whichever card you want in that tier. Even then, this system is limited to a certain number of purchases per week, and I was assured by Riot representatives that it’s not the kind of game you can pay-to-win.
Instead, the only way to get a substantial amount of cards is by playing, but it does look like these can be somewhat unpredictable. You can complete quests and level up to unlock cards from your chosen region, which can be changed at any time. Playing will also level up your weekly vault, which contains more chests full of more random cards. But the ability to pick and choose what you want to do to unlock cards was emphasised as a way to give players at least some agency over how they play the game.
The idea appears to be that those who put the time in–regardless of what they do–will have the most cards and diverse decks, while still giving players on the other end of the spectrum the ability to obtain specific cards with a level of certainty. There did seem to be a fair amount of cards available from the onset, at least in the build we played, but how this system fares for more casual players is something we need to wait and see.
You’ll also be able to use real money on cosmetics, and Legends of Runeterra is an intensely visual game. The card art is stunningly detailed and the board is very Hearthstone-like, featuring little interactive touches. Cards animate when played and sometimes even emoji-style stickers will pop on the screen. When champion cards level up, they’ll take over the whole screen to play an animation and even attacking seems a bit more extra than most other digital card games. I could still tell what was happening most of the time, so the flair doesn’t feel like it gets in the way but, it is a visual feast.
ONGOING SUPPORT
While not being presented as an esport yet, Riot has promised regular monthly balance updates to keep the meta shifting, as well as a ranked system currently in development. The general synopsis seems bent against the level of randomness that can often be present in card games, so Legends of Runeterra could be quite competitive in a very different way to what we’re used to seeing in the genre.
If you’re curious about Legends of Runeterra, the good news is you can pre-register for your chance to play it now, and unlock the exclusive Moonstruck Poro Guardian at launch. The announcement comes as a part of the League of Legends 10th anniversary celebration and you’ll find a selection of folks with access streaming the game live as we speak. In a month’s time, there will be a five-day preview where more people who pre-registered will be allowed in, and then a larger closed beta in 2020 before launch on PC and Mobile platforms sometime during that year.
The final season of Arrow has officially begun, and it is already having major ramifications for the upcoming Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event. Warning: The following contains spoilers from the Season 8 premiere of Arrow, titled “Starling City.”.
At the conclusion of the episode, it was revealed that Earth 2 had been wiped from existence as Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Diggle (David Ramsey) were preparing to leave and return home. While they made it out, along with Laurel (Katie Cassidy Rodgers), this development has thrown a wrench into the Arrow-verse.
“It does indicate that Crisis [on Infinite Earths] is starting earlier than we thought,” Arrow executive producer Beth Schwartz revealed during a press Q&A for the episode. While viewers had been led to believe that the majority of the Crisis would occur during the crossover, with the early season episodes of Arrow, Supergirl, The Flash, and Batwoman setting the stage for what was to come, that’s all out the window now.
Instead, with the destruction of Earth 2, the Crisis has begun. That, paired with the revelation that the Monitor expects The Flash (Grant Gustin) to die during the event, makes for an interesting couple of months leading up to the crossover. What remains a mystery, though, is how the loss of Earth 2 will play out in upcoming episodes of the various shows. The Flash fans, especially, are going to be wondering what this means for Harry (Tom Cavanagh), a fan-favorite version of Harrison Wells that resides in the alternate universe.
Whatever the case, the Season 8 premiere of Arrow did its job. “We don’t have that many episodes, so we wanted to start big and we wanted to introduce the upcoming Crisis immediately because that is what this season is about and what Oliver is struggling with the entire time,” Schwartz explained.
That said, don’t expect a planet to get obliterated in every episode this season. Schwartz confirmed that the remaining episodes of Season 8, outside of the crossover, will take place entirely on Earth 1. However, they will see Oliver on the road.
“In our upcoming episodes we visit places that we’ve gone to in our previous seasons, so they’ll take place in different locations,” Schwartz said. “I think we only have maybe one or two episodes actually in Star City.”
Now viewers will have to wait to find out exactly where Arrow is headed. If old locations are being revisited, though, don’t be surprised if Oliver winds up on Lian Yu to say one last goodbye to his favorite island.
League of Legends developer Riot Games has announced it is working on a new, character-based shooter for PC. Based on the description, it sounds like Riot’s version of competitive shooters like Overwatch or Rainbow Six Siege.
Riot’s hero shooter doesn’t have an official title yet, so it’s currently codenamed Project A. However, Riot did reveal that the Project A shooter will take place on a near-future Earth and will boast a “lethal cast of characters.” During the livestream, Riot says that it’s focusing hard on combatting PC and network-related issues like picker’s choice, low ping, and cheaters.
Like in Overwatch and Rainbow Six, each character will have a unique ability that players will need to use strategically to win matches. While details are sparse, Riot says more information is coming in 2020.
A League of Legends shooter is in development. Riot Games today announced a brand-new take on the competitive shooter, and it looks a lot like Overwatch. The company also confirmed that it is working on a fighting game in the League of Legends universe.
The game, which is in development under the working title Project A, is described as a character-based tactical shooter. Riot says it has assembled a veteran team to work on the title, which will offer players more creativity and expression than other titles in the market.
The studio also said it is aware of concerns about ping rates and cheating, and it has been working since day one to make sure the game takes these matters seriously. Additionally, Riot said it is invested in the League of Legends shooter for the long haul.
Riot will be going dark on the League of Legends shooter until 2020, so don’t expect any news for some time.
As for the League of Legends fighting game, it appears to be in a very early stage of development. It’s being worked on under the working title Project L, and Riot has been working on it for a “little while,” the studio says. Like the shooter game, Riot plans to stay heads down and work on the project for some time before talking more about it.
Finally, Riot announced a new League of Legends animated series called Arcane which will debut in 2020. You can check out the series announcement trailer below.
League of Legends is coming to consoles and mobile. Riot Games announced today that the incredibly popular MOBA will be released on consoles and mobile starting in 2020.
The game’s new version is apparently called League of Legends: Wild Rift. You can watch the announcement trailer below, but note that it features gameplay from the mobile edition.
The Wild Rift website has the first details about the new game. The game features a 5v5 player count and it also features “revamped” controls.
“Team up to take down the enemy Nexus on a new 5v5 map designed for new platforms, with faster games and revamped controls,” reads a line from its announcement.
There will be about 40 champions in Wild Rift at launch, with more to come over time.
Like the PC version of League of Legends, Wild Rift is free-to-play, and players can unlock all the champions without spending real money. Players can, however, spend real money on various cosmetics and other extras.
Riot explained that it rebuilt League of Legends from scratch, “like the whole thing,” to bring it to console and mobile.
“Refreshed models, animations, game systems and more–but keeping true to the core League of Legends gameplay you already know,” the developer said. “We didn’t want to just port League on PC 1:1–we want to make sure Wild Rift feels like it was designed for new platforms, and use that opportunity to make a bunch of improvements to the game. While you won’t get your unlocks from League PC, you’ll get some cool rewards for the time you’ve spent in the PC version. More to come on that in 2020!”
It’s going to take a while for The Flash to restore all the goodwill that’s been lost in the last two years. Rather than attempt to introduce sweeping new changes to the series a la Arrow’s eighth and final season, new showrunner Eric Wallace seems to be taking a more understated approach. The series lives and dies on the strength of the Team Flash dynamic and the struggles they share, so Season 6 is all about getting back to that emphasis on family. So far, that approach is paying off, even if Episode 2 bombards viewers with a bit too much material.
