Riot still considering sandbox training mode and revised solo queue

Riot has released its latest edition of Riot Pls, an ongoing feature where the developer discusses the future of League of Legends. This entry contains some big news for fans who have been waiting on a few specific features.

The first major point the post discusses is "sandbox mode," a long-requested feature in the game. Note that what's meant by sandbox mode is a mode where players can enter and practice their abilities, skillshots and last hits - not a sandbox in the sense of being able to create your own rules or game modes.

Riot initially said that this sandbox training mode would never happen, but now the developer says that attitude was wrong.

"Your passionate feedback and sound reasoning, along with a lot of internal conversations around this vision of League as a global sport have made it clear that our concerns only have the potential to become reality if we're not doing our job," reads the post. "Providing competitive experiences at all levels of play also means we should be providing the right training tools at all levels of play."

The post goes on to clarify that while Riot has made a firm decision to pursue creating a sandbox mode, it currently doesn't have a team dedicated to developing it. There's no set timeline for when this mode will happen, only that Riot plans to work on it.

The second feature Riot brings up in the post is a real hot-button issue in the community right now: the potential return of a proper solo queue. Since the introduction of dynamic queue a few months ago, Riot has quiet toward the idea of bringing back solo queue — a silence that has frustrated many high-level players. It sounds like that attitude may be softening slightly.

"We know that for some players, dynamic queue undermines individual recognition of skill, and that's not something we can solve with iterative improvements," he post reads. "It's a philosophical difference. But, we know a lot of things that can be solved with iterative improvements, and our current top three priorities are improving the solo player experience against premades, lowering queue times, and smoothing out role selection weight."

The post goes on to say that Riot hopes with enough balance a second, solo-focused queue would be unnecessary, but the company hasn't decided 100 percent for against that at the moment. It promises to have "an ongoing conversation" as dynamic queue is updated and balanced.

The post also reiterates Riot's oft-stated goal of making League of Legends "a global sport that lasts for generations." Read the full blog post for all the details.