Riot's Design Director on Legends of Runeterra, Andrew Yip, has confirmed that we'll be seeing set rotations "inevitably".
More interesting than the confirmation of set rotations though is that they aren't sure about how they'll support the "all cards" format where you can play with the entire pool. Now, why is this interesting? Last week we saw the confirmation that we won't see card refunds when they make balance changes because of the philosophy that they'll quickly change cards that they make unviable to do changes, ensuring your time acquiring cards isn't being thrown out the window because of a patch.
One may be considered crazy to assume cards they earned years ago were going to be held to the same standard as newer ones, and this is especially true with a rotating format. Although details on how they'll handle a rotating format aren't yet available, it looks like there's a good chance once a card isn't in the "main" pool of cards for play, it may not be considered for updates and balance.
We've got a long way to go with Runeterra before we're going to need card set rotations though, so for now, get out there and enjoy the game! Make sure you're making good progress on your vault to maximize your rewards weekly since we don't need to be afraid of not being able to use our wild cards and shards for future set releases - they aren't going anywhere!
Quote From Andrew Yip Are sets going to be rotated out by seasons similar to hearthstone or MTG? Or is runeterra taking a more yugioh approach where your card pool will be always be around to use in the main format.
Inevitably we will rotate - I think the critical question is how much we support the “all cards” format vs the more constrained one. That’s tbd for now!
Comments
I don't like seeing old cards get rotated out, personally. Mainly because it can potentially ruin certain deck strategies in the future that I'm enjoying now. But I guess I'll have to live with it - assuming I'll continue to keep playing Runeterra until then.
I mean this also could create a lack of new deck strategies. Imagine this one deck is tier 1 for a while and nearly impossible to beat. Riot cannot print support cards for it and they have to literally build around this one deck. With rotation, it develops new strategies while still allowing old ones to get support via "Wild" format Just like Hearthstone and MTG.
Set Rotation is a brilliant euphemism for planned obsolescence.
It really isn't the same thing as planned obsolescence though, at least unless they decide to make the old cards completely unplayable post-rotation, in which case I will definitely stop playing LoR. In the case of normal set rotation, though, most players don't want an "eternal" format as their only playing option. Having a fresh, rotating format and a separate eternal one is better for the health of the game overall.
It's inevitable in every card game. Either you have rotations or you have power creep.
"But I don't like my cards to become worthless!"
Every 60€ game becomes worthless after you have finished it. I try to think of it more in a sense of money/time spent for _fun_ instead of _cards_.
Wh- what is this 'fun' concept you speak of?
I... I'm scared...
We are at least 2 years off the period where a rotation is needed though, but it's good they have plans to what to do.
It'll be interesting to see how Runeterra eventually handles its rotations. I've only seen how Hearthstone does it and I'm aware some card game veterans aren't too thrilled with the approach. Also, do we know if the set of cards we're using now will be considered "evergreen" or "core"?
While I understand that they'll abandon older cards at a certain point but knowing that there will be absolutly no support for such format is already preventing me to spend cash on the game, since my collection will become outdated sooner or later without (probably) any chance of having at last a vaguely tweaked format. The game is anyway very F2P friendly, but I'm always looking to a "vintage" format that could actually remain at last enjoyable and for which there will be some kind of attention for its balance (not like Wild on HS).
If they aren't sure how much support older cards are going to receive, it's not a great idea to accept money for them in the first place.
The time investment isn't a big deal because you're playing the game (and ostensibly enjoying it) as you earn rewards, but paying cash is a different story.
He said that cards will rotate out eventually--i.e., that it won't be eternal. He didn't commit to any timeframe. With the notable exception of Yu-Gi-Oh, every competitive collectible card game I can think of that's more than 3 years old--MtG, Hearthstone, Pokemon, Netrunner, even HeroClix if you want to count that--has adopted some form of rotation that takes older cards out of the main format to make space for new sets. This is more a tacit acknowledgement of the inevitable than a statement of caveat emptor.
But the cards are still usable in some format of those other games. I never said anything about stopping rotation or cards remaining in standard forever. I'm just saying whatever happens, they need to allow for continued use of cards people have paid for, or else stop taking money for cards.
If anybody thinks they wont support the rotated cards are out of their minds. Every digital card game has supported a format for older sets. Even the new Magic Arena introduced a new mode for it.
The fact they havent said anything is related to the obvious reason that for 1 they havent decided on their various options and for 2 its because the game hasnt even been official released. Every major decision will be made only after the mobile release. Apparently 75% of HS revenue has been from mobile. That says a lot. They will evaluate their options better after mobile release
If it's so obvious, there's no reason for them not to acknowledge that it will exist.
Every other digital card game has sold randomized packs of cards, so "everyone else does it" is not exactly proof positive.
True. I am assuming they do something like Hearthstone where there's a less popular / less curated eternal format where players can still use their older cards, but I guess they aren't ready to officially commit to that yet.
Interesting news for the future of LoR. Let's see what they will do about the old stuff. I would welcome a wild mode like HS or Legacy format like MtG but please with buffs/nerfs for that format aswell so it's enjoyable.
Thanks for monitoring for / posting all these off-channel tidbits, Flux! I love hearing about them.