Riot Games knows there’s a problem with giving all NA players a consistent League of Legends experience. They outlined their plans on how to improve their servers three months ago, but now have provided a much needed update to explain where they are.
First, let’s tackle in brief what their three point plan is:
· They are updating the game’s server infrastructure from the ground up for an improved experience all around. This will lead to a more stable and secure experience all around.
· They are also working with different ISPs in NA and Canada to set up an internet backbone just for their players. This backbone will optimize connections, by decreasing variances and chokepoints.
· Lastly, they are looking for a new strategic location for those new NA servers and internet backbone connections.
Let’s jump to now, where they addressed questions from fans via an open Q&A on their forums. In specific, Riot has faced a lot of work just dealing and peering with multiple ISPs. We go through the different factors, and what it means for the East Coast, below.
Riot has revealed that they have worked out peering with Comcast, Charter, Shaw, Telus, and they are either in negotiations or in the middle of setting up peering with others, such as Time Warner Cable, Verizon, Cox Communications, CenturyLink, and others.
Riot explained that net neutrality is not a factor in this situation. Riot’s negotiations boil down to shortening the paths connections need to take to get to the LOL servers. They also revealed that it took them months to even get some progress in negotiations, as gaming is not a priority for most ISPs, but they are making progress, particularly with Verizon.
Riot also straight up confirmed that this step is not going to improve pings for East Coast players, although it will lead to improvements to connection stability and minimizing packet loss. However, when they get around to building their new servers in that optimal location, everyone will see improvements in all areas.
Ultimately, if you are encountering issues with your LOL connection now, the best way to get it resolved is to fill out this survey.
