In ZAM's interview with Marc Merrill, co-founder and president of Riot Games, we learn more about the new features and gameplay modes introduced in League of Legends' new "Season One" content update

ZAM: "Draft mode" is something that LoL players have been requesting for some time now. Can you explain what Draft mode is, and why you believe players are so attracted to it?

Merrill: Champion selection during ranked play takes place in a live draft. There is one captain on each team that kicks things off by banning two Champions, essentially eliminating those two characters from being selected for the game.

After both teams have banned, the teams begin drafting. The game will follow a 1:2:2:2:2:1 draft format for the 5v5 brackets and a 1:2:2:1 format for the 3v3 bracket. Also, picks will be exclusive, which means that once a player has selected a Champion the other team cannot play as that Champion.

We think our players enjoy this form of selecting Champions because it adds a whole new layer of strategy and brings the game to a higher competitive level. It makes them work and think together as a team and opens up additional strategic depth.

ZAM: We know there's a lot of potential for player disputes and other technical issues with ranked and draft modes, especially when you're dealing with competitive gameplay involving real prizes and money… What preemptive measures have the developers taken to minimize these player issues?

Merrill: The major prizes will largely be granted to winners of live events and tournaments, which will often operate in the presence of judges and observers. Additionally, we have a lot of behind-the-scenes tools that allow us to monitor what really happens in games and believe our gamers will be well protected.

ZAM: For those exceptions when issues do arise, how can players request help with things like arbitration and resolution?

Merrill: We really pride ourselves on our customer service. If anyone ever feels he's been slighted or that he needs to report another player for unsportsmanlike conduct, players should email support@riotgames.com and we'll review the report. If we deem the report valid we'll take the proper measures to ensure that it doesn't happen again, whether that's by refunding money, fixing ELO, banning players or making a technical fix to the game in the next patch.

ZAM: It's been about one week since Season One launched… Has player reception been as positive and involved as the team hoped, so far?

Merrill: Player reception has been extremely positive. We knew that people would like the updates and be playing a lot, but we didn't anticipate it to be as popular as it is. As with any large launch for an online game, there are occasional bumps, and we ran into some. But we take our user experience very seriously and work closely with our users to react quickly to any issues. I mentioned before that our users were concerned about players under level 30 playing in Ranked Games, so we researched the issue, found there was valid data to back up their concerns and thus raised the level requirement. We'll be reviewing other constructive feedback and making changes as we deem necessary to improve the overall experience, and we'll also continue to add new content such as Champions, skins and other in-game content.

ZAM: The DotA/MOBA genre is heating up, in terms of competition, with more titles on the way… What defines League of Legends and distinguishes it from other games in the genre?

Merrill: We think that League of Legends stands apart from other games in this genre because we continue to innovate and have set the bar for what players can expect in the genre. In addition, League of Legends is completely free, with most of our top players never spending any money in the game. Finally, we will continue to rapidly add content and features, and grow the community to continue to set the bar across every dimension.

ZAM: We know how important new content is to players… Can we look at the last couple of months of new content and assume a similar model for the future? Quarterly seasons with new champions and skins throughout the year?

Merrill: Definitely. While seasons won't take place on a quarterly basis (they will last longer than three to four months), our players can expect many seasons for years to come. We've also got a packed pipeline of other content which includes Champions, skins, maps, new game modes and more.

ZAM: How about new those new maps? Conservatively speaking, can fans expect at least one new map per year?

Merrill: While I can't speculate on how quickly we add maps to the game, I can say that our players can definitely expect more maps to come in the future. As I just mentioned, we've got a packed content pipeline so there's a lot of great stuff coming in the next few months and years. But I can let you know that some of the biggest plans that we have relate to new maps.

ZAM: We recently learned that Riot Games partnered with Garena to bring League of Legends to Southeast Asia. How big are you expecting LoL's reception to be in this market?

Merrill: We expect League of Legends to be extremely popular in Southeast Asia. Before we blocked SEA players from playing on the North American servers, we had thousands of players from these territories playing and participating in our community. By partnering with Garena we are confident that these gamers will receive a very high quality of service because Garena really understands our users. 

ZAM: How will LoL's success and revenue in Southeast Asia influence Riot's continued game development here in North American, if at all? (Basically, will it provide Riot with more resources for development, or open any new doors?)

Merrill: Our global presence, which will include China, Southeast Asia, Korea, North America, Europe and numerous other territories, will help create a thriving online community where League of Legends players can play with people from all over the world and will lead to large international tournaments and events. One such event will be the upcoming World Cyber Games Grand Finals in Los Angeles—we plan to have a large League of Legends presence at the event and are excited that it will just mark the beginning! 

ZAM: Sounds great, thanks for taking the time to chat with us!