Please return to the idea of Charity-based skins

The Spoony Bard·5/6/2014, 3:18:15 PM·444 votes·14,441 views

Riot, I truly believe that not only with the direction of the video game industry into a new realm of exploration and a tool that has helped formed new societies in a new world, so to speak, as well as the sheer power you've collected from taking a genre as obscure as MOBAs and rocketing it into the limelight, as well as what you've done to bring a breath of fresh air into eSports, I think you are going to need to start doing some really innovative things with your resources to reciprocate among the other facets of society.

I started this idea off with a simple idea of a Support skin(because of the commonly overlapping themes of charity and the support archetype of course) that we could get for a "pay what you think this skin is worth" type of deal; Except instead of directly paying you, we donate to a sponsored charity(be it Child's Play or something like that, anybody who you could reliably team up with) and get a code that we'd then put in to unlock the skin. Of course there's other things I'm sure you could think up, but the implications of being able to take even a small portion of the power you've amassed with this one game and redirect it to places that really need it within the world at large is a powerful demonstration not only of your dedication to the betterment of your game's community, but to the advancement of society as a whole.

Really any idea on the model of "Take some of the playerbase's interests in our game and help redirect it so that we can do good in the world while still making an awesome game experience" would work - I am just enthralled and fascinated by the potential brought forth from this, and think it could bolster the health of your game community, public image, and the world you live on all at once.

234 Comments

Tulare5/6/2014, 6:05:15 PM293 votes

There are lots of ways that they could employ this idea. Think of a "vote with your dollars" sort of competition. Donations can be dedicated to one of five champions. All of the proceeds go to charity. The champion who earns the most money gets a new legendary skin made for them. Anybody who donated at least $5 or at least $10 gets the skin for free.

politemachinegun5/6/2014, 7:12:52 PM32 votes

I would support this if I knew for sure that the charity would be actually using that money for a good cause. Unfortunately, there are some high-profile charities that do NOT put their money where their mouth is and/or behave in ways that actively harm the people they claim to help (e.g. Komen Foundation and Autism Speaks). If Riot implemented this they would have to be very, very careful about who they partnered with.

TheKrookedKilla5/6/2014, 7:29:31 PM17 votes

I can honestly say I'd pay an extra 5 dollars for a skin that helped a charity, without an issue.

Trumpwonsuckit5/6/2014, 7:13:48 PM11 votes

I don't want a company I pay entertainment dollars to, to waste time making charity skins so that kids who want to make a "change" to the world can do with with mom's credit card. I feel like it crosses a church/state type of line. If someone likes those causes, go donate to them. Seeing "Oklahoma Tornado 2014 Janna", "Japanese Tsunami Wipeout Nami", or "Ukrainian Invasion Braum" are really the last things I want to see when logging onto League of Legends.

Silent Dingo5/6/2014, 8:58:36 PM10 votes

And of course the one problem Riot might have to face is those cheapos who will only pay a couple of rp to get a skin. Maybe if we set like a specific minimum on how much you have to pay to get the skin that way we dont run into cheap people{{summoner:2}}

Tormentus5/7/2014, 12:08:55 AM8 votes

This sounds a lot like the Humble Bundle concept which was an awesome idea so I definitely support this notion.

MagnaVis5/6/2014, 11:28:33 PM6 votes

There is absolutely no reason why Riot shouldn't implement this, there are plenty of reliable charities out there and the cost of making a skin is minimal relative to the amount of money made from each one. I believe that Riot should find a charity to partner with for maybe 2 or 3 skins, this would be great for public relations and as was stated by JonouchiChan this would be a great way for Riot to give back to the community and share some of their success. Now that this idea has been presented to the community I would hope that there would be some response. If there were a league of legends skin with a minimum donation of $2 then imagine the impact it would have on the charity it was dedicated to relative to the effort required for it to be made.

Forgetmemory5/6/2014, 6:20:04 PM5 votes

Lol i voted no. I'm sorry but I kinda want Riot to make as much money as they can for their product and I'd rather let the streamers do most of the charity drives. I'm sure Riot could do a successful charity event and I'd rather let their creative come up with what that is than do what you want.

While businesses donating to causes is nice it is also well in favor for a business to be profit driven as to stick around for longer.

Gelantia5/7/2014, 2:33:55 AM4 votes

I haven't spent money on this game in almost 2 years and out of the 4 years I been playing I only spent maybe 30$ If I knew that some of my money was being donated to charities to help others, I would actually buy more skins, Because most of the time I just tell myself i'm wasting money on a game.

MrCervantes5/7/2014, 3:23:00 AM4 votes

charity or gtfo

Scailerarc5/7/2014, 3:20:35 PM4 votes

Eclipse Diana or Leona skins please.

ClockworkKnight5/7/2014, 4:43:19 AM4 votes

I was thinking you meant a charity based skin. Which I think would be cool. Something like how they have Nurse Akali, but instead of them just getting the money for it, the Red Cross gets money. Or a Big Brothers Big Sisters Annie and Tibbers or something. Or ASPCA Volibear. Or UNICEF Annie. Or American Red Cross Vladamir. Or Global Hunger Project Cho'gath. Or Make-a-Wish Kayle. Or Yellow Ribbon Fund Caitlyn.

EDIT: I didn't realize this was something they had done and stopped doing. Why did they stop?

EDIT EDIT: Or Wilford Braumley, for a diabeetus charity.

SpinalTapd5/6/2014, 9:14:43 PM4 votes

I've never logged onto anything just to vote/comment until I saw this post.

Wonderful idea

Joerick5/6/2014, 10:27:48 PM4 votes

I've thought about this kind of thing in the past and I'm glad there's someone thinking along the same lines. There are literally hundreds and thousands of worthy causes for this to be applied to on national, multinational, and even local scales. And whichever charity (or charities) are chosen would determine the theme of the skin and/or the Champion it goes to. From an Annie skin for a Children's Hospital fund, to a Kayle skin for a Veterans support fund.

Also, we could have a multi-layered system with multiple skins for different champions for one theme/charity... For example; you could have 3 or 4 Pink themed skins for champions for a Breast Cancer fundraiser (or multiple Breast Cancer foundations in different regions).

If they're going to do that though, I think it would be better to stagger the releases over a couple of weeks instead of doing a tiered system of "donate X to get skin A, or Y to get skins A and B, etc..." That system often leaves the kindhearted unrewarded.

MybPobgFAN5/7/2014, 4:04:37 AM4 votes

I fully Alistar Annie Blitzcrank Janna Karma Kayle Leona Lulu Lux Morgana Nami Nautilus Nidalee Sona Zilean Zyra this idea. Please Riot, I would love to buy another charity skin.

Sad Marksman5/7/2014, 4:05:00 PM3 votes

109 people need a dunking Darius

ADC of Allah5/6/2014, 8:47:01 PM3 votes

I fully support this idea, and it has been done before with Nurse Akali after the tsunami in Japan. Riot donated a lot of money to the recovery efforts. I cant help but think about the lives lost in the South Korean ferry disaster. The captain abandoned ship, we need a Captain Nautilus skin to protect the souls of those lost.

trivialattire5/7/2014, 7:10:07 AM3 votes

Valve (DoTA 2) implemented this idea of charity items where you could donate X amount of money towards Japan Tsunami relief and you'd receive a hat of value in return in Team Fortress 2.

Results were conclusive; $430,543.65 was raised. http://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=5254

Riot please.

k1ng285/7/2014, 3:12:11 PM3 votes

Its an impressive concept. I think Riot has a lot of potential good they can do. Just look at the poll.

Junsui Aoi5/6/2014, 6:45:32 PM2 votes

I think it would be really cool if they made some special, limited skins for 3 - 5 champions that would have all donations go to a charity of Riot's choice (cause I believe if they don't feel it, they won't put as much into it). Using popular champs would probably help things sell better, though if they could do like a whole 5 man group like pentakill, skt, or tpa, where a group of 5 friends can queue up as the group, that would be cool :) (has done this as pentakill and is prepping to do it as SKT)

Plann5/7/2014, 1:53:28 PM2 votes

I know I am going to be the bearer of bad news here but, even though I think that this is a great idea, it can be exploited. For example humblebundle is the exact same thing except for Steam games and by allowing people choose their own price, has given away like 5 games each week to people who bought the bundle at $0.01. I think that there should be a bundle of skins but players can't choose their own price, but a set price that is at a discount.

super snipez5/7/2014, 2:25:06 PM2 votes

The problem with this is that Riot gains most of their profit through RP purchases, skins included. I'd love to see Riot implement something like this, but from a business perspective it means directly cutting their incoming revenue.

RustyPeas5/7/2014, 3:09:04 PM2 votes

I like this idea, but I think a more practical use of it would be to release skins that are solely charity based. I don't know if that was you're intent, but I certainly love this concept. Especially considering I like to own a skin for every champion I unlock/play.

Gentleman Gaston5/6/2014, 5:53:48 PM2 votes

I really like this idea. I hope Riot puts it into action someday!

Jimfop5/7/2014, 2:59:48 AM2 votes

Maybe, they could do something with Make-A-Wish, where kids design their own champion with the help of the normal champ designers/riot staff?

Arruke5/6/2014, 9:12:22 PM1 votes

I really like this idea, however, if at all possible, it would be great if you could choose the charity yourself instead of selecting from a "sponsored" list.

~~Example being, Child's play that you point out in the OP, child's play is a really, really bad charity. ~~

~~ http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=9735#.U2lM_1cao3Y ~~

Especially when you compare it to one of the best charities, such as Save the Children

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4438#.U2lNHFcao3Y

I mean, if you're going to donate to charity, I believe your donation should be as efficient as possible, why waste it on some org that will use it for other things that isn't what you want it to be used for?

EDIT: Someone pointed out that they're two different orgs, and I apologize for hastily finding information on the org listed in the OP as I was at work. But my point still stands, do better research than I did however.