Please return to the idea of Charity-based skins

The Spoony Bard··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

Tulare293 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.

Valkraz5 votes

I like this idea Tulare!

The Spoony Bard41 votes

Love it. It might also be a good idea to have players build bundles of some of the available skins that they want; Almost like a Kickstarter "build your own pledge" thing. Then they can get a good amount of skins at a discount on top of helping out.

Auraeon137 votes

Amazing idea! That way when I buy a skin, I don't feel like I'm wasting money on a video game. I can feel like my habits are actually helping people somewhere, in some way!

Devi Siva39 votes

Exactly! hopefully they actually do this.

Saqlain325 votes

+1 Great Idea

DarkReaperRising6 votes

Awesome Idea

DamnItChristian4 votes

What if you vote for a skin whose champion you don't own? What would you get? :x

BandwagonExpress7 votes

I assume you'd get the champion for free. They include the unlock for the champion when you get PAX skin codes, so I don't see why they couldn't do that here.

Tulare4 votes

This is what I was thinking. It would be for a good cause, so nobody should be complaining that they had to pay "full price" even though they already had the champ unlocked.

politemachinegun32 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.

lorewise8 votes

This is true and a concern for me as well but I'd like to believe they could do it right. Speaking of I wouldn't have any problem with the proceeds going to Child's Play however they seem to get huge donations from the gaming community already so I'd personally like to see a different cause.

Not that I wouldn't support Child's Play but considering Riot has such a global presence I wouldn't mind seeing that money go to people in places with fewer opportunities than here in the west.

AureEntuluva7 votes

Water.org and there's one that does mosquito nets. There's a TED talk about finding good charities. It isn't hard.

Autaro2 votes

I agree with the careful partnering. Riot would also have to keep the players informed about where the money goes and keep meticulous records in case the community or other parties ever accuse Riot of misusing the funds.

TheKrookedKilla17 votes

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

Trumpwonsuckit11 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.

The Spoony Bard22 votes

Understandable, but I think you're overthinking it a little. It's not tearjerking tragedy fuel skins that wrench your gut until you pay up to make your characters look more derpy and save a bunch of kids, it's the idea that Riot could try and motivate people into doing things that can be good for their respective communities(Again, none of it has to be for charity) outside of the League. It's about being able to make people think less of some singular focus behind a game and begin to see bigger pictures of the world at large.

Trust me, if they milked it to try and get you to buy "Legless 'Nam Veteran Corki" or "Leprosy Leona" I would frankly change my Summoner Name and move to some distant server, hopefully to never be discovered as the guy who gave them that idea. But I have faith that they could, with proper examination and coordination, begin to make visible changes not just in a client on a computer, but for the world around them.

Porozelem2 votes

What if they were to make the skins available to purchase for RP if you really don't want to donate to the charity or cause that is being supported, but if you donate to the cause then you get it for cheaper than if you were to buy it with RP (say perhaps, "Donate what you think the skin is worth, minimum of $1 donation" or something like that). That way those who really don't want to be forced into donating to a cause they don't support don't have to, but can still get the skin.

SwagLordKush2 votes

I'd 100% buy legless nam veteran corki tho

Kaelath The Red7 votes

No, they do it exactly like they did with Jaximus 2 years ago, pay what you want for the skin all proceeds go to the charity riots helping.

The Spoony Bard4 votes

I knew that Nurse Akali and Urf Warwick were charity skins, but JAXIMUS?

You learn something new every day, I suppose.

FULLCOMMUNISMUSA7 votes

That's why Jaximus says, "Here's to you, kid." It's a reference to a child named Joe, suffering from Ewings Sarcoma, who visited Riot through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Wolfman3 votes

that's really cool. :( kinda tear jerker though.

Silent Dingo10 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}}

Tormentus8 votes

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

MagnaVis6 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 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.

3laine11 votes

The thing is most people won't donate usless they get something back; so the idea of donate and get a skin will prompt not only people that want to donate, but skin collecters also which will bring a mass bump in the donations.

SpinalTapd4 votes

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

Wonderful idea

Joerick4 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.

Gelantia4 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.

MrCervantes4 votes

charity or gtfo

MybPobgFAN4 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.

ClockworkKnight4 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.

freaqshow12 votes

Or Alzheimerdinger.

G for Godlike1 votes

Make-a-Wish Soraka would be better in my opinion :)

Scailerarc4 votes

Eclipse Diana or Leona skins please.

ADC of Allah3 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.

trivialattire3 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.

k1ng283 votes

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

Sad Marksman3 votes

109 people need a dunking Darius

Gentleman Gaston2 votes

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

Junsui Aoi2 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)

Jimfop2 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?

Plann2 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 snipez2 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.

RustyPeas2 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.

Arruke1 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.

Tulare2 votes

I take it back. I think that the charity to which you linked is not the same as the one that most of us are thinking of.

Childsplay is different from Child's Play

Having said that, I don't find Child's Play listed on Charity Navigator.

By those numbers, Child's Play is a very transparent, mostly inefficient, and generally mediocre charity. I don't think it's fair to call them "really, really bad." Some administrative improvements would boost their financials to 2 stars and their overall rating to 3.

Arruke2 votes

You're actually correct, I'll amend my statement, thanks for pointing that out.

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