Well, it's official [Phantom Karthus]

Gavran·Jun 4, 2014·2 votes·1,646 views

The patch is out, and the Karthus VU is super sexy.

But the skin that used to be Phantom Karthus is dead in every way, and there hasn't been a single Red post about it. I will freely admit that in this particular case, I like the new "Phantom Karthus" more than the old one - exclusively because the VU'd Karthus is superior in every way - but I feel this is a very disturbing precedent especially considering nobody has even stepped in to explain why they thought it was okay to completely alter a skin's theme like this. Up until now I had hoped that this was a new skin, and there was a VU'd Phantom Karthus yet to be revealed.

If Phantom Karthus was Classic Karthus, you would've made a Traditional Karthus skin. Why is it okay to take away the skin I and others paid for and replace it with something that bears no similarity to it whatsoever? Not one hint of the skin it used to be?

I really feel like you've dropped the ball here Riot. I like the new skin, but it isn't the skin I bought and you at least owe us an explanation.

14 Comments

PatentlyWilltonJun 4, 20144 votes

If the point of Phantom Karthus was to trade upon the success of Phantom of the Opera (which appears to have been the case based upon the splash art), then I see no problem with the VU's iteration of the skin, particularly in view of a desire to avoid copyright infringement litigation.

GavranJun 5, 20141 votes

If Riot is suddenly afraid of copyright infringement, explain the new Rumble skin. http://gurrenlagann.wikia.com/wiki/Super_Galaxy_Gurren_Lagann

Not to mention numerous other older skins, of course, but I figured only an example that Riot is still doing this at present was relevant.

GenreninjaJun 4, 20142 votes

First: It's their skin, you pay for the license to use it, you do not own it. So you're attitude isn't all that endearing.

Second: I'm a bit surprised he didn't get a traditional skin to honor his original skin, same as they did with Karma. But with Karthus already having so many skins I doubt anyone was particularly attached to the original skin. However making a traditional skin, for a skin, there is no precedent of that.

Third: This isn't anything new. Karma , Heimerdinger , Twitch , are just a few who had their skins visually upgraded in addition to their traditional visual rework.

Lastly, I'm not quite sure what you are asking for. What "explanation" do you feel you are owed more than, "We felt Karthus was a bit dated, and we are giving him a facelift to bring him up to our current quality standards."

GavranJun 5, 20142 votes

My attitude? I think I'm being rather level headed. This is a company that offered refunds because a bugfix happened shortly after a skin release. I thought I made pretty clear that my point was: "I like this skin, but it isn't the skin I paid for. What's up with that?"
The reason there's never been a Traditional Skin for a skin because no VU completely changed the theme of a skin before. The Trundle VU is an excellent example: Classic Trundle is a complete change from Traditional Trundle, just as this Phantom Karthus is a complete change from the old one.
No, this is completely new. All VUs have come with skin upgrades, none have come with the identity of a skin being changed - before now.

I want an explanation for the complete thematic shift on a skin I purchased to something completely different. That is what's new, that is what the problem is. And yes, while Riot certainly has the legal right to do whatever they want, it would be hugely irresponsible (for their own profits) to start changing skin concepts after people have paid for them on a regular basis. I just want to know why Riot felt like they had to break this rule now, because I want to know it wasn't done lightly.

MansanaJun 4, 20141 votes

Chinese Cultural Censorship. Plus it was based off the Chinese art for Phantom Karthus.

GavranJun 5, 20141 votes

That's a poor and unsupported explanation, isn't it? Even if it's true, I'm pretty sure the Chinese government has a problem with skeletons, not Andrew Lloyd Webber*. Karthus losing his skeletal appearance - which I'm neither endorsing nor opposing here - could only have served to make Phantom Karthus a better homage.

I thought that was the classic Karthus chinese splash, but I double checked and you're right. That does make it a bit less of a blindside, but I don't think it's fair to say "You should expect the skin you bought to be randomly changed into its completely different Chinese version."

*If there's some reason the Chinese government should hate Phantom of the Opera that I'm not aware of, please do share. It'd probably be as close to an explanation as it appears I'll get. :\

MansanaJun 5, 20141 votes

I don't think it was Phantom of the Opera that they hate, its mainly the skeleton thing that you mentioned. Maybe its just the fact that the Phantom of the Opera mask could easily be misinterpreted as a skull due to it being white. It was hard to notice the mask originally and it was such a small detail that people hardly cared. So Riot probably scrapped the reference to Phantom of the Opera and just made him into a regular phantom hallow ghost thingy.

GavranJun 6, 20141 votes

Yeah, but I think a non-skeleton Karthus would make an even better Phantom, really. In the old model the mask was definitely not very well represented, but to me the solution for that is to do an awesome job with the new one. The new sleeker Karthus could've matched the clothes style as well as the mask.

But a lot of people did like the chinese art. I just don't get why they didn't make it a separate skin instead of turning a legacy skin (so the people who wanted it can't even get it, unless they had Phantom Karthus by chance?) into it.

MansanaJun 6, 20142 votes

Completely agree. However,as of now I think Phantom might be the most favorite skin next to Pentakill and his Classic. And the only possible way to get it is via bundle, mystery gift, and possibly legacy sale during the winter holiday season.

GarentheonJun 5, 20141 votes

It's a better skin now

GavranJun 6, 20141 votes

I agree, because the VU is awesome and improves everything about Karthus. My problem isn't that it's a worse skin, it's that it's a different skin.

I'm saying two things:

I think a redone Phantom (of the Opera) skin would've been really really cool with the new model/aesthetic. I like what it is now, but I'm disappointed that it isn't that.
I'm concerned about buying skins if their content is at risk to change this dramatically. Which is why I really want a red response saying that this was a unique circumstance and not something they'll do lightly.

GarentheonJun 6, 20141 votes

That response you want is asking for too much, it's wishful thinking. They've done this before with VUs that had recolor skins, and most likely they'll do it again

GavranJun 7, 20141 votes

Have they? Could you be specific? I don't remember it happening before.

GarentheonJun 8, 20141 votes

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