Boards›Community Creations

Let's talk about Champ Concepts (Red Reply Would Be Preferred)

ThatGuyNamedAce·3/11/2014, 2:09:32 AM·8 votes·1,714 views

Didn't know exactly where else to put this. Bump if you agree, or don't if you don't.

I am in love with this game. Really though, I spend a fairly large portion of my off time playing. I, like many many others, have made champion concepts that I feel would be nice for the game. Knowing that none of these are likely to ever reach Rioter eyes, however; makes the entire process of conceiving a champ seem pointless.

This is not to say that I think my concepts are better than others, far from it. I just have an idea. One that has most likely been thought up and shot down this far into the game's development. Why doesn't Riot hold a contest of some sort for champion creators to come together and have a shot at having their champion become a reality in the game we all love as we do? I realize the work that goes into champion production, the lore, the design phase, the voice acting, the coding, all those other things that I haven't mentioned, but are super important. But I think it would be a nice gesture from Riot to give us Champ creators a chance to shine.

Aaaaaanyway, that's my idea.
Seeya on the rift.
-Ace

18 Comments

The Neverworld3/11/2014, 10:46:42 AM7 votes

Even though I'm not a Rioter, I want to take part on this discussion. I'm creating Champion Concept since last year on March, with my first Concept about a Samurai - Because I wanted a "Real Samurai" and Yi was never supposed to be a Samurai, more of a Ronin or a fictional martial arts (slice through 6 people in an blink of a eye..).

However..

I as a guy who loves to create Concepts and already did over 34, can't say that I like the idea of some sorta "contest". Why? Here some points:

Who decides which Concept is the best? Riot? The Community? Both? Well, who can assure the most honest votes? Riot, who better wants individuality especially in kit and appearance - or the Community, who rather wants sometimes the most stupid thing only because they troll (Hey, why don't we make Helmet BRO who's in the trailer of Vel'Koz? He died in the process of the deathbeam laser, but who cares, right?)
What if I tell you, that Riot or the Community votes for the most crappiest or the not "best" Concept, even though there are tons of others? Who's even to decide which one is the better of any other? I can tell you, this will piss off more people than make them happy.
Riot, though never directly takes a Champion Concept from the Community, had taken some inspiration from the Community. For example: Community screamed for a bear - Volibear came // People screamed for a Spiderman alias Arachnehumanoid - Elise came // One guy made a Reaper who's based on Souls in 2011 - Thresh came 2013.
The process of a Champion Concept goes deeper than anyone can imagine. It doesn't just work out with a kit and a image and a lore - there needs quotes, voice actor, many weeks or even months of balancing tests, some of the ideas that were thought of in the beginning, can be or atleast will be changed during the process (For example: I think it was Volty who made Diana? Well, the one who made Diana had in mind to make her ultimate.. well

Funny thing, and I'm not sure there's ANY validity to this being a thing, but initially what turned into Moonfall (at least from a VFX standpoint, not really mechanically) was originally her ult, however it was supposed to be a channeled AOE which darkened the surrounding area where a projection of crescent moon would turn into a full moon if channeled fully. Upon the completion of the moon projection Diana would shatter the area for a boat load of true damage dumping an accumulated resource we had on her at the time called "scorn". It was interesting, but holy shit was it toxic and nearly impossible to counter. http://i.imgur.com/gb3gNMe.jpg

So what if the guy who made the Concept, doesn't like what Riot made? What if the community doesn't like it? Big hopes hard crashes.

You can't imagine how fucking honored I would be if Riot would take one of my Concepts - but this is just a dream and honestly I love Riot and League of Legends because they manage to create awesome Champions even without the help of the community - or maybe with a little help of the community, when it comes to inspiration.

DubleDice3/11/2014, 2:33:42 AM3 votes

Man, I have made so many posts like these and I of course totally agree, I feel the same way about this thread.

Even though it takes a long time to create champs with coding and what not, it takes even more time coming up with Champ concepts in the first place, this would be a WIN WIN for both the community and Riot, because we get to show our creative imagination and artistic talent, and Riot gets the benefit of having many more champs on league.

I know that Dota 2 uses this method and I am not trying to advertise it or compare it to League, but I feel that if Riot used this idea not only will their Fan base increase, but they will gain so much more opportunities to make the League of Legends community BETTER!

ModCaptainMårvelous3/11/2014, 7:24:04 PM2 votes

I have some problems with this but I'll try not to tread too much on what Neverworld said, as he does make a good amount of points:

1.) Who decides what's best? We have some designers who go above and beyond with numbers and balance but are as bare bones as it can be when it comes to characterization. Others, such as myself, go above and beyond when it comes to characterization but fall flat when they have to balance and attach numbers to a kit. So in reality there'd have to be several contests for...

Best Art/Concept
Best Lore/Characterization
Best Kit/Balance
Best Overall

Doesn't sound like much but that's four categories. Leave one of those categories out and you're left with those who are vastly upset that their category meant nothing. ("Omg that character was well balanced but the lore was garbage" or "Wow, way to pick the guy with the worst kit. Who cares about lore?" )

2.) Let me start by talking about Yasuo . Yasuo was interesting because from his conception to full realization, his entire kit was gutted. 100% nothing of his original kit remains. Why am I saying this? Because as a Champion is given life and built, things change. Sometimes it's not feasible to make this champion with the engine available. Other times it's just not working so they scrap a skill. The point here is that things change and, often, a champion doesn't much resemble their original creation. At what point will the creator feel like their original idea is lost?

3.) Champion design takes months/years. Sure, the news of a winner would flare up but quickly die down. "Oh just rush the concept ASAP" the pipeline doesn't work like that. In fact, several Rioters have said it's less like a pipeline and more like a massive maze that takes a while to clear. It's entirely possible this concept might take ages to come out into existence. While the winner would remember, it's very likely that most of the community will have forgotten.

4.) Time. Time time time. The contest itself would take forever to run. The final judgement would take even longer. And the creation-to-release would go even further. So in the end you have a massive contest that takes up the majority of Riot's year while also requiring the attention of several champion designers. Not exactly feasible for a company like Riot who has to continually pump out content and balance changes.

5.) Original Creator Rights? At what point will the original creator stop having a say in the creation? Will Riot have to hire them on to work with this? Etc.

As much fun as it'd be, it's just not feasible to do.

Rubitonabuilding3/11/2014, 4:43:08 PM1 votes

Yeah, I just got into making up champ concepts, and it seems like this would be a great idea. I'm not really into making super-detailed lore and stats for my concepts, but the process of coming up with unified kits and unique abilities/passives is a lot of fun.

A lot of Riot's contests involve art skills of some sort (that not all of us possess!). Although splash art and concept art could be included, I think it would be more about the balance and mechanics of each champion.

I'd love to have some red feedback on a couple of my champion concepts, to see what's worked in the past and what would be challenging for them to implement.

Sn00py12053/13/2014, 1:17:48 AM1 votes

I really like the idea of a contest however I also see why they would have it! I think that The Neverworld makes some really good points and That it would most likely take a whole ton of time to make and has some potential flaws. Such as who has the rights to the champion? Would riot have to ask the creator before making a skin for it? Would riot have to ask before making tweaks and changes to the champion? but still a +1 from me! :)

Also I have recently started making champion concepts and was wondering if you could check out mine?