Why Karma is Considered a VGU
Karma has a lot of problems. Her relaunch 5 years ago didn't solve problems and didn't really improve the champion. While she was considered to be the very first champion to receive a VGU, Karma was used as a lab rat for future work on champions. Riot didn't really care whether or not it was successful or unsuccessful. If this Development team cared at all about this champion during the process of her relaunch and the five years after that, they could have worked on the champion to make her better. Unfortunately that was not the case and Karma has remained in a state of delusional fantasy by this Development team that thinks her kit, theme, and art is fully conceptualized and polished.
The community and this Development team ask for detailed posts. This community and Development team doesn't want to hear hard facts and evidence that proves this relaunch was a massive failure. Here you go:
- KIT - UNSUCCESSFUL
The number one problem with Karma is her kit. Karma had charges on her Mantra abilities that made them more usable. She had a cone heal, shield bomb, Karma-like passive, and CC that was better than what we have right now. While the old Mantra abilities were fairly weak in comparison to today Mantra abilities, they at least made more sense than what we have today. All of Karma's new Mantra abilities fail in comparison to how the old ones fit more with Karma. The current Mantra abilities all fit different play-styles but don't necessarily tell us who Karma is in this game and what she is supposed to be doing.
Karma's old kit did have its problems but at the same time the current one didn't solve an issue. Karma's problem ever since the relaunch is her direction. What is Karma supposed to be exactly and why doesn't she have a kit that reflects that? Before her relaunch she was played more in the mid-lane and top lane. Even the Development team that worked on her 5 years ago admitted that she was more successful and played in top and mid lane. Karma has a directionless kit that isn't very reminiscent of what players like about her 5 years ago.
This champion has remained one of the most numbers buffed champion in LoL for years now and is only meta when something is overpowered in the itemization or her shields. It is always nerfed and and reverted a few months later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MonC8imv9fo
- ART -
Karma and her art is a walking disaster. It was changed at the last minuet, during the relaunch, because of public backlash about her dress and fans being removed. We are left with a champion in a sorry state of appearance because of poor decisions that didn't have the community in mind. The Development team did feel really bad about removing her dress and fans, but they give us art that is poorly executed by today standards. Her entire presence in game is very static, she has barely any VO or any original VO for that matter, Karma still has no shield casting and running animation, and her outfit is a cross between what looks be be a compromise between a dress and battle attire. It doesn't work.
In the early states of her art they did have really good concept art. If the Development team was going to remove her fans and dress then have the work ethic to back it up with a fully conceptualized idea. None of what they actually turned out the way they wanted it to. We have Developers like Ghostcrawler, Meddler, and Reav3s say she is perfect and the idea image of what they want her to be. In reality it is is mess and not very polished. If the Developers think this is a good representation of their art teams abilities, they really are as bad as the balance and update team.
The fans were removed for a mantle of Decorum that is very static and doesn't move with Karma. The dress was removed for an outfit that just isn't very appealing to look at. If the Development just polished the entire direction they wanted to go with Karma in the relaunch, it would be acceptable. Unfortunately that will never be the case and her art will not get looked at because in the eyes of most of these Developers, Karma's art was a massive success. Below are some early concepts for Karma during the relaunch. As you can see it didn't turn out the way they wanted because of their work ethic.
https://img00.deviantart.net/9994/i/2013/153/6/e/karma_rework_riotzeronis_by_zeronis-d67l7um.jpg
- THEME -
What is Karma's theme and direction in this game? She didn't technically have a resonating theme before the relaunch and still doesn't' have one. The new lore didn't exactly explain that either. The relaunched kit didn't really explain that either. The current art doesn't really explain that. If you ask someone who plays Karma occasionally they will say Karma has great shields, she has great early damage, she has a really OP W that heals her . . . . but this champion does it better. If you ask someone who Karma is in the lore, they wouldn't be able to do that because like everything else on her it is incomplete and hardly worked on. If you ask a player what they remember the most about Karma's art they probably wouldn't be able to tell you anything.
Before the relaunch, and to a certain extent, players knew what was amazing and iconic on Karma. What players remembered about Karma was her fans, shield bomb, dress, duchess title, and so much more. Over the years that was taken away by the relaunch and Developers like Ricklessabandon. There is absolutely nothing exciting, noteworthy, creative, and liked about current Karma's theme when she doesn't technically have one. I mean even the Developers said that they didn't expect fans to be so upset about losing her dress, shield bomb, and fans.
The real point of this thread is to point out what the relaunch did to Karma 5 years ago, what further work has been done on Karma since that five years, and what to expect with this mini-rework. No amount of work that this Development team does is going to make this champion more appealing, better to play as, fully conceptualized, and amazing that a VGU would solve. Nothing has been really done to revert horrible art, kit and thematic changes since the relaunch. Nothing has been done to communicate exactly about what is wrong with this champion in depth. When a Developer like Meddler makes a comment that Ezreal deserves a full VGU before Karma, then there is a problem. When Reav3s make a comment that Karma is a fully conceptualized champion that is amazing, then there is a problem. When Ghostcrawler fails to realize that Karma actually hits no pillars on what makes a successful champion, then there is a problem. What it boils down to is that there is a massive problem with this Development team that thinks the relaunch 5 years ago was successful and fully conceptualized, because it wasn't.
To wrap this up . . . Do I and the majority of the dedicated Karma mains feel like this mini-rework is going to put her in a amazing spot and really round out the entire relaunch? No. It isn't going to do a single thing that a VGU wouldn't solve. In reality this Development team is not going to work on her art, theme, lore, direction and most likely nothing in her kit. The mini-rework is destined to fail because the Developers didn't solve the main problem with Karma and that is her direction. The current kit, art and themetaics put on Karma didn't make her better and the work following the relaunch didn't make her better. The relaunch actually took everything that was liked about her away.
