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A League of Legends RPG

Bettiqua··14 votes·12,528 views

Besides having fun times playing with my friends, one of my favorite things about League is its lore—the setting, the rules of the universe, the arching plots tied to its locales, and (of course) its characters. It's something I spend a good amount of time reading up on whenever they come out with something new, or when the mood strikes, and I enjoy thinking about the possibilities for all the different stories in the world. But sometimes it's during that daydreaming that I get a little sad at the thought that, because of the always-updating-but-generally-status-quo-keeping League of Legends' gameplay model, it'd be a little hard to have any cool, dramatic events or anything to happen in the lore that didn't hugely impact the game somehow (like how Gangplank "died" in the Bilgewater update, but didn't actually die, since that'd call for removing him from the game, lol).

So I got around to thinking—what would need to happen for there to be large-scale events to happen in Runeterra without affecting League of Legends too much? And what I finally came up with was why not make another game? Something like an RPG, maybe?

Now, obviously no game company just simply makes a whole new game. Riot's always constantly having to worry about balancing League as is, while making new characters/working on champion reworks in the process. But I was thinking specifically of the Star Guardian event with the special PvE game mode. I loved that game mode. It was really fun to just play with some friends and not worry about anyone getting tilted or anything because someone on the enemy team did or said something obnoxious. (Well, there was some swearing at some rather persistent Voidlings, but...) I would be just as happy with the League of Legends gameplay/engine in a League-universe-based RPG as I would with a whole new game design.

It just feels like a shame that the creative department puts so much effort and care into these characters and into this world, but a lot of people don't really notice it. It has so much potential to be something great, but it's limited by the game itself. So, a game where the only limit is the team's imagination? I'd absolutely love to see that.

TL;DR: League of Legends has such a rich lore that it just seems sad to not have a separate experience dedicated to it, don'tcha think? I'm not trying to demand it or anything, it's totally up to Riot. I guess I just wanted to express interest in it, let Riot know that there'd be some people who'd love it, you know?

22 Comments

MrHaZeYo6 votes

I'd be down if they did.

Teridax686 votes

{quoted}

Now, obviously no game company just simply makes a whole new game.

This is literally what every game company does if they want to keep going. Riot and their one game are an exception in this respect, one that may confirm the rule.

As for the main topic, I'd absolutely love a League RPG. At this point, my favorite part of League is the universe, and the immensely rich potential for storytelling that it has. I want to explore Shurima, the Freljord, Ionia, Zaun, and interact with the people there, including perhaps champions, but also just ordinary people off the street. There is also potential for an immense variety of powers and abilities, including various branches of magic but also hextech, chemtech, petricite, and so on, all of which could make for a combat and interaction system unmatched in diversity.

However, even with all of this, I would perhaps not want this to be implemented in an actual videogame. As others have mentioned, MMOs are notoriously expensive to create and maintain, as well as supremely risky, and even singleplayer RPGs like Skyrim require a vast amount of developer resources to do right. Because of this, I'd instead be really interested in having a League pen-and-paper RPG, a la DnD. Because the pen-and-paper medium is so freeform, to the point of allowing for essentially literally any story to be told, especially if the core systems are robust, it could be a great way of having players generate amazing ideas for evolutions to the universe based off of their own campaign. If one group of players decided to make a campaign based around the political games of Noxus, for example, that could be the perfect catalyst to incorporate it into League and have it spark a civil war. Similarly, if a couple players decided to roleplay the meeting between Diana and Nami, that story could then be incorporated into League's universe. It could become a phenomenal lore-creation engine that would allow players to influence League's story in a manner that wouldn't really be as possible in a more structured (and limited) videogame, and even the stories that don't influence the canon could still lead to interesting "what if?" scenarios for all to experience.

XxDRAGONsAK47xX4 votes

The only people who vote no are uncultured.

Lkain20051 votes

{quoted}

The only people who vote no are uncultured.

no one voted voted no

nasu0103 votes

Agreed since the fall of wow all MMOs have taken a dive the idea of an RPG is good but the way in which to implement it is the question leauge has no chill just battle after battle which gets boring after a while so we should brainstorm this; that 5 player rpg sounds interesting would like to see something like that maybe it could be like a dragon age concept open field but limited map would make it possible to roll out a beta and expand after updates on lore and new champs hmmmm I'm liking this

Pokemario983 votes

I would love a single-player RPG based on LoL.

I doubt Riot could manage an MMO, since they couldn't even get Clash to work this year. I would definitely give it a try if they to manage to make one that works, though.

Busty Demoness2 votes

Only way I see Riot doing said RPG is as a Dungeons and Dragons campaign (or something to that effect).

And an MMO would not only be better for delivering more lore, there's the issue that it has to compete with two titans of MMOs WoW and FF14.

Bettiqua4 votes

[{quoted}](name=Busty Demoness,realm=NA,application-id=yrc23zHg,discussion-id=6W8RZx7A,comment-id=0004,timestamp=2018-04-23T00:18:38.130+0000)

Only way I see Riot doing said RPG is as a Dungeons and Dragons campaign (or something to that effect).

And an MMO would not only be better for delivering more lore, there's the issue that it has to compete with two titans of MMOs WoW and FF14.

Hmm, as far as lore delivering goes, I think an MMO would have the same issue League of Legends itself has of needing to keep the status quo. Sure, some minor things could change (the environment changing in WoW, or some NPCs no longer being around in FFXIV), but nothing major like you see in some regular RPGs like the single-player Final Fantasy games or Tales of games.

But, heh, I wouldn't argue against them doing a D&D campaign with the League lore. :^)

Project Xayah2 votes

You know, I distinctly remember one of the Rioters saying something about a concept for an "elder scrolls style RPG" based around Quinn's time in the Freljord at some point. Never could find that comment again, but that very much appealed to me, and no doubt would be a good option to consider.

Papa Stalin 142 votes

An RPG Would be Awsome some my Friends were thinking of making our own fantasy universe but using Runeterra as a foundation for our map.

Renna Tempesta2 votes

I like this idea very much. I would love to play RPG in the world of LoL. Unlike some others in this discussion, I did not read lores and other stuff. Just watched all videos like the one with Sivir and Azir. And I am interested in lore and characters, but I am veeeery picky when it comes to reading. I am eather very passionate reader, or bored one :D So if there was RPG in style of FFXIII, (whitch I played and enjoyed despite of many disliking linearity of the game) where you can switch between several characters in the party and go through story with them, that would be my favorite LoL storytelling. That would be PERFECT! ^w^

MagicFlyingLlama1 votes

It would be nice, but the MMO industry is dying right now.

Casuals ruined it, nobody wants to commit to a subscription MMO anymore, and non-sub MMOs cant stay alive without being brutally P2W (BDO) or devoid of funding/content (GW2, ESO).

The one exception is FFXIV, unless you count the slowly rotting hulk of WoW. I dont think Riot has the money and manpower to challenge them, or any interest in doing so. Riot is not going to make a low-quality product just to cash in.

Crett3 votes

i don't think OP was talking about MMOs

Bettiqua8 votes

{quoted}

It would be nice, but the MMO industry is dying right now.

Casuals ruined it, nobody wants to commit to a subscription MMO anymore, and non-sub MMOs cant stay alive without being brutally P2W (BDO) or devoid of funding/content (GW2, ESO).

The one exception is FFXIV, unless you count the slowly rotting hulk of WoW. I dont think Riot has the money and manpower to challenge them, or any interest in doing so. Riot is not going to make a low-quality product just to cash in.

OH, I'm not talking about MMOs, I was thinking a single-player RPG, or maybe an up-to-5-person co-op RPG, haha. I doubt an MMO would do spectacularly well either.

MagicFlyingLlama1 votes

{quoted}

OH, I'm not talking about MMOs, I was thinking a single-player RPG, or maybe an up-to-5-person co-op RPG, haha. I doubt an MMO would do spectacularly well either.

Even less likely, and little reason to shoehorn that into the LoL universe.

Oleandervine4 votes

{quoted}

Even less likely, and little reason to shoehorn that into the LoL universe.

Diablo 3 would have words with you.

Vacus1 votes

{quoted}

Diablo 3 would have words with you.

Why not pick a good ARPG as an example?

The only reason Diablo 3 sold anything at all is because Diablo 2 was so good. Reaper of Souls made it playable, but it's still not something I'd call a success story.

Oleandervine1 votes

{quoted}

Why not pick a good ARPG as an example?

The only reason Diablo 3 sold anything at all is because Diablo 2 was so good. Reaper of Souls made it playable, but it's still not something I'd call a success story.

I picked Diablo 3 because if I was picking action RPGs out of a hat, and wanted something that the most people would be familiar with, it's Diablo 3. Plus, it has lots of elements of coop play where you can boot into your friend's games and quest with them, just like the person I was responding to was scoffing at. I understand there may be better action RPGs out there, but Diablo 3 is isometric, like League, and a new game like it would present a very similar, yet different experience.

Vacus1 votes

{quoted}

I picked Diablo 3 because if I was picking action RPGs out of a hat, and wanted something that the most people would be familiar with, it's Diablo 3. Plus, it has lots of elements of coop play where you can boot into your friend's games and quest with them, just like the person I was responding to was scoffing at. I understand there may be better action RPGs out there, but Diablo 3 is isometric, like League, and a new game like it would present a very similar, yet different experience.

Fair answer. I may complain about D3, but it's still got the name recognition.

BlueVestGuy1 votes

Some people made a league of legends themed pokémon fangame, if that's your thing.

rh3yd1 votes

The main issue is the constant lore changes. If life can be set in stone then it could be a staple of League. It does not have to be fancy even a retro style one would satisfy those that appreciate the universe. It could even be used to drop hints about upcoming champions; tied in to special events on the moba side, etc. Factions can be chosen by players based on regions and champs are obviously chosen based on this regions. There is unlimited potential and it sells that wow is dying but maybe the lore there is not as captivating or has become stagnant.

poeptineenschoen1 votes

There's no way they would not take the opportunity to attract an even bigger playerbase. It's coming, 2019 will be the year baby.

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