@IronStylus: A Civil Opinion on Sivir's New Dance

PhoenixSlayer13·10/15/2013, 2:33:11 AM·9 votes·1,711 views

Mr. Parrot, if you're here on the shiny new Community Beta:

I want to start off by saying that I like pretty much everything about Sivir's rework. An excellent update all around in my opinion. However, the one thing that caught me off guard is her new dance.

You've stated that you would like to simplify dances, as at the end of the day they are simply less important than core champion movements. In this, I definitely agree. However, while dances should be kept simple, I feel that a dance should also tie in closely to the character itself.

For example, take our newest champ, Jinx. Her dance is pretty simple, yet it fits her character so damn well. It's light-hearted and goofy, just like Jinx.

I just don't get that same feeling from Sivir's new dance. It doesn't say "I am a sexy/fierce warrior woman" to me. Given her Arabian inspiration, perhaps a simple belly dance would do the trick? Hands on head, hip/stomach movement. I'm not going to pretend like I know how you rig champions at Riot, but I hope that this wouldn't be that hard to pull off. It also puts those tight abs to good use!

So, to review, a champion dance should: 1.) Be simple 2.) Connect to the character in a meaningful way

Even if it's too late at this point to change Sivir's dance, I hope that these two points can help guide future dance animation decisions.

Thanks for your time :)

14 Comments

RiotIronStylus10/15/2013, 3:23:26 AM8 votes

Excellent points. Jinx is a great example considering it a) isn't too complicated to require a ton of animation resources potentially spent somewhere else, and b) fits her personality like a glove.

I'll add one other thing which I think is important that you bring up in a sort of tangential way: It might be a case-by-case situation. Maybe a certain champion needs some complicated dance moves depending on the character. Maybe there's a core component of them that could really be shown off in a dance. A dancer champion.. we might want to have a really crazy dance on something like that.

That's an assumption, but I think it's something we can take into consideration as we do more content in this vein. With Sivir it's something to take note of in the future. We learn new things all the time when we work on a character, this being a point to learn from as well. While I still feel we've appropriately utilized our resources, especially in this case, we can take these notes into consideration in the future. Sivir's production is very much winding down and we feel she's in a really good place. We've gotten a really positive response to her look. I think we're confident in going forward even if she does have a simple dance.

Thanks a lot for your feedback! Really good points made.

Michicha10/15/2013, 2:45:32 AM4 votes

I've seen Mr. Parrot man wandering the beta and I have to say I agree with your point. Sivir seems to be a much more serious champion than a champ like jinx or zac, therefore she should have a more appropriate dance. although sivir may be a bit TOO serious? i think riots intention is to add some funnier mechanics to sivir because thats what the dance is for, fun. i found it the new dance funny, but also asked myself why riot didnt give her a more thematicaly correct dance

Gonsea10/15/2013, 6:07:37 AM2 votes

ARR, why can't I upvote

P/s: I prefer old Garen dance btw