Suggestion: New Game Modes to Introduce Changes and Lore

To start off, I'd like to say I'm anxiously awaiting the changes coming in the next season. As someone who loves playing the support role or healer in multiplayer games I welcome the changes coming with open arms, but it does have me thinking.

It feels like I've been playing games that undergo changes for decades now. Whether it's pen and paper games, rogues, or mmos change has been a constant and necessary aspect of my gaming experience, and I couldn't be happier about it. Though I relish this I've always felt like the delivery of those changes has been lackluster. In many ways, and across many genres it hasn't changed much in nearly 30 years.

Lists. Notes. Text.

Don't misunderstand, I love reading. Pretty much every aspect of my life is informed by or directly affected by words. Heck I've even included a list here because I'm a fan of them. Like change, I'm more than okay with the way things are currently, but the fact is many people never bother reading patch notes.

Riot, I think you're in a perfect position to shake things up and I've got a suggestion, a suggestion that I think will kill two birds with one stone.

One of the most frequent criticisms I read or hear about League is "it changes too much", followed closely by "they don't care about their lore". Well I tend to disagree with those criticisms as reasons to dislike League of Legends (and I firmly believe you guys do care about the lore) but I don't feel they're completely without merit. The game does change a lot, and though I love the lore of Runeterra it is a little rough around the edges and definitely requires more effort to seek out than it should.

So my suggestion is the inclusion of a Story Mode. This game mode could be used as a content delivery system, allowing players to experience the lore by playing on custom maps specifically designed to explore the past and present events that have shaped Runeterra. Below is a list of things I think should be considered for this kind of feature.

-Story Mode wouldn't replace Co-Op vs AI or Custom Games-

Those would still serve their purpose because they would lack the guided experience of Story Mode. Think "theme park" vs "sandbox".

-Story Mode would be a training grounds-

Did you just unlock a new champion? Cool, now you can play through the Story Mode Campaign for that character. You can figure out their tool kit while also learning about their history and how they fit into the world of Runeterra.

-Story Mode would never affect Champion balance-

This probably doesn't need to be said, and probably doesn't need an explanation. However from past experience any game that provides both PvE and PvP content faces balancing nightmares.

So my best suggestion is Story Mode should never, ever, change the way a champion is balanced. This should actually be easier in League of Legends because the point of Story mode isn't to provide a balanced challenge as much as a place to have fun and learn about champions, lore and game changes. Which brings us to...

-Story Mode should integrate changes and lore-

Did a champion get nerfed or buffed? What happened to the brush on Summoner's Rift? These kinds of questions would be answered when a Summoner goes before the High Council of Equity, (or perhaps even a lesser agent of the council because let's be honest they have better things to do than cater to the whims of every Summoner that comes knocking).

Well there you have it, if anyone has any suggestions or comments I'd love to read them. ;)