Good lore complements gameplay - it does not hinder it

This whole Gangplank thing obviously has people upset, and rightfully so. I mean, this is a game where there isn't an unreasonable expectation to pay money either to play the champion or to upgrade their visuals. There's an expectation that, barring something that effects gameplay balance such as a massive bug that you should have access to content that you paid for.

Good Lore always provides a backbone and motivations for gameplay, but it never inhibits it. Using the lore to offer ingame changes (like new maps, characters, or items) is an example of superb lore. It gives people who want Lore more of it, while it gives people who came for the gameplay new playthings without tangibly removing anything else. These have all been done before in League of Legends. When you start making concessions in terms of Gameplay to make the Lore better, you've hurt the game AND the lore. We all know Gangplank isn't dead - some cheesey retcon's going to get pulled out of the air (magic, body double, missing at sea, etc.) and things will return to the status quo. The decent story that was penned out will end on a low note because of that.

You can choose between using a narrative focus or a gameplay focus, and choose to shift resources wherever. A lot of artsy game do that, and that's cool. But when you make a multiplayer game that's always had gameplay in the front seat with story riding in the rear, having story take the wheel is just bad. It would be like if that dinosaur of a game World of Warcraft had shut down the entirety of Orgrimmar for the Siege of Orgrimmar. And that game actually has a strong backbone in story, with characters developed over 4 games. Leagues Story has been a series of short stories that get a severe retcon every year.

Just sayin - from a design perspective as well as a community perspective, this whole Gangplank thing is just terrible.

Also, before it comes up - I don't play Gangplank. I don't find him fun, even after the change on his E. Nor do I find him bothersome to play against. I'm just saying, this whole thing was a bad idea, and it's a disservice to the game and the lore.