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Why is it so hard for Riot to design non-humanoids?

Tenedria·11/19/2015, 8:10:09 PM·4 votes·1,094 views

So for those who don't know, the design team of league of legend is avoiding doing non-humanoid characters on purpose because they make them feel "uninspired"

Honestly I feel like the league of legends roster is getting to a point where designs are getting very repetitive. Like Gnar sounds original with his auto-attack boomerang, but than you realize its not that mechanically different than Kalista's auto exept that he doesn't need to press any keys to get the extra damage. Also why would his boomerang throw slows people down, seems to me like it was just thrown in there for balance's sake.

Its not even impossible to design a non-humanoid with original abilities, I mean just look at pokemon or digimon or even other games like magic the gathering. If you do a non-humanoid that can cast spells for exemple, it becomes irrelevant what body type it has. It does sound to me like maybe their design team is looking too much alike and they should try having a more varied team. I mean lately the champions do look a little more varied so that's a start but I still feel like they fail to add anything new that's actually viable. (bard heals are weak? Kindred's ult feels pointless?)

I just find it frustrating because even when they finally come up with a completely original champion, they end up not balancing it right... like when Rek'sai was made... almost no one still plays her.

Any toughs on this?

13 Comments

BetaDude4011/20/2015, 4:48:29 AM2 votes

{quoted}

So for those who don't know, the design team of league of legend is avoiding doing non-humanoid characters on purpose because they make them feel "uninspired"

Provide where any Riot employee has ever actually said this.

Also, only 4 of the 10 champions released in the past 2 years (not counting Illaoi) are "Humanoid" in appearance.

Honestly I feel like the league of legends roster is getting to a point where designs are getting very repetitive. Like Gnar sounds original with his auto-attack boomerang, but than you realize its not that mechanically different than Kalista's auto exept that he doesn't need to press any keys to get the extra damage. Also why would his boomerang throw slows people down, seems to me like it was just thrown in there for balance's sake.

If you think about it, Kalista's auto is also like Caitlyn's auto, except Caitlyn has more range and doesn't jump. Or Twitch's auto. Or, hell, anyone's auto attack. Of all the things a champion can do, auto attacks are pretty much universally the same (except, oddly enough, in Kalista's case). How they interact in each champion's kit does vary. What you're probably thinking of is the whole "three-stack hit combo", which has been used very frequently in the game. I'm not for it myself, but really there's not much wrong with it either.

Its not even impossible to design a non-humanoid with original abilities, I mean just look at pokemon or digimon or even other games like magic the gathering. If you do a non-humanoid that can cast spells for exemple, it becomes irrelevant what body type it has. It does sound to me like maybe their design team is looking too much alike and they should try having a more varied team. I mean lately the champions do look a little more varied so that's a start but I still feel like they fail to add anything new that's actually viable. (bard heals are weak? Kindred's ult feels pointless?)

I've completely lost you at this point here. Why are you comparing the artistic design of champions' abilities, and then suddenly talking about their gameplay impact? Those are two completely separate and independent departments. I'm not sure what you're trying to prove here.

I just find it frustrating because even when they finally come up with a completely original champion, they end up not balancing it right... like when Rek'sai was made... almost no one still plays her.

No champion, except for Vel'Koz and maybe (emphasis on MAYBE) Kindred, was balanced on release. All other champions, humanoid or not, have either been too strong or rarely too weak upon their release. Again, you're combining artistic design with gameplay, and I still don't get what you're trying to prove.

Çhåryzård2/23/2016, 11:07:59 PM2 votes

Gnar's boomerang is in no way like Kalista's auto attacks?

One is a spear and one is a boomerang...

Also a list non humanoids (I'm counting champs that change into animals aswell, it's still part of their model) Anivia Chogath Elise Gnar Hecarim Khazix KogMaw Nami Nidalee Nocturne Rammus RekSai Shyvana Skarner Twitch Volibear Velkoz

Elise is changes into a spider, Nid is a cat. shyvana a dragon.

Gnar is more animal-like than human like, which is also why I include nami and hecarim. Hecarim is more of a horse/monster and nami is more of a fish than actual 'human'.

Twitch isn't really a humanoid, more of a large bipedal rat (or raccoon depending on what skin ya got). He runs on all fours when he has homeguard.

Voli can walk on two legs but hes a bear (and bears can stand on 2 legs so its not really that odd)

I think they have a pretty good list so far, and Aurelion Sol just got announced. Non-humanoid champs are harder to create than humanoids as far as models go, but I think there's a pretty nice list so far.

Bard's heals are stronger depending on when you take them, and the amount healed increases as the game goes on. Also have you played/seen any good Kindreds? I've gotten out of some bad situations with it and i've saved teammates aswell.