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[OCTOBER CHAMPION CONTEST] Questions, Comments, or Predictions!

DMC75001·9/26/2014, 7:41:41 PM·3 votes·1,821 views

Hey, all! DMC7500 here with another update!

So, the September Champion Contest has ended. I was amazed at the plethora of Champion Concepts that went into the whole contest. I didn't mind that Julius didn't get into the Top 5 as I originally hoped, but I was glad that some of my friends were able to secure the top five spots in the contest! Kudos to all of you for joining!

http://img.pandawhale.com/57451-Jim-Carrey-Riddler-upvote-gif-NVsA.gif

As the October Champion Contest comes closer than before, I want to create a little discussion that focuses on the core aspects of the contest. Also, I want this to be a hub for other champion artists to socialize and comment on what may the contest will hold for them.

While reading or commenting on this article, keep a few questions in mind.

Questions:

  1. What is your motivation for creating champions, and why? Do you follow a specific design set or do you make up stuff as you go along?
  1. How does the influences of lore and rivalries in the League of Legends influence your champion design? Also, when designing kits, do you keep the champion persona in thought or do you make modifications or create an entirely different champion kit?
  1. When judging a champion, what is the main things you tend to look for when analyzing a champion concept?
  1. What inspirations in real life or in other video games, televisions shows, or other references influence your champion designs?
  1. What do you value above everything else in creating your champion? Story? Lore? Interactions? Gameplay?

Also, don't forget to comment on these new topics!

Comments:

  1. Sion, after a long awaited delay, receives his visual update! Also, his gameplay has drastically changed from his original kit! How does this affect champion creation for Riot and you other champion concept artists?
  1. The Champions are going through a massive texture rebalancing, updating skin visuals and effects!
  1. The 2014 League Championship Series is underway, with the creation of the Season 1 Winner's Skins, Fnatic! Does the Championship series help influence your League champion designs?

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to comment, upvote, and spread the word about the October Champion Concept Contest! All I can say for parting words is.....

#GLHF2014OCTOBERCHAMPIONCONTESTENTRANTS

** See you all on the Boards of Justice!!!!!**

38 Comments

Flintfall9/26/2014, 8:03:03 PM2 votes

"Board of Justice" hue

What is your motivation for creating champions, and why? Do you follow a specific design set or do you make up stuff as you go along?

I want to create characters that are both unique, memorable, and fun to play/be around. Most of my ideas I come up with randomly, then go through a verrrry long incubating process (Shrike and Kawpra are exceptions though).

How does the influences of lore and rivalries in the League of Legends influence your champion design? Also, when designing kits, do you keep the champion persona in thought or do you make modifications or create an entirely different champion kit?

I might make some rivalries, but having a champion concept closely attached to a live one is tricky business.

Personality and thematics have a huge place in my kits (hopefully), when I design a kit I always think about how that champion would go about doing something. For example Gnarr loves to stalk his prey and terrorize them, while Kawpra is a lot more aggresive and would just fling himself at you.

When judging a champion, what is the main things you tend to look for when analyzing a champion concept?

This is most applicable since I've judged before :P

I actually look for a strong unified theme first actually, along with general effort put into the post. That doesn't mean I haven't upvoted a post simply for the kit or for the lore, but the concept gets infinitely cooler if it's engaging (lore mostly).

What inspirations in real life or in other video games, televisions shows, or other references influence your champion designs?

#Do not even get me started....

I have so many references and inspirations you're gonna have to be champion specific.

However I can share some of my most personal connections.

#The Harvester

http://i.imgur.com/molZU7J.png

He stems from a personal fear of mine actually. I was afraid of the dark when I was younger, mainly because I always felt something was watching me, waiting to eat me when I let my guard down.

So in a lot of ways The Harvester is really a physical manifestation of that fear, and judging by all the upvotes on it Gnarr also seems to strike a distinct primal fear in you guys as well.

#Shrike

http://i.imgur.com/zctdAvN.png

I just noticed how I get Randy to commission all the personal stuff :P

I've always wanted to fly, not really high altitude but to see the sky from eye level so to speak. I am fascinated with the sky, and it be a bit weird but a good sky leaves me breathless, it makes me want to soar among the clouds.

Shrike is kinda what I'm shooting for, loves flying (albeit in a more extreme manner) and being in the sky, which is where I hope to be someday outside of commercial flights.

What do you value above everything else in creating your champion? Story? Lore? Interactions? Gameplay?

Story and lore without a doubt, thematics also tie in nicely. They're my favorite parts of a concept each and every time!

tau439/26/2014, 9:20:40 PM2 votes

When I make a champion, I use the Clint Eastwood approach, "Well, I'd play it." (which probably why Jack didn't do so well). For lore, I gun for original, intermingled canon (i.e. Ferrum). I feel like I over did it with Jack (again, explains a lot). For abilities I bounce ratios off of friends, and decide the cooldowns accordingly.

Secluded Death9/27/2014, 2:35:26 AM1 votes

What is your motivation for creating champions, and why? Do you follow a specific design set or do you make up stuff as you go along?

Motivation? I would probably have to say watching my ideas ACTUALLY piece together in a uniform matter. I enjoy seeing something that doesn't exist coming into life; something new becoming something existing. When I see new things, I //Get Excited//.

I don't really understand the second part, but I will try my best to answer it. When I work on a character, I get an idea of what I want him/her/it to be and try my best to create a concept that emphasizes their unique personalities or themes while trying to incorporate unique mechanics as well; trying to bring something new to the table.

How does the influences of lore and rivalries in the League of Legends influence your champion design? Also, when designing kits, do you keep the champion persona in thought or do you make modifications or create an entirely different champion kit?

I don't know the lore of champions very well (like, not at all). If I want a champion to be related to another champion, I tend to look over their lore and try to make it fit. If not, I don't go into details and write off of personality; write in a way that seems plausible based on a character's theme rather than getting into facts that I don't know about.

When I design kits I believe capitalizing on personality is the most important thing. What makes Riot's champions engaging and more fun to play vs. other characters in similar games is the fact that you feel like you are the champion that you are playing/. Jinx wasn't a huge hit because she had 3 weapons, she was popular because she had 3 weapons with a mental personality wrapped up in an extreme ego. A character's personality is generally why a character gets played. The less personal characters tend to get underplayed even if they are strong (look what happened to Poppy).

When judging a champion, what is the main things you tend to look for when analyzing a champion concept?

At first, I look for a thematic fit making sure the character and his/her/it's abilities fit with what the designer is trying to go far. Second, I look for abilities that don't feel like they have been copy-pasted from an already made champion (incidental or not). They can be similar, but they need to have a unique feel that makes the ability BELONG to the character. Lastly, I look at ability statistics only after the other two criteria have been fulfilled, but I don't go into detail here since it's pretty much arbitrary.

What inspirations in real life or in other video games, televisions shows, or other references influence your champion designs?

Oh, dear lord. Everything. Music, character splash arts (2D), color schemes, Anime. But mostly, its a combination of music and character splash arts with Anime in 2nd place.

What do you value above everything else in creating your champion? Story? Lore? Interactions? Gameplay?

Personality and gameplay. Sometimes, you just need lore to explain a character's personality, but with correct wording, you can get a feel for a champion with just their abilities (Jinx and Sion rework being prime examples).

This was fun :). If you don't mind me plugging in a few of my concepts (feel free to discuss), here they are: Weiss, the Forgotten Marx, One of the Seven Elite Jin, the Demon Half-Breed Varik, the Last Sentinel

dialMARK4acti0n9/29/2014, 4:41:36 PM1 votes

Hey DMC! How's it going?

What is your motivation for creating champions, and why? Do you follow a specific design set or do you make up stuff as you go along?

You know... I'm not really sure myself. But I love League and I love creating stuff myself to see the end results and then show it to other people. It's also a pretty good way to put my artistic and writing mettle to the test.

I usually start a concept when something that I remember out of the blue strikes me as interesting and I go from that. Wheter it be a Lore or Gameplay idea. Basically, I work off of epiphanies.

How does the influences of lore and rivalries in the League of Legends influence your champion design? Also, when designing kits, do you keep the champion persona in thought or do you make modifications or create an entirely different champion kit?

Lore and rivalries in League of Legends influence me A LOT!!! I really love that type of stuff. I love how Garen and Darius are sworn rivals. I love how Rumble has a crush on Tristana. I love how Zed and Shen have an antagonic relationship toward one another. These types of relationships really turn me on!

So I like making my concepts so that they relate to other champions. Zeph's powers come from Ao Shin mainly. And I'm currently working on Lucian's best friend/partner, and a dude that has a huge crush on Jinx.

The dynamic between a champion's personality and gameplay is always a priority for me. This is why I love Vi so much. Personality: Punch stuff! Gameplay: Punch stuff!

When judging a champion, what is the main things you tend to look for when analyzing a champion concept?

While I never judged a champion besides the one that are actually in the game, I can say that thematic and gameplay cohesion, interesting mechanics, coll yet mysterious lore, are the main things I look at when deciding who I'm gonna main.

What inspirations in real life or in other video games, televisions shows, or other references influence your champion designs?

EVERYTHING!!! Literally! Anything I can draw inspiration from I do. Movies, TV, Real Life, History, NAME IT! This way I usually end up creating something very unique, yet still feeling original... If the inspirations mesh well together. But, for example, Zeph stemmed off of a little bit of Avatar, a little bit of Storm and a little bit of "What if there was a weather master champion in LoL...? He could ride a cloud!! Wait, I need to write this down!"

What do you value above everything else in creating your champion? Story? Lore? Interactions? Gameplay?

Good question. Interactios are pretty fun but not what I value most. What I value most is Gameplay, since a champion concept is a concept for a videogame character. I love Twisted Fate, for example, and play him from time to time. I love his personality. BUT I LOATHE HIS LORE SO MUCH!!! Still, I value that. I mean... I do hate the bloody thing! But, sometimes a champion's story can make me love him more.