@Riot- How do you look at both fanmade reworks and fanart as portfolio work?

Jasiwel·5/11/2016, 7:11:56 PM·3 votes·464 views

So I'm aspiring to be a game designer! And League, being one of my favorite games, has become an outlet for me to create my own reworks of champions on top of new champions that I'd love to see in the game. There are many other players who feel the same way too and, given League of Legends fan art is exceptionally popular and the League creative community loves to share, what is Riot's take on including fan-art and fan remakes in one's portfolio?

Obviously, we reference Riot Games and League of Legends in our work. What I'm referring to is how or if Riot would like us to address that reference.

Edit: If you're going to downvote, at least say why.

7 Comments

ModThe Djinn5/12/2016, 2:30:42 AM2 votes

{quoted}

So I'm aspiring to be a game designer! And League, being one of my favorite games, has become an outlet for me to create my own reworks of champions on top of new champions that I'd love to see in the game. There are many other players who feel the same way too and, given League of Legends fan art is exceptionally popular and the League creative community loves to share, what is Riot's take on including fan-art and fan remakes in one's portfolio?

It depends on what you're trying to do.

I can't speak for Riot, but I have interviewed there for a game design position, so this is based on what I think their opinion would be based on my interactions with numerous members of their design staff.

Fan art specifically might be interesting, but only from a technical perspective. If that art transcends fan art and becomes a reimagining or reworking of the character, however, I think Riot would be more interested: showing you can adapt an existing piece of IP and reimagine it in a way to is new and interesting while maintaining ties to the old incarnation is a talent that Riot can probably use on its rework teams -- see Trundle, Tristana, Gangplank, and Sion as examples.

For mechanical design, I know MY portfolio was mostly content designed for existing games (mainly RPGs), but I imagine that League kits or reworks that show understanding of game design principles and good gameplay would be intriguing. Balance suggestions or remakes of existing kits might also be of interest, but only if you really go into how and why you've made those choices, and what aspects of gameplay you're looking to accomplish.

For example: my own reapplication will probably have at least one large-scale League project attached, but it will be a 10+ page document detailing the issues I've seen with a specific champion, addressing playstyles and character fantasy, laying out several propositions for change, and then picking what I feel is the best direction. It may be overkill for a portfolio, but it's there if they're interested in reading it.

ModWuks5/11/2016, 7:35:45 PM1 votes

Depends, to be honest. So long as you distinguish what is your personal work and what your work is based off of (Riot's work), then it shouldn't be a problem. Your portfolio is there to demonstrate your skillset and talents in the form of your creations, so feel free to proudly display that, but also give credit where credit is due.