Would you play an MMORPG based around Runeterra's lore?

kattzkitti·Nov 19, 2017·82 votes·2,602 views

Tryndamere stated they intend to branch out into other games, creating an MMORPG around their already fairly well established world seems like it would be a no-brainer.

Question is, would anyone really play it over the competition?

Would they adopt a free to play model (likely with optional "premium" service), or would they get saucy and try their hand at a full-featured subscription model (which could work, due to the existing fanbase)?

Makes one think. I'd probably give it a go if they went with free to play, there's a lot of potential in this world they've built.

62 Comments

Balderdash1000Nov 19, 201713 votes

I think it's a bad idea. Not because I think the world wouldn't be interesting. Just because it seems like if would get frustrating when they keep making random changes to the lore while you're inside the game. If Riot ever gets over their "It sounds cooler this way" mentality then we might be able to make something work. Until then..

5000000000000000Nov 20, 20172 votes

I guess this is only possible after fully fleshed out universe. It will probably eat into the design space, though. Like if we had the MMO before Ornn's release. How are we hearing about the legends of a demigod who are equals with Anivia and Volibear just now? Zoe is understandable, since she was missing for a 1000 years. Or Kindred, who everyone's supposed to be familiar with already. It makes sense for League, but probably not for MMO.

SkorchNov 20, 20172 votes

Not necessarily, take WoW for existence. There are quite a few islands that just kind of "Hello we are undiscovered" Or you BARELY heard of in the warcraft 3 lore

5000000000000000Nov 20, 20171 votes

Undiscovered areas make sense. A character that everyone in the universe (except the players) knows but never talked about before doesn't really make sense. In that case, we'd at least know about it beforehand.

SkorchNov 20, 20171 votes

My response is... maybe? I am not the BIGGEST lore nerd of WoW so i cant tell you WoW specific characters in recent expansions, from established ones in the lore.

There is a lot of easy ways to introduce new champions in MMO lore as well. Lets go with recently. Reworks dont matter too much, because if MMOs had completely flowing storylines Vul'jin wouldntve been flat VGUd like he did. But as for champions. Ornn, basically a demigod that just left his mountain. Just a folklore, it could be teased just like it is in league Kayn, student of Zed, most people probably dont know of him anyway Xayah and Rakan, vigilantes for vastayah in ionia, incredoubly secretive. Ivern, just left the forest.

Similar to new expansions being discovered, New people and important figures get shoved in all the time.

And thats even IF champions would be important at all. Sure some might be at the head of a town, or a quest giver. But the champions of LoL when it comes to a HUGE OVERARCHING PLOT are just a really REALLY small part.

For instance all we know about K6 is that hes a voidling. For all we know there are a million K6s But since hes a champion he feels more important than he probably is.

If you want to shoehorn champions like Asol, or the ascended in. Discoveries. easy. A new tomb in the depths of shurima as encovered people are busy studying the hieroglyphics what will it reveal (a new ascended)

Im not saying you are technically wrong. But MMOs do things like that all the time, and its such a low part of MMOs that in all honesty would just make lore people upset.

Electro522Nov 20, 20174 votes

My response to that would be that the MMO would update at a far slower pace than League does.

Riot updates League constantly in order to keep the meta from going stale. If they didn't, League would have died off long ago.

With an MMO, however, you don't need to do that, as long as you have enough in-game content to keep the players happy for an extended period of time.

So, for lore changes and champions that don't affect the entire world (like, a new void creature, or someone like Kayn who lives in the shadow (no pun intended) of another champ), you can easily put to the side until you feel it's an appropriate time to add them in.

As for champs that do affect the entire world (like Zoe, ASoL, or Kindred)...is where things can get a bit tricky. They could bring back special in-game events focused around them. Also, with champ releases slowing down, it's very possible that they could coordinate the release of a champ with in game event in the MMO. Otherwise......there may just need to be some exceptions made.

ahferroin7Nov 20, 20171 votes

The problem is that the lore is changing constantly, not that LoL is. For an MMO to work, it has to have consistent and stable lore that only changes in infrequent big events. Take a look at Neverwinter for example, their lore has only changed as drastically as League's does once, and that was concurrent with an insanely large gameplay update and the only ever increase to the level cap. Most other MMO's are similar, they only update the lore in the way Riot typically does on a very infrequent basis, if at all.

Unlike a MOBA, MMO's pretty heavily rely on the story. Imagine trying to read a book where half the characters back stories are suddenly completely different every other chapter, it gets impossible for normal people to track, and therefore the story becomes irrelevant. The only way a story like that can work in a MMO is if it's truly episodic, but such MMO's are arguably not MMO's, since the episodic nature removes most of the things that make it an RPG in the first place.

Electro522Nov 20, 20173 votes

Except.....it's not changing? Or it is, just not in the way you think.

Riot is still working through their retcon they did a few years back. There are still plenty of champs who are intrinsically linked to the now non-existent Institute of War. It only feels like the lore is constantly changing because they keep on updating the champs and regions from the retcon. Once we have all of the old lore out, you'll start to see a far more streamlined story.

Just look at how well fleshed out Shurima, Piltover, Zaun, Mount Targon, Bilgewater, and the Shadow Isles are now. Thanks to Galio, Demacia is now far more fleshed out than it was, and I am certain Noxus will get a massive update once Swain's VGU hits.

Ionia is still kind of a gray area, but slowly getting more fleshed out with every passing week. The Freljord had a nice foundation laid down all the way back during Lissandra's release, but since that was before the retcon, and, frankly, still when the Journal's of Justice were still coming out, it could do with a little more work.....something we got to see with Ornn. There are also other minor areas that have yet to get updated/removed such as the Kumungu Jungles, and the Voodoo lands (those may very well get removed entirely, since only Annie's lore references them).

So, yes, the lore is constantly changing, but it's changing into a far more fleshed out, and complete experience......if that makes sense.

ahferroin7Nov 24, 20171 votes

Agreed (although this is still the poorest excuse for a retcon I've ever seen, considering that they kept most of the old lore around until they decided on new lore for the character). Despite that, there are still drastic changes happening (Demacia is more fleshed out, but the background is significantly different from the honor-bound nation of noble knights it was originally portrayed as). Until things stabilize to the point that every champ is using the new lore, then they can't realistically support an MMO. Given the number of events they seem to like doing, it's not likely the lore will remain consistent enough even after that point to support an MMO that is reasonably playable by people who don't have the level of concentration required to keep track of things like the various threads of lore in the DC multiverse.

Balderdash1000Nov 20, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Paleo Electro,realm=NA,application-id=A8FQeEA8,discussion-id=sp4wvKmW,comment-id=00000002,timestamp=2017-11-20T17:09:56.429+0000)

My response to that would be that the MMO would update at a far slower pace than League does.

Riot updates League constantly in order to keep the meta from going stale. If they didn't, League would have died off long ago.

With an MMO, however, you don't need to do that, as long as you have enough in-game content to keep the players happy for an extended period of time.

So, for lore changes and champions that don't affect the entire world (like, a new void creature, or someone like Kayn who lives in the shadow (no pun intended) of another champ), you can easily put to the side until you feel it's an appropriate time to add them in.

As for champs that do affect the entire world (like Zoe, ASoL, or Kindred)...is where things can get a bit tricky. They could bring back special in-game events focused around them. Also, with champ releases slowing down, it's very possible that they could coordinate the release of a champ with in game event in the MMO. Otherwise......there may just need to be some exceptions made.

I was thinking more along the lines of when they changed stuff. Like the way Warwick no longer has any tie to Soraka after the Warwick rework. They do stuff like that all the time, and while they're not all as big as removing the league of legends from existence there's a constant stream of small changes that have no explanation that would have to be accounted for.

KendröneNov 20, 20172 votes

Imagine playing an MMORPG by Riot, You a random stranger in the world of Runeterra. You are from (Insert Origin here Demacia-Noxus-Freljord etc.) You in fact are a (Insert champion role here, Assassin-Marksman-Fighter etc.) and you find out of this League Of Legends and plan to join. You journey off to join this League Of Legends and stumble upon an old man, a man with a hefty beard, broad shoulders, heavy plated armor and a cloak covering said armor. As he stands, he uses what appears to be a large broadsword, as a cane, he introduces himself as Garen. You remember the name Garen as you read it upon discovering the League of Legends. "The Might of Demacia" You mutter. And Garen pauses for a moment and says, "I am no longer that man. Now I am only Garen." This is how the game starts

LordForrestNov 21, 20171 votes

https://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Popcorn-go-on.gif

DariusDemiurgeNov 20, 20177 votes

No because riot would make a bad game.

Yes, if I can stand next to Morgana in noxus all day. ^_^

kattzkittiNov 20, 20172 votes

{quoted}

Yes, if I can stand next to Morgana in noxus all day. ^_^

Can't imagine why you wouldn't be able to. The champs have lives in their homes / the real world outside the Rift.

Chembaron YamadaNov 20, 20174 votes

Give me the ability to craft hextech/augment myself and I'm sold.

notice me Sin piNov 20, 20174 votes

i would play it, but making such MMORPG would be very bad move in terms of business; the target audience of the MMORPG would be the current league players, so it would create a wierd situation where the MMORPG is competing against league of legend.

it's actually not a no-brainer to have those kind of new game

Electro522Nov 20, 20171 votes

Not really. Both games would be developed by Riot. Would League loose numbers? Yes, but those numbers would still be customers of Riot, and so, they wouldn't lose any money.

If anything, they'd actually make more off of people who move from League to the MMO, since it would very likely be a more expensive game.

notice me Sin piNov 20, 20171 votes

one significant effect of such [New Game!] would be increased queue times for league of legends due to the lowered number of people queueing. Which actually may result in loss of customers on the long term.

Even if no one were to quit due to the increased queue times, development of such game would also cost a lot of money as well, which will translate to loss of money if the MMORPG players were to not spend as much money. If riot wants to make net profit from such game, i think their hopes would mostly be on season 1~6 veterans who quit league years ago.

im no business/economics major so correct me if im wrong; im pretty sure there are a lot of economic effects that im unaware of, and failed to mention.

ChaosedgeNov 20, 20174 votes

Well that brings up a whole lot of questions that people (customers/developers) have to ask themselves. How extensive do we want that character creation? Do we introduce the already existing champions? What about the combat system? Although I have to admit, I would be EXTREMELY interested to see where this goes

Moonfall SaberNov 20, 20171 votes

I really liked the combat system in Kingdom Hearts. Why has no other games done that yet?

ChaosedgeNov 20, 20171 votes

The KH combat system in an MMO would be too hectic and there would be no way to balance it unfortunately.

Relia FortuneNov 20, 20174 votes

Bilgewater for sure! I'd love to see something along Miss Fortune and Gangplank's lore.

ShaftyMegeeNov 20, 20173 votes

Ive always wanted Riot to expand on the lore, and if they were to do that through a MMORPG I would be delighted.

CasterGilgameshNov 20, 20173 votes

idk about MMO but i would play if an RPG kinda like skyrim was made from the league of legends lore (it doesnt need to be a copy of skyrim i was just using it as an example)

starelementpokeNov 20, 20172 votes

I would be fucking all over that shit. If I had to pay though, a single tear would be shed.

ViciousSummonerNov 20, 20172 votes

Depends on how good the pvp is. If pvp is bad then it's a pass.

Moonfall SaberNov 20, 20171 votes

R.I.p resilience in wow

GG Thanks For LPNov 20, 20172 votes

If i could be jayce sure

Jerry SeinfeIdNov 20, 20172 votes

No. Every single mmo i've played Has just been the same "grind these monsters to grind beter monsters" thing except for runescape. Atleast that had some form of decent quests/variety in grind. But even that takes waaay too much of my time to achieve nothing imo.

I'd much rather see an (action) RPG or a tactics RPG like divinity original sin2. Where you're free to let the player do w/e they want without needing to balance it around online play.

Wandering BardoNov 20, 20172 votes

Apart from the fact I am already very much enjoying GW2, I would only play other/new MMORPGs if they have a diminutive race to play as which is not a gnome or other WoW shit (read as: Wannabe J.R.R Tolkien world).

I have a Lalafell, I have an Asura, and my first character here was Tristana. If Yordles are playable, it would be mostly a yes.

FutureCreatorNov 20, 20172 votes

Hell no, I'd love an RPG with the current lore, but MMOs are not good at making immersive worlds.

DauthiSlayerNov 20, 20171 votes

I disagree to an MMO of Runeterra. What would be more interesting would be if they did a single or multiplayer open world game. Mischief and destruction Jinx. Diana the heretic attempting to stop the Void assault on Runeterra, while learning more of the Lunari. Camille, the assassin of Piltover. Gragas and Yasuo drunk time adventures. Ashe, Sejuani, and Lissandra battle of Frejyord or however it is spelled. Caitlyn and Vi crime fighters. Maokai and the cleansing of the twisted treeline or shadow isles. Mordekaiser and whatever mysterious quest he never did or what not, possibly fulfilling his all time ambition of punting Teemo in the Pentakill video, could be solved. Irelia and the fight against the Noxian invasion. Garen and Katarina, the odd lovers. stuff like that.

EkyonKunNov 20, 20171 votes

I'd like it this way. You get to create your own character (Duh) Be it a mage, archer, warrior, thief, cosmic beholder, aspect, whatever, and you get to explore the map and do quests for the champions where you can find them in appropriate areas. If something is "larger than life" (Cho'gath, Malphite, Aurelion Sol, etc) they could just make them large, but not so large that you can't interact with them. Maybe give a magically wonderful reason how they're smaller than usual. Cho'gath could be hilarious because the reason is he hasn't eaten anything yet xD

I think a downside to all this is there couldn't be in-depth dialogue unless they somehow managed to get literally every single voice actor for every single champion to come in to do it. It seems...unlikely, but possible? So it'd probably end up either being 100% muted voice acting by champions, or else just various pre-existing sound clips. I think the latter would at least be a bit better.

If a Runeterra MMORPG did exist, you bet I'd at least give it a try. Though, I do agree it'd be weird for Riot to make a game competing with themselves...

MythPuppyNov 20, 20171 votes

I would only try it if yordles were a playable class

devdev463Nov 20, 20171 votes

Fuck mmorpgs, there's a reason they died like 7-10 years ago. Unless they have some way to shake up the formula of a standard mmorpg significantly I would hate to see them making one tbh. They are expensive to make, and their audience is very niche.

ChaosedgeNov 20, 20171 votes

"died like 7-10 years ago". LOL I don't think you're with the times my friend. FFXIV and WoW are still very much alive.

Praetor NotoriasNov 20, 20171 votes

No. They've changed the lore so much most of it is unrecognizable to me.

BartekrabitNov 20, 20171 votes

i would if i would be able to play as the lol champions and have their skills summoner 14

NoblewindNov 20, 20171 votes

Like always a cool concept but I don't find the gameplay of MMORPGs that appealing

WiegrafOfValorNov 20, 20171 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq_Fm7qfRQk

But seriously tho, it must have the same movement and gameplay as league has now. "Q-W-E-R + Passive, mouse movement, maybe skills can be customized on those shortcuts.

WheatloafNov 20, 20171 votes

I'd 100% be interested in playing one, especially made by Riot.

I'm a lot less certain that they'd make one, though. First of all, they're still working on sorting out their lore. Second of all, put simply, and massively understated, making an MMORPG is hard.

Late For TeaNov 20, 20171 votes

As cool as it would be, no, because it just wouldn't be a good game. Riot has the mentality of not adding anything that doesn't bring in revenue (e.g. not bringing back butcher's bridge, being incredibly slow with bringing back old game modes). They'd be too lazy to make a proper, fun to play, engaging MMORPG.

ªTeemoNov 20, 20171 votes

It would probably have lootboxes that let you unlock the play button and the settings button and the server select button since riot is evolving.

FakeGravityNov 20, 20171 votes

given how the lore is slowly shapping i think no mmorpg could leave to the expectations

Doctor FillgoodNov 21, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Tryndamere stated they intend to branch out into other games, creating an MMORPG around their already fairly well established world seems like it would be a no-brainer.

Question is, would anyone really play it over the competition?

Would they adopt a free to play model (likely with optional "premium" service), or would they get saucy and try their hand at a full-featured subscription model (which could work, due to the existing fanbase)?

Makes one think. I'd probably give it a go if they went with free to play, there's a lot of potential in this world they've built.

I love MMOs. I love League Lore for the most part.

If Riot didn't run this, yeah I would play it 100%.

If they did, I feel like they'd pull this same cheap EA bullshit they're pulling now.

Shepherd o SoulsNov 21, 20171 votes

They should make a card game, if they make a game based off league lore. Easy to do and you can drag in a lot of players.

Old Man TeetoNov 21, 20171 votes

ROFL.

No.

This game has STORIES, not fleshed out close to reasonable lore. Some of the stories are damn good (Gangplank event a while back), even Braum's mini-comic story was fantastic, but they're as poorly interconnected as a Twilight fan-fic written after drinking too much scotch.

fugertechNov 21, 20171 votes

Have you browsed the Wiki recently? There's a ton of lore for Runeterra and the different regions/city-states there. It's not just, and I quote "STORIES."

AnonymousPoroNov 21, 20171 votes

I could see it being something similar to Dragon Age: Origins. You choose to either be a Yordle(Bandle City defender, traveler, or perhaps a mystic like Lulu), a Demacian(poor, wealthy, or apart of the Crownguard family), a Noxian(fighter, tactician/mage, or assassin))... perhaps even an Aspect with the choice of whether you'd be from Targon, Shurima, or perhaps something like Aurelion Sol or Kindred. Though personally, I wouldn't make it an MMO. It'd be a huge project if it were ever to happen.

fugertechNov 21, 20171 votes

I'm undecided on this. Personally, I don't generally have the time to be sinking several hours into the grind of an MMO, so it's sort of a "lose" for me. On the other hand, an RPG game based around the world doesn't sound too terrible. The only issue I'm seeing here is how to make the game novel/unique. Most of the good MMO formulas have been applied; you've got several takes on many different types of MMO, each with differing skill systems, progressions, world-sizes, mechanics, etc.

How does Riot bring new and interesting things, things that will incite people to stay and play their game (and/or spend money, since that's an additional goal)?

If they aren't bringing something new to the field, then is it a gripping lore/story alone that will appeal to the masses?