So for the Second Time, Older but Good Splash Arts are Being Replaced by Crappy Chinese Ones...

The first time this happened was when the marvelous, full of life splash of Blood Moon Akali was replaced by a slightly higher resolution, but far less lively and interesting one from the Chinese client one. I was unhappy then, as the first skin I bought was Blood Moon Akali, and to a large degree due to how much I loved the old splash art. Eventually though, I forgot about that.

I had seen the Riot Art Team become amazing, and pull out some really spectacular pieces, most recent of which the new Poppy skins splashes. I had really started growing hopeful. So when I heard that all old splashes are getting updated, I did not even think that they would repeat the fiasco from a few years back. I was thinking we'll get something Poppy-like for all the old splashes. Oh, how wrong I was.

Once again, we have good, if somewhat aged splash arts being replaced by obviously subpar, cheap, expressionless and overall bland Chinese artwork, some of which is absolutely appallingly generic to the point you would have a hard time of recognizing the character for what it is ingame. Many of my favorite splash arts are getting replaced with things I would pay money not to see, but the one that hurts the most is another splash by KNKL - the maker of the old Blood Moon Akali, Redeemed Riven, and several other ones that single-handedly made me want the skins - the Midnight Ahri one. It is a great example of just how unnecessary and destructive the change is. For comparison, this is the new artwork and this is the old one. The obviously failed attempt to mesh the new one's style with the old one aside - the whole mysticism, expression, feeling of the old art is gone, replaced by the usual bland, expressionless dollface so typical of cheap, and I underline, cheap Chinese art pieces. There are many great Chinese artists and art pieces, and I did not see a single good one that is at all representative of League's artstyle among the new ones. Hell, just look at the new Karma ones, and you'll probably want to cry too.

Riot Art Team. I have great respect for you. I am not expecting a response, but please. As a professional artist myself, please answer me, and give me one good reason to replace current good-looking art, even if slightly aged, with what we seem to be getting soon. Do you honestly believe that those "new" splash arts are representative of League's style and feeling? I fully understand the need to unify splash arts between regions, and support it. But why replace the GOOD Western art with the BAD Eastern art? If it was good Eastern art, I would have nothing against it - I do not want to turn this into a regional difference issue. But from an artistic standpoint, those pieces have absolutely nothing to offer over most of the current ones besides questionably higher resolution. And resolution is far from anything. It pains me to see good art go to waste and be forgotten, just to be replaced with cheap imitations or pieces that lack even the slightest glint of the expressiveness, feeling and emotions shown in ones we have.

You can do better than this. I know you can, because you have.