The New Lore {Sigh}

Okay, so, I won't be too long. I could probably go on for a while, like many other lore-lovers in this community, about the utter castration of League's lore. Now, don't get me wrong, there are some things that work better in the new lore. I just can't think of any off the top of my head. As for things that don't work--Oh, where do I start?

Let's start with Summoners. So, we all know our role in the game, as the player, right? It's lore relevant (or at least, it was). We are Summoners, at least, according to what I was taught on the tutorial levels back in 2012 (or 2011 I really don't remember). Well--NOPE. Riot has nixed Summoners from the lore of League as far as I can tell, except for the name of the main map for competitive play (Summoner's Rift). Now there's no point to players even being a thing, as far as lore is concerned (at least, as far as i can tell). A smaller gripe, maybe, but still relevant.

Let's move on to something a bit more important. Champion Lore. Now, think back to when, say, Katarina's lore was reworked a few years ago. It was a nice two or three paragraphs long, right? Short enough to read in one sitting without getting bored or sidetracked, while still long enough to give an insight on the CHARACTER and their story, or struggle. Let's look at another champion. Rammus never had an incredibly deep lore, but it was still a nice two paragraphs on his journey to discovering the League, and now? It's like, two sentences. SENTENCES. Wow. Like, WOW.

Let's take a look at another positive. the Bilgewater event. Freaking amazing. You literally KILLED Gangplank for like, a week or two. that's awesome. I really felt sucked into that story. It added a lot to Gangplank, and to Miss Fortune, and the Bilgewater crew in general (Hello, TF's real name!). Unfortunately, for that positive, I also have a negative point; the recent Mount Targon Re-imagine. Now, don't get me wrong, it's all well-written stuff. Like, the wording is nice, and I mean...it has Riot written all over it. definitely fits your style, which is so, SO important for a writing crew. But I feel like it destroyed a lot of the characteristics we liked in some characters. Leona is much more pompous than her in-game lines, splash art, and just general FEEL in the game would lead you to believe, according to the new lore. Pantheon was GUTTED, in my opinion (though being possessed by the Aspect of War is interesting, I hope to see some nice interaction with Aatrox in the future), it still takes away some things that were just nice little tidbits that tied all these Champs together for me. Like, Leona and Pantheon were childhood friends in the old lore. I didn't see mention of that in the new lore? As a matter of fact, if I remember correctly, Pantheon has a certain disdain for the Solari, doesn't he? But I digress. I haven't had time to read Diana's new lore, but honestly....I hate the stuff I've read so far. I haven't met a single person that LIKES these lore changes. Community events are great, like Bilgewater, and the Harrowing, and stuff like that. But complete re-hashing of lore to certain parts of Runeterra that didn't feel like they needed it?

I'm not going to throw inane insults at the Riot writing team (because I've seen quite too many insults just hurled about like it's the Internet's job to tear people down), but instead I offer a criticism; PLEASE, PLEASE, TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT YOUR LORE. FOR E V E R Y O N E. Look. Riot, I love you guys. I love your game. the community I could probably do without, but everything else is great. I've only ever received helpful service for the few times I needed to contact customer support, and I love most every design for your Champions, because I feel like they're well thought-out characters. I only ask that it's not only at a glance that they seem well written. I want to know they're well-written in EVERY SENSE. I want to pick a Champion because they're good in-game, AND because I like them as a character. Sure, you have some nice in-game interactions (Like Illaoi kinda confirming KatxGaren as a canon thing), but it doesn't make up for the fact that I look at the in-game client, and try to read up on some lore and I just feel....like it's not there.

Now, as with any good constructive criticism, I do have a couple suggestions. Perhaps reintroduce the Summoner's Journal? It was a nice way to make it feel like Runeterra was a real world, with real events. Another suggestion is (and bare with me here) a complete, and I mean COMPLETE re-imagining of your lore. I know you've been doing that slowly over the course of the last year, and it's just not plausible to completely destroy everything you've written recently, I understand. Just--think about it. Relaunch the lore all at once. It might be overwhelming at first, but imagine how nice it would be to have one, cohesive lore that wouldn't need active changing every few months. Granted, new Champions might require some lore changes (Lookin' at you, Jhin. And Zed, kinda.), but not outright rewrites. Just alterations, or hints to the meta-story consuming Runeterra. Another thing that's been tossed around for a long, long time among the community (at least, where I've been active) is a nice, animated short series. I mean--I know animation is hard. And I know it's expensive, and time-consuming. But, have you met your fans? We are RAVENOUS for your animations. Trial of the Poro, the battle cinematics, we eat that stuff up. Imagine starting a series based around your Champions and their lore, and tying that in to Champion releases, and references to third party characters that shape the world (Like Jarvan the III for example!!!!), and seeing Champions consistently interact with each other. I would love to see the political marriage of Tryndamere and Ashe teeter every weekend as their mutual dislike of each other escalates. I would love to see Swain plotting to overthrow the League, and take over Runeterra in the name of Noxus! I would LOVE to see this series dictate COMMUNITY EVENTS!!!!!

TL;DR; take another look at your lore, and see it can be SO MUCH MORE. Thank you.