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Why Vastaya Are Cool (But Also Kind of Lazy)

ModCaptainMårvelous·4/4/2017, 7:54:22 AM·7 votes·1,143 views

So, Vastaya. Half-human-half-animal critters which (apparently) include retconned stuff like Ahri, Wukong, etc. I'm very much on the fence about them but I want to make this more of a discussion than any sort of rant post:

#Why Vastaya are the Coolest

Vastaya and the subsequent information added about them (Where they go, where they came from, etc) close off an immense amount of tiny holes that pockmarked all over the lore. Even stuff you wouldn't really think of. For example, Volibear has a logical genus as an ursine vastaya. Rengar isn't just "random cat guy who happens to exist", he's a vastaya.

From a lore standpoint, Vastaya are incredibly interesting and provoke new questions while closing off old ones. What kind of vastaya are there? Are they related to the ascended in any way? Can Vastaya change their appearance? Does this mean Vastaya can merge with essence and become more human or animal like? There's so many questions that can be investigated with this that it's fascinating. More importantly, it closes off dead-ends and opens up broad paths.

Vastaya are a chance for league to truly shine in creating a vibrant, unique race we haven't really gotten since the Bracken emerged from the crystal scar.

#Why Vastaya are Worrisome.

However, Vastaya are...also lazy. Like, kind of lazy.

The counter-argument is that Riot had the chance to flesh out League's universe tenfold. Harpies. Ursine. Fox-people like Ahri. Monkey-men like Wukong. The feline people like Rengar. etc. Yet instead, they turned it into a catch-all term to discuss creatures like that. Perhaps what is most disappointing is that it flings the door wide-open to whatever-you-want creatures. No need to build up lore/race/etc, we can just dump them in the vastaya category and say they're a sub-genus of the vastaya breed.

A living, breathing world is strongest when it has all manner of cultures, beings and more. Vastaya make me worry that Riot will take the easy way out and use Vastaya in a way to justify any sort of kooky champion or creature they want to add. Granted, I trust them that they won't do it to such a poor degree...but the worry is there. Along with that I really DO want to see more interesting things. Vastaya might take those creative juices and say "Naw don't worry about it man it's just a VASTAYA!"

Vastaya could very well represent a step back. A catch-all term that makes it easy to justify anything.

Personally, I think Vastaya are cool but we won't know more until we move forward. There is a good chance my worry isn't a problem. There's also the chance that I hit the nail on the head and Vastaya are just Riot-speak for "Magical critter we wanna add".

Lemme know what you guys think. I'm interested in seeing if I'm the only one feeling this way.

7 Comments

Blue Moon Wolf4/4/2017, 9:17:42 AM6 votes

Honestly I think the idea of a "beast man" race is kind of necessary at this point to explain the variety of humanoid creatures that League has. Before, Rengar was pretty much just a random Lion human thing with no real real explanation to what he was while Wukong was stuck to Journey to the west references that got edited a bit to fit in with League. If they both are in fact Vastaya, it really helps explain what Rengar is and give some really unique aspects to Wukong that are purely unique to him in League.

While it may feel like clumping every beast man type character into one group, it really does offer a way to explain a very difficult question without having to take up too much time trying to answer it. Right now Riot has a LOT of lore to fix up and I'm sure they are really eager to get to work on some new stuff to add on to the lore after everything has been updated properly.

It's still likely the next official place to be updated is Noxus (I really don't think all of Ionia is getting updated, just the Vastaya stuff being added) and after that they still have the Void, Bandle City, Nami's home, Zilean in general since he may or may not be moved somewhere and much more. On top of that, Ionia seems to be a lot bigger then the other places and may even take multiple updates to explain it all since it's now another continent. Adding this should help pad how much they will need to update when the time comes for Riot to do the full Ionian update. There is the worry that Riot will use Vastaya as an excuse, but they have been doing really well with these lore updates for a long time now. I doubt that they will get lazy just cause they made a collective beast man race. On top of that, this offers the opportunity for some very cool looking champs that are not restricted by a certain look or theme.

Sharjo4/4/2017, 8:17:21 AM3 votes

I'm gonna say this; not everyone is vastayan.

And the individual tribes could just as easily fleshed out. Having a shared origin isn't much of a concern in my book, but then again I cone from WoW, where 9 or so races share origins as tiran-forged, three of which are playable.

LunSeiSleidee4/4/2017, 9:02:12 AM2 votes

I think vastaya are a very bad, generic idea. Not what I came to expect from this game. But you can't discuss that in this forum.

Silly Neeko4/4/2017, 8:37:52 AM1 votes

I had an interesting thought process while posting on another chat based around Ahri.... And another on a Nidalee thread.....

The lore itself says that a people were trying to find a new home when they came upon a shapeshifting race, but they got instantly defencive when they asked if it was a magical or physical connection that spurred it. Ahri's old lore is that she was a fox that came upon a dieing mage and took his magic. Ahri could have been the first Vastaya, but because her shape came from a human, she is more human looking than fox..... However still keeping fox characteristics. What if the people were actually ANIMALS? But because Ahri was partially animal and partially human..... When she was giving some of the magic to the other animals they became more animalistic than human, and over time evolution happened and well..... You end up with a otter seal?.... Thus explains why she is more human looking? The earliest ones that she transforms could be able to control that shape shifting better than the others, thus the merchant?

Ill let you take that where you will.

With the Ascended beings like Renekton, perhaps the shapeshifters taught the shurimans a part of their arts a long time ago. The Ascending ritual might be a way to single out a single animal that possesses the traits best for that single individual, and skip the teaching of shapeshifting...... Thus trapping the individual in a single animalistic humanoid form that enhances the traits from that animal?

Again, ill leave you with that to ponder.

Last but not least is your concern. The Vastaya have multiple animals in them, because they are chimeric in nature. Human is a type of animal as well. They obviously can not, shall not, and will not be used as a catchall for some random champion. Yordles are a breed of their own. Humans are a breed of their own. Minotaurs are a race of their own...... In a way everyone could be connected, one of the oldest breeds may very well be the Vasaya, who knows? A similar arguement could be made that Eskimos or...... I cant remember how it went.... But anyways...., are some of the first humans. Does that mean we are all part eskimo etc? Not really, possibly but that gets way too dilluded and becomes unviable for any kind of comparison the longer we are apart from something.