What most of koreans think about Ahri's new splash art

Kumiho Sarang·Jan 4, 2015·7 votes·11,814 views

프리시즌 변경점 총망라! 롤 인벤에 오신 것을 환영합니다.

Greetings. I'm here to give you guys an important feedback about Ahri's new Splash Art.

I'm currently playing in South Korea server using 'Andale' for my summoner's name.

I've decided to post here so that I can let many people from different countries know about this too.

Before getting deep into the subject, I'd like to share some interesting facts that most summoners don't know about.

During birth of ,(2011/10/21~2011/10/28) the makers had to decide Ahri's name. Rather then arbitrary decision, they decided to let korean summoners vote for her name.
Riot Games helped South Korea recover cultural heritages which were illegally stolen to Japan during Japan's colonial rule of Korea by donating 1.8 million$ worth of money to Korea's Cultural Heritage Administration Department.

These 2 incidents made* a lot* of korean summoners to get attached to this great game and ♥ ♥.

[I highly recommend you guys to have a look at attached image file down below before reading further.]

(October version) http://i.imgur.com/3GKkrDw.jpg

(December version) http://www.inven.co.kr/common/image/viewer.php?loc=&file=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.inven.co.kr%2Fupload%2F2014%2F12%2F18%2Fbbs%2Fi0649887898.jpg

(Side by side comparison) http://www.inven.co.kr/common/image/viewer.php?loc=&file=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.inven.co.kr%2Fupload%2F2014%2F12%2F18%2Fbbs%2Fi0925641188.jpg

Getting back to the point, We could see Ahri's new splash art around this October. It was amazing. Literally. It was just perfect as it was. However, I started to see some negative opinions about the new splash art. Only after a few days you decided to retreat the new splash art.

Even considering it was PBE, I think Riot decided too soon to tweak the splash art.

Only limited amount of people has access to PBE and not every summoners know about newest updates in PBE. I think Riot should have waited at least untill majority of summoners knew about new Ahri's splash art. Because splash art updates are not like urgent things such as balance updates or bug fixes.

Now that I have told you guys about why we think Riot decided to tweak the new splash art too soon,

Let's talk about the artwork after the changes. from now on I'll be talking on behalf of the serious amount of people from http://lol.inven.co.kr and many players of South Korea region. It might look too one-sided thoughts but I'll try to translate as specific as I can to prevent misunderstandings and these are actually what most korean summoners really think.

We respect your opinions too. So feel free to leave a comment about your thoughts and I can give you more informations as a reply, while delivering your thoughts back to korean forum.

First, we will explain about the things we like so much about tweaked new splash art of Ahri.

This one is hard to notice and it's a minor thing. New motion-blur effect which expresses her fox-like agility which can also be seen when she ults.

Next, an addition new part of clothes which reminds Norigae to koreans. (I see you guys refer this as a 'bell) This is important since Ahri has that in in-game model too. and in korea, putting on Norigae means 'Hope for long and peaceful life' and this is related to her lore as being a nine-tailed fox and wanting to be a human but deciding not to take away life from other people.

Other minor thing to mention, changes to light effects on her tails and on her thigh. Now her tail looks better.

Best thing we really loved from the tweaks is her fingernails' color and length changes. There are no negative opinion about this as far as I see.

since Ahri is still nine-tailed fox, not a typical human, she needs some features to distinguish her from typical humans. However now that she's got completly different art style from her old cartoonish splash art, Her whiskers became little less noticeable than before. So adding new fingernails not only solved that problem but also gave her some-what boring hands a new life!

But we also need to talk about the changes we don't like.

First, some of us said her hair became little wet and greasy. They say they want Ahri's subtle hair back from October. I agree with them.

Second, It's both related to first thing we mentioned (hair) and last part which is her face (I'll explain down below)

It's her ears.

It's controversial in here. since it's nine-tailed fox's one of the most representative features. some say it's bigger size is making people easier to recognize her as a nine-tailed fox while others say it has become too big and small ears were very cute and had no difficulties showing her identity.

Now the last part.

It's her face.

I don't know if this is right or wrong, but I personally think that after some people posted "She's not asian anymore. oh no" designers and artists thought "People who are familiar with previous splash art will not like her anymore. because she doesn't look asian-like now".

But actually, We liked the new face from splash art before the tweaks much more. In fact as a asian and korean we already acknowledged her as a Ionian-like person which makes more interested in her and have more fantasy about her because of the fact Ahri is different nine-tailed fox rather than typical nine-tailed fox we have in myths or tales.

But changing Ahri to look more asian-like person breaks most of that fantasies and makes us lose interests in her. And I belive this result is what Riot guys don't want to happen.

Nine-tailed fox is originated from asia, but it never means Ahri has to look like asian. We prefer her as a unique collaboration just the way she was! Ahri is Ionian who lives on Runeterra not Asian who lives on Earth. That's what made Ahri so attractive. You shouldn't have changed her face to female asian-like face.

We have some positive opinions about new face here too, but majority of us loved the face before so much. I guess we had to let you guys know it by sending positive feedback here earlier but none of us knew that tweak to her face was in progress. We were just waiting patiently until live client gets the new splash art we saw in October.

We honestly have to say most of us got disappointed by changes of her face. but we love the other additions as I made a list above. I know how much work and resources you guys put in to this splash art and I truly respect every second they have spent with all my souls but I have to say "Majority of koreans don't like the new face". We are not saying that we hate it but we hope you to listen to our opinion. We all know you guys are trying a lot to make the game better.

It's true that all of korean summoners have special feelings for Ahri. And we are worried about her now. We named her too.

I know the fact that there are people who prefer the tweaked splash art in korea too as I said above but most of us prefer pre-tweaked one. I also know that just because most koreans like the pre-tweaked splash art doesn't mean we have privilege to force Riot to use it. We are same as you guys. We just want to make the game better just like you by giving feedbacks.

Asides from many people's opinion here's my personal thoughts.

I love the octobers splash art's face. I really want this face to be kept. I guess this indirectly influenced me to write this post after all. I have never seen* this *beautiful nine-tailed fox artwork. A lot of other artworks for nine-tailed fox I have seen in internet makes same mistakes over and over which emphasizes only on sex appeal rather than describing the beauty itself. But new tweaked face just doesn't suit her anymore. I would pay all my money I can spend including RP I currently have if I can choose October version's face I might fall in depression if the new splash art is already confirmed.

I just wish her face, hair, and ears could go back as she was in October...

39 Comments

DG AshabelJan 4, 20155 votes

Personally, I think they should have scrapped this splash art altogether and started anew.

For one, there was no way to please people by simply altering the splash art. People who liked the new splash art would be upset by the alterations, while people who didn't like the splash art wouldn't necessarily enjoy them (I personally think the artist tried too hard to make her look Asian, as opposed to making her look like Ahri).

For two, there are problems with this art that go beyond her face. Her breasts and butt are turned at a 45 degree angle from one another. That pose is very painful to maintain while in a neutral position in real life, and it's impossible to maintain during the jump she's making on that art. She looks like she got hit by a speeding Sion and is now making a pensive pouty-lipped expression as she's trying to figure out why she can't feel her lower body (pro-tip, Ahri, that would be because your spine was warped into a pretzel and you'll never walk again). Her outfit was also changed to have a lower cut and generally reveal more of her skin.

The problem why nobody feels like the splash art looks or feels like Ahri is because the artist was too busy drawing a piece of trashy eye candy to even try and draw Ahri. That problem runs at the core of the art and cannot be fixed just by editing it a bit.

Plus Ahri already has amazing action poses on her Midnight and Foxfire splash arts, and this one simply pales in comparison.

Kumiho SarangJan 4, 20151 votes

I think the fact that artist tried to describe multiple characteristic of Ahri in one splash art made her look "spine-broken" on purpose since it needed to show her agillity and seductive appearance at the same time. This kind of work are similarly used in Sivir 's splash art.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-c4TdGrs6Q#t=1m53s Just watch this 1:53 to 2:28 and you will understand what I mean.

DG AshabelJan 5, 20153 votes

I understand what you mean, but the logic in that video doesn't apply to this artwork. The technique he's talking about is called an "in-between frame", a singular frame of animation that looks bad or unnatural when viewed on its own, but greatly enhances a moving image with its presence. In the cases where a body is greatly deformed during an in-betweener, the result is that the overall motion feels natural but superhumanly graceful/powerful because your attention is only drawn to the unnatural shape for a brief moment.

That technique doesn't work in static art because you don't have two "natural shape" frames to focus on, you only have one deformed image. Therefore your mind won't be drawn to the idea of "Wow that is so graceful," you'll look at the twisted body and think "Wow that must really hurt". A good example of that is all those "quality animation" images where people post ridiculous and dumb-looking screenshots from anime. A lot of those are actually in-betweeners accidentally caught while making screenshots, they're not supposed to be seen on their own.

What the artist is actually doing in this case is the ol' good Tits & Ass pose, where the character's body is rotated so all her assets are immediately visible. It's a technique commonly used by artists who really want to draw something sexy but don't know how to set the mood of the scene, so they attempt to simply throw all the sexual body parts in your face without concern for realism and anatomy. The technique was most popularized in the 1990's by Rob Liefeld aka that comic book dude whose art everyone hates.

Here would be a good example of someone achieving what this artist is trying to achieve by focusing on the mood of the scene, not simply throwing Ahri's body in your face.

Kumiho SarangJan 6, 20151 votes

Hmm.. I understand what you mean. I should have explained in more detail.

You are definetly right about that specific technique doesn't fit in static art. But what I was trying to imply using that video was a bigger picture rather than to remind those "QUALITY" captures like this nor Liefeld's controversial art. It's my fault. I could have brought better example to explain what I had in my mind.

However, what you are misinterpreting about Ahri's new splash art is Riot's artist tried to express nine-tailed fox's agility through her dynamic pose. Not using "sexual objectification" as a easy way to interest summoners, similar to what you are saying. Your opinion is simply belittling yourself and the artists. This happens far more than people think. There are many people who can't distinguish whether something is "beatiful" or "pornographic". These kind of people doesn't care what artists tried to express thorugh the artwork. They only focus on what they feel or what they see. Here would be a good example of those kind of people. These people often make artists feel frustraion. I assume you have similar problem.

Anyway, The link you gave was indeed excellent example of the way to express subject's characteristic just using the mood. I respect that you put a big value on a realism or similar concepts. However, there is clearly a limit to express champions' unique characteristic to those people who haven't experienced the champions when their splash art gets limited by factors you are heavily focusing.

Splash art should satisfy both of those who are familiar about the champion and who are new to the champion.

If the splash art fails, many of people might not enjoy playing the champ itself. (I know there's a lot more of factors to why some champions' pick rates are low {underpowered, unsuitable in current meta etc} but think about big differences when Twitch Trundle got their VU, considering their gameplay mechanics are pretty much same as before.)

And I need to remind you League of Legends is a dynamic game. Things are always in motion. It doesn't mean every splash art has to have broken spines. On the other hand, one of splash arts' main purpose is to show glimpse of that champion in-action. of course, while showing their unique characteristics as well. There are splash arts that doesn't have dynamic pose since their main characteristic is not agility. ex: Morgana Veigar

And by giving examples like these : http://ddragon.leagueoflegends.com/cdn/img/champion/splash/Riven_5.jpg Lucian Vayne LeeSin these splash arts shows distorted bodies but never fails to show features of the champions. That's what I was trying to say.

DG AshabelJan 6, 20152 votes

Anyway, The link you gave was indeed excellent example of the way to express subject's characteristic just using the mood. I respect that you put a big value on a realism or similar concepts. However, there is clearly a limit to express champions' unique characteristic to those people who haven't experienced the champions when their splash art gets limited by factors you are heavily focusing.

Splash art should satisfy both of those who are familiar about the champion and who are new to the champion.

Yeah, okay, here is the thing. I linked all the updated splash arts to a friend who is an artist but doesn't play League. Do you know what she said?

"This looks like a very boring game. All the women are faceless sex objects with volleyball-sized breasts and all the men are lifeless brick houses. The only character I found interesting is the vampire."

She spent twenty minutes criticizing how Vayne's splash art doesn't make any sense because her body is broken into disconnected pieces for the sake of showing off her sex appeal, was shocked by how Ashe's splash art was accepted in an action game when trying to draw a bow in that pose would tear off her arm, confused why Caitlyn's legs don't seem to connect to her body at all and kept wondering why "breasts" are the only easily identifiable feature on the new Ahri splash. She also wrote quite an essay on Pantheon and how bad the anatomy in his art is.

Which is to say, none of this splash art satisfies people who are new to the champions. They all look like the same woman dressed in different costumes and forced into increasingly creepy and broken poses. Men don't fare much better.

And frankly, linking League of Sexism as an example of bad criticism should be shameful of you. The author of that blog does give credit where it's due, she praised the splash art for safecracker Evelynn and was very happy about Rek'sai. Her criticism falls flatly onto cases where anatomy is broken or characters are handled by the narrative/art department as nothing more than eye candy.

Her criticism is important because while studies show that female gamers make up more than half of the overall video game market, the League of Legends gaming community is maybe 20% female. In other words, more than half of Riot's potential market are actively avoiding their game and that blog provides some excellent insights into why that happens.

KrizalidJan 4, 20154 votes

Too. Much. Attention. To. A. Single. Champion. And. His. Splashart. Seriously. Just get over it, guys.

SEKAIJan 4, 20157 votes

[{quoted}](name=Krizalid Brando,realm=EUW,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=Ay9EkMNu,comment-id=0001,timestamp=2015-01-04T16:02:03.599+0000) Too. Much. Attention. To. A. Single. Champion. And. His. Splashart. Seriously. Just get over it, guys.

Too. Much. Attention. To. A. Single. Champion. And. His. Splashart.

And. His. Splashart.

His

KrizalidJan 4, 20151 votes

I consider "champion" word as "he" :)

KeevalroyJan 6, 20154 votes

Riot, just make a new splash. Stop trying to make this one work by modifying little details. It's a good piece of work, but it doesn't look good for Ahri. I feel like a broken record, and I'm out of constructive criticisms. Please make a new one from scratch or let us keep the original art.

Kumiho SarangJan 6, 20151 votes

I want to know why do you think this splash art doesn't look good for Ahri. giving a little more detail will be much more appreciating to me and the Riot's artists that might be watching your comment.

KeevalroyJan 6, 20152 votes

Okay, I'm going to recycle some of my posts and try to organize them to make sense.

This is not a bad splash by any means, anyone can see it's well done, but Ahri in the new splash has lost all alluring feel. As I've said elsewhere, this is not poor work, and I want to like the splash of my favorite character, but the more I look at the updated one, the more I find I dislike it, and would rather they make her look like the original. It's not a fair criticism to call it bad, but this isn't a fair representation of who Ahri is. It's almost like they're updating some of these splashes just for the sake of updating them, even when there's nothing wrong with the old ones - see: Janna, Rango, etc.

Not to say these updates are all negative - the artist in charge of Ezreal's splash is in fact a god. I don't know; I had so much salt when Twitch got his VU, you could open a mine in my head since it felt that my then favorite champion was essentially removed from the roster. After change after unnecessary change, I'm fed up with Riot wanting to fix what isn't broken.

What I don't understand is why they want to use this particular art. They hardly changed anything noticeable unless you remember the details missing from the old new version over a period of a couple MONTHS. In this time they could have done what they should have done and remade the splash to make it more appealing.

I like that they fixed her ears, the whisker marks are visible, and the hair is straighter, but what were they thinking with the face change? That specific change made her look even worse than the previous attempt. Please make a new splash, because right now, she REALLY doesn't look like Ahri, and no, the dark gloomy area she's in does NOT suit her.

http://knockwurst.deviantart.com/art/LoL-Ahri-279827218 Look at how the lighting here makes her pop out of the picture and how the pose makes her look elegant and entrancing. Is there any reason why it's insisted that everything, including the lighting remain the same, and only minor tweaks happened?

I don't want to say it's beyond saving, but they need to make a new splash art, not slightly modifying what caused a major backlash. The reason people hate the new versions is...well, because they're NEW. They weren't asked for, when shown, they weren't wanted, when reverted, people were delighted by the news, and now they're trying again with the same exact thing, only changing small things about it, and doing...whatever they did to her face.

Riot, we don't like the art. We don't want this change. Why is it so important to update her splash just for the sake of updating, especially when there isn't anything wrong with what we have now other than it's "outdated?" So why not give just a little bit of a touch up the live art to make it look a little more high quality?

So there we go, that pretty much sums up how I feel about the new versions.

SukishooJan 6, 20151 votes

It's almost like they're updating some of these splashes just for the sake of updating them, even when there's nothing wrong with the old ones - see: Janna, Rango, etc.

Pretty sure most of them are being updated to keep art consistency. The current look of Ahri when compared to say the current look of Kog'maw, has a very big difference in art quality. The quality of work they've put into the newer images is much much higher than those older ones. So keeping some of the current ones and then seeing others that have been updated already, there's a big difference in quality and style.

Kumiho SarangJan 6, 20151 votes

I agree. Riot did a good job on keeping art consistency. This includes simple things like the skill icon update. In regard to splash art on the other hand, The older ones not only unbalanced art consistency a bit but also lacked in a way that it didn't show features of the champions. New splash arts like Vayne's shows the champ's key features so well compared to her original one.

But man.... We really want Ahri's face from October. I thought I was the only one who was willing to pay money as much as I can if we can keep her face from October but I'm seeing surprisingly amount of people who also do in our forum or here in boards.

KeevalroyJan 6, 20152 votes

The October face was better than what they want to send out now, but the original is still the best version.

Duke AnaxJan 4, 20153 votes

I think you got the wrong idea there. The screen wasn't changed to make her look more Asian, which I dont think she does by the way.

It was changed to make her look more like Ahri, simple as that. That's also the same reason her ears got bigger and her heair more slick, because that's the way Ahri looks.

Most anyone here would agree with you that the October splash looked great, the problem everyone had was that it showed "some nine tailed fox" but it didn't show "Ahri"

Kumiho SarangJan 4, 20152 votes

I see. but those prejudices from Ahri's original splash art you guys built unconsciously in your minds are the real problems.

That's the reason why people say "Ahri doens't look like Ahri". Hmm.. Ask yourself what makes Ahri 'Ahri' and ask yourself again if you are simply telling 'the difference about original splash art to new one' or not.

Prejudice can make a lot of people make same mistakes again and again. Even whole country.

I'll give you a shameful example in korea.

Most of koreans have prejudice that all green fruits have sour taste. But clementine which is one of the most popular fruit in korea, actually stays green for very long time even after they are fully ripe. However we koreans consider those green clementines nonsalable so farmers are literally forced to use fruit ripening gas(ethylene) to make it look yellow. But in process clementines actually loses sweetness and freshness so they rot many days earlier compared to normal clementines. Just because of that prejudice farmers waste a lot of money and time and as a result, consumers get to pay more money to eat sour clementines. Also koreans prefer cantaloupe much more than honeydew melon. In fact they rather pay strange amount of more money for cantaloupe even if they taste same.

Try to let go of the attached original splash art and have a new perspective. Maybe then you might have different opinion.

Ashes AriseJan 5, 20153 votes

The December one looks much more like ahri. How is this even a question? October looks like meagan fox.

ImHerVoiceJan 4, 20152 votes

Alot of the new arts need improvement.

I know that ahri marks the opening of the KR servers. And that shaco marks the 1 year anniversary.

Your champion/skin should look very nice sorry if they don't.. ^^

Kumiho SarangJan 4, 20151 votes

Thanks for giving your thought. I agree a lot of other champs' splash art need some improvements. I just wanted to share these facts and have some conversations before Riot confirms the splash art.

Shadow MerchantJan 5, 20152 votes

I actually like the new face more than the old. In the older version she looks like a ghost. Like she doesn't know why she's there or what she;s doing. The new one gives off that seductress vibe way more. It also hints at the fact that she is confident and dangerous. I don't think the new hair looks bad at all. In fact I tend to like characters with sharper looking hair styles. The longer ears make her look more akin to a fox and less like a dog or cat. I think the newer version of the splash is better 100%. But that's just my opinion.

Kumiho SarangJan 6, 20151 votes

Thanks for your comment. I see those big ears are actually satisfying you. Interesting.

Laughing FishJan 4, 20151 votes

Eloquently put my friend.

IMTOOJUICYJan 4, 20151 votes

TIL Westerners want Ahri's face to look more Eastern, Easterners want Ahri's face to look more Western. Grass is greener and all that.

Kumiho SarangJan 4, 20152 votes

I think you are partially right about person prefering foreign person's appearance.

But in this case it's about Ahri who is Ionian which is unique to both eastern and western.

However, what I'm trying to say in OP is that majority of people in korea prefers October version's face and considered it well suited unique Ionian-theme.

Not because it looks western-like( For example MissFortune Orianna No offense to them since MF's main characteristic that Riot gave to her is that she represents unique and traditional beauty of western woman and Oriana's main characteristic is her tragic story regardless of her nationality ).

Think of other Ionians like Irelia Karma Akali LeeSin MasterYi Syndra Varus and look Ahri again Ahri .

They apparently are unique both to eastern and western regions on earth. Since they are sadly, not a real person.

Which makes it more important to be a unique being.

ChaosThiefJan 4, 20151 votes

If there was an optional choice, I would love that. Both sides would be happy( I prefer he october version, but apparently that "isn't ahri".)

NagirahJan 4, 20151 votes

Honestly... this amount of bitching about a splash art from everyone. Not maybe you OP because this was a very constructive feedback but still. No matter what they do to it, someone will be complaining. No matter what. And eitherway if I was the artist who made it I would be completely lost and feel like shit because nobody is ever happy.

I liked the original splash, the october one and tweaked one too. Yes I think each version has their issues but I know they won't get fixed because its just my opinion and a lot of people play this game. They cannot make everyone happy because of different opinions. Actually the only issue I have with the tweaked one is her chin and her eyes not looking at the camera properly. That is really small issue and I can live with it.

From now on I will try to ignore people complaining because it just is frustrating to read.

Kumiho SarangJan 4, 20151 votes

I agree. Each Person has different opinion about same thing.

But what if one opinion has overwhelmingly more people backing it than other opinion?

That's something to consider about.

But you are still right about "They cannot make everyone happy because of different opinions."

Let's then at least try to make people happy as many as we can, not make people disappointed as few as we can.

If you are a wise person I belive you know the difference between that two.

SachabotJan 4, 20151 votes

We Americans love being valued as individuals over groups, so the "greater good" argument may not be the best when dealing with us.

It is correct in this case, however. If a large enough percentage of the community is in agreement, I hope Riot at least listens to the complaint. Personally, I find the change to be silly, and a rather poor reflection of how she is portrayed on the Rift.

Kumiho SarangJan 4, 20151 votes

Much obliged for your comment, and at the same time I give my apologies about that I failed to consider the cultural difference.

I wonder how you guys think Ahri should be portrayed as then?

Can you give us some specific ideas?

SachabotJan 5, 20151 votes

You don't need to apologize. You started this topic to share your thoughts and hear from the rest of the world.

I can't speak for any large percentage of the player base, but I don't recall having heard any negative things about her, so I think NA is satisfied with how she's portrayed overall. Her lore is unique and it puts her in a very interesting place. She's easier to relate to because she has a conscience, and it makes her likable in a way that no other champion is.

My opinion regarding her splash art is just my opinion, and shouldn't be a major influence as it seems to be a very small minority, possibly even unique to me.

NagirahJan 5, 20151 votes

Yes I understand the difference. Maybe I just get little annoyed by this because I am an artist myself and treat these splashes like they were just a random artwork on deviantart. Nobody there starts bitching to the artist,people respect their work and gives just respective feedback. That's how I think art should be always treated. People may have different opinions but the person who made it has the last say.

Also I don't understand why people complain about the new splashes so much. Compare Tristana, Veigar, Janna and Zilean splashes for example. Old ones were absolutely terrible in quality, anatomy and pretty much everything but still some people bitch about the new high quality ones and want old ones back. Sigh...

FebruAhriJan 4, 20151 votes

Leave the ears as they are in the new version, and take the face from the old version would look the best imo

WofyeJan 5, 20151 votes

The reason why I prefer Ahri's face in the december splash art is because... It looks like Ahri,

As someone who draws, I always am consistent with my OC's (Original characters), If one of them has a certain sharper edge at the end of the eye or certain features, I'm going to simply keep drawing them as such, it is because I like consistency when drawing characters.

What I noticed with Ahri, her hair has lesser volume and her eyes are drawn with a straight horizontal bottom stroke with a triangular stroke on the top..

Are you asking that you want Ahri's face and hair to be revamped?

Kumiho SarangJan 6, 20151 votes

Yes, in fact most of korean summoners do. They really want Ahri's face from October. However, The hair is a bit controversial in here. but it seems hair before the tweak fits face from before the tweak and hair after the tweak fits face after the tweak judging from their comments.

papasittaJan 15, 20151 votes

I can't agree with your comment about kroeans wanting the October face.. October looks very western, but December looks very korean. so I like December way better than October. However, I don't like the hair.

SukishooJan 6, 20151 votes

I still miss the look of her face from the October update. Everything else in the December update was nice, like the longer ears, the tassel, the hair cut, ect.

IntilinkJan 14, 20151 votes

I'm going to leave my 2 little cents here.

As a person with no Art knowledge or talent for it, it is hard to talk about thins like this, and to that we can add the fact that I come from neither North America or Asia, so my cultural perception is different.

While I agree on the Ears and Hair points you bring up, I have a little doubt about the face one. What I would ask you and our friends over in the Korean servers is: Does it really look Asian now? I when I see and compare the two splasharts' face area what I notice more is not that it looks Asian, but that it looks sad. When you see the October splashart you can definitely notice her playful nature with her smile and bright eyes. However, on the December version, I feel a tint of sadness in her eyes and expression.

Why does it matter? Well, I was thinking a bit, and I may be wrong, but I feel it complements her lore. Let me quote her current lore:

Feeding on their desires brought her closer to her dream, but as she took more lives, a strange sense of regret began to well within her. She had reservations about actions which never troubled her as a fox. She realized that she could not overcome the pangs of her evolving morality.

Which brings us back to the December splashart. Its hard to tell were are her eyes pointing, what is she looking at. On the October version, you can tell that she is looking at the "camera". But in the December one, she seems lost. It looks like she is thinking, regretting, feeling her own newfound concepts of morality tugging at her. She may be looking at her orb, which in-game acts as her main damage dealer and shows that her passive, "Essence Theft" is ready to be used. If she is indeed looking at the orb, it'd make sense she is feeling sadness or regret at her actions of stealing men's essences as stated in her lore. And even if she wanted, it fits her in my opinion.

When in the Rift, she shows her playful personality, laughing with Spirit Rush and quite funny quotes with double entenderes. But here in the splashart, we see her side that regrets her actions, one can not escape what they have done. And honestly, I see beauty in that. I feel that the October version is too "cutesy" when compared to the December one, who presents a more mature side to Ahri in that aspect.

But as I said, I am no artist. I can probably be wrong, but that is what I think about when I see her December version.

Kumiho SarangJan 18, 20151 votes

Thx. I really appreciate your detailed explanation. It seems people in korean forum also gave me a similar opinion about her morality. I'll try to translate your comment so that I can hear what our guys thinks as well.

Kumiho SarangJan 18, 20151 votes