Riot spent an entire blog post detailing how and why they changed his gameplay kit , but for those with concerns over how drastically Gangplank's character was changed Riot has been completely silent.
It's disheartening because it feels like Riot has no concern for those who care about their characters and those that are hurt when they're retconned out of existence.
I know this hasn't been much help in the past (as many here would be quick to point out) but the change to Gangplank's bio is still only on PBE - it's not gone to live yet. We may see more information about it (much as we see Q&As on new champs) once it is actually pushed to live.
Personally, I still get caught out with the distance between PBE announcements and actual going-live announcements. Often I'll get hyped for a champ, only to then have to wait the fortnight or so before it hits the live servers! I realize this situation is the opposite of being hyped for a new champ, but we may hear more about the workings behind Gangplank's changes when it actually goes live. I hope so, anyway.
(Note - I am not on the Narrative team, nor am I on League directly.)
here is the original lore
Gangplank was born the son of the dread pirate captain Vincent the Shadow - one of the most wealthy and feared pirates in all of Blue Flame Islands. One might think this would have spoiled the boy with a cushioned life of privilege, but the truth is quite the opposite. Growing up in the city of Bilgewater isn't easy; pirates are not known for their compassion, and that most certainly extends to their families. Vincent wanted his son to grow up tough and strong, so he was extremely hard on the young Gangplank. Even as a child, Gangplank was as mean as a snake and is said to have slept with his eyes open. As he grew, the young man rapidly became the most ruthless and feared pirate in all of Bilgewater, and his daddy was never more proud than on the day of his son's eighteenth birthday - when Gangplank stabbed his old man in the back and claimed the famed pirate ship, the Dead Pool, for his own.
The continent of Valoran, however, is a dangerous place for pirates; Gangplank could read the writing on the wall. The den of pirates known as Bilgewater would soon be pulled down by the undertow of Valoranian politics and the Institute of War. It was time for Bilgewater to have their own champion to represent them in the League of Legends, and who better than the fiercest pirate of them all? It is said that Gangplank has enough power and favor to claim the title of the Pirate King back home, but that he is simply biding his time and building his reputation as a champion before he returns to a life of piracy.
"Yo ho, blow the man down. Or at least shoot him when his back is turned and steal all his booty."
Here is the pbe lore
As unpredictable as he is brutal, the self-appointed reaver king known as Gangplank rules Bilgewater through a mix of fear, violence, and cunning. Where he goes, death and ruin follow, and such is his infamy and reputation that the merest sight of his black sails on the horizon causes panic among even the hardiest crew.
other than condensing and reducing the story like aspects it is the exact same character, still a mean and bloodthirsty pirate who has earned respect of his peers, the in game gangplank never reflected his lore, originally that is.
Let's just say that he went from this: http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/VTlPxIOijxs/mqdefault.jpg To this: http://40.media.tumblr.com/15e31257dd22df5ae8845738971c521f/tumblr_mo5qe1xi9h1rcb0d2o1_500.png
As far as I remember they wanted Gp to be not so....generic. He was basically Pirate McPirate,so I guess they wanted to give the character a bit more seriousness and uniqueness.
New GP is still rather Pirate-like,but they reduced his jollyness,which actually fits better with how he is depicted in the lore.
As others have stated, we wanted to push Gangplank in a direction that matched his original lore and put him as a more starkly formidable character. We feel the character you see in his new bio (which you'll see in full before the end of the month), drives Gangplank in a very slightly new direction that makes sense in contrast (and conflict) with other denizens of Bilgewater and beyond.
The short character introduction in the client is one of the first steps (along with his new art) in conveying a character who you can very quickly understand as being a dominant force in a city full of dangerous folk.
Expecting Narrative to explain their design choices... bold move.
Narrative delenda est.
Riot spent an entire blog post detailing how and why they changed his gameplay kit , but for those with concerns over how drastically Gangplank's character was changed Riot has been completely silent.
It's disheartening because it feels like Riot has no concern for those who care about their characters and those that are hurt when they're retconned out of existence.
There have already been Red posts about why Gangplank's lore is being changed. The gist of it is: old Gangplank was an extremely flat character. He was a pirate, yar-har-harrr. The rewrite is meant to flesh out Gangplank as an actual character, rather than leaving him as one overused character archetype (pirate). I'm not entirely sold on it, either (primarily because Gangplank's tone has been changed to be very dark and cruel, rather than hilariously bombastic), but though I love old Gangplank, I think it is pretty evident that he's little more than a pile of piracy-related shouting in terms of character.
No lore changed: Y NO RIOT CARE ABOUT LORE. lore changed: Y RIOT NO CARE ABOUT THEIR CHARACTRRS.
Well I feel this go rework is good because gangplank relied too much on his Q and he needs to be more flexible with the new kit
I'd assume it was because Gangplank had nothing going for him but "Yarr! I'm a pirate! Yarr!" in game. What personality he had was practically pushed on to him by us as a community because oranges make everything k. Everyone was ok with him being a jolly pirate but neglected to care about the fact in the lore he's always been portrayed as a brutal pirate lord who murdered his own dad to get ahead in life. I mean they were both happy because Vincent wanted the best for his son but you get the idea.
They decided; in the lore we made him a nasty, brutal pirate. Let's make him one in game. But we keep the oranges, because removing those would be a cardinal sin. If anything, this Gangplank is what I personally would've expected from the character that was described in his old lore.
He is better now imo. Matches his lore now.
I might be the only one, but i sure cant understand why anyone would be against this superb rework
Riot spent an entire blog post detailing how and why they changed his gameplay kit , but for those with concerns over how drastically Gangplank's character was changed Riot has been completely silent.
It's disheartening because it feels like Riot has no concern for those who care about their characters and those that are hurt when they're retconned out of existence.
Gangplank didn't have a character. He was a walking pirate caricature with the depth of a kiddy pool.
I don't know if the new GP will be any better (and I am admittedly confused about why they chose to update his visuals so dramatically), but let's be honest: GP needed something to make him more than the corny theme park pirate he was.
