@Riot and the Foundations team: Evolution Not Revolution and Your View of Champions

Hello, this was a topic I've been sitting on for awhile, but I was going to wait for the culmination of the Targon mini-event to see if we get a clearer picture of what's going on.

First of all let me say to the various Lore teams, thank you for your work. I understand that each of you put your heart and soul into your writing and it is always a mix of emotions when you create something and display it to the world for them to judge (part of why I will never become a professional writer, despite typing the occasional story). For those of us who love lore, stories, and the occasional tall tale, we appreciate your efforts, even if we disagree with some of your decisions.

Which, unfortunately, brings up the main point of this post. I have been fairly outspoken in the fact I really dislike the changes made to the Targon lore. Actually, it was my pure hatred of some of the changes that brought me to the boards originally. Now, I don't know if this was something that happened to everyone, but since none of my friends mentioned it I assumed it was a select group of people this happened to. When the Targon update came about I was actually emailed "Mandrops Get Manlier" by the LoL riot games email to inform me specifically of Pantheon's lore update (not Leona and Diana who were updated at the same time). And why they would do this for me is obvious, since, basically, if I play LoL I'm either playing an ARAM or Pantheon (unless I don't get my desired position in the new champ select, but that's neither here nor there). So, I'm a pretty big Pantheon fan, and Riot recognized it.

And what I read I felt so completely missed the point of Pantheon that it was almost astounding to me. But, this post is not supposed to entirely be about my anger, or pointing fingers, or saying my champion has been ruined forever. That is not constructive. Actually it's supposed to be about questions and understanding. Now, I’m sure parts of the following will sound accusatory, I have a lot of negativity about the update that I will try to keep in check to have a cordial discussion.

During the Foundations talk on the Targon Lore there was a theme that was mentioned a few times that things were not changed for the sake of changing things. That the champions should evolve from what makes people like them, from what their core essence truly is. Which, to me, is a very worthy goal. But, I sometimes question if this is true looking at a few of the lore changes.

For instance, looking at the Targon changes it doesn't look like the characters were taken from their base state and progressed, but in some cases completely changed from their base state in order to fit a different narrative that was never intended to be a part of their stories. Such as the celestial space Targonian/aliens that are pretending to be gods that enslaved Sol. For me, when I read the old (and even most of the new) Targon lores, the story isn't about Targonians at all, but the interactions of the Rakkor, Solari, and Lunari. Then abruptly in the last part of each of the champions' Lore this strange space empire gets thrust into a narrative that would make more sense without them, seemingly only to bring tension with Aurelion Sol.

But, I recognize that this is an overly pessimistic view of your process. So I'd like to ask you these questions:

What did you consider the "core" parts of the characters that you changed? For example, to me Pantheon was always at his core: A Spartan, a normal human raised by the Spartiate with a different name, who seems obsessed with honor that seems in line with the ancient Greek versions of arete rather than a more medieval interpretation you'd find in, say, Demacia. It definitely needed to be fleshed out but I wouldn't have made any connection to him being a body-snatching spirit from an otherworldly space empire that tells a star dragon what to kill. But, I want to know how you got the idea to change him from that to the body-snatching spirit and why it made sense to you. And similarly, Leona was compassionate despite living in a society that tried to change her, but also filled with self-doubt that her actions were selfish and she was too reliant on her sun given powers. Which doesn’t really mesh with the once compassionate character that was turned into a zealot by society, and was given clarity by the space-Targonians. Then Diana, whose old story seems to focus on one pinnacle point where she lashed out and murdered those that oppressed her, the new lore instead takes away her agency in that moment and again gives it to the space-thing that’s possessing her.

What was the purpose of the Targonian space influence? Was this really something that came out from just looking at the old Pantheon, Leona, and Diana lore? Or was it added specifically for Sol? It seems such a strange jump to me, I'd like to see the thought process. Again, for me, it just reads like a weird way to shoehorn the old champions with the Sol conflict that they otherwise would have absolutely nothing to do with. I like to think instead, you guys had some really interesting reasons and prove me wrong.

Each of the old Targon champions always seemed so very martial to me: Pantheon was just a warrior, Leona was the chosen of the sun yet still unlike most mages was covered head to toe in weapons and armor, and Diana much the same didn't use a staff or wand but channeled her magic through a sword. So why was the decision to put nearly the entire turning point of each champion almost exclusively mystical in nature?

And because I know I'll get someone who says that I just hate all changes to champions, that is not the case. I actually like the changes that were made to Taric and Sion a lot. I really dislike those made to Poppy and Targon's original 3, but I understand they're running a business, and I certainly don't expect them to cater to my desires on how to do so. I would, however, like to hear their thought process on why they made certain changes. And even while I like new Taric, a lot actually, I still find it weird that the guy given power from another celestial and light, still is stuck with his old gems that really have no point in his lore anymore, it just seems strange like Swain the master general when all his abilities are based around birds.

And, again, to those at Riot, thanks for making a game I thoroughly enjoy. It's not every game that allowed me to play as a Spartan and fight a Godzilla sized monster from the a nether Void, and stomp on an annoying talking weasel with a blowgun. But that was literally how my friend pitched the game to me, and LoL let me do that for many years. And for all my criticism, I just want the game and you guys to be successful, and just hopefully not tear down the things that got me invested in the first place.