Cassiopeia from a design standpoint: today and back then. Still forgotten?

Snaketits·3/10/2018, 1:46:13 PM·13 votes·1,854 views

It's been half a year now since Cassiopeia received her first skin after 4.5 years of waiting: Eternum Cassiopeia. Sadly it didn't manage to live up to the hype - for one, it wasn't a legendary skin. Secondly, the chosen theme seemed too random and out of place for her.

However the biggest issue for this skin was the splashart which simply missed the mark when it came to the delivery. I'd like to refer to the concept sketches by the original artist for comparison: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/wQdxV

As you can see, some of these concepts portray Cass in a seductive way while the other half shows her in more predatory way. And yet the final splashart ( https://i.imgur.com/pnvckj4.jpg ) threw all of that way and gave us a Cass in a stationary pose devoid of any dynamic or appeal. She isn't even looking at the viewer, the angle itself already makes her appear terribly thin while half of the picture isn't even being filled by the champ itself.

It's clear that the original artist had the skill to really do her justice, and yet Riot decided to go with a version of the splash that betrayed all of that - it's a flatout disappointment.

Speaking of splasharts, I'm also disappointed about the lack of updates for her other skins which haven't aged well at all. There's one more thing in specific I wanted to talk about: her lack of lore. I've been talking to some of the fellas in that department at least 2 years ago when the last Shurima event happened which Cassiopeia for some reason wasn't even a part of, so I asked them. Their response: she'd most likely get some attention during the Noxus event.

Now fast forward in time and we're already past that, yet Cassio's biography still consists of merely SIX LINES of text. Meanwhile Rammus (!) has a biography that is 75 lines long. In regards to overall lore, Cass also lacks interactions with modern champions or high tier skin releases while newer champions like Braum, Azir, Aurelion Sol or Ivern constantly get attention via taunts or other remarks. Not even Katarina, her own sister, seems to care about her.

I was sincerely hoping things would be getting better for the snakelady after all these years, and yet all she received was a random skin with a disappointing splashart and zero attention beyond that point. Heck, even the summoner icon for that skin didn't come out until 2 months later after they listened to the complaints. I'm still waiting for her to get a single ingame emote, meanwhile some champs already have up to 3 (!) of their own.

It really seems as if Riot only released that Eternum skin to merely kill off the "meme" while neglecting every other aspect about her. She still lacks lore, she still remains entirely irrelevant during events, she still has no updates for her other skins, and she still doesn't have any emotes or other forms of fanservice going on. I also don't get why she was left out from the recent lunar revel event while every other champ received a golden chroma of their own.

21 Comments

Chromatic Eagle3/10/2018, 5:47:43 PM5 votes

I'm sorry that you aren't happy with the skin but,

it wasn't a legendary skin. Secondly, the chosen theme seemed too random and out of place for her.

A champion waiting a long time for a skin doesn't mean they should receive a legendary one. If you weren't happy with an epic skin, you can't assume that having a legendary will satisfy you. What if they chose a bad theme for that as well?

What type of skin would you like? Cass could pull off a Blood Moon (not hard), but I'd like something like Program, but as a virus. Maybe a Candy Queen skin, where she turns people into candy, or chocolate like Majin Buu.

Tormentula3/10/2018, 2:30:20 PM3 votes

I 100% agree with your post, upvoted

{quoted}

Heck, even the summoner icon for that skin didn't come out until 2 months later after they listened to the complaints.

I'm still waiting for super galaxy Elise's icon. Every other SG skin got an icon, but all Elise got was an icon of the mecha spider (one that, when you look carefully, you question how the legs even go in that position.). We never got one for her human form despite shyvana getting one for both, hers and dragon, as well as lamb+wolf, fizz + SHARK.. and this recent SG line all only got one of their forms.

At least eternum never had that icon standard for rek/noc to begin with, but SG felt cheaped out on the icons with the first edition going all out, and the second edition going half way.

Even SG rumble didn't get an icon when he was the most requested since the first readdition of the SG line.

It really seems as if Riot only released that Eternum skin to merely kill off the "meme" while neglecting every other aspect about her. She still >lacks lore, she still remains entirely irrelevant during events, she still has no updates for her other skins, and she still doesn't have any emotes or other >forms of fanservice going on. I also don't get why she was left out from the recent lunar revel event while every other champ received a golden chroma >of their own.

Morg and nidalee didn't get chromas either, + a couple more.

but yea I feel you on the lack of fanservice or even just acknowledgement of the champ. When this is the only thing your champ gets as acknowledgement:

[cass-cry]

That's just depressing.

Elise is in a similar boat, only interaction she got since release with TTL alters, was maokai's VO update with 1 line. No emotes, one bad icon, I feel ya all the way on cassiopeia. Wish they'd give more love to unique champs rather then the same stuff.

1983XL200R3/10/2018, 4:51:19 PM2 votes

The most confusing part about it all is that all the big titty waifu characters like lux and miss fortune are getting tons of attention when Cassiopeia isn’t even that bad of a waifu character. I made a post a while ago about cass’s Lore and we had to come up with most of it.

RainbowIcee3/10/2018, 5:57:48 PM2 votes

I think a chroma for this skin would look good i was never a fan of this skin and it's electric redness it felt a bit too weird. But maybe another color would make it feel better to me at least, like purple or green. Electric green breath attack!

Wert the Wacky3/10/2018, 6:16:50 PM2 votes

A random and out of place skin after years of waiting you say? Yorick

Rude Name3/10/2018, 1:57:33 PM2 votes

This is a common issue unfortunately. Thematically cohesive champions a la Singed, Twitch, Trundle, and more are all getting thrown by the wayside. Cass is no different, albeit closer to some large League lore juggernauts like Katarina or Sivir.

A potential remedy is letting the fanbase of particular characters offer various pieces to Riot like custom skin models, chromas, or even deciding on various balance changes, in order to provide attention to their favourite champions.

Wild Geese3/11/2018, 6:25:33 AM2 votes

I've always thought she looked awful. The Gorgan's should be beautiful and scary.. Cassiopeia is neither. I don't think the champ is bad and she looks OK in some skins but this is a visual update candidate if ever there was.

ModWulf Helhammer3/10/2018, 3:15:54 PM2 votes

Cass does have a lore color story: https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/story/cassiopeia-color-story/

As for not getting a golden chroma, they only did one from each year.