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The death of Dawngate helped me formulate some thoughts about League.

The All Tomato·2/6/2015, 5:33:13 PM·77 votes·5,830 views

I have spent dozens of hours a week playing and watching League since I began playing almost 2 years ago. I joined the Dawngate beta some months before the cancellation announcement, and only put in around 10 hours of gameplay, if that. The contest of which I valued more doesn't seem remotely close.

However, when the Dawngate closed, as I dried my tears and exited my client for the final time, I realized: I wouldn't care nearly as much if League was shut down.

League captures my mind - it challenges me to improve how I think, how I adapt, how I perform, and how I cooperate. Dawngate did this too, but it was exceptional among MOBAs because it also captured my heart. I fell in love with the lore as soon as I found the game. The characters and story were alive, they meant something, they taught me things. Playing a match felt like entering their world. The story progressed with the community; it was its lifeblood; it was a spice that made everything better (the music especially).

League of Legends is a beautiful game. The quality of craft that goes into artwork, textures, animations and models, music, etc., is astounding. It all lacks the magic Dawngate had. I think this is because its story is fragmented, bits and pieces of nonsense designed for mass appeal, and overall, it's meaningless.

Presently, competition is the only thing that gives this game meaning, eSports at the pinnacle. It is the glue of our community, too. There's nothing wrong with that - this is NOT a condemnation, but an exhortation. MOBAs can be so much more. Story doesn't have to be an afterthought. Dawngate proved that.

mirror post on /r/leagueoflegends, downvote hivemind 2stronk for that post

56 Comments

The All Tomato2/6/2015, 5:48:45 PM33 votes

Story is what grabbed my attention when friends introduced me to League. The gameplay was unfamiliar, confusing, and intimidating, but Runeterra and its occupants filled me with intrigue, which made it easier to scale the steep learning curve.

Eventually my focus shifted away from story and on my in-game performance. Finding Dawngate was like a wake-up call to what I really want out of video games.

Motajo2/6/2015, 8:48:07 PM27 votes

I know the feeling. When the great retcon happened, it felt like League lost its soul.

Ariaflux2/6/2015, 5:55:48 PM20 votes

I didn't get to play Dawngate, but it sounds like a game I would love... What a pity.

Edit: grammar

libraryseraph 2/6/2015, 8:40:17 PM18 votes

The biggest problem with League's loss of narrative is that League used to care so much about narrative. The retcons with no new continuity, the loss of major storyline elements, all of that is not only a negative development, but a new one

Protonic2/6/2015, 8:35:01 PM9 votes

I do remember a similar thread showing up, recommending Dawngate's story over League's own for many a reason, that I too in ways agree.

Where the difference lies is that even with League's disheveled tales, I still felt close to them, like I knew them, whereas with Dawngate, particularly the Chronicles, I could feel the shapers, if not know them.

But what's more interesting here versus other places? The point of shutting down.

For all my many years of immersing myself in League, I still care more about Dawngate shutting down, if for nothing else the mere potential it had to be something League is still trying to figure out, which admittedly is hard when you are already so established, but they try regardless.

Looking into the subreddit, I see that some who are vocal about such things dismiss the background as anything significant, that it could all be circles and squares, with rectangles shooting cones and get the same mechanical effect.

This I think would be as effective as Smash Bros. would have been if the original design idea played through where it would be an original character Tekken versus a Nintendo clubhouse.

In fact, most games that bore me, do so because they are easily re-skinned into being another insert-title-here game, which why I can like other similar games to League, but dislike others.

Those that succeed establish something that makes them what they are, while others engage by imitating or inventing dysfunction, thus burning out the excitement and engagement.

Now I know some people describe me as a "Lore-buff" simply for how much I care to know about anything aside pressing buttons and making things happens.

I like press button go boom as much as the next person, but I also note what's going on, like who, what, where, when, how, or sometimes even why.

To some, this is nonsense and a source of contention between them and me to a point of frustration.

Contrary to what was said on the Reddit page, you don't need an intended story heavy single-player game to get that level of satisfaction.

In fact using that as an example seems more to imply that they don't want that, and thus have sanctioned off a genre that they will likely not touch or want to know anything about, though this is certainly not all inclusive just a ventured theory.

In fact, I myself find some non-single-player games at least as, if not more engaging than some more story intended single-player titles, though certainly not all.

I would like to bridge the gap between the mechanics and the story, but in thinking about it, there lies a seemingly pointless venture, especially if the opposite to story audience is so dismissive as showcase by the Reddit responses.

But I will acknowledge the existence of such a thing, and that it only enhances both sides, something Dawngate clearly also knew and used.

In conclusion, EA is the worst company ever, period.

pinwheelviper2/7/2015, 1:23:39 AM9 votes

i have to admit it the lore was what drew me in to this game but when they turned my favourite characters lore into extremely vague description a few sentences long i found myself league less and less and reading more books if league had better lore (or some sort of online book) i'd probably play it more item 1052 you heard me riot MAKE A BOOK

Crett2/6/2015, 9:58:36 PM6 votes

League Of Legends is a one of a kind game and I would be supremely bummed if it was shut down. And I would not be able to move to Dota 2

AntiSkillshot2/7/2015, 4:58:29 AM5 votes

I loved League when the Institute of War was an important part of the lore. When we looked into the minds of the champions. When League had Immersion... Immersion is an important part of a game for me, if not the most important part. Killing the Immersion kills the game for me.

Jesus is Savior2/7/2015, 6:13:48 PM5 votes

I still think it's hilarious that Riot deleted all their lore because "it was too hard to write the lore and connect the stories with summoners/the league in place".

Now, fricken MONTHS later, we still have almost no lore.

Seems like a reboot was harder. WHO WOULDA THOUGHT.

So now we have to go months or years with some champions literally having ZERO lore.

I'm sure new players will love that.

Step up your game, Riot.

cFlame2/6/2015, 10:51:56 PM5 votes

You forgot the part where eSports is disgusting because the players play 'the best champions.' Meaning most favorite characters don't get played at all, unless the community actually favors Lee Sin and Thresh as favorites. >_> Yeah right.

Borbland2/7/2015, 10:12:59 AM4 votes

I was a big Dawngate player too, and in my opinion had the potential to become a big MOBA. I liked it more then LoL, because of the nice devs and community.

Also, shapers (Champions) were really balanced and all of them were seen. They had a really good balance team, even if some were considered broken, the item diversity of Dawngate was so huge, you could find at laest 2 items that countered hard a champion (And you had over 10 summoners spells you can switch in the middle of a game)

Another realy good thing were the end of the game rewards, positive players got more karma and got more rewards.

Last but not least, the lore was something that was the speciality of Dawngate: The Dawngate Chronicles, the well writen stories of the shapers were what gave Dawngate a soul.

Infiny Mage2/7/2015, 4:53:38 AM4 votes

I remember when I started playing about 4 years ago. While I instantly dove into the game. After about a week of playing the crap out of it, trying to farm IP for all those damn champions. I really just sat in the store and started looking at some individually. Reading the small lore. Jumping back on the website to read the champion judments. I would get so excited when they would push another out. Just to read these things and get a deeper insight into who it was I was playing. And then sadly they discontinued them. Now the game seems less whole. I'm patiently waiting for when the lore team finally starts pushing out some information so that I can hopefully reconnect with these champions again. Both new and old.

redniwediS2/6/2015, 5:48:00 PM3 votes

RIP Raina =(

John Berserk2/7/2015, 6:37:33 AM3 votes

When Riot announced the retconning of the Institute of War and Summoners, I actually felt like they had a plan. Call me overly-optimistic, but I still feel that way, and I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that they will deliver....eventually.

I was in the (vocal) minority in not caring about the Institute of War and the "and then they joined the League of Legends" ending each character bio had to have in some form. Riot could easily write stories without being restricted to that and STILL keep each of the characters intact, and thats what they've been doing so far, though most people seem to be under the impression that Riot retconned EVERYTHING, which is simply not true.

Anyway, that's for a slightly different discussion.

In terms of what Riot has right now for its lore, yeah, it is fragmented and broken, but it wasn't really ever in that good of a state. Before it was really vague or the characters were poorly thought out and the world wasn't really all that believable. At least what we have now, these fragments, they're at least more realized ones. All we need now are the pieces to fit in between them to connect everything together, and I feel Riot has something planned for that. I don't know what it could be, but I doubt Riot would just not have anything planned at all.

Everyone loves to assume Riot is doing nothing behind the scenes, but that's obviously not true at all. If they've been working on this whole League network infrastructure in the background all this time (trust me, something of that magnitude would take a LONG time to get settled), then chances are they're working on other really large-scale things, including something to do with the story.

The Anagram King2/7/2015, 9:15:50 PM3 votes

I like stories that are vague and difficult to pry out of a game. Think Dark Souls.

League has the tools to pull something like that off, but I get the very real feeling that they don't employ many creatively inclined storytellers with any real ability to tell a good story. I mean, did you see the extended Amumu lore? Disgusting!

Immersion makes games better. It creates a devoted fanbase that will freely advertise a game LONG after they're done playing it. That's a big deal, and Riot really should work harder to get that kind've dynamic going.

If they disabled Viktor permanently, I'd leave this game in a heartbeat. That guy is a gold nugget amidst a sea of awkward, and I'm really only in it for the immersive high I get from walkin' in his shoes on the fields of retconned justice.

Madra2/6/2015, 8:36:29 PM2 votes

I played it once and had a strong negative reaction to the game, despite carrying as Kindra. I thought the character models weren't detailed enough and didn't stand apart enough from everything else that was moving around, the color palette was too limited, and there were too many goofy objectives scattered around. I remember that there was some circle way off from the main path that spawned lumberjacks or something and decided that the game wasn't worth the effort to learn. The barrier to entry in these MOBAs is so high that even small mistakes can be enough to keep someone from really investing in the game. League of Legends isn't a great game, but it's a quick and easy hit to get that PvP fix. The Esports is a big deal, too. If all other things are equal or at least close, why not play the game that is the most relevant?

RhIjOfT2/8/2015, 7:38:29 PM2 votes

I'd been talking with a friend about Dawngate the day after it closed, while walking home from the bus stop. I explained how amazing it was, and how I already miss it so much. I told him I regretted not playing it more, and that I'd cried the night before. He asked me if I'd care if league shut down and I froze. Having almost 1000 games in league, it should've been an easy answer... I just looked at him and said, "No... not very much, if at all..." We lost a gem with Dawngate, and sadly EA doesn't see the world you and I see.

Rozzeta2/7/2015, 1:40:05 AM2 votes

Everything you're saying comes from the knowledge that league is not shutting down anytime soon. It's like those little kids who act brave saying they do not fear death, then shit themselves when facing the wrong end of a gun. That said, story was definitely the strongest point for Dawngate (right next to it's newbie friendly nature, and Mina), and it shined WAY more than it does in League. Unfortunately for Dawngate, it's publisher was EA.

slôw2/8/2015, 1:50:39 AM1 votes

am i the only one who couldn't care less about story???????????????

if you want good story there are PLENTY of singleplayer games that are dimensions ahead of dawngate and league combined. and apparently no one is complaining about how heroes of the storm's story is completely ridiculous, which league took a similar approach by just making interesting champions and not giving a shit how they actually interact.

besides the only way this game's lore could ever make sense is if:

all the champions are dead important people from their own time.

then they have some small background on what they did seperately perhaps maybe with some blood relation with other people. small origin story, then BOOM THEY ARE BACK NOW IN SOME WEIRD DIMENSION FOR OTHERS' ENTERTAINMENT! :D perfect!