Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

GIVE ME CTHULHU BEAR

GelsominoKiller·10/16/2019, 8:37:47 PM·25 votes·16,237 views
Svalblod

I am torn. I understand the qualms of those loyal mains that wish current Volibear's identity and personality to be preserved; on the other hand, reading "Silence for the Damned" compelled me to feverishly pick T H E B E A R in anticipation of his rework, despite me thinking that the in-game Volibear experience is... a bit dull.

Stumbling over this on the Roadmap literally broke my heart:

One common thing we heard—especially from Volibear mains—was that the more grotesque-horror visual designs felt like they strayed too far from live Volibear, so we’ve refocused our explorations on versions that feel more true to current Voli.

I am in love with that concept of an eldritch bear-thing god of wilderness with sets of eyes sprouting from his oily skull while he impales corpses in occult patterns for some weird ritual of rejuvenation. I like how he's presented in the story, a psionic juggernaut whose sole imposing presence fades individuality and consciousness.

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/witcher/images/b/bb/Gwent_cardart_skellige_svalblod.png/revision/latest?cb=20190126191031

Are you sure we want to lose all that stuff? That's good stuff, unique stuff, creative stuff. Is preserving "armored bear" worth it? I understand there are difference of opinions involved; I also understand that a Volibear fan since years has much more valuable saying on such matter than me; lastly, I understand that now it's too late for changing anything, and the direction is set.

I am sad. Not angry, because I respect the different perspective, and understand a choice had to be made. But boi am I sad.

https://nexus.leagueoflegends.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/06_Volibear_Concept_zdfr3txcsuzdaubh0ym2.jpg

PS: new Volibear has small head and probably very small bener

39 Comments

GreenLore10/16/2019, 10:46:14 PM17 votes

Honestly I was a suprised by this too, since most people who voted for Volibear likely did so because they liked the idea of the eldritch volibear.

With that being said, I can understand that the volibear mains weren't happy about this, but I would have liked if they had tried to find a middle ground somewhere, like giving Volibear 4 eyes or making him physically decay when his passive isn't up(assuming he'd still have such a passive).

I do hope that Riot knows how beloved the concept of the eldritch bear was and gives us at least an Ursine champ who dabs into this theme to make up for this.

NelsieLisnen10/16/2019, 9:06:47 PM16 votes

Here's the dealbreaker for me, the concept they just released looks even more sterile than the ones a few months ago. No armor, no savagery, no broken swords on his back. I would be a sucker for the eldritch voli too, not minding the more safe approach, but boi, this one is about the safest, most uninteresting version they've come up with to date.

mrmeddyman10/17/2019, 6:07:21 AM8 votes

Pretty much how a lot of champions lose their spark nowadays. The initial concept is new, fresh, exciting and then Riot designs by committee until something more bland gets shat out by pandering to mainstream culture and market focus tests. All the edges cut off to avoid risks, the concept loses all of its' teeth and aims to make everyone content at the cost of failing to wow anybody

Kaisa Neeko Kaisa Neeko Kaisa Neeko Kaisa Neeko....Qiyana

Arakadia10/17/2019, 1:18:15 AM6 votes

Totally agree. I voted for Cthulhu Bear, not Armored Bear.

Darius Strada10/16/2019, 11:18:39 PM5 votes

Same dude. I at least hope they make a skin of it. It's in his lore and it's been a long-ass time since we had lore related skin

Jerry SeinfeId10/16/2019, 9:27:22 PM5 votes

i get that but i feel like eldritch type stuff should go with the void.

the current concept doesn't convince me to play voli and neither does the current one. but it does feel like a genuine "update" to voli. Changing him up would introduce new mains but going from polar bear in armor to eldritch horror will most definitly estrange current fans of voli. They'd have to be into that stuff coincidentally.

the current concept looks like voli, but he's a godlike being. which is kinda what most people want i think. visually it feels like an update rather than a new character, which is what i think an update should be like.

AbiwonKenabi10/17/2019, 3:07:31 AM4 votes

Real talk here: making Volibear into straight up eldritch bear is akin to changing Varus the way they did, or taking away Shyvana's father, etc. It would be too drastic a change from the things that--while underdeveloped--Volibear players enjoy and see potential in.

While I greatly enjoyed "Silence of the Damned" and thought it was a great piece of fiction, I also wholeheartedly agree that it wasn't a direction that Volibear should be taken in. Its just too far removed from the regal, armored war-bear that long time fans envision him to be. I agree with Riot that this is the better approach to take.

While many voters for Voli voted with the eldritch horror angle in mind, I feel like Fiddlesticks or Nocturne (both also voting options) were ALWAYS going to be more naturally suited to that kind of thing and aren't living up to that potential with their current visuals either. Think of your favorite character and everything you love about them, then imagine a bunch of random other people who are only interested in that character for ONE single short story that took a very drastic look from everything familiar to you about the character. Its as if Draven was outdated, and they had one story where he was like a serious survivalist in the wild or something, and it was a great story, but drastically different from what Draven fans like about Draven. I don't know if I'm explaining this well but...hm.

That said, I'm surprised they didn't keep at least something creepy with him. My personal idea was to keep some of both versions and show them as two sides of the "war coin". One is the regal heroic side we typically appeal to, and the other is the dark inevitable side of war, death and decay and hardship. I didn't expect them to totally abandon that side of Voli, but part of me is glad they did.

Mr Dalloway10/17/2019, 2:20:42 AM3 votes

Volibear is a terrifying champion to have running at you. He should inspire fear. Kind of like that demon polar bear in the first season of the AMC show The Terror.

ZackTheWaffleMan10/16/2019, 9:09:12 PM3 votes

A different god can be an eldritch horror

Dreamer52910/17/2019, 2:37:02 AM2 votes

I'm hoping we'll get an "Avatar of Volibear" type champion where we get Cthulhu bear. Doubt it will happen, but fingers crossed anyway!

Bjørnetjenesten10/17/2019, 1:05:03 PM2 votes

This post is such a joke. Nobody really plays Volibear excepts for the mains, who dedicated time to the champ over the years. They decided they want this champ to be preserved as much as possible and riot actually listened.

You people need to stfu, we dont want a Galio or Aatrox tier rework. Why should some no-name, nobody, who never played Voli have an opinion or any say in his rework? I do not understand this logic. You people have 145 other champs to select, If you want an eldritch god, go ask for that in a new champ. dont fuck up this champ with your shitty ideas.

Xedlord10/17/2019, 3:27:41 PM2 votes

It seems like those Voli mains (Who literally just want his old lore back) are pretty much the only people in the community that don't like that Eldritch and grotesque Volibear.

Placentas10/17/2019, 4:12:03 PM2 votes

It's exactly that it just strayed way too far from the original Volibear. The OG Voli was a straight up shaman bear who was fine with peace. The worry about the Ursine not being battle ready was because he sensed future danger, but he would have preferred peace. Then he became more aggressive, someone who thinks that peace time isn't good and that the Ursine should always be battle hungry and ready and would side with Sej. The eldritch Voli is an amazing and cool concept but it's not Voli.

Voli at his core is an armored polar bear warrior shaman with the power of lightning and storms.

I made a post before suggesting that it would be great if Voli's exterior deteriorated upon taking damage to match the grotesque horror in the story. He would start as a pristine armored bear and slowly decay into this eldritch mess. His self heal upon massacring enemies would fix his appearance.

"For his VGU, we want to show Volibear as he is to himself, in his most prime, original, godlike form." is a statement from the Road Map about Voli. I think this is for the most part the right direction.

I think a transformation would be a great way to mix both directions. Maybe if when he ulted he turned into this ultimate horror of the storms.

There's definitely room for both grotesque and pristine Voli and I think a lot of Voli mains other than myself would agree, or so that's what it seems like online. It's just that too much of grotesque Voli makes it stop being Voli and that's what has made so many people upset when it comes to reworked champions.

MAGE ITEM KEKW10/17/2019, 12:59:02 PM2 votes

no.

Craft Zeppelin10/17/2019, 1:51:17 AM1 votes

I think they can recycle concept ideas into new skins. I think the new rework has got quite a few fans hooked in. Maybe there is a chance.

Center of life10/17/2019, 5:16:46 PM1 votes

they're trying to avoid another Aatrox, by keeping him in line with his original concept while bringing him up to today's quality in character design, voice acting/direction, and FX.

serasy10/21/2019, 4:40:05 PM1 votes

this volibear rework is not saying that the eldritch horror volibear isnt part of the lore imo. it just shows volibear as he was before humans or the void fucked up the world. maybe with time he got currupted or went mad/angry. which then turned him more grotesque over time..?[sg-ahri-2]