Uhm...
I haven't thought that well about it, and let me say I'm glad to see someone who can actually argument what they say :D
The same goes for me, I'm glad that I was met with a thought-of reply =)
Probably the thing I liked most about the shurima event was that it made the stories of a few champs touch and interact. LoL has many champions with unique stories, but most of them are stand-alone. I like when different champions interact and expand on their relationships. I liked the Sion rework too because it had Swain, LeBlanc and Vladimir in it.
Yes, interactions are always a good thing, I agree. But any old-lore lover would be compelled to make the following observation on the subject: the JoJ too reported champions interactions and the IoW was a built-in interaction field in the lore. So what you found good about Shurima and Reborn was already implemented and possible in that narrative frame. Besides, champions' stories actually did intertwine in the JoJ. I could cite the Kalamanda arc or Malzahar and Kassadin having a feud.
What did happen that developed some story in the shurima event is the return of shurima as a city. Azir rebuilt/recovered Shurima, and it now exists in Runeterra. This opens up possibilities for new characters, but also for development in the general story of the world: how will the other nations react? what will Azir do?
Of course the novelty of the situation will have consequences and I look forward to them. Nonetheless, given Riot's narrative pace as of lately, we are up for a very long waiting before we can see any of this have any development. They first have to state through the completion of the retcon what the status quo is; only after that they will be able to progress.
Let's keep our fingers crossed!
But yes, regarding character development there wasn't much. But maybe character development would be a problem in League? I mean, champions are characterized in their kit, their lines, their animation. Sivir is a mercenary, she's self-confidant, she's arrogant. Now we know she was betrayed, and she is a descendant from shurima royal family. But it didn't really develop Sivir's story or personality. If it did, there would probably have been the need for an update at least in her background, but probably also in her quotes. Character development would be interesting, but I don't know if it is possibile in any meaningful way.
No character development would be a narrative failure imho. If someone intends to tell a story, it must have progression, having the same characters never changing and just doing inconsequential stuff to maybe shoehorn new characters would be heinous from a narrative point of view. Characters can actually remain the same at the end of a story, but it's important than in its development they are questioned they're ways and that sticking to their guns is a choice of theirs, but one among many which they could consider and opt for. Besides, such choice should have a bearing: a character which refuses to change, may be leading him/her-self to death and/or failure. The inability of a bad guy to repent and him going back to a criminal life even though he had the chance to not do so, could be met by a tragic demise or a life-lasting unhappiness. It could be met with success such a choice, of course, these are all but examples. The point is that it should always be showcased the possibility of character development; characters shouldn't be all unmovable and never have their self questioned, there would be no moral tension otherwise. You can have a few characters being so and that could be a cool characterization for them - no matter what, they're faithful to themselves and their moral - but it cannot be the rule, lest that feature become trivial, boring and unrealistic. That would be a cool point only as opposed to other characters showing a different moral tension.
Besides, Riot itself said they wanted to separate the game from the story so as to achieve better story progression (e.g. people dying), so they cannot pull an excuse such as being technically complex to keep game quotes up with the narrative arcs. It'd be self-contradictory. So, this excuse notwithstanding given their narrative manifesto, I think they just didn't deliver with Shurima and should regard it as a failure and learn from it.
Probably yes, story-wise the event didn't develop story as much as it presented and marketed Azir. But I'm positive and saw potential in it. I hope events will get better and better from this point of view too, and that Riot will develop Runeterra's history now that they don't have the Institute of War to cripple any meaningful political development (remember I think they could have handled the IoW better than just pretending it never existed)
As an old lore lover, I cannot exempt myself from reminding that the IoW had a central part in the event which led to the biggest political developments ever happened in lore: i.e. the Ionia-Noxus rematch to end Ionia's occupation and Swain's rise to the position of Grand General of Noxus =P
This counter-example standing, I am of the opinion that simply removing the IoW won't bring better events if they approach them from the wrong angles like with Shurima or the recent Kalista story. If you look at the latter, you will find that it doesn't only lack character progression too (it's the first one about her, so it's actually excusable), but it also doesn't really explore Kalista as a character. Adopting the POV of the sword-wife who takes the oath, we're left with just another example of someone telling about her, describing her through someone else's eyes. We don't get to know anything about Kalista which we didn't know before and since those information are already covered in the short in-client summary, there's no real reason to expand on them in such a way, as opposed to, for instance, the same story approached from Kalista's POV (or told by a third-person omniscient narrator), showing us what she feels about herself, how betrayal disgusts her, her pain and the empathy she has with those who take the oath. That's showcasing the character. The current story and the video are, again, more of a teaser for a marketable product.
This is to say, we can't just be confident they'll get better, we must point out to them with feedback when they approach things the wrong way. IoW or no IoW it doesn't matter, the new content as of now wouldn't be shackled by it in any way, the problem is in the narrative approach and it's a much deeper one, independent of the setting. You could have the coolest and most original fantasy setting ever as a basis, if you build on it in the way they did for Shurima, the Harrowing and Kalista, you won't still get anything interesting from a sole narrative POV. And since it was them choosing to separate the game from the story, I'd expect them to strive to give a narrative product measuring up with narrative standards.
If they were not about worldwide known characters of the most played game in the world, no one would ever publish a product made of short stories such as the ones they delivered.
I mean no offence with this, but I wouldn't ever follow their story if I wasn't hooked to the game and that means that the story doesn't stand on its own, which is a most serious matter if they meant for it to do so.
