The Retcon and my view on it - and what should happen now (in my opinion).
Alright, let's be honest. the whole situation is a mess right now.
we got riot's narrative that want a change, decided on what the change will be but did not think through their actions and storys.
then we got the players that want the quadrating of a circle of how the retcon should be.
so in my opinion, let's do a sion rework on the lore. and start at point zero first and rethink what the lore is supposed to actually do. in my opinion this is the only chance to cease the waves between people actually caring for the lore, and the narrative team. (i am not saying "riot" here on purpose)
so. here's is my personal thoughts on this (feel free to answer my points yourself with your viewpoint and your conclusions, like brainstorming)
**step 1: **
What is the reason for the Lore to exist.
the lore's reason to exist is to give gameplay's aspects life. to tell a story about the champions we play and make us as players able to retaliate with them.
so, the lore is about a game, and supposed to tie the player with the characters hes playing.
step 2:
what should the lore include?
the champions. that one is obvious. the next one, in my opinion, is it should include the game. in this game the /league of legends/ in some sort.
**what does that mean what the lore that tells a games story should at least explain? **
what is a champion? what makes a champion exactly that? what defines being a champion? why is he fighting and for what?
why do the champions fight each other on a battlefield? yes i know the narrative team disagrees here, but let's be honest. a story that does not explain why the heck these champions are fighting is exactly one thing. obsolete . why would anyone care for a lore that has exactly nothing to do what i play?
what is the player? your client clearly states we are "summoners" until this point. so either, you have to tie in what the players char does, or say the player actually /is/ the champion. but you have to decide on one of this options. there is no middle ground i see here. either we are the champions or they are being controlled somehow. the lore should explain either why they are controlled, or make clear we /are/ the champions. just it needs a clear decision between the two options you have here.
step 3:
how to tie in these needed things with an actual lore?
here is the part where it gets interesting, as here is the decision on a retcon what to keep and what to stick with.
the champions: the have been given homes, cities, where beings of similar personality reside or tie with. these need to be included, explained and storys be told about. this is what makes the lore's storytelling.
the game-play/league: this is the question right now, isn't it? in my opinion we need some sort of league, but it doesn't have to be the iow. why? let's be honest, the iow it self is replaceable, the league itself isn't. basically the question is how to tie in a league without them being the roadblock the previous iow was. here are my thoughts on it:
let the league/summoners exactly be the demigods you felt them to be. they don't meddle with runeterra directly unless they deem a historical side worthy of being a battlefield. they don't meddle in politics, they use champions to fight their own game. they are disconnect from runeterra and yet their playgrounds are actual places on it. becoming a champion is like being "chosen". not necessarily voluntarily.
tune the league and summoners down. let the whole league be a sort of contest like the games in ancient Olympia. the champions come together to proof who the strongest/superior/etc is and on mutual agreement the war rests while the games run. the summoners aren't puppeteering the champions, they /guide/ them. telling them where the enemy is, helping out with spell, giving them the best targets to attack or which of their powers to use. but not mind controlling them.
last words: i did not intend to write a whole lore here. i do feel like it but this should not be the topic i try to discuss here. feel free to give your thoughts on the steps i made here so we can gather as much consent as we can, to narrow down what actually we all agree on what is the needed core of the lore and what parts are obsolete and retconable, and what parts can be scrapped.
and one thing to the narrative team:
learn from the long list of mistakes comic companies made. finish your retcon in one go, and don't make bird feed bits. if you retcon do it at once with all stories already included and thought through. do not leave some lingering things that don'T fit with the past pieces. give out a full work and not just bits and pieces. we don't want old champion stories to linger in solitude and be disconnect. that paints a very sloppy image on the lore team.
