Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

Riot, you're working yourselves deeper into a corner with skins.

ModCaptainMårvelous·1/10/2019, 8:24:51 PM·241 votes·31,318 views

Prestige Skins aren't "new", they're just the next escalation as Riot tries to make skin sales still a good thing.

Now, I don't mean disrespect in terms of how skins look. Skins today blow skins of previous years out of the water. That's the exact problem though: There's a nuclear arms race for skins. Let me ask you, reader: How many skins do you have for your favorite champions? Barring a ban or an account loss, you're probably rocking 1-3 skins for most of your favorite champs right? Or, on average, you have the skins you really want and nothing else.

This exact problem leads to Riot always having to go bigger and bigger. Skins have to be rarer and rarer like Prestige to justify players buying them and still feeling accomplished. Skins now have crazy non-chroma variants (The duo Blitz skins, Solar/Lunar Eclipse Leona) to get you to buy similar skins twice. Skin themes/universes are propped up with a similar amount of care and love to the main universe. There is an arms race going on as we speak of Riot constantly putting more and more effort to get you to buy a skin for a champ you likely already own because it's the next, cool thing you didn't know you wanted.

Riot, if you want to make money, there are tons of avenues you have yet to explore that wouldn't require half the work. We still don't have a lot of things other games have: Announcers. Finishers. Map variants/accents. Minion/Tower Skins. User Interface skins. Hell, DOTA once sold weather effects. The common counterargument is "ugh then my game will be a clarity nightmare", but that is countered by having it disabled in ranked or only affect the player on player's side.

This constant escalation of skins isn't healthy nor is it sustainable. Prestige is just the newest tool in a long line of skins to try and get players who already have every skin they want enticed with promises of "New free stuff". You have so many other avenues to explore and so much more you can do that focusing on skins isn't just a bad decision, it's borderline unhealthy for the rest of the game.

TL;DR Stop focusing on skins, give us some stuff that's not skins. People more willing to spend money on something they don't have/something new than to justify buying a skin for a champ who they already have 39 skins for.

135 Comments

Oleandervine1/10/2019, 8:32:14 PM51 votes

I would agree. The poro icons and the URF finisher icons were excellent ways of spicing up the game and making icons mean something. Permanent versions of these effects would go a long way.

Furthermore, Riot has proven with skin lines like Coven that they just have to grasp onto a really good skin concept that clicks with the champions and delivers and excellent fantasy in order to have them do well. PROJECT, Star Guardians, Odyssey, and High Noon have also been examples of skin lines that clicked so well and became popular. We just need these little breaths of fresh air that flow and mesh with the champions seamlessly, and delivery extremely quality work to the players. Compare these skin lines to more recent ones like Praetorian and this year's Programs - LeBlanc and Nami. While the skins look good from an artistic standpoint, and the Fiddlesticks one is badass with the little robo drones, thematically these skins are what I'd call bombs. They didn't click the champions at all, and just felt like throwaways to tick off a list or fill a quota. LeBlanc, for instance would have fit BEAUTIFULLY in the Coven line instead of Program. We need less skins like this that feel forced and shoved out of a production queue and more skins like Coven and Odyssey that actually feel like they were extremely well planned and the members lovingly selected.

Moonscourge1/10/2019, 8:28:42 PM28 votes

Fully agree.

I really questioned my life and my choices after grinding the Akali one and now I just get upset at the thought of "Prestige" skins. We don't need a prestige skin along every release, it's grating and the idea of the massive cash grab that it is just makes me sick.

Modl Ryden l1/10/2019, 9:21:26 PM22 votes

{quoted}

This constant escalation of skins isn't healthy nor is it sustainable. Prestige is just the newest tool in a long line of skins to try and get players who already have every skin they want enticed with promises of "New free stuff".

I couldn't have said it better myself. Each year, skins have 'power-crept' in details.

eSports skins are a magnificent example of this. in the order of release: 2012 - TPA for 750 RP each 2013 - SKT for 750 RP each 2014 - SSW & FNC 750 for RP each 2015 - SKT T1 for 975 RP each 2016 - SKT T1 for 1350 RP each 2017 - SSG for 1350 RP each; feature bundles with signature borders, icons, and gemstones for massive amounts of RP 2018 - ??? I can only assume it's another 1350 RP batch or perhaps a 1820 batch with not only icons/borders + gemstone but also chromas, prestige, and remodels. Like. Fuck.

Like they look good and feel pleasant to play but these new skin types or features are really just wearing me out. :/

DrCyanide1/10/2019, 9:24:19 PM7 votes

This is of course assuming you regularly play a champion that has good skins you like to pick from.

Haven't liked what I've seen of Xerath skins, so even though I was one tricking him through ranked in 2017 I played without a skin for most games.

iiGazeii1/10/2019, 8:56:04 PM6 votes

Exactly. Of course there will always be "skin collectors", but most people only want content for their favorite champs.

For example, my favorite champion is Jhin. In order to get me to buy a new skin for Jhin, it needs to be better than PROJECT: Jhin. If they want me to spend more money, they could probably tempt me with letting me play the PROJECT music in every game, a PROJECT skin for Summoner's Rift, a Jhin announcer, and other ways for me to enjoy my favorite champion/skin and show off to others that he's my favorite.

Karfuss1/11/2019, 2:04:55 AM4 votes

It's aggressive Asian style marketing, the kind you'd expect from a Chinese mobile game or MMO. That might work great in China, Korea etc but it doesn't mix well with the stubborn (and I'd say, for good reason) Western consumer who are quite happy to lash out at what they deem as predatory practice.

We're seeing it now with Lootboxes, with US states and European countries considering legislation that would make lootboxes subject to gambling laws. With Activision Blizzard getting one helluva backlash for Diablo Immortal, a Chinese mobile game clone with a Diablo skin. Might be a hit in China, but the Western market has already rejected it based on quality alone.

The drive for companies to make more profit is driving them towards Chinese marketing tactics because it works in China. Lootboxes, limited time items, putting in-game currency in escrow and accessible behind a paywall, low quality churnable content. It doesn't work here, something even the biggest publishers in the West learned last year, and something Riot may learn now.

Dr Dog1/10/2019, 8:37:32 PM4 votes

i think they should work on more chromas for already existing skins, there are a lot of skins that would look really sick with a chroma like different suits for secret agent xin, different neons for shadow evelynn, xerath chromas for different colors, etc. hell id love it if we could have HUD skins

Moody P1/10/2019, 8:54:53 PM4 votes

750 skins are still the preferred

i hate voice filters and obnoxious VFX

the shy top1/10/2019, 9:45:06 PM4 votes

I highly doubt they will make a profit. Not many people are willing to pay $100 for the ugly ass skin that prestige aatrox is. This would have to be the biggest fuck up in 2019 right behind fallout 76.

Draught of Souls1/11/2019, 6:20:24 AM3 votes

You post this and I totally agree, but the reason they are going to ignore your post ( EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE A MODERATOR ) is because the vast majority of players don't read the forums and will never see it. If this is brought to light on Reddit then hell will be raised in the name of skins killing the game.

Tormentula1/10/2019, 9:08:28 PM3 votes

I think it'd be fair to do stuff like prestige once a year (abit more obtainable, really sad that I had to miss so much worlds content just to get one item) , but right now it feels like we're going to pump a prestige edition every new PBE cycle for skin, give chromas for the rest, and ignore any past skins of that skinlines of chromas.

off topic, but for ex. I prayed for Blood moon elise chromas, than we get chromas for just the current BM skins and prestige aatrox? This makes me not look forward to future content tied to champions because I have low expectations, I'm not excited for the next super galaxy skin line because I know it won't provide more content for what I current have, even if i had to pay for it. On top of that, it makes me extremely hesitant to spend what little money i have because I don't know if the next patch is going to have for example prestige Elise or fucking limited time prestige border legendary with limited time icon only available in bundles worth $100 dollars Elise. This makes me spend less money knowing that i could fuck myself for getting something I genuinely like.

They're moving forward too much, they need to step back. I kinda wish riot would mass give chromas to all characters that don't have one, even if its just their base skins, but all this limited time stuff is just tiring.

Resolution1/10/2019, 10:58:08 PM2 votes

Well what did you expect when they reported such a bad revenue last year? Their going to keep punishing players with more "Whale packages" to make up for losses. It's kinda sad to see what the stores turning into to make up for their failures.

I can get full games for the price of skins these days. Wonder how long to players get fed up?

SpiritOfOdysseus1/11/2019, 1:17:13 AM2 votes

Well, it must be nice to be a moderator, a specialist, and allowed to express your opinions (for the company you work for too) while having them immediately pinned to the top for everyone to comment on, with pretty colors.

Now imagine if you had that opinion and expressed it 500 times, and 499/500 it goes unnoticed whilst the one that doesn't gets gaslighted because youre unranked and your opinion only matters if you grind your teeth through the most toxic mode in League.

Not trying to make it personal to you, Cap, but it's personal to me. I've played since season 2 and I can have my opinion invalidated by some boosted e-girl who's played league for >2 years, while I can probably beat the same person at every single champion minus Rek'sai. Its almost subliminal, but there is obvious bias on these boards I feel you might want to try fixing. Food for thought. Maybe use your notoriety to shepard the boards in the right/better direction, here's an idea:

**A.) **If you see someone post something unique, sounds reasonable, and COULD positively improve the game/community/add a cool feature/discuss something off-the-bandwagon than comment on it.

B.) If you see someone on the boards tear down someone else's opinion based on their "rank", delete the comment and save face, save anger directed at elitists who troll their way through discussions with some disgusting face-card(rank). Rank shouldn't determine who can make a suggestion, experience should.

C.) The boards have been in damage control for a long time. Instead of the boards being seen as a legit place for League players to make discussion, it is as good as early 2000's Wikipedia. A meme before meme's were a thing. The boards need a reputation and that starts with the admin/moderators doing their part: one-topic does the job, not 50 topics all summing up the same idea and wasting time; comments on such topics shouldn't be "Your XYZ is bad because ABC", comments should be better left unsaid if nothing constructive can be added. NOT to provoke/taunt/cut down. That's why they are COMMENTS instead of NEGATIVE REMARKS.

D.) There is a popular disparity that is ever-present. Why is it that only some members get their topics read/posted/upvoted 90%+ more than others? Why Is it that these same topics tend to have low-effort content? The boards are not a beauty pageant however this hidden rule is only enforced by 2 factors- the moderators and the popular opinion.

E.) Forum moderation isn't just about deleting my comments because I'm pissed that this place I used to frequent so often has turned to mob-mentality infused squalor. You used to be able to say unpopular things and theyd get commented on, now theyre ignored for zero-thought memes that a comatose rat could come up with. All the forum effort focuses into garbage, you get garbage in return.

Theres my feedback,

Peace!

Warlord Dienekes1/10/2019, 8:39:31 PM2 votes

I don’t think skins are for you, then, Cap.

You have to understand that a good portion of the money freetoplay games make is off “whales” who buy and collect a much larger portion of the exclusive stuff.

Giving a skin a huge price tag and a name that makes it seem even more special than normal is how you bring the whales in.

And so long as few who regularly pays leaves because of the new skin tier it will ultimately be a good business decision.

KFCeytron1/11/2019, 5:50:47 AM2 votes

{quoted}

Let me ask you, reader: How many skins do you have for your favorite champions? Barring a ban or an account loss, you're probably rocking 1-3 skins for most of your favorite champs right? Or, on average, you have the skins you really want and nothing else.

I've unlocked 96 champs on my main account (with enough BE to unlock the rest if I was interested in them), and 17 skins. All but one of those skins is from something like a promo or special event. As for the outlier, I found a skin I liked, waited years for it to go on sale, submitted a support ticket with a custom thing I made related to the skin, and added that RP to the complimentary RP an Honorable account used to get.

With all due respect to Riot, there is nothing they or any F2P game company could do to get me to spend a dime of actual money, because I learned the folly of that many years ago. Perhaps a few more people learned this lesson today.

IOffMeta GtOvrIt1/11/2019, 4:10:33 PM2 votes

I believe the prestige edition is a good idea its just poor followthrough on the differentiation for these later iterations of these skins (at least kai'sa had a different hairdo) if there was even slightly more differentiation I think it could work but just basic color swaps only go so far.

I do believe there are some differentiation avenues that can be pursued as mentioned in this post, it just requires brainstorming, besides if I REALLY want to play a prestige skin, just go to the PBE :P

JustDonnyy1/11/2019, 6:40:00 PM2 votes

Tower and Map skins are something I've always wanted in league, I'd especially be happy that as a collector, I'd be able to obtain them all from the start.

The Hörror King1/11/2019, 6:43:13 PM2 votes

and you gave the OP Moderator/Specialist ,where is the company Loyalty, why cant you be Maximus from Gladiator ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!!![sg-poppy]

ApollyonBainer1/11/2019, 11:34:52 PM2 votes

Buying cool skins add fun to the game, but I would rather spend my money on Riots League themed shirts or stuffed poros or whatever. Something real is a lot cooler imo. Maybe sell shirts that unlock a skin line for you

Yordle Xayah1/12/2019, 4:38:23 AM2 votes

Announcers

This, please. Really...

RussiaKitty1/12/2019, 4:59:26 AM2 votes

I think Riot should go on a hiatus from making big additions to skin lines and just revamp older skins that need to be made relevant again, like white mage veigar imo. Lets be honest some of the older skins are simple and perfect because of that, but some can seem like an eyesore just to look at. But having some older skins updated or even revamped can give some meaning to older days of league where some might appreciate that Riot acknowledges. I agree with what you said about map vfx, they should do that and begin to add map customization add ons. That would not only give riot a big profit because the changes would be so noticeable to the player they'd want a more permanent change to the map that can be bland especially after playing in the snowdown map. Just like how DOTA is know for having customization map changes, League is known for its skins, but they can expand their market even further by considering this. Because Ill be honest i think there is TOO MANY skins, which can be a good and bad thing, but it depends on where you stand on the idea of skins. Things like map skins, minion/monster skins, turret skins, weather, hell even music, Ill say the snowdown music was great and I really love the sound track when the game reaches mid to late. Its things like that that can make players feel satisfied with a purchase and a prestige version of any form of map alteration would feel more satisfying than a white and gold chroma, which some skins already have like Odyssey Sona. Because ill say it, there was absolutely no point to the Vayne prestigious. I can understand Aatrox's more because he hasn't had a skin in a long ass time, but Vayne's seemed pointless and it doesn't even change much besides the rings around enemies and the skin. Almost like Kai'sa, her's felt more justified because the KDA line is one of the most hyped imo and had a lot going for the skin line but now these prestigious skins just seem to loose more worth the more they push for people who dont either A) dont have the time B) the money C) or patience

All im really asking is for Riot to sit down and revitalize their creative and marketing departments to make the act of buying something have some feeling for worth rather than feeling like a large task is required for a less than adequate reward, and focus on making new content that will please consumers and gain a profit. [sg-miss-fortune]

GrãñðmãstêrShãçø1/12/2019, 12:38:57 PM2 votes

I would like to be able to buy and use Shacos old icons nothing more

togapika1/12/2019, 5:57:32 PM2 votes

The non skin chromatic content could be done like they do DJ sona's music where you can opt in to hear it if you're not her player

Doctor Dyment1/12/2019, 11:08:10 PM2 votes

After they released Final Boss Veigar I don't see any reason for them to put anything else out for him. Final Boss is the perfect skin for him in my opinion, and everything about it is just as it should be. The sound effects, the visuals, the voicelines. I'll never get another skin for him.

14daysuspensionk1/10/2019, 9:21:07 PM2 votes

I want more original skins than the ''Cosmic'', ''praetorian'' or whatever other similar skinlines, like the ones they made before they made these. Although the splash arts are really well done, I'm nowhere near their level of good lol.

Sukishoo1/14/2019, 11:44:58 PM2 votes

TL;DR Stop focusing on skins, give us some stuff that's not skins. People more willing to spend money on something they don't have/something new than to justify buying a skin for a champ who they already have 39 skins for.

But they have kind of tried these things as well, such as emotes and people found something to complain about there as well. So, I think instead of saying that they should make something else, it'd be far more helpful to them if people offered opinions on what they should make.

Natsu E Dragneel1/11/2019, 6:29:41 PM1 votes

{quoted}

Prestige Skins aren't "new", they're just the next escalation as Riot tries to make skin sales still a good thing.

Now, I don't mean disrespect in terms of how skins look. Skins today blow skins of previous years out of the water. That's the exact problem though: There's a nuclear arms race for skins. Let me ask you, reader: How many skins do you have for your favorite champions? Barring a ban or an account loss, you're probably rocking 1-3 skins for most of your favorite champs right? Or, on average, you have the skins you really want and nothing else.

This exact problem leads to Riot always having to go bigger and bigger. Skins have to be rarer and rarer like Prestige to justify players buying them and still feeling accomplished. Skins now have crazy non-chroma variants (The duo Blitz skins, Solar/Lunar Eclipse Leona) to get you to buy similar skins twice. Skin themes/universes are propped up with a similar amount of care and love to the main universe. There is an arms race going on as we speak of Riot constantly putting more and more effort to get you to buy a skin for a champ you likely already own because it's the next, cool thing you didn't know you wanted.

Riot, if you want to make money, there are tons of avenues you have yet to explore that wouldn't require half the work. We still don't have a lot of things other games have: Announcers. Finishers. Map variants/accents. Minion/Tower Skins. User Interface skins. Hell, DOTA once sold weather effects. The common counterargument is "ugh then my game will be a clarity nightmare", but that is countered by having it disabled in ranked or only affect the player on player's side.

This constant escalation of skins isn't healthy nor is it sustainable. Prestige is just the newest tool in a long line of skins to try and get players who already have every skin they want enticed with promises of "New free stuff". You have so many other avenues to explore and so much more you can do that focusing on skins isn't just a bad decision, it's borderline unhealthy for the rest of the game.

TL;DR Stop focusing on skins, give us some stuff that's not skins. People more willing to spend money on something they don't have/something new than to justify buying a skin for a champ who they already have 39 skins for.

OK heres my problem have you seen how much the aatrox skin costs to get? **over 200$ 100$ for each of the 40 prestige from the 100$ package **unless im missing something...and prestige skins sicken me they are literally causing me to question if i should keep playing this if its going to basically be another pay 200$+ a week to get cool stuff games...there is a reason those games die. Come on riot stop it...the cutesy icons and poro icons and stuff i can be alright with they are nice cute little things that id love to see but all this LIMITED TIME ONLY skins....im already sickened that i gotta see my skins on the list and see "haha you dont have this skin for your favorite champion and can never get it" All im saying is the literally only prestige skin i wanted i couldn't get because 1 i cant play NEARLY that much got to about 500 tokens and 600 plus more if i bought the package im not spending 100$ on ANY GAME for just skins your losing the loyal fan base with this one not all of us are rich whales...don't turn into a mobile game. PS: im still disgusted with riven so much i wont play her anymore even tho i love her because my championship skin says 2016 on it and right beside it is the "old rich person one" sorry i wasn't with your game from the start but i gotta stare at skins that are only available REALLY to those who had the money to go to cons and bought a game i didn't even hear about till its 2nd season