Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

The Release Rant Syndrome

Melehan·4/5/2017, 4:10:25 PM·55 votes·3,080 views

I've been silently reading these boards for a few years now, and enjoying most of it, but there's one thing that bothers me a lot. Every time a new champion comes out the urge to write this little piece comes and I resist it. But with the combo of Galio and the two lovebirds, I have to say now's probably the time. It all boils down to one thing.

We should not complain about the fact that the champion doesn't match our expectations before we get the full experience.

What do I mean by this? Well, let's take a stroll back to about a year ago. The release of Jhin.

Nowadays he's the closest we've had in years to a complete success story in league. He has become a quintessential ADC, being played in every rank by a great variety of people, his gameplay remains fun and enjoyable, fresh and unique. And his character design is one of the best Riot have ever produced, like him or not.

Cut back to a year ago, the announcements happen. Champions' pages getting changed to make it seem like they were killed in dazzling displays by a mysterious sniper. A breath-taking animation with beautiful music, cutting to a distressing view of the man himself. The hype was built, and you could feel the expectations. And then, when the kit is released, the nightmare begins.

"He's not artistic enough." "Why aren't there more animations?" "I thought there would be a tree with blossoming flowers in his kit." "You've duped us with your promises, this champion's kit is very uninteresting."

Don't act like this didn't happen. It did, and if you go look at the release, comments very similar to these are still there. See for yourself.

http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/page/champion-reveal-jhin-virtuoso

And there's where my problem lies. I'm not saying you shouldn't complain about a lackluster release, don't get me wrong. But hasty judgement leads to mistakes. And in this case, there was one thing missing for a fully informed judgement.

Jhin's VO.

The greatest part of the champion. The nexus of his identity, the glue that kept the character together. And once you heard it, you understood. He's not doing art. He's not making something beautiful. He thinks he is, but in reality he's a maniac. A murderous psychopath that makes horrible things pretty in his head. And that's why the teaser was called "Mind of the Virtuoso". See, this is nothing new here, I'm not imparting great knowledge, just emulating the thoughts someone would've had after all the pieces fit. You all know this now. And you also know that, contrary to popular belief back then, Jhin's kit fits like a glove because it is coordinated to a VO that has yet to be matched in brilliance and the character identity more akin to that of a delusional killer than that of an artist.

Essentially, this rant on rants is meant to say that I don't think most champions deserve the flak we give them on release. It's like reading a book and then going to see the movie and finding out that character you imagined a certain way doesn't look like you what you imagined, and now you're disappointed. I've felt this, and probably so have you. But then you go through the movie, and leave the room at the end with a big ol' smile because it ended up working perfectly despite not matching your expectations. So maybe, just maybe, let's look at the whole picture before declaring a verdict, and allow for these champions to defeat our skepticism and reshape their image with the arsenal at their disposal, from a good background short story to a unique twist in their kit or a very, very nice skin.

33 Comments

Jet Sett4/5/2017, 10:31:30 PM9 votes

Don't forget the part where they look for every similarity between the new kit and the kits of other champions'. People were calling Jhin's W "long range Zyra E" and his ultimate was "better Caitlyn ult"

Camille ult was "better J4 ult" despite serving a different purpose. And Tahm's ult was "crappy TF ult"

These abilities all have their similarities, but end up serving a different purpose in and of themselves as well as the champion's kit they belong too. A champion's design is unique in purpose and character, they may not wholly be "original" in every aspect, but they almost never fail to be unique and original in execution.

Korios4/5/2017, 4:28:43 PM7 votes

I don't know. I just want the reworks to come out, because I trust RIOT they will not fuck up some champions (visually and lore) for example: Warwick was good: still a werewolf but with more futuristic designs and new origins. Galio: oh boy, the first teaser was promising BUT when he came out I felt super disappointed.But thinking again filled my mind with second thoughts. I mean a Gargoyle couldn't fit the lore, but a giant statue with the right colours seems accurate. IDK what I'm writing.

THE RlVER KlNG4/5/2017, 7:35:19 PM2 votes

Jhin is not a success story

Baron of Bread4/5/2017, 6:50:18 PM2 votes

"I was payed to put on a killer show." What a beautiful VO...

That aside, I agree with you. I don't think the VO is really the most important part, but I believe waiting until you have played the champ and read the lore would make people less hostile to new champs.

Lady Faceless4/5/2017, 7:06:43 PM2 votes

I like this post. I try not to judge riot as long I didn't have all the evidence. (VO, Kit & Lore) My current problem with Riot is - at least for the new lore - we have 50/50 chance it will be great or it will awful. Almost nothing in between (expect J4 and Shyv). I did enjoy the new Viktor and Janna lore and had high hopes for the demacia event. Then I read the new Vayne lore. She was a character who I really enjoyed lore-wise, but they took everything from her.

I really wish I could say Riot is always doing the right thing, but sometimes I have the feeling, they change characters, which are already fleshed out (Vayne, Leona, Diana...) and as result the get a character, who has even less personality.

ModAcademy Kayn4/5/2017, 11:08:07 PM2 votes

This is where I'm at when it comes to Kindred. People most definitely thought they were going to be DhaMa-esk, and i saw people who legit typed those types of comments, and from that they set up the expectation that it was going to be very interactive within themselves. When they came out, and saw Wolf wasn't as present as they thought he was going to be, they were let down by their own expectations. They saw DhaMa, got it into their mind, and placed those concepts on Kindred, unfairly.

Oelyk4/5/2017, 6:01:11 PM2 votes

Knowing the system and curing the system are two very different things.

Smitty Manjensen4/6/2017, 10:46:53 AM1 votes

I was also watching these boards for some years, and I notice that every single time a new champion is revealed people write "Am I the only one who think he/she's well designed?" and then usually they turn out to be useless or broken beyond belief, or just toxic design.

LunSeiSleidee4/5/2017, 4:26:18 PM1 votes

They look like generic fanmade characters with anime cat-ears. I really do not need to know more about them.

rtbf2256182414/5/2017, 6:59:55 PM1 votes

When people complain about a new champion, Jhin is usually the last one brought up as an example of a failure.

He is one of the best champions Riot has ever created.

"He's not artistic enough." "Why aren't there more animations?" "I thought there would be a tree with blossoming flowers in his kit." "You've duped us with your promises, this champion's kit is very uninteresting."

Who the fuck said any of that? I'd like to have a chat with them.

And the beauty of Jhin's mind is that it's not that he doesn't know he's a maniac/psychopath. It's that he is obsessed with his delusion and he knows it.

"There is nothing for me but this."

"I swear each performance is the last, but i lie every time."

He knows what he is doing is wrong but like a drug addict, he can't let go of the ecstacy.

The champions people complain about are: Camille, Ivern, Ekko, Kled, Taliyah, Aurelion Sol, Illaoi because they all have severe problems in their kits that they have all abused or they've just been overtuned as fuck on release or overused in the Esports scene, causing severe balance problems. (Shen's rework is the prime example although not a new champion.)

Silver Singed4/5/2017, 9:22:18 PM1 votes

See, that's funny because I don't really like Jhin. I feel like the ammo system makes champions a mess to balance. I mailed ADC in season five but the role is kind of miserable now. I don't like champions that don't have a trade off between utility and damage output.

I honestly could care less about how many animations he has. ^..^;

HalcyonDweller4/5/2017, 4:22:18 PM1 votes

Agreed, people jump to conclusions way too quickly.