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It pains me to see that League of Legends THE GAME is in a state of decline...

Electro522·1/21/2019, 5:46:49 PM·32 votes·14,909 views

The Runeterra IP on the other hand.....

The Awaken Cinematic shows just how much work Riot have put into fleshing out this world.

You have a Piltover raid squad led (and most likely paid for) by Camille to likely track down a mass murderer that all of a sudden showed up out of nowhere.

You have Draven over looking a Noxus arena, and is likely tasked with killing anyone who doesn't fight to their last breath.....a task, mind you, that bores the hell out of him.

And you have an Ionian village burning on the horizon as a Noxian army storms through it, while a lowly bunch of farmers gets ready to fight a force that they can't possibly contend with.

And I was only able to defer all of that because of how well Runeterra has been developed so far.

As time goes on, Riot seems to be moving further and further away from having League of Legends be its own IP, and making Runeterra as a whole be its own thing. Very much like how Blizzard has the entire Warcraft IP made.....its not just World of Warcaft the game, it's Azeroth as a whole, and the entire ever evolving story that goes with it.

In fact, it's starting to feel as if the term League of Legends isn't all too fitting now for Runeterra as a whole. Too bad Riot is stuck with it.

49 Comments

GripaAviara1/21/2019, 7:40:14 PM21 votes

This will probably die in downvotes, but Runeterra is not a well-crafted world, it only has great scenes and impressive design/graphics.

Objectively looking at the writing, it doesn't have coherence, a lot of characters motives are weak and flawed (not all, there some good stories). Both Noxus and Damacia are cartoonish unfeasible countries even for the fantasy genre and Ionia has no sense story wise (same as vastaya). It's true it improved greatly in the recent year, but it's got a long way to go

But, if you take individual parts, like just ignore the rest of the world and take a snapshot Piltover in an isolated case or like this video, just the scenes without any link between them, yeah you'll find great art and design and some good writing.

This is simply because LoL created cool heroes on the basis of our own world not on their fantasy world (since we are the consumers) and mixed them together.

Pale Mask1/21/2019, 5:59:50 PM18 votes

It's the standard evolution of the company. They used to be a group of former DotA players before making League.

The need for money naturally means that you need to hire more employees. How many of the people working on the game do you think played DotA (or even play League)?

The problem is that DotA-style games aren't a good medium to tell a story. They need to make another type of game if they want Runeterra to really be taken seriously. They can't keep making Kpop and cinematics forever.

Linna Excel1/21/2019, 7:27:14 PM7 votes

I think the reason for this is riot is working on another game (probably an MMO). This would explain why league itself is being neglected while riot is working on world-building so much. I can't wait for the day Ashe or Poppy gives us a quest to kill ten rats.

Ignika D1/21/2019, 11:05:15 PM5 votes

see ya in 4 years when they change the lore again

KFCeytron1/22/2019, 7:01:08 AM2 votes

Man cannot survive on bread alone, and an IP cannot survive on merchandising alone. No matter how amazing the SAS team is, neglecting the actual game harms the whole.

Nevrankroaton1/22/2019, 6:29:18 AM2 votes

League isn't declining as long as China exist.

Madjack011/21/2019, 7:38:09 PM2 votes

I wonder though how much of its resources Riot puts into the actual game and how much gets spend on all the stuff surrounding the game.

I mean how much effort can a moba with a very limited map pool and minor, regular updates and occasional big updates take?

How much gets consumed by cinematics, other art, lore, merchandise, commercials, esports, promotional events, behind the scene stuff and other media work?

I'd be surprised if even a sixth of Riot's resources went into actual gameplay. Though I suppose that (if my assumption is true) is pretty standard business for a company like Riot.

Moonfall Saber1/22/2019, 12:13:08 PM1 votes

Runeterra... The game

Camille Ferrøs1/22/2019, 2:30:10 PM1 votes

Legends of Runeterra .

TonyTonyMordecai1/22/2019, 5:40:21 PM1 votes

If they can make a series for Runeterra, that could be cool (now, I could care less for the game, but I still enjoy the characters to no end)

Melledoneus1/21/2019, 7:36:38 PM1 votes

Open world games are in, I suppose if they wanted to pour their resources into a project they could partner with a major gaming company to create something like that.

The Highest Noon1/22/2019, 1:51:54 AM1 votes

Come out and play!

[draven-pose]

The Highest Noon1/22/2019, 1:58:14 AM1 votes

TBH it's a great cinematic, but it's worth is moreso in the fact that those of us who have been following the development of the game understand exactly what's going on in almost all of it. We know of Draven's career as an executioner, and how he thought it'd spice things up if it were a show. We know of the war between Ionia and Noxus. I'm sure some of us even expected to see Singed racing across the horizon, but since we saw Riven in the colluseum we know that whatever occurred in the cinematic takes place after Singed's involvement, because we know of the timeframe involved in everything. We know who Jhin is. We know who Camille is. We know what they do and how they operate.

All together, it just made for a pretty enjoyable experience, moreso when you know what's going on lol

Doctor Dyment1/22/2019, 4:53:35 AM1 votes

They've already made the foray into comics, and honestly I think they could pull the Warhammer gambit and continue making the game but also make books and comics. It could have a rocky start but I honestly believe it could work out in the long run. That way those story writers can work on things like novels and comics while the game developers focus on the game. They wouldn't get in each others way, if they do that now I mean.

Glaricion1/22/2019, 5:01:44 AM1 votes

{quoted}

In fact, it's starting to feel as if the term League of Legends isn't all too fitting now for Runeterra as a whole. Too bad Riot is stuck with it.

I mean, they deleted the League of Legends from League of Legends when they relegated the original story to a few skin lines, so they aren't really stuck with anything now, especially with the different skin lines having their own and/or shared universes.

ModCaptainMårvelous1/22/2019, 6:19:19 AM1 votes

Well yeah, makes sense.

No matter how League is, it was going to decline one day even if it was the most perfect game that ever existed. That's just how games are. Games should eventually die because if they don't, they end up going on until there's a legitimately depressing moment where you see just how far a game has gone and it stops being something you recognize to stay relevant and profitable.

While League of Legends will die and/or go into maintenance mode one day, I look forward to it becoming the Runeterra IP while League is just a place where you can go play as canonical characters.

Quote me on this prediction: League is officially "done" the moment we see a major lore character in another game that could absolutely be a champion but Riot decides NOT to port them to League.