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Rammus & Riot's modern standard for champion Voice overs.

Jeddy017··1 votes·2,963 views

I'm sure we all have noticed in recent releases & updates the amount of work Riot put into champs as far as voices are concerned.We all are very impressed by Tahm & his 13+ minutes of dialogue with taunts toward 46 enemies & 46 allies.Though as a Rioter pointed out,they may toned it down a bit with future interactive taunts for a while. Now let's look at Rammus.It's pretty clear,even by old champion VO standards,that Rammus is more on quiet side of verbal usage.Not Sona level,but you get the idea.If Rammus were to ever receive updated VO,should he be brought up to LOL modern standard for VOs?Well in Rammus case,I feel he should continue to talk as little as possible.Rammus is someone I like as the strong,silent type.I don't feel it would be right for Rammus to talk as much as the recent champs because he is not Azir Sion or Ekko .I believe as far as talking is concerned,he should keep his one word sentence trait.Yes,those one word sentence can be expanded to more than just 6,but they shouldn't be the majority of his VO.Riot can have him mostly grunt or something for the majority of his VO,as long as he's not talking all the time.Bard & RekSai are good examples of Riot being comfortable with making champs who don't talk.I'm sure they would be just as fine as making champ,who can talk,not talk all the time. This way,Riot can bring Rammus up to the bar of modern champ VOs while still being Rammus.That's the ultimate point of this thread.And because it's a Rammus,I can't go without saying this at least once.......

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ztJOLS-3Xls/maxresdefault.jpg

SIDE NOTE:If Sona was made today,I'm pretty sure she wouldn't talk either.Her whole VO would probably just be the sound of her instrument.I mean,the only reason she talked in game before was because of the Summoners & we all know what happened to them.

18 Comments

Celio Hogane HD4 votes

So basically Riots needs to make 50 iterations of "Ok" for rammus.

Bemapon1 votes

yes, Rito plz

Sharjo3 votes

I'd argue that animation is also incredibly important for building character, not just the VO, and it's especially true for Bard and Rek'Sai. As laboured the movements of an armadillo in an armoured shell are, animations would really help to add to his personality to make up for his very limited vocabulary.

I'd also argue that while Rammus's lines are pretty sacred to many, he could maybe have a few more added. Maybe bring it to fifteen lines with actual words instead of six, even if those words are just repeated.

Jeddy0172 votes

Yes,animation would help with this route.Rammus certainly could use more love in that area. And of couse,more than 6,1 word,speaking lines would be preferable. As long as he isn't talking all the time.

Laughing Fish1 votes

Exactly. Despite not talking, Rek'Sai and Bard have very clearly defined personalities. This is because Rito did a wonderful job at animation and sound effects. I think Rammus should keep the same number of words, but show some personality in his animations. Also, in his joke he should just say "ok."

Xulsigae1 votes

Honest question: what would you say their personalities are?

I feel I know more about Rammus due to having him be a part of the community and having more stories about him than Bard or Rek'Sai (and Gnar), even with his limited animations and vocabulary. Things like the Journal of Justice helped flesh him out beyond what he might have remained. He's still often a 'joke' character, but has acquired a personality over the years.

Laughing Fish1 votes

Rek'Sai is the most animalistic champion by far, but she still shows signs of intelligence. In many ways she seems like a creature that is lost. She does not belong in this world, and she knows it. But she is a predator at heart. She sees that the other champions are a significant threat, so she hunts them before they can hunt her. In many ways based on the frantic, violent noises she makes she appears to feel cornered and vulnerable at all times. But she is strong, and she knows it. She WILL cleanse the area of any and all threats. She is as queen, and this will become her new kingdom.

Bard is more complex. Bard is on a mission, and nothing will stop him from completing it. But he is quite confident that he will complete it, and thus shows no signs of fear or stress. He can make a wide variety of sounds, suggesting he could talk if he wished. But he chooses not to, as he barely seams to notice those around him. Like the honey badger, Bard doesn't give a shit. He can do what he wants.

Xulsigae1 votes

What indicates that she knows these things? I might be missing something.

Is that a personality though? Or just what he does? A common criticism of how Bard is presented is that he's very mysterious and aloof. Based on that, what gives him personality?

Laughing Fish1 votes

Rek'Sai: I Gathered that from the sounds and movements she does. While she does not use words, she uses a lot of sounds. Her level of franticness is similar to a cornered animal. Look at a Lion. A lion does not roar when it is hunting, as that would scare the pray. A lion roars when it is trying to scare something to make it leave. This is true for virtually all predators. So with the level of noise Rek'Sai is making, she is clearly trying to make the other champions flee.

With Bard: Bard's music does a good job at conveying his current emotion. He has a a very versatile array of whistles and chimes that give a general idea of what he is feeling.

Xulsigae1 votes

I'll have to listen for that next time. It is interesting when they do dynamic sounds. Sion is a good example for changing as he goes into battle. Riot does excellent sound and visual design 99% of the time. And I like the innovation in different ways to tell stories. Rammus could certainly do with a tune up and added lines and lore. Hopefully would bring him out of being a 'joke' character into a more fleshed (armored) out character, but still with lots of humor.

What I worry about is that what they have aren't personalities but 'boxes.' Rek'Sai seems to be animalistic, but not really 'unique.' A beast motivated by instinct doesn't really have a personality I think. Perhaps I'm missing something (more than likely) but she doesn't act in ways that make me feel it's anything but instinct. Hard to think of her as a 'champion' rather than 'Beast #67.' I'm 'Told' that she's this intelligent beast, but unlike other champions she doesn't show it very well. As I said, I like creativity and subtly in champion designs and lore, but some of them are harder to understand than others and lose some of their narrative 'oomph' I think.

Bard is...opaque to me. . He doesn't have specific reactions to things like champions or items from what I can tell, obscuring his personality. I've been trying to hear what he's thinking, but it's so vague that I can't draw a conclusion sadly. Perhaps the problem is that when I use him to attack things or retreat and such, it's obscured by the distraction of the enemy or ally. A voice like Sion or Jinx is much easier to discern what their personality is in the heat of things I think. Gnar is in a similar posiition. You can tell he has a 'bubbly' characteristic, but without specific quotes and such it can be hard to tell what he wants and what he thinks.

Sorry for that. Had been thinking about the sound and personality design for awhile. I'll keep listening for what they do.

Laughing Fish1 votes

For Rek'Sai the intelligence appears implied by the wide variety of very organized sounds. She is not just randomly grunting and screeching. She appears to be communicating in some way. And being the Queen of the Xer'Sai, communication is key. Now, she doesn't appear to be human level intelligence, I would guess closer to Gorilla or chimp level. As for Bard, his abstract detachment is a defining trait in itself. He makes noise indicating his feeling, but he doesn't appear threatened or angry about any of the champions. He appears to be slightly misplaced in time.

GreenLore2 votes

What if rammus had special taunt-lines for many champs? And with Taunt I mean his E,I mean the move basically consists of taunting the enemy,so I think he could say something to his taunted target.

That way rammus could still be mostly silent,but have an expansive VO just for that move.

Rammus Da Turtle2 votes

i wouldnt mind Rammus just saying his voice lines he has, just louder and more frequent

Celio Hogane HD2 votes

Rammus needs a taunt for every single champion in the game and say it with his E.

7ha7guy7771 votes

I think there's a pretty good video of that but i don't know what it's called. All i know is rammus is wearing "deal with it" sunglasses

insaiyanbacca1 votes

you mean this? https://youtu.be/V-8Q4PM4PXM

7ha7guy7771 votes

Yes

The Soulforged1 votes

I liked how the longest sentence Rammus has ever said was, "Shut up". I want to keep that D:

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