Riot is trying skin themes

Fasmodey·Sep 25, 2016·50 votes·10,108 views

They are looking for skin theme reactions of players and how much those skin themes are sold. Examples are Star Guardian and Project. They firstly released only one skin for each other. Project Yasuo and Star Guardian Lux. Then they realized potential of those skin themes and planned to continue on them.

It is obvious and not the reason of creating this thread though.

The thing I would want to say is, could we see a bunch of Cosmic Reaver skin in the same patch like how we had for Project and how we are going to have for Star Guardian? Because as I remember, Cosmic Reaver Kassadin had a pretty good reaction and this skin theme has potential that should never be wasted of.

Cosmic Reaver Xerath, Jhin, Aatrox please.

126 Comments

Valor BotSep 25, 201627 votes

Cosmic Reaver Kassadin is one of the most beautiful and well-made skins I've ever seen, both in-game and splash art-wise -- and I don't even play Kassadin. I think it'd be cool to see more of them in the future too.

FasmodeySep 25, 20162 votes

[{quoted}](name=Valor Bot,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=KqnzJl6e,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2016-09-25T17:07:03.396+0000)

Cosmic Reaver Kassadin is one of the most beautiful and well-made skins I've ever seen, both in-game and splash art-wise -- and I don't even play Kassadin. I think it'd be cool to see more of them in the future too.

Because of this skin, I learnt Kassadin lol. He is currently the strongest asssasin of me. Too bad I still did not start playing in this account. I'm in college and net in here sucks.

CasterGilgameshSep 25, 20161 votes

what do you build on kass?

ThunderspamSep 27, 20162 votes

Here is his true full build The first item you need to buy is clothes, because its not cool to run around without them Buy the skirt-pants of shinyness item 1057 and the shirt with wings item 3026 Then you must buy food to keep yourself alive on your long Cosmic Journeys, so buy the Half a biscuit item 2052 and the Cherry Coke item 2140 . After this you must defend yourself against all sorts of cosmic troublemakers. Buy the B.(est) F.(riend) Sword item 1038 because, as the name tells you, he will both defend you and be your Best Friend. With your last space you have to, as a 100% must buy, get the Purpleyish Rod of Amazingness item 3200 , because it looks cool. This build will serve you well young explorer. Go seek out new civilizations and conqu--, I mean, befriend them!

staticX26Sep 26, 201616 votes

Armor of the Fifth Age Mordekaiser . Rito pls

RiotRiot Ve1vetSep 26, 201614 votes

That's pretty close, Sometimes we get surprised by the response to skins- Project Yasuo and SG Lux are great examples where we didn't anticipate the positive reception they would get. It made us think "Oh wow people love this, okay let's invest in these alternate universes more." So nothings out of the realm of possibility! :)

I too am a big fan of Cosmic Reaver Kassadin <3 Such sparkle!

Imperial JapanSep 27, 20164 votes

I just hate how when you get feedback for the skins a lot of the responses are just people saying how "Poppy or lulu doesn't fit the theme" "karma fits the team but rito just doesn't care about her" when they have little to no knowledge about the theme or the culture it was based off of

SpecterVonBarenSep 27, 20168 votes

I still have no idea how anyone thinks Lulu doesn't fit. She's the perfect candidate for the skin, second only to Lux herself because her personality just fits the theme so well.

AwoofSep 27, 20161 votes

Well, I personally am not thrilled about it because it does fit her so perfectly I barely recognize it as SG and more as "another whimsical Lulu skin", whereas the others arguably bring more fresh air into their champion's skin repertoire. That's just my opinion.

SyntaxinatorJul 17, 20171 votes

Well in my opinion it is in fact a perfect candidate because she has a pet already so they can change that into the little pets all of them have.

Sexy Jack RabbitSep 27, 20163 votes

Meh, in the same sense of lot of the criticism is warranted. That sort of criticism, whilst can be annoying, is valuable feedback. Let's take SKT Sivir for example.

Imperial JapanSep 27, 20163 votes

Well SKT Sivir was different as to where it was rewarding the guys who won worlds but I suppose you have a point

GixiaSep 27, 20161 votes

I refuse to believe for one second that you guys could possibly have been surprised by Star Guardian Lux's reception when that was one of the most popular community skin ideas for ages before it was finally made.

RiotRiot Ve1vetSep 27, 20163 votes

We were very genuinely surprised at the overwhelming response to it. It was a popular community thematic but at the same time we just didn't know that a bubblegum pink, magical girl themed Lux would be so popular.

CrazedPorcupineSep 27, 20163 votes

Well, to be honest, we've been waiting for a "Fun, Lighthearted" skin for Lux for several years. Because all of Lux's other skins are very "dark" or "Gritty". If you compare the time it took from Steel Legion Lux (her last skin iirc) and Star Guardian Lux, the time, and the fact that it was a DRASTIC departure from Lux's other skins, meant that it was going to be a VERY popular skin.

RiotKindlejackSep 27, 20169 votes

This.

I was being interviewed at the time and one of the questioned asked by the team was 'What is my least favourite skin?' and my reply was 'Every Lux skin'. Call me cheeky, but I had been thinking about it a lot and was just baffled how far off the mark all her skins had felt (except spellthief but the quality/lore tie-in were never that strong). They laughed and showed me what they were working on - I was really excited! It's funny looking back how I entered the interview with a long list of questions about why certain things hadn't been done in LoL and found the answers were, 9 times out of 10, either a) we tried it and it doesn't work for these reasons, b) we want to do it but it's not a priority for good reasons or c) we are working on it right now!

Part of that surprise is a measure of cautious optimism. For example when embarking on making a whole Star Guardian patch we also have to be mindful that some of Lux's success could be from that feeling of finally having THE skin for Lux and not so much the specific theme itself. It's interesting then to see how it's received on champions like Lulu who fit the theme but aren't so starved for a skin that serves that space. Same with PROJECT; is it really the hypest of hype or would any sci-fi skin on Yasuo have been super popular? (spoilers it was the former, PROJECT is the hypest of hype)

SuperLuigiLXIVSep 28, 20162 votes

Ve1vet said to hit you up for the Program line.

Program Zac or Viral Zac please.

Make him look like Warlock from Marvel comics a bit. The old-school Warlock, the living techno-organic virus guy who could shapeshift.

[slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

RiotKindlejackSep 29, 20162 votes

Ve1vet said correct! I did the concept for Lissandra which was the first of the line (if you don't count iBlitz who was sort of a spiritual progenitor). Another Zac skin period would be great, although he is one of those champions that presents an unfortunate conjunction between very low play rate and high scope. Right now if I got to work on one of those champs it would be Zyra or Rumble personally.

Ashen RiderSep 29, 20161 votes

Isn't Zac's playrate right now about eight percent? That doesn't sound that low to me at all.

BrutusnessSep 29, 20164 votes

What about Karthus? He hasn't gotten a non-esports skin since 2011, even though he has had a shiny new model a couple years now. He should get a new skin taking advantage of that.

ShadowParkerSep 29, 20162 votes

So, is it true that more popular champions get more skins vs nonpolar champions?

TerraRisingSep 30, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Ve1vet said correct! I did the concept for Lissandra which was the first of the line (if you don't count iBlitz who was sort of a spiritual progenitor).** Another Zac skin period would be great, although he is one of those champions that presents an unfortunate conjunction between very low play rate and high scope.** Right now if I got to work on one of those champs it would be Zyra or Rumble personally.

So, you just admitted that popularity plays the main role in determining if a champion is worthy of a new skin and not length of time since the previous one, or any other factor we were led to believe by the rest of the skins team.

Wonderful, then the years that the skins team (and the company as a whole) telling us otherwise was a complete lie. Really wish I knew the truth before I started putting my money into this company. Very disappointing to find out this way, I have to admit.

SukishooSep 27, 20162 votes

Well it was her newest skin that wasn't of a military setting and plus it's pretty much a better version of the feeling Sorceress Lux kind of brought on.

Chromatic EagleSep 28, 20161 votes

Aren't most/all of your skins popular? Sure, there are some more popular than others, but what's considered the least popular that isn't from the "old" days of LoL?

RiotRiot Ve1vetSep 28, 20162 votes

Sometimes we have high expectations for a skin line because we think it will resonate well and turns out it just didn't quite hit it. Academy is a good example, new thematic, lots of buzz around 'school' themed skins. It turned out to just not be a thematic that everyone was looking for on those champs. The feedback we got on them was great, you just don't see them in-game very often.

ElewdSep 29, 20162 votes

the problem with academy skins is that they were just 750 skins, no particle changes, just model changes. and they were for champions who had previous skins that just felt superior to those. i think it was just a timing thing.

TerraRisingSep 30, 20161 votes

[{quoted}](name=Riot Ve1vet,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=KqnzJl6e,comment-id=001b0001000000030000,timestamp=2016-09-28T20:53:26.998+0000)

Sometimes we have high expectations for a skin line because we think it will resonate well and turns out it just didn't quite hit it. Academy is a good example, new thematic, lots of buzz around 'school' themed skins. It turned out to just not be a thematic that everyone was looking for on those champs. The feedback we got on them was great, you just don't see them in-game very often.

The problem with the Academy line was that Academy Ekko came out three months after the champ's very hyped and successful release. It looked like a completely cynical cash grab to capitalize on all the hype and I think enough players saw through it.

Also, every other champ in that line had a hyped skin released less than a year before (Dunkmaster Darius, Blood Lord Vladimir and Challenger Ahri), so it was a case of too many skins too quickly.

OleandervineSep 28, 20161 votes

[{quoted}](name=Riot Ve1vet,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=KqnzJl6e,comment-id=001b,timestamp=2016-09-26T22:07:14.825+0000)

That's pretty close, Sometimes we get surprised by the response to skins- Project Yasuo and SG Lux are great examples where we didn't anticipate the positive reception they would get. It made us think "Oh wow people love this, okay let's invest in these alternate universes more." So nothings out of the realm of possibility! :)

I too am a big fan of Cosmic Reaver Kassadin <3 Such sparkle!

How about more Program skins? I think they were pretty fantastic.

RiotRiot Ve1vetSep 28, 20162 votes

Program is freaking awesome! You should talk to Mr. Kindlejack up there, he's the brains behind that line :)

Rude NameSep 30, 20161 votes

Wait, certain Riot peeps have their own lines? What are yours? Do you ever look to the community-suggested skin suggestions for new line ideas? Or do you just make individual skins, and see how well the community reacts to them? Being the creative intelligence behind a skin line must be an interesting job, because you'd always have to be finding out what areas of the skin lines have been unexplored, or what new skin ideas could really work, right? Does it feel weird to compare your skin lines with others? I apologise for all the questions, I'm just fascinated by the whole skins team and the processes behind what we see.

MelledoneusSep 25, 201612 votes

I would love to see a Cosmic Reaver Shen. Holy shit that'd be gorgeous.

WacingTheFindSep 26, 20163 votes

Cosmic River Shen*

FTFY

SharjoSep 25, 20169 votes

Not so much "Realized the potential" and more like "OMG we love these skins and OMG everyone loves these skins and OMG they make so much money". So it's a win win win in that regard; get money for making shit you like to make and people love to have.

But yeah definetly agree on Cosmic Reaver being a line to explore. More cosmic shit in general please, it's such a cool theme. I could imagine a Dark Star Aatrox too where he draws from a dark star for his passive and his sword basically eats worlds and stuff.

Elderwood's a skin theme I always enjoy seeing. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of Bard's, Hecarim's is amazing and LeBlanc's is great too. One skin theme I hope we see again soon is Battlecast. Our last outting with them was late 2014, and with the arrival of Aurelion Sol you've got another potential candidate right there! Battlecast Omega Aurelion Sol anyone? Or some other descriptor I dunno. Industrial metal machine monsters is such a cool thematic that I hope gets revisited.

So yeah, would love to see more additions to already existing skin themes, and my hopes are definetly new Cosmic Reaver, Dark Star, Elderwood and Battlecast skins.

ProtestantCaesarSep 25, 20162 votes

Battlecast Jhin would be cool.

Solari FortuneSep 26, 20168 votes

Cosmic Reaver Syndra anyone? https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CdS8xr_UAAAKyAd.jpg:large

LowvyrSep 26, 20163 votes

We need Soul Reaver Talon

Imperial JapanSep 26, 20163 votes

I actually really like your thinking on the candidates for the cosmic reaver skins

Sexy Jack RabbitSep 26, 20163 votes

The Cosmic Reaver Kassasin skin was made specifically to serve as the Oceanic Servers skin. He uses the Northern Cross Star constellation in his recall. As nice as a skin it is, wouldn't make much sense to make an entire skin thematic around it.

Eric SenpaiSep 26, 20162 votes

"wouldn't make much sense" Of course it wouldn't make sense, it would make tons of dollars, $$$ ka-ching.

GlaedrSep 25, 20162 votes

One skin theme that I really thought was pretty awesome were the Infernal skins. While Mordekaiser's isn't super great, all three of the others are pretty sick, especially Nasus since that's legendary quality. I feel like with Nasus they showed that with some creative freedom through higher skin prices they can make the infernal skins look insane.

SharjoSep 25, 20161 votes

Totally forgot about Infernal but it's really awesome and does deserve more skins.

Malicious MetalSep 25, 20164 votes

Calling it now. Infernal Morde will be one of his best skins post VGU

SharjoSep 25, 20163 votes

I can imagine an Infernal Yorick, where he bears a cloak of flames and raises charred, mutant corpses to do his bidding, with the incarnation of fire as his Maiden.

His wall would be sick.

Head ConnoisseurSep 25, 20162 votes

Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be getting any more cosmic reaver skins. CR Kassadin was created and released to celebrate the launch of the Oceania server, so it would be unlikely to see more of them.

FasmodeySep 25, 20166 votes

[{quoted}](name=The 40yo Virjhin,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=KqnzJl6e,comment-id=0003,timestamp=2016-09-25T20:25:40.380+0000)

Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be getting any more cosmic reaver skins. CR Kassadin was created and released to celebrate the launch of the Oceania server, so it would be unlikely to see more of them.

Sultan Tryndamere was created for TR server but we got Sultan Gangplank somehow too.

Cosmic Reaver is a skin theme that cant be wasted for a server. And it has nothing to do with Oceania. They just made it free for its players.

Sexy Jack RabbitSep 26, 20162 votes

http://promo.oce.leagueoflegends.com/en/cosmic-reaver-kassadin/ It has to do with the Oceanic Server and was released to celebrate the server (But not the opening of the server). The skin was discounted in the OCE region for the first week and half the funds went to Charity. The Sultan skins were released to Celebrate the opening of the Turkish server and their 1st year anniversary the year afterwards. Unless we see the Turkish server hitting another milestone, we'll probably never get another Sultan skin.

FasmodeySep 26, 20161 votes

{quoted}

http://promo.oce.leagueoflegends.com/en/cosmic-reaver-kassadin/ It has to do with the Oceanic Server and was released to celebrate the server (But not the opening of the server). The skin was discounted in the OCE region for the first week and half the funds went to Charity. The Sultan skins were released to Celebrate the opening of the Turkish server and their 1st year anniversary the year afterwards. Unless we see the Turkish server hitting another milestone, we'll probably never get another Sultan skin.

I mean, Cosmic Reaver skin theme has nothing to do with Ocenia because it is not a skin theme of nations. Greek people got Mythic Cassiopeia because of their awesome ancient history. It is directly related with Medusa, which she is an entity that belongs to greek mythology. Russians got Bear Cavalry Sejuani because they are famous with their cold resistance and bears. Brazilians got Ghost Bride Morgana because they have traditional horror story related with a ghost bride. Turkish people got Sultan Tryndamere for obvious reason.

Then you come to Ocenia and see literally nothing related. Cosmic Reaver Kassadin belongs to europeans, americans, asians and more as much as it does to ocenia nations. That is why it shouldn't wasted as a ''server themed'' skin. Evenwhile It is not.

Also, when I offered Cosmic Reaver and Dark Star Xerath on a reply for KateyKhaos, she said "yes.Yes.YES!" Which I believe it is seen possible by her.

Sexy Jack RabbitSep 27, 20162 votes

Except that is it entirely related? The skin features the Northern Cross in both his Q and his Recall. I know you mighn't know this, being from the EU, but the Northern Cross is very closely related to the Oceanic region. Too say it "Shouldn't be wasted" is funny, because it's not being wasted. It is a nice skin theme chosen to represent the Oceanic region. Sorry to burst your bubble, but just because a Rioter likes an idea, does not mean it is going to go through. Dragon Master Swain, Pizza Delivery Sivir, the list goes on. Katey likes a lot skin ideas, but so does everyone.

Head ConnoisseurSep 26, 20162 votes

{quoted}

Sultan Tryndamere was created for TR server but we got Sultan Gangplank somehow too.

Cosmic Reaver is a skin theme that cant be wasted for a server. And it has nothing to do with Oceania. They just made it free for its players.

Um. Yes, it absolutely has to do with Oceania's server, and no, they didn't give it to them for free.

Here's your proof: http://boards.oce.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/announcements/yHhIOYjO-letos-talk-about-the-server-skin

There won't be a CR skin line.