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@Riot, you need to start fanservicing female players too. It can only bring revenue and popularity.

Blood Magicks·2/3/2016, 2:42:00 PM·11 votes·2,159 views

First of all I would like to ask you all to take this thread seriously. What I'm trying to make here is a business suggestion as well as a personal request, one that I have also heard several gay/bi male players voice.

With the recent attention to MF/Ahri and the shameless profiteering off Sona's assets (don't get me wrong, I like it all and I understand how well sex sells) I can't help but feel that Riot is missing an opportunity.

While last year's Heartseeker Varus was beautiful and generally an effort in the right direction, it's generally not how you fanservice female geeks and gamers. To illustrate my words, I would like to attach the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toPstPIcGnI

The video has 4million views, and I'm willing to bet money 70% of those are females. Listen to the screams too. It's insane how much money Marvel's made off Tom Hiddleston's back. And it's not only them. Recent Star Wars had Kylo Ren. And let's not forget the undying Sephiroth cult. Moffat has Sherlock. And let's not mention the amount of anime that has sold just by whoring out the main character (ahem Hellsing ahem). To spell it out: hot antiheroes/bad guys with a deep backstory make male fans intrigued and female fans scream, make fanart and create many tumblr blogs, while staying endlessly devoted to the fandom.

So what does League have to tap into this fanbase? Practically nothing. Top three candidates are probably Talon, Vladimir and Malzahar (honorable mentions to Varus, Swain, Yasuo, Kassadin and recently Jhin, but they lack some of the badness/attractiveness of the top three.) The rest is beefcake meant to fit with American videogame aesthetics and teenage boy power fantasies.

So what is Riot doing with this top three? They're pretty much forgotten. Talon is conceptually bland and nobody's making any effort to change that. Vlad has the potential to attract the biggest fanbase (mixing Dracula, Alucard, Lestat, Raziel and a Noxian conspirator in one can never go badly, the same way as mixing chocolate and ice cream can't.) Malzahar's concept is insanely amazing - he's freaking Abdul Alhazred, writer of the Necronomicon, one of Lovecraft's best creations, and his theme and kit are beyond awesome. (Can't help but thank Riot for deciding to relaunch Swain though.)

Why are all three of these champions stuck in 2011? They have a reasonably big fanbase despite being neglected aesthetically and lore-wise for so long, and each has the potential to get twice the popularity Miss Fortune has.

My explanation is that Riot is plain afraid or thinks it's not a great marketing idea to do so. Riot, I think you're wrong.

40 Comments

SchaakaKon2/3/2016, 5:23:22 PM8 votes

How can you ignore the hottest male around? Brand

;)

Tohob2/3/2016, 2:58:45 PM7 votes

but does a guy have to be bad to be sexy? i see some potential for Taric here. there's also Braum and Jayce

Oleandervine2/3/2016, 4:08:51 PM4 votes

I just want mindless catering and eye candy to people who like guys. Braum was a step towards that, but he's not straight up "Hot," and I'm hoping Taric's rework will make him the eye candy he deserves to be. As for your anti-hero appeal, it can be hit or miss. Kassadin definitely falls into that category, as he sacrificed himself of sorts to close the gate to the void. Albeit, he's not as slim and doesn't have the potential for sex appeal like Malzahar, but he fits your bill, more so than Malzahar, who is straight up evil. Despite this, and Yasuo, these character haven't really attracted female gamers to the game or gotten them hot and bothered, so there's clearly something deterring them from liking these characters aside from the wronged anti-hero motif. Most females I know or see playing League do just like the guys - they play the ideal looking characters with fun stories, mostly characters like Nidalee, Ahri, Lux, and Fiora. These women fit the heroic female stereotype in the way that Garen, Yi, and Darius fit the heroic male stereotype. It's hard to know what people are attracted to in a game, and I doubt 1 champ with blatant appeal to one demographic will dramatically make all that difference on the player base.

Grashnim2/3/2016, 2:44:23 PM3 votes

Star Guardian Garen.

Only Play Darius2/3/2016, 10:49:18 PM3 votes

How about no?

Dehitay2/3/2016, 10:59:46 PM3 votes

I agree that it would be smart to make sexualized male skins as common as sexualized female skins, but I have no faith in Riot's ability to develop lore. The lore gets retconned so often that it's not even worth reading anymore cause there's a huge chance it's just going to change later. Pretty much any time they do a major development, there's about a 50% chance they'll invalidate previous lore. I'm still incredibly bitter about the complete 180 on Lissandra's character. She went from the potential future of Freljord's peaceful unification to an ice witch bent on domination.

Xulsigae2/4/2016, 12:25:52 AM2 votes

It depends on the culture. A shirtless guy is not taboo in Western culture and doesn't have the same implications as a shirtless lady.

GreenLore2/3/2016, 3:51:27 PM2 votes

Wouldn't Varus and Yasuo also fall into that category?

I mean both are quite anti-heroic and run around shirtless(they actually did remove yasuos shirt because of sexappeal),though yasuo might not be anti-hero enough to count.

Pryotra2/3/2016, 4:57:57 PM2 votes

Aatrox Draven Ekko Ezreal Graves Jayce LeeSin Lucian Malzahar Olaf Pantheon Talon Tryndamere TwistedFate Udyr Varus Vladimir XinZhao Yasuo - A good cast of mostly morally ambiguous males that have been sexualized in some fashion or another, whether via skins or just raw form.

Honestly, the reason it isn't really noticed is because, well, most of their stories have been retconned. I can't tell you the last time I was "intrigued" by any league character, because frankly none of them matter anymore. Even the ones that haven't been release I can safely say that for, because lore is so shitty right now that literally nothing in this game matters to itself, much less the audience.

I know this sounds like I'm trying to make this about lore, but here is the issue - Why would moral ambiguity matter when mages can sling the magical equivalent of nukes around? We know thanks to the Bard promo that the magic capable of leveling mountains still exists in Runeterra. Keep in mind the power to do that is likened to an atomic bomb. The league is no more - the one thing that stopped these spells from being used willy-nilly is gone, retconned. Without it, it doesn't matter if Garen and Darius brawl, because the whole field could and most likely would be leveled in an instant. The only creatures that MIGHT survive would be Cho'gath, Rek'sai, and potentially Xerath, and even then that's a HUGE maybe.

TL;DR - Characters can't be morally ambiguous when they simply don't matter. And none of League matters to anyone or anything, itself included.

Dominick Destine2/3/2016, 2:56:46 PM2 votes

[{quoted}](name=VaynexVlad OTP,realm=EUW,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=Kv1VEWnL,comment-id=,timestamp=2016-02-03T14:42:00.082+0000)

First of all I would like to ask you all to take this thread seriously

Zero chance of that.

The game is perfectly fine and does not need changes.

It can only bring revenue and popularity.

Yes because the most played online game worldwide is clearly doing something wrong ... right?

J Eevo2/3/2016, 10:45:37 PM2 votes

Stopped reading after "Recent Star Wars had Kylo Ren"

Do you honestly think anyone went to star wars because they thought he was attractive? Hell when I was in the cinema like half of the female audience let out a sigh when he removed his helmet stating 'jeez, he looked better with the mask on'

Navarune2/3/2016, 3:35:41 PM1 votes

Vlad and Malzahar will be getting some attention soon with the upcoming mage update, and I'm honestly pretty stoked about their inclusion in that.

I also agree that Talon could use some love. I'm not looking at this from the exact same angle as you seem to be, as I am a heterosexual male, but nonetheless I can't help but agree.

Oleandervine2/3/2016, 11:10:40 PM1 votes

Because he became a monster to avenge his daughter and protect his home. He's probably feared and outcast by his people because of what he is, and probably under heavy watch by officials to ensure he doesn't snap and go pure void on people. He's consistently battling that same battle internally with the darkness he took in himself while traversing the void. I'd say that qualifies as anti-hero.

Karma Deified2/3/2016, 10:58:45 PM1 votes

Have you seen the damn 8 packs on these male champs, gtfo.

On another note, stay the hell away from Malz. He's a pawn/servant/herald and a respectable one.