On League Lore and how WE can make it better (where are the tie-ins, comics, novels?)

So let me start right out: League of Legends lore, as it is right now, is a mess.

There is a lot of potential for improvement, as with any Generic Fantasy Setting TM, but the current format of touching the lore only in champion backstories and the rare lore events, which ultimately don't go anywhere, IMO only hurts the setting as a whole. Loathe as I am to bring a comparison to Overwatch (it's seems it's all we do lately), I think Blizzard's way of handling things is much better. There is a dissociation between the game and matches themselves and building the game world. They are following their model from WoW and the earlier times of Warcraft/Starcraft. Numerous tie-ins focusing on various characters meant to flesh out the setting by featuring important events or "side" stories based on important characters. The sheer amount of comics/books/etc is staggering, and while you can argue that some works turned out better or worse than others, at least there is a consistent focus on the setting as a whole. And this doesn't hurt the online game in the slightest. As you level up, Ilidan is still the baddest of the bads in Outland up until you go to Northrend and suddenly the Lich King is Top Dog years after his in-game demise.

Okay, while you may argue WoW has a bit more leeway due to being a MMORPG, with quests more or less focused on the story, Blizzard are doing the same with Overwatch and, well, we can see how it works in real-time.

I think something similar would greatly benefit LoL. You don't need to re-retcon the League itself and have it as the focus. Focus on the characters, build up Runeterra as a whole. Gamers are in love with Overwatch characters right now and I daresay we have no less compelling ones (and no less hotter waifus). A few novels/comics taking places in different parts of the continent (Ionia, Noxus, Bilgewater etc) could feature different casts of local Champion AND finally do something with the story. Yasuo can duke it out on the Rift even if he finally finds who killed his Elder. You don't need to update the game itself to update its world. As far as comics go I think the Dark Horse model used for Avatar and Dragon Age is best. A series of three-parters focusing on a given storyline at a different place with different characters in the driver's seat.

There is sooo much potential in whatever backstories and setting trivia we have right now to build a consistent, better Runeterra. True, Riot got burned with their initial focsu on lore but that thing was too meta, too tongue-in-cheek and focused on the League itself and bringing us, the Summoners, into it. This is way different and tried and tested by other successful gaming companies before. Don't let the Champions be just the sum of their abilities people. Hell, going the novel/comics route you can actually feature the Champions without being constrained by the balance of the game itself. Syndra can levitate a castle for 24/7, whole year round. The Void champions are basically Chtulhu awoken.

If Riot is wary of sinking money into this too fast then start out small. Maybe with an collection of bundled up short-stories submitted by fans. Organize a contest, maybe offer RP as rewards and pick the best stories for the anthology. THEN decide whether you would hire someone for a larger project.

If any thread of mine ever gets a lot of attention, views and upvotes, then elt it be this one. Let's not let so much potential go to waste, people.

I am also really hoping for a Red answer on this one, and preferably from someone on the Lore team, who can say more than "Sounds good, looking forward to see hwo things go".

It's on us to make a fuss about this, guys.

Let's make League lore great again...

(Sorry, couldn't pass this up)