Fiora's cape
Now that the anger and such of the new Fiora art has died down, i was just wondering, and hopefully a red could say why but why was Fiora's split cape removed? like, its such a trivial yet iconic thing, why change it?
Now that the anger and such of the new Fiora art has died down, i was just wondering, and hopefully a red could say why but why was Fiora's split cape removed? like, its such a trivial yet iconic thing, why change it?
my 2cents; One of the biggest concerns with the appearance of characters in-game is clarity, especially in the case for Fiora where her orientation is important, and part of her identity(as a duelist, or a swordsman?). Players need to be able to read the form instantly, hence her design has to be clean and also readable- which I believe is why the half-cape is now a full piece of cloth without the previous motif on it.
To appreciate what I mean, try zooming out on this image; http://www.newsoflegends.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Fiora-Updated-Model-3-1024x6401-1024x640.jpg You'll notice that your eyes are drawn to the stark white of her cape and sword, which provides you the orientation of the model. If the cape was split within the shape, it would only add messy 'visual noise' that don't contribute to anything, except perhaps if you're looking at it static(hardly how we play Fiora).
TL;DR, VISUAL CLARITY. For artists this merits the removal of unnecessary elements, because the end-product has to relay information that you need in its context.