Can Order vs Chaos stop being Totalitarism vs The Cool Guys?

Stars Shaper·6/15/2018, 2:41:58 PM·55 votes·17,217 views

There seem to be huge bias in who designes these events, the Order side always gets to be the more objectively dislikeable by dragging them into the far extremist end of their spectrum while the Chaos representatives are just the most relateable answer to them.

This was less evident in Riven because of the focus on the primordial conflict between the 2 of them (and the shipping intensification) but with Darius and Garen has reached the point where I don't even want to partecipate.

97 Comments

Sahn Uzal6/15/2018, 2:45:36 PM21 votes

I mean, I think God King Darius is an anarchist? I think you're chosing between Anarchy and Tyrannie here, where I'd argue both are very dislikable scenarios.

ModKnightsKemplar6/15/2018, 3:06:42 PM13 votes

I mean... to a certain extent, I think it has to be pretty extreme for anyone to sympathize with Chaos.

"I'm a just ruler who cares for his people and everyone can live in a free and egalitarian society and no one is sad and we all lived happily ever after" is pretty hard to argue with.

Umbral Regent6/15/2018, 6:48:38 PM13 votes

I kind of agree - the previous Legendary VS. event had two equally sympathetic but equally extreme sides - "embrace the light, be loved by the light, and serve the light", or "embrace the darkness, love yourself in chaos, and serve yourself" - Sure, Yasuo painted the light as domineering and control-hungry, but Riven provided something sympathetic to the side of Order, making it seem as welcoming as it was potentially restrictive.

But, with this Legendary VS. event, we have less sympathetic interpretations of Order and Chaos - Garen, who's jealousy and vanity drive him to be the sole executive power in Demacia, who controls pretty much everyone's lives for the sake of having his "utopia" - and anyone who thinks even slightly differently is likely a blasphemer and should be executed...

While Darius' character is flatter than a day-old soda. He simply exists to bring Chaos and disrupt Order. The world belongs to the strong, and there should be endless war, so he seeks to kill the last bastion of Order and be done with it. He exists to perpetuate a cycle of violence and destruction, and views strength as the only force that should dictate one's life.

(which, I guess is ironically a pretty accurate representation of their viewpoints - Demacia is a sequestered, isolationist government, and Noxus believes the strength of the individual is all that matters)

But Garen and Darius lack the sympathetic natures of their respective forces. Where Riven was "join me and be loved", Garen is "serve me or be smote." - and where Yasuo was "live for your own desires, run unchained", Darius is "you live because you've killed everything weaker than you. Keep going."

And, that flatness of character between the two, the lack of anything generally human in them, actually puts me in a tough position for the event.

I would love to get both Loading Screen borders if I could (and obviously both skins and wards), but, it seems like a side has to be chosen, and while I love how Garen looks...I hate, hate hate his character (which is a shame, since I wanted to choose Order), and Darius just seems...Eh. (which is meh, since I chose Chaos last time around.)

All said, this Legendary VS. will involve impressive skins, no doubt, but less-than-impressive characters compared to the last Legendary VS.

SEKAI6/15/2018, 3:46:54 PM10 votes

People probably think chaos and anarchy is cool because most of their only experience with it is in things like video games and other "safe environment", and especially when in those said lawless environments they usually are put in the role of the "strong" and not the weaker or the oppressed. And so anarchy seems like a pretty good place to them, as rules seem only like a hindrance; though they really are ignoring the utter importance of order in basically anything related to any remotely functioning civilisation.

Chembaron Yamada6/15/2018, 5:43:13 PM8 votes

Alternative: can the next VS event please not be chaos vs order again? I was a bit disappointed that they let basically the same philosophies fight each other like last time.

I think they should experiment with other philosophies. For example: tradition vs progress. One claims that we have to keep all tradition alive, new technology is avoided completely. The other wants to progress forward with new technology and stuff, but throwing away any tradition and our entire past.

Pale Mask6/15/2018, 3:29:46 PM6 votes

This is what Riot has always done, though? Kayle versus Morgana, Leona versus Diana, Demacia versus Noxus, and the list continues.

PaladinNO6/16/2018, 1:03:20 PM5 votes

All I want from this VS event is the release of the final Order icon from last time:

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qo76vTf8wOk/WS9DHzVkkzI/AAAAAAABDuI/BXhrAKvmuLk4tn7BPjWbarrtyxLwi5FRACLcB/s1600/fc42083b7079ae68.jpg

I'd really like to own it, as to me it's way better than any of the other VS event icons. https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/story-art/uE3G94nX-now-that-the-vs-event-has-ended-order-icon

Jerry SeinfeId6/15/2018, 6:39:24 PM4 votes

My biggest issue with the skins is how much cooler darius' skin is while i don't play darius but i kinda like playing garen.

Like the fucking axe animations are so rad, meanwhile garen looks like some shitty WoW bro.

I have yet to listen to the voice lines but from what i understand from this thread garen is just a tyrant, this doesn't fit garen at all. that's not justice.

Ionian Vulpix6/16/2018, 4:10:21 AM4 votes

The Virgin Darius vs. The Chad Garen

Camulos6/15/2018, 10:27:58 PM4 votes

The thing is, in the typical "Freedom vs Justice" debate which is cropping up more and more in media as of late (e.g. Capt. America: Civil War); "Freedom" will always be seen as anarchistic by the opposing side, and "Justice" will be seen as tyrannical by it's opposition. Both have good points, and both have bad points, I like these events because they showcase both using their characters and how they typically react to one another. For God-King Garen, the philosophy is justice and unity behind a single figure. When people have a common goal and motivation it is so much easier get them to work together and respect one another, but the moment that falters things will go to hell, and so totalitarianism will tend to follow as a means of enforcing that unity. For God-King Darius, the philosophy is Freedom and competition. When people are constantly forced to improve themselves to survive it leads to substantial personal growth which can then be used as a basis of mutual respect, but what usually happens is that one person will get ahead and then cut down any threat they see to preserve themselves, again leading to totalitarianism.

Basically, while Riven and Yasuo focused on the concepts of Order and Chaos, Garen and Darius demonstrate how these concepts affect societies; and that both have exactly the same fatal flaw... Humanity.

Strawberrycocoa6/16/2018, 11:39:13 PM3 votes

It's like, you have older media where Order is the noble guardians and Chaos is the evil maniacs, now you've got reactionary trope-avoidance trying to subvert those norms by making Order the rigid fascists and Chaos the freespirited rebels. It'll loop back after awhile, when people get tired of the current tropes.

Tesla Effect6/15/2018, 7:39:07 PM3 votes

Impying that Chaos side was ever cool....

Nylisa6/15/2018, 9:42:53 PM3 votes

This bothers me too i feel like this is an attempt to make the universe more...gray. i kinda prefer to get a plain old, good vs evil event at this point.

I take it that's not something everyone would look for as the world is not that simple. but the idea that neither of these sides are good or evil and cant say Demacia is bad or Noxus is bad ... its getting a bit stale. why don't we have a Void VS Runettera event yet!

I would say nothing says evil more than a force that is trying to consume the entire existence.but at this point i'm afraid calling Void "evil" is like saying Fire is evil. it just consumes and burns in order to keep on going. its in its nature. how can i blame void for wanting to devour everything , cause if they don't they die. at least that's how it seems so far. as none of the other speculations proven to be correct. so there goes plans for making a good VS evil event based on that.

Larriet6/15/2018, 9:20:40 PM1 votes

The fact you think one side is so much more likeable is exactly the point of the event...