How Lore Has Affected Me
First of all, I'd like to state that when I first started playing League, I thought that the world was pretty cool. All of these nations working together (grudgingly) to not start another Rune War (because there's no point taking over the world if it's a smoking wasteland). Some of them appealed more to me than others. At first I thought that Noxus was evil incarnate and Demacia was the best place in the world. Then I read Lux's judgement, and my opinion on Demacia... changed. Runeterra wasn't black and white after all.
When the retcon was announced, I cheerfully and wholeheartedly ignored it. After all, if there's no IoW, what's to stop Demacia and Noxus from bashing each other's faces in? I became interested in Factions, but from a distance. Gradually, I poked around the Factions website and decided that I wanted to join. From there, I had to pick between Bilgewater, the Shadow Isles, Ionia, and Freljord, but the decision was fairly easy. I disliked the idea of Bilgewater, the Shadow Isles creeped me out, and there were too many people fighting for Ionia. It also helped that Ashe is a fairly cheap champion and not a head-scratcher mechanically.
So how does this relate to not wanting better/more lore?
Well, between the time I've spent reading the champion lores and the time I've spent reading Factions lore, I may have spent more time on that than actually playing League. In all of this time, the lore of Runeterra has sunk its claws into my heart. How do I know this?
Recently, I was playing a song in an orchestra. It's called "Coiled!" and is supposed to be unyielding. The composer himself said that at the end, the musicians are supposed to be panting with effort. While playing the song, I realized that it could work very well as a theme song for Demacia. I mentally renamed it "Demacia Rising."
Another time, I was talking with a friend that plays League. Since he was wearing quite a bit less compared to what I was wearing on a somewhat cold day, I joked that he must have been born in Freljord. After a few moments of thought, I amended that to the part controlled by the Avarosan, because there was no way he could have survived in the Winter's Claw.
Whenever I do anything that requires physical exertion, one of the methods I use to keep myself going is telling myself that Sejuani did it, so I should be able to do it. Granted, Sejuani is a fictional character, but it works.
I will refuse to play certain champions because their lore is scary. No, I don't want to hear Nocturne's or Fiddlesticks's or Renekton's thoughts in my head. If I must play them, I will mute my computer first.
Occasionally I wonder if I would be a member of the Lunari or the Solari. I like sunlight, but I do understand that it isn't good for me. (Skin cancer! Bad eyesight!) When I think of religious intolerance, this is one of the first things that I think of.
For me, the term "Ionia" is forever linked to Ionia. When I read a book where a place is called Ionia or a certain person is called Ionian, I have a bit of cognitive dissonance when I try to link Ionia of Runeterra to the Ionia of whatever I'm reading. However, this doesn't just apply to Ionia. I also have trouble when I see "Quinn" used as a surname, or hear about ash.
When I have to be quiet, I think that Sona must feel like that every second of her life, except 10 times worse. When I feel as if I have a lot of pressure placed on me, I think that it must be nothing compared to what Lux faces.
In other words, I am a bit obsessed with lore. And, if I can be obsessed with Runeterra with just a tiny, low-quality trickle of lore, how much worse could it be if we had full-on proper lore? If that happens? I might start wearing purple hoodies and trying to summon champions. So, in a way, I am grateful for the lack of lore from Riot. But then again, half-finished stories aren't very satisfying either.
td;lr read the above if you want to know what I'm trying to say. Don't be lazy.
