A discussion about Eve's upcoming VGU and retaining "Legacy" value
The title of this thread might be hard to understand so I'll try and explain it first before going into the main point of what I'm trying to say. Lately, when champions have received VGUs by Riot's ChampUp team there can be a large shift in the champion's thematics, story and gameplay elements. In this thread I will mostly be focused on talking about thematic and story elements of Eve and what I mean by retaining legacy value and my concerns with the upcoming VGU.
So, what do I mean "Legacy value"? For me, it's shorthand for retaining the iconic and loved parts of a champions identity, whether that be their backstory, spells or voice lines. When a champion is reworked it is of utmost importance to make sure the fans of that champion don't feel like they've lost their champion to ether, never to be seen again. The updated version of a champion should be recognizable. Why even claim it's an update when the new product is so utterly unrecognizable that both the new and old champ could be in the game without ever getting them confused?
Examples where Riot deleted the old Champion and replaced them with a new one:
To me, this is unacceptable. There is inherent value in keeping what made those old champions beloved and iconic and throwing them into the dumpster feels terrible. It spits in the face of the original designers and fans of the character. It's like watching the remastered Star Wars films. It feels wrong.
Examples where Riot updated the old champion, keeping their theme and design respectfully recognizable:
This list is by no means exhaustive, but is my own personal take on how well their visual update was handled with the original champion in mind. What is it that makes those champions strong updates?
The reasons (to me) they were strong updates:
1) Voice Over.
- Garen is one of the best examples of this. Garen's "DEMACIAAA" scream (shirek, cry, shout?) was recognized as high value. In order keep the battlecry Riot literally ripped the line straight out of the original voice recording and slapped it on new Garen as well as keeping other iconic lines from his script like, "Fear not. I'm coming!". This kind of legacy value is low effort/resource and high reward. Riot is recording voice lines anyhow, with a miniscule voiceover script like old Garen's (about 1 minutes worth) you can keep the original lines and fold them into the new script. Who else is a rework for if not for the long time players?
- Karthus is an example of this done wrong. Karthus had a _tiny_ script before his rework (clocking in at just over 1 minute) and kept exactly zero of his old lines when he was updated. I can understand wanting to replace lines that don't make sense in the context of the update and the changing lore of the game, but that was NOT the case for Karthus. Rest in peace, "Do you feel a chill?"
2) Look and Theme (of the champion and their spells):
- while Karthus' voice over was handled poorly his visuals were done spectacularly. All of his old spells were updated to match his more spectral origins and brought up to the higher quality of Riot's visual standards.
- Urgot is an example of needing to update the champion's kit but keeping the feel and look of the champion intact. Urgot was able to keep corrosive charge and many of his new spells kept the feel of his old kit (ala locking on and his new throw spell).
3) Story Elements
- Gangplank is a great example of a character that was updated and didn't feel like the time you as a player invested in "getting to know" them was wasted. Gangplank's story was not only completely kept intact it was expanded upon! It kept past relationships, like his feud with Miss Fortune and gave it a Chapter 2.
- Galio's story, by contrast, was thrown completely to the wayside. Anybody who played Galio and enjoyed the story of a meloncollie gargoyle with a tragic past had the story they invested in discarded in favor for an over-the-top, boneheaded colossus. There's nothing inherently wrong with that theme, but why even say that's Galio when it clearly is not? Like, not even remotely.
How does this all apply to Eve?
If it wasn't for the total replacement of Galio I wouldn't be worried of the upcoming Eve VGU. Riot had been pretty good about keeping champions mostly intact since they removed Trundle from the game and claimed they had learned their lesson about carefully reworking champions. With that being said, what can Riot do to preserve Eve's legacy value? This list might look familiar.
1) Voice Over
-I don't doubt that Riot will preserve the sadistic side of Eve. What I'm interested in is keeping some of Eve's most iconic and well loved lines. "It takes a lot of effort to move like this in heels." "I may be bad, but I feel goooood..." And my personal favorite "I've got the touch~" I want to keep some of that playful attitude that Eve has, she's always had that dark humor about her. Out of 16 whole lines it shouldn't be too difficult to preserve at least some of them. There is inherent value in keeping what exists.
2) Look and Theme
-To keep Eve looking like Eve two things need to stay. Blue skin. Pink hair. Her updated splash art is ideally what her new look will be based on, but I doubt that will be the case. If Eve is to be recognizable as Eve she HAS to be blue. If not, it's not Evelyn.
3) Story Elements
-This can be a tricky subject to tackle. Much of Eve's lore is stuck in the previous retconned story. What we did know was that she had a relationship with Twisted Fate. Her tango skin was even considered canon for a time. I always thought this was a more fun, light hearted aspect to the character and one of the only one's we even got. I'd like to see her relationship with Twisted Fate explored in the new canon. She could run into him and Graves during their misadventures and the two of them could even "tango", culminating in a rivalry/unhealthy obsession of kinds. I'm just spitballing here. But it would be a fun little nod to the players that are invested in the character.
TL;DR There are many aspects of a pre VGU champion that are crucial to keep in order for that champion to still feel and be that champion. Don't just make a whole new one and slap an existing character's name on it.
a hug
seems next to impossible unless he is nothing but a plaything she enjoys to slowly corrupt by using his enthrallment against him.
