"We think the biggest reason for Yorick's unpopularity is simple: Nobody wants to be a gravedigger."
Here's me thinking that the entire point of the character was that he was a nobody. I'm mad.
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Yeah, that part I didn't get. That's actually one of the reasons people liked him, just a guy who was a simple grave digger but became something more because he was a workaholic.
The reason he wasn't played much was because he was never in rotation for being toxic for the game.
I feel like the reworks (and some of the new champs as well) try too hard to make champions important to the lore. Poppy became the founder of Demacia, Taric was turned into a demigod, Ryze is supposedly the most powerful mage to ever exist, Shen protects two different dimensions etc. Sometimes it's nice to have simple characters, like sewer rats, police officers, army soldiers, grave diggers and whatnot.
you sure it wasnt that his early game mana and mid game mana sucked balls? you sure it wasn't because you gave him a kit that hardcountered 99% of the champion pool and thus you nerfed him into oblivion? you sure it wasn't because for the longest time his main item was gutted into oblivion as well? you sure it wasn't because you tuned essence reaver into an adc item? you sure it wasn't your unanimous hatred for sustain champions? you sure it wasn't because he had no skins? you sure it wasn't because he was never in rotation? you sure, aw fuk it no one read this far.
It couldn't possibly have been because they nerfed his early game mana to the point where other early bullies did it just as easily or better and left him to rot.
It couldnt be because they took him out of free rotation so nobody could randomly try him out.
It certainly wasn't because he hasn't had a skin in god knows how long.
K.
The reasons people do not play Yorick are:
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New players don't realize he exists. He was taken off the free rotation and he's deliberately kept out of the public eye.
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He had a botched release - he didn't even get a champion spotlight video until like a week after he was out. Also, people expected him to be a mage on release (in my opinion, bruiser/juggernaut is better though).
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No one ever maintained Yorick over the years because his developer got hired to a different company.
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He was nerfed too early on in his history stayed only barely viable for too long. Most people just play to win and don't give half a crap about anything in a champion except whether it will give them freelo.
Him being a Gravedigger has little to nothing to do with his unpopularity. I think his lore and theme are above average for league when it comes to artistic value.
Yeah, that annoyed me too, making a lot of assumptions.
I'm kinda expecting them to rework Urgot into some sort of handsome-looking guy because "nobody wants to play as an ugly sin against life itself".
Well you'll be happy to know many folks share your opinion, to the point where Riot's looking to rewrite that as we speak:
https://twitter.com/c0ttonfxn/status/768147317438361601
You can thank Chef Lu Bu for that one.
Classic Riot not understand their community but pontificating on what we like/don't like. They still think we wanted DQ and that it's making ranked better. LOL. #RitoLogic
What people are reading: "NOBODY WANTS TO BE A NORMAL GUY"
What Riot meant: "Nobody wants to be Dampe"
Riot isn't saying "nobody wants to be a normal character", they're saying "nobody wants to be that guy that just kinda creeps around the graveyard and scares little children." They made him more like Death (in his own way) to give him a better hook than "guy who hangs around graves". I mean, the Shadow Isles thematically are supposed to be blessed isles that became evil, so where would Yorick fit in the "blessed isles" part? His current lore cleans up his interactions and gives him meaning and a reason for existence.
It's not that nobody wants to be a "normal guy", it's that nobody wants to be the lame guy from LoZ that you race for the Hookshot.
Every champion in league has to be an epic hero. A unique special character with no one else like them in the world.
Thats why they wanna change Pantheon too. Reaver mentioned that he feels like a regular Spartan and does stand out enough.
HOWEVER, I think thats cool. I always thought of Pantheon is a faceless Spartan in 300. Just one of many , epic warriors. He doesnt have to be a special chosen one, or a king, I just thought of him as a regular soldier. Who wants to retire and open a bakery.
So yeh, they wanna make every champion epic/ unique / special and they dont want average joes like 'gravedigger' or 'spartan footsoldier'. They want epic champs in their game .... and are they wrong to want that?
I think what riot meant, was at first glance... Yorick essentially was an ugly swamp-thing with a shovel. His title was 'the gravedigger' which seems lame and lackluster at first glance. Rito wasn't trying to offend the current Yorick players who obviously find him appealing in some twisted endearing way. They meant that he wasn't as accessible to newer players.
Not to mention his backstory was lazy and kind of boring. It seemed to have next to no connection with Valoran at all.
You're too quick to be offended (yes I know, it's the very nature of the internet) where no offence has been dished out.