"We think the biggest reason for Yorick's unpopularity is simple: Nobody wants to be a gravedigger."

OurLestrade·Aug 23, 2016·73 votes·3,936 views

Here's me thinking that the entire point of the character was that he was a nobody. I'm mad.

79 Comments

RalanrAug 23, 201642 votes

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.

OurLestradeAug 23, 201627 votes

There's sort of an overabundance of "special snowflake with a burden" characters in LOL, and he's just been thrown into that pile :P

RalanrAug 23, 201610 votes

To be fair, they are special. They are champions for a reason.

Only Play DariusAug 23, 201619 votes

They can be special without being gods.

RalanrAug 23, 20164 votes

Tell that to Xerath...

I get the point. Not all are on that level, we still have Graves, TF, GP, and MF for example.

ChaosThiefAug 23, 20166 votes

TF is kind of some magic guy though. The other three rely on their weapons and skills as just people.

The point stands though; not everything has to be a god to be fun.

RalanrAug 23, 20162 votes

So who would be the most normal champion in league? Caitlyn?

ChaosThiefAug 23, 20165 votes

Graves would probably be a good candidate for the most normal (he uses custom built weapons, but has no special powers). Caitlyn is very normal, Vi kind of borders on this (she has gauntlets that she built herself; not everyone is capable of that, but otherwise she is normal.)

Most of the recent champions don't really fall under the "normal" category ( Kled is a folk legend with an immortal mount, AurelionSol is a space dragon, need I say more, etc.)

MarshbouyAug 23, 20162 votes

but "normal" sucks ass as a champion design. Imagine "john. The farmer" as a champ release, it would be incredibly stupid.

RalanrAug 23, 201613 votes

Make that farmer Nasus and then we get a joke.

We also have Jhin as normal.

In fact most ADCs are normal. This emphasizes how much of a badass you need to be to fight someone with a gun.

MarshbouyAug 23, 20161 votes

ChaosThief is going to say that jhin is not normal because he is insane, has a magic gun, etc. None of the ADCs are considered normal to him except for graves and cait. maybe jinx too, but he is too stingy.

CeexSettAug 23, 20163 votes

Jhin has a magic gun?

Out of all the ADC's, the only ones out of the ordinary are really Kalista Ezreal Lucian Varus . The others are just people with guns.

MarshbouyAug 23, 20162 votes

Keep in mind that i was using ChaosThief's logic. I don't actually agree with his logic, i was just imitating it.

crippler38Aug 24, 20163 votes

ashe, magic ice bow.

crippler38Aug 24, 20162 votes

draven and darius are literally guys with axes, j4 is a strong guy with a stick, talon is an assassin with a bunch of blades, katarina just throws knives around, and garen is a guy with a sword who brings justice down from the sky onto your face.

Point being that a lot of these champions are just normal people with fancy gear, like gp is a pirate with barrels and a pistol for example or braum is just chuck norris.

ChaosThiefAug 23, 20162 votes

Insanity do not make a person any less... normal. It's a different perception than our own. Even though Whisper is enchanted(I think?), in the end it only makes the bullets more painful; a modification to his weapon doesn't make the weapon wielder a god.

It may seem boring to you to have a normal champion on the rift, but with all the gods running around, it'd be fun to have someone walking around who seems weaker by comparison but beats them due to their experience.

iamthegoatofwarAug 23, 20161 votes

I don't really know if jhin is normal or not...I think he's got some super human strength on his side the way he can use his ult like that.

RalanrAug 23, 20162 votes

I think that's just a machine.

kasfasAug 24, 201620 votes

Welcome to the league of legends champion spotlight, featuring john: The farmer.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aIssjsPbcfo/maxresdefault.jpg

TaoistMasterAug 24, 20163 votes

I main John the farmer

R FLASH XDAug 24, 20162 votes

{quoted}

So who would be the most normal champion in league? Caitlyn?

She is by no means normal.Have you seen how fast she can shoot with a sniper?She doesn't even need to reload.

RalanrAug 24, 20161 votes

I assumed she was using an ammo cartridge.

Valaran NaraAug 24, 20162 votes

[{quoted}](name=Horny Flamingo,realm=EUNE,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=UiWBdV09,comment-id=00000000000000000000000000000001,timestamp=2016-08-24T19:16:42.308+0000)

She is by no means normal.Have you seen how fast she can shoot with a sniper?She doesn't even need to reload.

To be honest, with the way League justified Jhin as a sniper when we already got Cait, they described her as an "assault rifle" when she gets AS. I can honestly see her using a burst fire rifle or regular assualt rifle that she put a scope on and switched onto single fire.

Only Play DariusAug 23, 201629 votes

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.

OurLestradeAug 23, 201619 votes

In a nutshell! When everyone is Jesus it ruins the impact immensely. It's beginning to feel like a fanfic full of OC's at this point. I for one am a big Imperial Guard fan from Warhammer for example because in a universe full of demons and super soldiers they're just dudes with guns :P

blkKalameetAug 23, 20162 votes

"upon entering the guard they are issued one standard flashlight commonly referred to as a lazgun, one copy of the Imperial primer, one cardboard box holding said supplies that most have started calling flack armor, and one industrial grade wheelbarrow to carry there giant brass balls into battle. "

It Hertz When IPAug 24, 20167 votes

http://www.troll.me/images2/syndrome/everyone-can-be-super-and-when-everyones-super-no-one-will-be.jpg

Warlord DienekesAug 23, 201612 votes

Yep. Pretty much my biggest gripe about a lot of the lore reworks. Especially Pantheon who suddenly turned from an ordinary (if awesome) soldier into a parasitic space demigod that possesses people.

GayFluffyUnicornAug 24, 20162 votes

what? For real?

Warlord DienekesAug 24, 20163 votes

I'm not sure if you're asking whether that is really my opinion (which is yes) or if they did that to Pantheon (which is also yes).

agbudarAug 23, 201627 votes

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.

iamdestinosAug 24, 20163 votes

I agree with this although I never knew essence reaver was built on Yorick. I knew about the no skins since release and not being in the rotation but not that. Also this is probably only me but his kit absolutely confused me except for the ult, that confused anyone not playing Yorick thinking they got a free zilean revive

Battlecast SonaAug 24, 20163 votes

I think it's more that ER could've been a great item for Yorick in theory but then it got tuned for ADCs instead of AD casters.

Maximum MordeAug 23, 201621 votes

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.

Battlecast SonaAug 24, 20162 votes

but why would they actually fix any of this when his kit was literally "watch me press 3 buttons that do basically the same thing"

Painted CeltAug 23, 201616 votes

The reasons people do not play Yorick are:

New players don't realize he exists. He was taken off the free rotation and he's deliberately kept out of the public eye.
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).
No one ever maintained Yorick over the years because his developer got hired to a different company.
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.

Golden Tager XAug 23, 20168 votes

[{quoted}](name=Painted Celt,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=UiWBdV09,comment-id=0008,timestamp=2016-08-23T22:31:31.492+0000)

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).

So true, i remember that Wu's teaser was out about a week before Yorick came out, nobody even knew this guy was coming and then he was just sorta there.

sp441Aug 23, 201613 votes

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".

SharjoAug 23, 201610 votes

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.

OurLestradeAug 23, 20162 votes

That's actually really funny xD Cheers for sharing

MonkeyMadnessAug 23, 20168 votes

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

Battlecast SonaAug 24, 20166 votes

What people are reading: "NOBODY WANTS TO BE A NORMAL GUY"

What Riot meant: "Nobody wants to be Dampe"

http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Damp%C3%A9

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.

LuunaLilyAug 23, 20163 votes

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.

Painted CeltAug 23, 20167 votes

Trust me, if he had a 55% winrate and was played more in competitive, he would have a 15% pick rate at least. Most people only care about winning when they pick a champion. If people weren't under the impression that Yorick is underpowered, he would get played. It's as simple as that.

LuunaLilyAug 24, 20162 votes

[{quoted}](name=Painted Celt,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=UiWBdV09,comment-id=00070000,timestamp=2016-08-23T22:41:10.694+0000)

Trust me, if he had a 55% winrate and was played more in competitive, he would have a 15% pick rate at least. Most people only care about winning when they pick a champion. If people weren't under the impression that Yorick is underpowered, he would get played. It's as simple as that.

Or maybe you're projecting? I think lots of players play their champion for theme and feel of them.

redfeenixAug 23, 20163 votes

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?

BloodyTomponAug 24, 20163 votes

Every champion in league has to be an epic hero

I disagree with this. I don't think they need to be epic (although that helps). IMO there is a pretty big difference in the context of Panth and Yorick. The difference to me is not epicness, but cohesiveness.

In Panth's case, I think the issue is him being a guy from 300 doesn't gel with the world of LOL as a whole. They didn't have Sparta so why is there a random spartan there? It would make sense for a Spartan inspired skin, but not a Spartan champ. In much the same way, I don't think a Tolkien character would fit into Harry Potter. In both cases I'd argue, while the character itself may be cool, transposing a character from one world to another cheapens the second world and the experience. Sure, I think a flying car is cool. I don't think it belongs in Middle Earth though.

In Yorick's case, I'm kind of torn. A gravedigger is something that isn't as fantasy/world dependent. In that sense I do not see a huge reason to remove the gravedigger aspect. On the other, there is a huge opportunity for world building. Are gravediggers a Christian tradition thing? I'm not actually sure, but if it is, what are other burial customs? What about the people that do this? Can Yorick be like one of these others instead?

I'm going off on a bit of a tangent here, so feel free to stop. I know most people don't read the lore (and in full disclosure, I'm one who doesn't read it), but world building is kind of a necessary evil for the game to be the kind of lasting success Riot wishes it to become. It's by developing it's own distinctive world and style that it permeates and enters a more lasting and influential state, the same way Tolkien, Lovecraft, Harry Potter and even WoW have done. That's part of why Riot half overkill Poro's and Yordles. They are uniquely League.

TL:DR Don't think they need to be epic, I think they need to fit in to Leagues world. I don't think Panth can as a copy-paste Spartan. Yorick is debatable. For League to be as successful as Riot want they need to do world building even though most plays don't like Lore.

Iwinatlife42Aug 26, 20161 votes

I'm guessing the point Riot is going for is they are not designing characters they are designing Champions in the League of Legends. So distinctly not average people. A collection of the strongest things in various existences. The best in their field, the strongest from their country, Leaders Villains, Heroes, Legendary creatures, Terrible abominations. Even the most ordinary are Extraordinary in their accomplishments.

BloodyTomponAug 26, 20161 votes

I can see where they're coming from, I just disagree with that position.

Valaran NaraAug 24, 20161 votes

{quoted}

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?

If it makes a different, Atreus (who got possessed by Pantheon) is 1 of those Spartans in 300 who just happened to have made it to the top. Rito hinted that Atreus is not done. This means, while Pantheon is a "parasite" Atreus is also part of that evolving story. Who knows? Maybe the guy will somehow purge himself of Pantheon. Because, in all fairness, it is still a normal --above average-- soldier who is going through some VERY unnatural things.