@Riot Art and Animation: I Have Seen Two Paths and Made Another In-between
A thread 3 years in the making… My first post on the boards ever (as an OP)... Am Nervous...
Hey guys, I will begin this thread with a very brief snippet about what this shall be about. In short this thread will be about my favorite champion, Karma, and more specifically her visuals and animations, NOT gameplay… this time (though depending on how all of this goes, maybe I will post one of those too “soon” tm). I will be going over different things, then talk about my solutions to them at the end. There will also be a super short TLDR at the end because this will be a wall of text. Also if this is in the wrong section of the boards, I am sorry, again this is my first post.
But first a bit about myself just to give you an idea of who I am. I have been playing league for 6 years, most of those years were in college so I stuck mostly to co-ops and arams during that time, since college was stressful enough. That being said, I play fairly often. My degree is in Studio Art, concentration being Graphic Design (though I prefer illustration/3D mediums). I have also never played a ranked game (no interest) so if that is important to you and you cannot fathom why I would be brazen enough to voice my concerns/opinions as a mere scrub, then you might as well stop reading here. So without further ado, here we go.
**The Fans **
In March, 2013, Karma got her rework that had been teased for months leading up to it. And while it certainly addressed some important flaws in the original when it comes to her kit (while also making some thematic disconnects) the visuals, in my opinion, were the biggest failure amongst any rework/relaunch. And the worst part was that they weren’t that far off. I like the way you made her dress (both the free flowing half skirt thing, and the one on Sakura/Traditional). It made more sense in setting and practice and obviously the updated model looks way better than the previous one. And while the Mantle of Decorum being more pronounced in the rework was nice, it made no sense, especially at the sake of completely removing what was Karma’s calling card, her fans. If I recall correctly, back then you said it was because they made no sense with the thematic direction you took her in or something along those lines. But how? If anything they made more sense POST relaunch than they did prior. Karma became this spiritualist (or I should say was given better focus as one) who used spiritual fire to attack her foes and protect her allies. You could have played up the whole “fanning the flame” side of this since mantra basically does this on the gameplay side, by making a normal spell grow larger/stronger, much like when a burst of oxygen meets a flame. Karma prior to the relaunch used her fans in all of her animations (except mantra) so it was not like they were just decoration. Post rework, Karma doesn’t even have animations for her E, continues to have minimal animations on her tether, and her mantle of decorum serves only as a visual indicator that she has her mantra charge, is gathering fire for her mantra charge, or has consumed it and is waiting to cast a spell. While I do agree that the original’s floating fan things were odd, they were also a lot clearer in portraying mantra being up.
Other Ionian champions also sport both a weapon and a mantle. Irelia has her own mantle, but she also has her swords (I am aware she is going to be getting visual changes/kit overhaul in the future but I also think she will retain both of those as well). Though it is only a skin, Ionian Master Yi also sports a mantle and continues to wield his sword. Karma should be given the same treatment. I would also like to point out that save for auto attacking LeBlanc does not use her staff to cast one spell. (I am pro-staff, I think it is important to her visual identity, please do not yell at me D:). I do acknowledge that you guys realized you messed up back then by putting them in her dance (and Order of the Lotus recall) while also giving her back her dress on Sakura and Traditional. And while I appreciate it, it is only a band aid fix.
**The Traditional Skin **
For the most part I am perfectly fine with the traditional Karma skin, but my biggest gripe is that compared to Traditional Trundle, Karma fans got a bit shafted. Traditional Trundle got the benefit of getting his old particles on his skin, something that really ought to have happened with Traditional Karma. Her shield ought to be the original soul shield particle (obviously make it spin to match the spinny nature of her current particles.) Mantra E should have that traditional burst animation (RIP Burst shield), the tether should have the light blue pink that the original karma also had. Then match Q and Mantra consumption with the color scheme. Heck go the distance and make her have that sparkle effect she used to have when she consumed a charge as well. The traditional skins were supposed to pay homage to a champion that got changed beyond recognition (something you now realize is definitely not a good thing) so they really ought to go the full distance and deliver on that.
I would like to say that you have improved a lot since then, to the point where traditional skins are not necessary anymore. Though some would say that you messed up a bit on x y or z champion I do think you did learn from Karma and Trundle and really try to make an update that fits the visuals and settings while staying true to the champion so a traditional skin isn’t necessary, it’s just that you have yet to fix the disconnect of earlier champions who got changed. I can look at the original Sion and see the update to current Sion and go, “yeah that is the same champ, just a red grey instead of a green grey.” Karma’s changes literally look like 2 different champions.
**The Solution **
You have probably been wondering what the point of the title was, and that has to do with my solution (and hopefully if she ever gets another rework). The fact remains half of Karma’s life has been with fans (2011-213), and half without (2013-2016). Most of her skins already have the assets, even if they are just basic assets. My solution is make the fans a toggle. If the player dances with Karma she pulls her fans out and uses them. If she dances again she puts them away. You could literally glue them to her model and give them ZERO animation themselves; I know it would make a lot of players happy including me, since most players still associate Karma with her fans due to the dancing and as of yet updated splash arts. Thinking about it in my mind a lot of her animations wouldn’t look bad with the fans either, the only one that might look strange would be Q, and even that one wouldn’t be that bad, it is a short animation after all. By making it a toggle, you give the players who want them the option, while also giving those who don’t want them the ability to enjoy her without them. As it stands it would not mess with her in game silhouette to much either, since, again if a player sees a fan they immediately think Karma. At the bare minimum Traditional Karma really ought to use them. Speaking of the silhouette argument, there really isn’t one anymore in league if I am being blunt. Back in the day before skins that drastically changed the visuals of a champ I would say that is a legitimate concern, but skins such as Pulsfire Ezreal, DJ Sona, Spirit Guard Udyr and the upcoming Elementalist Lux are much bigger deviations from the usual than Karma wielding fans and two of those can change visuals heavily in the middle of the game by suddenly becoming a completely different color pallet with altered spell colors and effects. Players will know a champ by the spells and audio cues as well as the loading screen.
**TLDR **
Karma should get her fans back, they were an important aspect visually of the character, she actually used them in all her animations and they were more important than the mantle of decorum in every way prior to rework. Traditional Karma should get the same treatment as Traditional Trundle by being given some of her original particles. To make everyone happy, make the fans a toggle activated by dancing, the assets are there already (for most of her skins).
Conclusion
Anyway, a Red response would be very nice. And though I am not the Malicious Metal of Karma (that would be cool though), with the impending Art updates on her splashes I found that I was oddly excited and apprehensive, and it was the final push to brave my anxieties and post my thoughts to the boards. I care about this champion because she is one of my all-time favorite video game characters and was the champion I first gelled with, the first I would call a main. And I am willing to do what it takes to get a bit of the champion I love back, including bribing reds with artwork (that is all I can supply at the moment, but my digital painting skills leave a lot to be desired, and the rules of this board say no fan art posting so...). Thanks for your time.
~Toasty
P.S. Hope if our Greatest Ally 
P.S.S. Just because I thought this video was pretty funny.
