Riot is sitting on a goldmine and doesn't dig it...
... and every single day I want to smash my head against a wall because of that stupidity. Now I'm not a genius when it comes to storywriting and marketing, but given my field of study (Media Studies) I think I know enough to talk about it.
Riot is in a rather unique situation right now, one that other writers and creators would maybe even kill to be in:
a.) They have an established universe that has been widely accepted while at the same time being somewhat unique.
b.) They have a widely used platform of distribution with their game, what leads to a massive reach due to:
c.) A huge audience that uses said platforms, some of said audience already are the "hardcore lore nut"-club. Just think of Sharjo if you want the prime example for that.
d.) It is very clear what the audience wants - and in some parts they really just want something with their favourite character in it as until now some of them are kinda "blanc slates" (= many old champs) and you could literally write anything, as long as you get the character right the people are going to love it. All that is left is to deliver.
Yet they don't. Once a year we see an event somewhat loosely tied to game content that gives us a few pages of text and maybe some fancy facts, and then maybe when there is a champion release we get a teaser or a 2 page comic and that's it. The main problem with it: it is not a constant stream of connected content. It's random tiny bits sprinkled in sometimes.
The thing is: people like me don't necessarely want a super-high-quality cinematic movie. I just want... something. Something I could look forward to every week/two weeks/month. Something consistent that gives me the feeling that something in this fictional universe actually HAPPENS - because all I get right now is a reminder every few months that it kinda exists and something has maybe happened but that's it. Also, with a small, but constant release of content these boards would be more lively too... I mean, we story people had to be mixed together with Sound and Art, that's already degrading...
And at the same time Riot has made a game so big, some small studios would probably fight each other to get a deal with them to just produce something for them as given the potential size of audience it might turn out to be a massive hit. But nooo, instead all money goes into lame Esport none watches anyways (I know none who does, and I don't see the appeal of it. If Asian Team A or Asian Team B wins is completly irrelevant for me, I am busy playing the actual game.) It is also fascinating that the absolutely horrible Retcon is set in the seasons where LoL as an Esport really "blew up". All the ressources where put into this instead of actually putting them into something that would actually benefit the game itself.
At the same time this would be the perfect chance to produce content that will reach an audience beyond the "LoL-fan". Just take Game of Thrones as an example: I bet MANY people never knew of the books until the first season of the show proved to be exeptional. After that, book sales went through the roof. In Riot's case that would mean: more players, more Merch Sales, eventually more public interest into their stories -> it becomes more lucrative to produce even more content.
There is JUST SO MUCH POTENTIAL, YET IT ALL GOES AWAY COMPLETLY UNTOUCHED.
IT MAKES ME SO FREAKING MAD. AND SAD. BUT MOSTLY MAD.
who has literally no reason to exist anymore and a whopping 25 seconds of dialogue. Even as someone who mained her for a while, I can't define any personality traits for her other than eeeevil (ish).
TL;DR- Overwatch has some dank lore and characters, League needs to imitate them in this regard.