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After the Graves' Cigar Controvery, are Mature Themes off the table for Narrative?

Darrosh Jewfist·3/5/2015, 6:42:20 AM·16 votes·2,958 views

After playing 'This War of Mine', I've begun wondering if Riot will ever take the League IP in a more mature direction. It'd just be interesting for me because I've always seen Warcraft as having a cartoony/comic book feel but League had that potential to go... in a more sexual innuendo kind of direction [Janna leaked bedroom photos being the primary example].

I mean, it'd be fascinating to see Master Yi or other Ionian champs trying to survive a war-torn Ionia through an interactive point and click webcomic or VN-type interface.

Or maybe see Sejuani, an inspiring military commander, but her people living in North Korean levels of squalor, militarization, and propaganda. And the sort of brainwashing that Dai Li (from Ba Sing Se in Avatar: Airbender) types can do.

Or something entirely original carrying the essence of suffering outside the Rift.

To me, there's simply no way Riot (ESPECIALLY IN THE NARRATIVE DEPARTMENT'S CURRENT STATE) to match the sheer volume of say, the warhammer or warcraft franchises in lore. So I'm wondering if they'd opt for more memorable stories dealing with themes like casualties of war, sacrifice for loved ones, survival vs honor, and choice.

But given how allergic the current Riot appears to be towards legal issues (from comments on not reading fanfics for legal reasons to graves cigar to appeal to regional censors) I doubt Narrative has the permission to go such depths. Or the talent... then again, I can't really judge their talent if they haven't produced much.

34 Comments

ActuallyArrow3/5/2015, 7:21:43 AM6 votes

League of Legends has very high potential to own-up to the dark and gritty genre. Their lore screams potential. I could see a League of Legends TV show in the fashion of Game of Thrones being very popular. I could see it having potential for an amazing RPG game where you could play each characters story. It has the potential to appeal to its adult audience (which I am sure is the majority, if considering 17+), but I highly doubt it ever will. League of Legends has a lot of potential to be more than just an amazing competitive MOBA, but I don't think Riot would want to take the risk of trying something new with their game and possibly ruining their reputation.

Even if the TV show wasn't as adult oriented as the Game of Thrones, I'd still think a League of Legends TV show would be great. Maybe let AMC take up the project, since they have some pretty decent shows (their most known, and my favorite, being The Walking Dead). Or maybe Netflix, since they make their own original shows. So long as the TV show wasn't some stupid cartoony comedy that I use to watch on Saturday mornings when I was growing up.

SaltyToplaneGoat3/5/2015, 4:08:32 PM4 votes

I really hope they don't go for the "kids-friendly" approach with their lore - that kills just too much potential and possible stories. Since the majority of the playerbase is aged 17+ I don't think Riot should care too much about content getting a bit "too dark".

Who cares about that few kiddos anways? o.O Don't let a small minority ruin the potential this lore has!

Celio Hogane HD3/5/2015, 10:00:30 PM4 votes

League of legends - Season one By telltale games.

A Superb Villain3/5/2015, 5:18:34 PM4 votes

It would be rather awkward if they did not, especially since a champion's (Aatrox) narrative is entirely focused on violence, death, and the travesty of war.

We have a soul-sucking seductress Ahri, a murderous fanatic Diana, a necrophiliac Karthus, mind-bending abominations Velkoz, outright evil cultists Elise Malzahar Lissandra, an unethical scientist Singed, indoctrinated nationalists Lux Garen, an anarchist Jinx, and the list goes on.

Their themes can be watered down, to be sure, but each have very serious, and typically dark, implications.

ARCDASH3/5/2015, 3:25:54 PM3 votes

I pictured Sej as Putin to Ashe's Obama.

As much as I would love to see this kind of lore, and more lore in general...Riot doesn't seem very interested in lore. Every once in a while they'll release a small tidbit of lore but they seem to have shifted their concerns elsewhere.

LordHippoman3/6/2015, 2:24:47 PM2 votes

The Graves thing wasn't a "we don't want to show this because it's too mature" sort of thing. It was because certain countries League is marketed in don't let you show cigars in advertisement material, thus why the Gragas one is okay, that wasn't being used in promo images. (Or at least that's what I've most commonly heard.)

I don't think they're off the table. Most of Reborn is Sion hollering about blood and death, Azir's whole family (almost) gets vaporized, Kalista impales some guy in her cinematic, etc.

A lot of League's lore is all about the whole delicate balance of serious and silly. That's why Veigar is hilarious to listen to but his backstory is really dark.

Doctor Dyment3/6/2015, 1:27:35 AM2 votes

First sentence has the game "This War of Mine" in it, already off to a shaky start. Okay, I can see where you are coming from, but... WHY? Bedroom photos of Janna? The fuck is goin' on inside of your head? If you want a darker take on things, reality television is not the place to start. But really, the darkest you are going to get, is the history of the Black Mist during the Harrowing, and how it leaves nobody behind when it sweeps through a town. That's about it. So don't get your hopes up friend.

TotalJerk3/10/2015, 8:08:52 PM1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Darrosh Jewfist,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=jMGsQMEY,comment-id=,timestamp=2015-03-05T06:42:20.479+0000)

comments on not reading fanfics for legal reasons

There are tons of writers who don't for this very reason. In fact, most don't.

Kal Vas Flam3/5/2015, 6:39:38 PM1 votes

League steps its foot into the dark hallway but keeps the rest of itself in the well light family room. That's just how it is. They were more bold in the early days but have clearly taken a different approach since then. They don't mind drawing up cartoon hotties in cute poses, but that's about as edgy as you're going to get now.

terkmc3/5/2015, 10:09:08 PM1 votes

Seeing as the new Bard cinematic cleary shows people getting slashed and shot with arrow in cloe up shot (not the offscreen violence type), I'd say the cigarette is a seperate exception, seeing as different countries have different laws about cigaretee and cigar advertising.

Tesla Effect3/5/2015, 10:48:39 PM1 votes

They should continue working with StudioMIR, just love their animation styles.

Lurx3/6/2015, 2:44:33 PM1 votes

If you want dark, just read Teemo's lore. A lot of what was covered in other comments makes a lot of sense too. I don't think Riot is sugar coating their lore for an audience. The League lore seems very well rounded; any kind of story could be produced from the characters they have created.