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Riot should've closed the League through writing rather than a retcon.

Dunderflump·10/21/2014, 2:49:34 AM·151 votes·10,249 views

You had the story in the perfect place to get rid of the League: LeBlanc and Swain were already plotting together. The Black Rose really doesn't give a damn about Noxus; they very well could've been scheming to sabotage or destroy the League and bring back all-out war to Runeterra for their own ends. It would've been really interesting seeing where you went with it, especially with the lead up to it.

But you didn't do that. You retconned it.

We could've found out what happened to Ashram or who/what Jax is. You could've wrote in a scandal that obliterated the League's political influence, leading to its eventual dissolution.

But you didn't. You retconned it.

Brand and whatever other terrors the summoners had imprisoned could've escaped, damaging or destroying the Institute and ruining the League's credibility.

But you didn't do that either. You retconned it.

All the outlying champions (Zed/Syndra/Jinx or the Void/Shadow Isles factions) who would react aggressively to the League's sanctions and attempts to control them could've attacked the Institute.

But you didn't even do that. You retconned it.

Yeah, I know that the League of Legends was a poor framework that you only invented for the game, but the thing is that you had put so much effort and love into the lore that it actually became good. The Judgements. The Journal of Justice. Ionia vs. Noxus. Nothing you've released in the past couple years compares to the quality of writing you used to put out. The Freljord event? It was decent if you ignore the destruction of Volibear and Trundle as characters. You made Trundle as absolutely generic as possible, which is especially sad considering how his original lore broke the 'I'm-a-generic-fantasy-troll' archetype. The Shurima event? You actually removed content in addition to retconning several characters in order to shoehorn in Azir, a character who is totally devoid of story or realistic motivation.

Please come to your collective senses.

Please.

142 Comments

DeathByWaffle10/21/2014, 8:16:08 AM45 votes

They really could have. And you know what? It would have been so much more efficient doing it that way. Instead of having to waste time literally rewriting every single champion's lore, they could simply expand upon it and add upon it. It would have simultaneously enriched the lore AND solved the whole "league is too confining" reasoning that Riot is using.

But nope. Gotta do things the way that literally no one is satisfied with. Lul.

Legostrike10/21/2014, 3:00:37 AM23 votes

I agree. Personally I agree with Cupcake Trap and his factions game-mode take on the League, the league is ever present, powerful, but not an insumountable blockade. War is possible, because the league is not god.

(the mentioned factions: http://leaguefactions.net. check out some of the lore they've got going.)

Cerbearus10/21/2014, 9:18:29 PM22 votes

"Oh you remember all that stuff that has happened the last 5 years? Well just forget it because we don't like it"

PhoenixSlayer1310/22/2014, 3:36:36 PM20 votes

Guys, let's put aside how we feel about the Institute. Put aside how you feel about characters. Hell, put aside how you feel about the lore itself.

Can we at least agree that straight retconning five years of material wasn't the best idea?

DayVGaming10/21/2014, 8:09:59 AM16 votes

I can remember when I FIRST starting playing League, I played Jax because in his lore he was the dude the actually ran the League. It was obvious he was the best but he was disguising it, with his huge win streak and self-regulated weapons restrictions as ways of flaunting it.

A powerful character with a lot of 'attitude'. Don't mess with the champ, right?

Now that's all gone and he's gonna be some sort of forest ranger or something idgaf about at all =(

#RetconTheRetcon

Pryotra10/21/2014, 4:54:00 PM14 votes

I am in complete agreement. The only reason smash bros even works is that they didn't have to build any new characters from scratch. They took well established characters from existing games and put them into 1 fighting game. And that is all they needed to do.

Honestly, with the advent of the N3DS version of Smash Bros, why would I want to play league when I could get the same lore on the go almost anywhere? The Gameplay literally is the only reason I stick around, and thank god the balance team has finally gotten enough time to catch up. The relaunch/retcon team seems to be moving pretty fast, but at least they are pumping something in.

What I don't understand is why they feel like one team needs to move at a pace that is too fast for them to notice mistakes. I would rather a bunch of slower teams that pumps out quality content over the half-@ssed rush jobs on retcons we seem to be getting.

CupcakeTrap10/22/2014, 1:59:53 AM14 votes

Yeah, I know that the League of Legends was a poor framework that you only invented for the game, but the thing is that you had put so much effort and love into the lore that it actually became good.

The League of Legends is ("was") an excellent excuse plot. It was also an example of authors embracing a constraint and building something rather interesting around it. A Babylon 5-style international meeting place within a fantasy setting was by far League's most distinctive element. Constraints are helpful in that they force you to innovate, and they tend to shake up your preconceived ideas, which otherwise might end up rather too "pat". And there's something to be said for a game's lore having some place for the game itself.

Now given total freedom, Narrative has converted Runeterra into a pastiche of generic fantasy and science fiction tropes.

Impetual10/23/2014, 7:59:54 AM11 votes

Riot had/has one of the greatest opportunities to redefine their their game than any other has had after release ever. And they messed it up.

Instead of using the lore progression tied to character releases, they have decided to make ALL of their character releases non-cannon until they properly fit with respect to their current game, League of Legends, which is currently trying to pretend that "The League of Legends" never actually existed in Runterra, WTF?

How stupid does this move sound?

It sounds bad. The solution: Remove "The League of Legends" from League of Legends. What a sad time for this game.

PrinceVert10/21/2014, 11:08:14 PM10 votes

Sometimes I wonder if Riot even know their fucking lore anymore, because I can't believe that of doing that, destroying the league and expand the lore of tons of champs, they lol retconned

Strident10/21/2014, 3:04:08 AM7 votes

Nothing you've released in the past couple years compares to the quality of writing you used to put out.

No way. Have you read Malphite's lore? Basically, he's a rock that lived in harmony with a bunch of other rocks and then he got summoned to the League of Legends. Then he joined because meh. The single short story of Xerath's origin was, while by no means award winning, better than anything else I've read from Riot's narrative team.

I fully support the retcon removal of the League of Legends, simply because its existence and the presence of Summoners was pretty much unsalvagable except for the continuation of jokes and gags. The other option is to pretend that the League of Legends is a metaphor for the League of Nations and that Swain is Hitler/Stalin, Noxus is the Soviet Union/Third Reich, and the next Rune Wars is World War II, and then the lore will be in perpetual world war until its eventual resolution, which will lead to the formation of the United Legends, and then we can release the titular sequel.

Watch out everyone. The game by Riot Games will be called the United Legends, you heard it here first.

Do I think the lore is in a bad place right now, due to all the loose ends that have been left? Of course. On the other hand, I look forward to what we have next now that we are moving towards a solid foundation with which to base narratives on- one that features actual character development.

Kapparoth10/22/2014, 2:14:35 AM4 votes

Here's a thought; why does it matter? I'm not trying to spark a flame war, I just want to know, why does it matter? This is an honest question and I want an actual answer why does Lore matter for a game that has no story elements readily apparent to be present in the actual game?

Dreamspitter10/21/2014, 4:14:06 PM2 votes

You had the story in the perfect place to get rid of the League: LeBlanc and Swain were already plotting together. The Black Rose really doesn't give a damn about Noxus; they very well could've been scheming to sabotage or destroy the League and bring back all-out war to Runeterra for their own ends. It would've been really interesting seeing where you went with it, especially seeing the lead up to it.

But you didn't do that. You retconned it.

We could've found out what happened the Ashram or who/what Jax is. You could've wrote in a scandal that obliterated the League's political influence, leading to its eventual dissolution.

But you didn't. You retconned it.

Brand and whatever other terrors the summoners had imprisoned could've escaped, damaging or destroying the Institute and ruining the League's credibility.

But you didn't do that either. You retconned it.

All the outlying champions (Zed/Syndra/Jinx or the Void/Shadow Isles factions) who would react aggressively to the League's sanctions and attempts to control them could've attacked the Institute.

But you didn't even do that. You retconned it.

Yeah, I know that the League of Legends was a poor framework that you only invented for the game, but the thing is that you had put so much effort and love into the lore that it actually became good. The Judgements. The Journal of Justice. Ionia vs. Noxus. Nothing you've released in the past couple years compares to the quality of writing you used to put out. The Freljord event? It was decent if you ignore the destruction of Volibear and Trundle as characters. You made Trundle as absolutely generic as possible, which is especially sad considering how his original lore broke the 'I'm-a-generic-fantasy-troll' archetype. The Shurima event? You actually removed content in addition to retconning several characters in order to shoehorn in Azir, a character who is totally devoid of story or realistic motivation.

Please come to your collective senses.

Please.

I like new trundle.

And Karma.

Still wish the league existed though.

ALSO....what DO you think of the new Azir/Xerath short stories OP?

Durzaka10/21/2014, 6:51:26 PM1 votes

the thing is, with your suggestion, writing the league out of the lore and creating an all-out war wouldnt make any sense from gameplay. Now that league is over, why are champions still fighting on the Rift? Why is Velkoz not absolutely ripping the world apart? Or Chogath? etc. etc.