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@Riot - Mantle of Decorum Was Such a Horrible Design Choice/Should Be Removed From Karma

Deathfall·6/4/2018, 7:40:22 AM·1 votes·2,578 views

It was decided 5 years ago with the Karma's relaunch that she was going to be getting something called a Mantle of Decorum. This idea was replaced with her fans. To anyone who really doesn't know what this design element is, because quite frankly I don't know much about it myself, it's a badge or honor bestowed upon only the most deserving Ionians. I will give you several reasons as to why the Mantle of Decorum is not worth anything on Karma and should be removed.

  1. Nowhere in Karma's new narrative and lore does it say she earned the right to have the Mantle of Decorum. At some point she might deserve the right to have it on her, but at the same time is it really necessary to have it on her?

  2. The connection with the entire concept was Irelia. It was a good idea to get rid of the Mantle of Decorum and replace it with an actual concept such as telekinetic blades; however, it serves absolutely no purpose on Karma now because she has no connection with any other champion with it.

  3. The entire design of the Mantle of Decorum is bland, not exciting, it doesn't flow with Karma as she moves, it doesn't offer anything unique to her design or character, and it is basically just a cheap nightlight. Congrats, the Mantle of Decorum lights up when Karma has mantra up. No player can tell Karma has her Mantra up when the actual character model shows it.

  4. Skin concepts, inclusions into specific concepts, and art decisions are dictated completely by this character element. The only part of Karma that actually interacts with the Mantle of Decorum is when she casts Mantra. Otherwise designers have to look at this design element over mostly anything else to really bring skin concepts to life, when it honestly is probably holding her back from some amazing ideas and skin opportunities.

  5. The Mantle of Decorum is not fully conceptualized on Karma right now and will most likely never be. Her new narrative and theme with having past lives is 10x better than her fans and the Mantle of Decorum. The reason being is that we understand what it is and we can imagine it being fully realized with the right time, creativity and art assets. I don't see the idea of the Mantle of Decorum ever being better than Karma's past life/avatar theme. It's even better than the fans and Duchess title.

  6. WTF exactly is a Mantle of Decorum and what does it do? All we know is that it is an honor bestowed upon the greatest of Ionian people, but Irelia and Karma are the only ones who had it. No other Ionian champion had the Mantle of Decorum and it was never really explained as to why it exists and what is really is.

  7. It's static and doesn't move. Compared to Irelia's floating blades, Karma's Mantle of Decorum doesn't move or flow with her . . . and just sits there.

  8. It's f****ng ugly. It's a floating dishplate and it is ugly.

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The entire idea behind this design element doesn't pan out. Better design elements were actually removed from Karma for this 5 years ago. Morello told everyone it was a better idea and really worked well with Karma's mantra. It doesn't because I just gave the Developers 8 reasons why it doesn't work and probably never will. When anyone compares the concept and design choice of Mantle of Decorum to Karma's new concept of being this ethereal being, there is no comparison. There is so much more narrative, art, and creativity that can be done with Karma's new, fully conceptualized theme.

What needs to be done is:

  1. Completely removed the Mantle of Decorum from Karma's model and splash art.

  2. Work on Karma's existing narrative to tie in her connection with current ideas and themes. Have Karma's past lives talk to her in game and offer her advice, talk to her, criticize her, and whatever else. - Karma buys Infinity Edge - One of Karma's past lives tells her: "I don't think that was a good buy for you."

  3. Work on Karma's incomplete art assets such as no running and shield casting animation, the fact that she has hardly any narrative, and work on making her current visuals really flashy and unique to Karma. The Developers should also make her Mantra State more impactful and flashier. The Karma player wants her enemies to be afraid of her when she has her Mantra up.

  4. The question as to why Karma's connection with other champions and interactions hardly exists in the game can be finally explained. From a character and lore standpoint, it makes sense because her duty is to uphold peace and not be a flashy character like Irelia who wants to make herself known. At the same time there is no excuse as to why her current theme of Karma and having a connection with her past lives cannot be brought into fruition through art assets and narrative in game. It's a good idea and it can really offer something new to the world and game if it is brought fully into fruition.

3 Comments

GreenLore6/4/2018, 11:01:55 AM7 votes

Honestly I feel like without it Karma would simply look very bland. The mantle gives her some unique flair to make her stand out among the crowd and also supports her theme as the "enlightened one",cause a glowing ring/circle around the head of someone is usually a sign of enlightenment.

Overall I agree that Karma needs some work(would hope for her to be the next big Aatrox-level update after Aatrox himself),but I don't think the mantle is really such a big problem,they just need to incorporate that into her lore.

Umbral Regent6/4/2018, 4:16:01 PM4 votes

It doesn't because I just gave the Developers 8 reasons why it doesn't work and probably never will.

Uhhuh. How's about some counterarguments, then?

  1. Nowhere in Karma's new narrative and lore does it say she earned the right to have the Mantle of Decorum. At some point she might deserve the right to have it on her, but at the same time is it really necessary to have it on her?

Just because it's not said outright doesn't mean that there is no reason for her to have it. Darha is the reincarnation of Karma - is it not hypothetically possible that she would have Karma's Mantle of Decorum passed on to her by her temple priests? It only makes sense that a revered spiritual leader would have their greatest personal effects passed on to their next incarnation.

  1. The connection with the entire concept was Irelia. It was a good idea to get rid of the Mantle of Decorum and replace it with an actual concept such as telekinetic blades; however, it serves absolutely no purpose on Karma now because she has no connection with any other champion with it.

If I recall correctly, the Mantle of Decorum was an article bestowed upon the greatest leaders - spiritual or otherwise - of Ionia. Irelia received hers for standing against Noxus, and Karma received hers for her role as an enlightened spiritual leader for Ionia. It may not serve any notable purpose in the new lore, but that doesn't mean it never will.

  1. The entire design of the Mantle of Decorum is bland, not exciting, it doesn't flow with Karma as she moves, it doesn't offer anything unique to her design or character, and it is basically just a cheap nightlight. Congrats, the Mantle of Decorum lights up when Karma has mantra up. No player can tell Karma has her Mantra up when the actual character model shows it.

I'm not exactly sure how a halo is supposed to flow, but I assume you mean it doesn't spin while she moves? Either way, you can't say that it offers nothing unique to her design. The Mantle of Decorum is practically a defining feature for her - she's the one with the halo. She's the only Champion right now with such a feature.

  1. Skin concepts, inclusions into specific concepts, and art decisions are dictated completely by this character element. The only part of Karma that actually interacts with the Mantle of Decorum is when she casts Mantra. Otherwise designers have to look at this design element over mostly anything else to really bring skin concepts to life, when it honestly is probably holding her back from some amazing ideas and skin opportunities.

Skin design doesn't solely revolve around a specific design element. We've got good evidence of this fact from Karma's various skins (Conquerer, Order of the Lotus, Warden), and other Champions have pretty big visual design elements that don't visibly restrict the skins they can appear in. Such as Jhin's mask and shoulder piece - while they clearly demanded some focus for Blood Moon Jhin, they're actually pretty understated in PROJECT: Jhin. The mask is simply his visor, and his shoulder piece is less pronounced than on any other skin.

Just because a Champion has a key design element doesn't mean that element dictates their skins and art decisions. Yorick's skins aren't all going to have shovels (we've got one with a semi-mace and one with a bass guitar/battleaxe, after all), Sejuani's boar isn't always going to be a boar, and Karma's Mantle of Decorum isn't going to detract from what skin concepts she could be placed in.

  1. The Mantle of Decorum is not fully conceptualized on Karma right now and will most likely never be. Her new narrative and theme with having past lives is 10x better than her fans and the Mantle of Decorum. The reason being is that we understand what it is and we can imagine it being fully realized with the right time, creativity and art assets. I don't see the idea of the Mantle of Decorum ever being better than Karma's past life/avatar theme. It's even better than the fans and Duchess title.

It doesn't have to be one or the other. As I mentioned for point 1, the Mantle of Decorum could still belong to Karma, and simply have been passed on to Darha because of the reincarnation. Hell, maybe the Mantle of Decorum is actually something of a spiritual focus to allow Karma clarity despite her thousand-fold voices?

The two concepts aren't mutually exclusive, and there's plenty that can be done to incorporate both.

  1. WTF exactly is a Mantle of Decorum and what does it do? All we know is that it is an honor bestowed upon the greatest of Ionian people, but Irelia and Karma are the only ones who had it. No other Ionian champion had the Mantle of Decorum and it was never really explained as to why it exists and what is really is.

Again; opportunities. Just because we don't know what it is now doesn't mean we'll never know. It could still be much like its old iteration (something given to Ionia's greatest leaders), but with some new twist or new details that weren't there before.

Saying that it should be done away with just because we don't know what it does is kinda dumb. Should we also do away with Zilean's clock, or Fiddlesticks' key, because we don't know what they do or where they go? Or Ryze's scroll?

If we're just getting rid of things because we don't know what they do, Karma's definitely not going to be the only one losing things by day's end.

  1. It's static and doesn't move. Compared to Irelia's floating blades, Karma's Mantle of Decorum doesn't move or flow with her . . . and just sits there.

One, isn't this a repeat of point 3? Two, that's not really a "reason why it doesn't work" and more just a suggestion that it should do something that it doesn't already.

  1. It's f**ng ugly. It's a floating dishplate and it is ugly.

"It doesn't work because I don't like how it looks."

Your subjective opinion is not a reason that the Mantle of Decorum doesn't work for Karma.

So...That's not even eight points, considering repeats and number 8 being an opinion more than a point. It's six at best.

As for your suggestions of what needs to be done;

  1. Unnecessary, at the very least. Karma can still be the new Karma with the Mantle of Decorum on her person. Like I said - it doesn't have to be one or the other.

  2. This, more or less, could be interesting, but we also have to consider that it may not be true to lore to have Karma's past lives talking to her. They did go silent after obliterating the Noxian ship, after all.

  3. No real comment, but bear in mind that "flashier" for her Mantra state isn't exactly "better". There's already a good enough visual indicator that she's got her Mantra active (it's hard to ignore a bright glow and an Ionian dialect being chanted), so even if they do update her Mantra state's indicators, I'd only expect there to be minor tweaks/improvements.

  4. No real comment.

Elegant Egoistic6/5/2018, 4:55:28 PM1 votes

Seriously ??? now u call those reasons ?!

past lives and avatar theme is better than the fans and the duchess title ? now i kno why u got all these downvotes..ur arguments are poor and full of criticisms (except the last part where u've mentioned couple solutions which i dnt fully agree with ) now it is true tht the mantle of decorum concept still needs improvements to shine brighter and take sense..but imagining her without it will put her in a stinkier dumpster. Only the fans concept and the duchess title were karma's greatest assets which both got removed in favor of the actual theme tht is poor and still needs more attention . The idea of the past lives and voices is a complete and total non-sense and almost nobody except u appreciated it, this only gave a worse and blander overview. And besides, dnt tire urself digging for excuses to justify the lack of interactions with other champions..sorry but nothing is uglier than the ideas and opinions u've written.