The Lore Powercreep Does not Matter

WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOO·2/2/2018, 3:46:12 PM·52 votes·24,247 views

Yes, Riot has producing powerful characters since the removal of the Institute of War. No, this does not mean a damn thing for the lore.

Powercreep is a factor in game design because every champion should be able to contend with every other champion. Talon may have to lane against Aurelion Sol, but he can still assassinate the space dragon easily.

In the lore however, there is almost no reason for Talon and Aurelion to ever have to interact. Riot’s narrative philosophy is creating a larger world filled with smaller stories. Ornn and Volibear will continue to clash like the demigods they are, and Ekko will continue to beat up thugs in Zaun.

This is why I don’t think Powercreep in the lore is a big deal at all.

117 Comments

RiotRiot Scathlocke2/2/2018, 9:38:43 PM38 votes

It's an interesting topic, whichever way you slice it...

I always remind myself: magic users are probably a very small percentage of the overall population of Runeterra, and champions in LoL are only the ~140 most exceptional beings in the entire setting (although that number is rising!)

League of Legends, the game, is a team-based abstraction of the lore. When I play X-Wing, I don't think I am playing a canonical Star Wars ship battle - just a competitive game fantasy based on it. :-) And the moment we start looking at lore in a "My dad could beat up your dad!" way, the authenticity rapidly diminishes.

It's not even entirely clear whether all the LoL champions exist at the same time in the lore, although we're trying to clarify that more and more as we go on. For a real world analogy, Julius Caesar couldn't get into a team fight with Ronda Rousey, f'rinstance.

None of this should affect how each player chooses to enjoy the lore or the game, though!

Ebonmaw Dragon2/2/2018, 6:38:00 PM13 votes

{quoted}

In the lore however, there is almost no reason for Talon and Aurelion to ever have to interact.

I think that this is the exact reason of WHY it does matter, becasue champions with huge power will be never able to interact with champions that have way less power. If the power gap between Talon and Aurelion were not that huge, then it could be possible to think that those champions could interact between them... but its not the case.

If Olaf for example were a mighty god of thunders and axes intead of a crazy viking that likes to fight and wants to die, we would never have a "crossover" between him(from freljord), lucian(demacian) and fortune(bilgewater), but it happened because he is not a godlike being of thunders and axes.