Why can't there be Summoners?

Penta Penguin·Apr 21, 2015·3 votes·785 views

Riot has done away with the "League" and "Summoners", but I'm wondering why there is no room in the new lore for a simpler, more out of the way Summoner concept. To give at least some lore-based context for the game and the Rift itself, and to legitimize the character interactions you see on the Rift (certain characters taunting others, knowing who they are). Riot said the Rift is now "just a game" and has nothing to do with the lore, but we still have these things.

What if Summoners are just otherworldly beings from another dimension coughtheplayercough that occasionally pluck extraordinary people from Runeterra to do battle for reasons unknown?

There's /no/ room for this?

15 Comments

Tesla EffectApr 21, 20152 votes

Summoners are still part of the lore. I have two evidences supporting that:

Individuals in Runeterra that have the summoning capabilities and have already summoned something with their magics before.
Riot individuals have stated recently that summoners will have a different role from the one they had in the League, but they still exist.

Sneak DogApr 21, 20159 votes

Then they aren't summoners, just conjurists.

In the old lore, 'summoner' had a very specific meaning. It won't have the same meaning anymore, will it?

SirsirApr 23, 20151 votes

That splitting hairs. Lees lore stated he was training to be a summoner, and it ended... poorly. In essence that suggests that everyone who plays has an avatar in Runeterra

Sneak DogApr 23, 20152 votes

Why is it splitting hairs? It's just being critical. A D&D summoner that summons monsters to fight for him is not a summoner in the context of the old lore. They're different things.

Yes, the old lore suggested every player was a summoner, a character, in Runeterra.

MotajoApr 21, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Tesla Effect,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=pfe5MLKs,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2015-04-21T21:01:20.012+0000)Individuals in Runeterra that have the summoning capabilities and have already summoned something with their magics before.

Making that distinction is more or less splitting hairs. I doubt people are asking about the usual fantasy type of summoner that gives creatures a magical taxi ride. They're talking about the Summoners of the IoW. And since you have this:

Riot individuals have stated recently that summoners will have a different role from the one they had in the League, but they still exist.

The Summoners people are wondering about no longer exist. Even if Riot adds characters with the same names as well-known "canon" Summoners, they won't really be the same people. The summoners Riot will supposedly write can never be greater than a shout-out to the old lore.

Tesla EffectApr 21, 20152 votes

{quoted}

Making that distinction is more or less splitting hairs. I doubt people are asking about the usual fantasy type of summoner that gives creatures a magical taxi ride. They're talking about the Summoners of the IoW. And since you have this:

The Summoners people are wondering about no longer exist. Even if Riot adds characters with the same names as well-known "canon" Summoners, they won't really be the same people. The summoners Riot will supposedly write can never be greater than a shout-out to the old lore.

Of course the "old" Summoners wont come back. But that doesnt mean "a" summoner isnt canon within the lore of Runeterra and that a form of summoners wont be placed within the new world.

MotajoApr 21, 20153 votes

[{quoted}](name=Tesla Effect,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=pfe5MLKs,comment-id=000000010000,timestamp=2015-04-21T23:40:08.089+0000)But that doesnt mean "a" summoner isnt canon within the lore of Runeterra.

I just don't think that a "generic" summoner is relevant here. The OP does ask for a different type of summoner, but he/she still specifies one that acts as player character, and summons in the same way and with the same immediate purpose (arena battle). Sure, both types give other beings a magical taxi ride, but the OP has more criteria than that.

Tesla EffectApr 22, 20152 votes

{quoted}

I just don't think that a "generic" summoner is relevant here. The OP does ask for a different type of summoner, but he/she still specifies one that acts as player character, and summons in the same way and with the same immediate purpose (arena battle). Sure, both types give other beings a magical taxi ride, but the OP has more criteria than that.

Riot is perfectly capable of making something not generic (braking the connection between the MOBA generic story implementation was just one thing, aka the retcon). So the summoner is not gonna be left in that place, they will be tied somehow in the lore as nicely as it can be.

In regards to the gameplay summoners, well, Gameplay Summoner is just a term used to describe a LoL player.

Gameplay Summoner =/= Lore Summoner

NorthernDruidApr 23, 20152 votes

Riot removed the only non-generic traits from their setting and then didn't replace them for... more than half a year.

The lore team has not given us any reason to not dismiss the new setting as utterly generic.

KING OF MASKSApr 22, 20152 votes

Can I get a source on when rito has confirmed that Summoner's Rift is just gameplay?

Penta PenguinApr 22, 20154 votes

it happened back in the blow-out when they announced the lore wipe, League of Legends is not part of the lore anymore.

KING OF MASKSApr 22, 20151 votes

~~I'm not asking about the League of Legends though. When did the specifically address Summoner's Rift, the map? Did they mention both at the same time? If so, I can't recall.~~

Edit: I went back and reread the red posts on the original devblog from oh so long ago, and they do heavily imply that SR is segregated from lore. For some reason I thought that it was still a grey area.

The SoulforgedApr 23, 20152 votes

[{quoted}](name=KING OF MASKS,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=pfe5MLKs,comment-id=000200000000,timestamp=2015-04-22T19:58:07.550+0000)

~~I'm not asking about the League of Legends though. When did the specifically address Summoner's Rift, the map? Did they mention both at the same time? If so, I can't recall.~~

Edit: I went back and reread the red posts on the original devblog from oh so long ago, and they do heavily imply that SR is segregated from lore (though without ever stating it outright, as far as I could tell). For some reason I thought that it was still a grey area.

Someone specifically asked whether the game reflects the lore, with the answer of no.

Tesla EffectApr 21, 20151 votes

Conjuring and Summoning are one and the same in many cases.

Sneak DogApr 22, 20154 votes

Which is my point. They'll just be some type of wizard conjuring stuff, instead of the immersive factor; characters that are the players and that merge minds with champions.