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@Riot, From A Player Perspective, Your Narrative Team Is A Mess!

Impetual··13 votes·2,171 views

They don't talk to anyone. For some reason, their lore direction is a mystery... and their track record shows us that it will probably be a bad mystery.

They just don't seem to know how to deliver lore at the same quality that Riot did during season one and two.

For some reason the quality for lore has dropped dramatically.

For some reason Riot decided to both retcon its lore, and stop supporting it at the same time. The only new lore content we've gotten recently has been meager and disappointing.

Sure there have been some retcon based lore that were pretty cool but ultimately didn't add any story to Runeterra (Sion, Amumu). And that stuff was inspired by the old lore.

The retcon was a waste. It only lost us cool concepts like summoners because new members of the lore team didn't comprehend how they actually worked in Runeterra and weren't up to the task of writing for them

Just to make it clear again: Summoner's worked *WITH *champion on the fields of Justice. They were never all powerful, all knowing, all good, gods that prevented stories from developing.

They merely summoned champions to the fields of justice to do battle and gave them minor aid (through summoner spells) to help them in their cause. Summoner's were never gods, and anyone who actually read the JoJ would know that!

Seriously though, when was the last time something happened in Runeterra? When was the last time champions actually did something to change the world they were in? My guess is the last issue of the JoJ.

I wish Riot would support their lore the way they used too. All we get now are retcons that don't really develop anything.

And for the millionth time, what's the deal with retconned Jax? (part of me is cringing in anticipation of a horrid rework of his lore)

Riot please, reverse your decision to retcon lore so that we may be spared the horrid sight of such an abomination as Jax existing without the League of Legends.

Seriously, the League of Legends is tied so closely to Jax that he can't be the same character without it.

Don't destroy Jax Riot, Please!

45 Comments

Fed by Snu Snu9 votes

I still dread the day where Jayce will have to have his client lore changed to 3 lines of what a 12 year old considers as bad-ass.

ActuallyArrow3 votes

Jayce He uses a totally awesome hammer thing, that turns into another hammer thing that shoots lazers! He found this hammer thing by killing some dude with explosions, and he stole the hammer thing! Now he his the best champion in the League of Legends because his hammer thing is better than your freaking life!!! His W opens up an explosion of lightning, HE IS THOR, and Thor is the best super hero ever. His R has fast cooldown times (this makes him freaking OP as crap dude!). To sum up how badass Jayce is in three words: OP HAMMER THING!

Narasimha5 votes

For some reason the quality for lore has dropped dramatically.

I'd argue the opposite. They've been picking up steam. Slowly, but they have. Each event is a better than the last. And we can't really say anything about champion lores until we SEE them. hinthintnudgenudge

Sneak Dog7 votes

I've seen Trundles new lore, it isn't Trundle. I've seen Xeraths new lore posted on this forum, it changed his main motivation and modus operandi.

The raw quality is there, but the reader engagement is missing for me. Characters could be gone tomorrow if Riot feels like it.

DG Ashabel11 votes

Well, so far we've seen:

Azir Azir the Azir of Azir: How I Scored All F's In My Creative Writing Classes For Terrible Stylistics And Still Got Hired As A Writer

Xerath Fullxerath Ascendist: Plagiarism From Shonen Manga 101

Kalista Who The Fuck Is This And How Does She Matter?

RekSai How I Became Helmetbro, Featuring: Some Bug

Vladimir We Hate Using Community Ideas So We Stole This One From A Forum-Goer

Amumu I actually don't have a snarky title for that one because I already wrote an entire post about how the new Amumu is basically a bad horror movie archetype who has nothing to do with Amumu's character, and is completely pointless because they locked him off to all interactions except crying, killing and nuking things.

They've improved the presentation considerably, but the new quality of narrative content is so low that most my friends stop logging in for a week after more comes out. Thankfully, that only happens once per two months or so.

midorii4 votes

You just come off as whining about champs you didn't particularly enjoy

DG Ashabel6 votes

Making silly assumptions in an awkward attempt to be abrasive doesn't make you look good, brosis.

Especially in cases where your assumptions are embarrassingly false.

midorii3 votes

Noted.

DG Ashabel8 votes

To clarify: Vladimir is on the top three of my best solo tops. Amumu was one of my most frequently picked junglers last season, though admittedly my winrate with him was low. Xerath is a character I enjoyed, even if I don't play mid. Azir, I do like the idea behind his kit. They are all characters I consistently played, and I don't play characters I don't enjoy.

However, the champions we see in the current lore are not Amumu, Xerath and Vladimir. They're some other three dudes named Amumu, Xerath and Vladimir who have next to no similarities with champions I've grown to enjoy. Vladimir's entire backstory as a suave but conflicted serial killer was replaced by him being a cackling villain in employ of the Black Rose; his allegiance to that organization has never even been mentioned in his lore and is in fact an idea that originated on community forums. Xerath's new backstory has very little to do with his original character and is essentially plagiarized from Fullmetal Alchemist. Amumu had the entire chapter 2 and onward of his lore removed, even though those chapters made him interesting.

They are no longer the champions I enjoyed. They were replaced by some stereotypes who act completely out of character for champions I did enjoy, and it's more than reasonable for me to criticize when the narrative team has less than zero respect for the original character creators' work.

Azir is a sadder story because the short story posted on the forums is legitimately badly written. One of the first things they teach you in creative writing class is that repetition is a dangerous thing to use because it draws excessive attention to the repeated word, thus downplaying the rest of the story. Repetition is only used when you need the word to become symbolic or a major theme.

Azir's name is repeated in his story practically every sentence, drawing attention away from his personality, his status as an emperor, the tragedy of him losing his family and from his relationship with Xerath. In terms of symbolism, he becomes defined entirely by his name, which is a fairly common Arabic name; there are so many variations of it across the Middle East that he might as well be named Jack or Bob.

So yes, I actually do have valid reasons for not enjoying the quality of modern. Do you have valid reasons to accuse a random person of whining other than to be a jackass?

midorii3 votes

I have valid reasons to inform the person that the way their feedback is being represented is poor. You would make a bigger impact and a stronger argument if you base your conclusions on provided facts as opposed to opinions.

Also the way you chose to state your opinion is immature. A crude assessment of an entire champion is both unhelpful to anybody and provides nothing in terms of what you actually want.

If you want to be taken seriously you can provide actual suggestions. If you believe anyone that gives critical feedback on how you post is simply out to "be a jackass", then I suggest you grow up.

DG Ashabel8 votes

You didn't inform me that "the way my feedback is being represented is poor". You have simply accused me of whining and assumed, erroneously, that I did so because I dislike those particular characters. If you had actually wanted to give me critical feedback, you could have said "Hey, your opinions on the characters' stories are hard to understand when they're represented as a list of sassy quips; could you maybe expand them into proper criticisms?"

You didn't do that, but rather simply made a flippant and accusatory statement. I hope you fully understand the irony of telling someone to grow up and trying to criticize the quality of their delivery when your arguments are delivered in a way that make you look like a jackass.

Debate isn't the same as mathematics. You cannot achieve a plus by applying a minus to what you perceive as another minus, which is what you did.

As far as the matter of my delivery goes, I have already explained the reasoning behind my arguments numerous times. My topic about the rework of Amumu's lore can still be found in the Best section of this board due to its sheer number of upvotes. My criticism of Xerath's new lore is also fairly famous. My problem with Vladimir's reworked lore was brought up to a Red mere two days ago, so everyone and their mother had seen it.

I don't see why I should provide 3+ paragraphs of exposition every single time I bring up issues that have already been discussed to death. The exact reasons why I, and plenty of other people, consider the quality of current narrative content to be poor are common enough knowledge that I don't really need to do so.

midorii3 votes

I'm not going to read anything after that first paragraph because you are the one assuming here.

This would be me accusing you of whining, "You are just whining about champs you didn't particularly enjoy"

However as you can see that is not what I said..

My actual comment was, "You just come off as whining about champs you didn't particularly enjoy"

This means that regardless of what your intentions where, they are not clear, and I cannot understand them. Because as it is currently worded, it makes it look as if this is a whining post that is not meant to be taken seriously.

I will not be explaining myself again.

DG Ashabel6 votes

You attempted to deliver a snippy abrasive quip in response to my collection of sarcastic quips. You have, by your own admission, used an argumentative style that you cannot take seriously in hopes of being taken seriously, except that you peppered it with ad hominem for good measure. You then got offended when I failed to take your argument seriously.

More than that, you admit to not reading the entirety of the other person's counter-argument for the sake of focusing on the one piece of semantics that benefits you, essentially destroying the credibility of your argument because you employed confirmation bias.

Please consider purging your approach to debate of logical fallacies the next time you try to criticize others' approach to debate.

Major Sparkles3 votes

Burrrn

Impetual1 votes

You sound like another player who sincerely appreciates the lore of this game when it is delivered in the proper way.

I salute you, as an ally of quality lore!

Impetual1 votes

This may be my mistake - assuming you are addressing this criticism to me.

To fully understand my post, which referenced the lore environment of LoL Season 1 and 2,you need to understand that it was suited to players who actually *experienced *the difference in RIot's lore production quality between the different seasons.

If you're newish to LoL, I'm sorry if this reference went over your head.

You just may not know what LoL Lore used to offer in terms of Lore. It used to be great. Then they got lazy.

midorii2 votes

It is your mistake, as I was addressing DG Ashabel for providing poor feedback and showing his age.

Earlier lore was uninteresting and gimmicky,. If you don't enjoy the direction it's going, nothing is keeping you here. Good Riddance.

DG Ashabel2 votes

I'm a 30-year old woman, but do please keep going with assumptions, fallacies and self-contradictions.

midorii2 votes

Then act like one.

DG Ashabel1 votes

As soon as you apologize for assuming things about other people, the unwarranted self-importance you demonstrate when you expect your statements to be treated with more respect and weight than other people's statements delivered in the exact same tone, as well as the arrogance and logical fallacies shown in trying to argue with someone without even reading their posts.

midorii2 votes

I've already explained myself, you can see one of my previous replies. I'm done wasting my time here.

DG Ashabel1 votes

That's good. Perhaps you can instead spend your time on reading up on how to hold a proper debate and how to properly use the words in your vocabulary. I'd suggest also doing something about that unwarranted self-importance, but it seems to be a genetic condition.

midorii3 votes

They've been more active with lore the past year with videos for Azir's release and Shurima event, Rek'Sais's release, and Amumu than ever before.

IS1d51f7fd0f8e2764617b04 votes

{quoted}

They've been more active with lore the past year with videos for Azir's release and Shurima event, Rek'Sais's release, and Amumu than ever before.

Hi newcomer, you werent in the beta days now where you.

Google Journal of Justice, and then try to comprehend that they released a champion EVERY WEEK! All having a far greater quality then what is currently released on a monthly basis

midorii2 votes

I've had an account since the end of 2010ish, just never played too often until recently because I thought the lore was really uninteresting.

I just really thought the whole summoner concept was not only lame but extremely juvenile.

Major Sparkles1 votes

Juvenile? I literally almost spat laughing.

midorii1 votes

I didn't

DG Ashabel1 votes

"Juvenile" is a word used to describe an individual of young age or one who behaves as would be befitting of young age. It's not used in relation to concepts and inanimate objects.

He's laughing because you used a word without knowing what it means.

midorii2 votes

It was used as an adjective; for someone who started mindlessly throwing larger words into their replies in order to come off as more intelligent, you should know the meaning behind the word.

I've provided the definition of the word as an adjective:

Juvenile, adjective:

  1. of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or suitable or intended for young persons: juvenile books.
  2. young; youthful: juvenile years.
  3. immature; childish; infantile: His juvenile tantrums are not in keeping with his age.

My usage aligns with the first example given.

DG Ashabel1 votes

Please stop with the passive-aggressiveness and self-projection; that kind of behavior is completely juvenile. I understand that you have run out of proper ways to hold an argument as soon as I called you out on abusing logical fallacies, but that kind of haughty "I am so better at you huff huff" tone doesn't actually make you look intelligent or better than anyone. It simply goes back to proving my point about unwarranted self-importance.

Here is the word "juvenile" on Merriam-Webster. Here is a list of examples of how the word is used. The word is largely used in relation to individuals or, in cases where it's used as an adjective, to behavior and biology. It is not the synonym for the word "immature", but rather a term used to describe a lack of development. Even if it would be, your sentence would still make no sense because you cannot assign immaturity to a vague concept.

midorii2 votes

My usage aligns with the first example given.

Juvenile, adjective:

  1. of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or suitable or intended for young persons: juvenile books.
DG Ashabel2 votes

Again, it is not normally used that way.

Not to mention that you used it in relation to a vague concept and not an inanimate object, thus rendering your example invalid either way.

midorii2 votes

I just really thought the whole summoner concept was not only lame but extremely juvenile.

Juvenile, adjective:

  1. of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or suitable or intended for young persons:

It is a Juvenile concept It is a concept that pertains to or has characteristics and/or is suitable for young persons.

I'm sorry, I don't feel I can break this down any further than I already have for you.

DG Ashabel2 votes

I'm not sure you can break it down, since what you just did was basically prove that you used the word without knowing what it means. You simply attached it to a concept but you didn't actually provide any argument for how this concept shows signs of immaturity.

See also: my above statement about how you seriously need to improve at holding a debate.

midorii1 votes

You did not ask for a reason why, you asked about proper word usage for the term juvenile. I'm finished with this.

Have a good day.

DG Ashabel1 votes

That would be because you used it incorrectly and have yet to provide a counter-argument that is grounded in logic as opposed to logical fallacies. For example, your latest comment had you use a deflection combined with a Schrodinger's Cat.

That's five separate logical fallacies within a single post. Baffling, really.

IS1d51f7fd0f8e2764617b02 votes

{quoted}

I'd argue the opposite. They've been picking up steam. Slowly, but they have. Each event is a better than the last. And we can't really say anything about champion lores until we SEE them. hinthintnudgenudge

Excuse me but do you mind telling me one thing ... ONE thing only

Why are they fighting?

Why isnt Fiddlesticks breaking havoc eveywhere he goes

Why isnt Cho'Gath hiding behind the curtains slowly corrupting kingdoms

Why IS Reksai in lush enviroment, she is a predator that thrives in a desert climate. She is also a animal and therefore will try to keep clear from strong healthy foes.

And if you actually figure out a sad pathetic excuse to the ones above simply answer me why SWAIN THE LEADER OF NOXUS is strolling around on his own without any guards, or hell AN ARMY behind him.

Narasimha4 votes

Why are they fighting?

Because its a game. Bam.

Why isnt Fiddlesticks breaking havoc eveywhere he goes

Because in the end, he's one...whatever he is. He's not going to be a major threat by himself, unless his powers are FAR beyond what we know.

Why isnt Cho'Gath hiding behind the curtains slowly corrupting kingdoms

No curtains big enough

Why IS Reksai in lush enviroment, she is a predator that thrives in a desert climate. She is also a animal and therefore will try to keep clear from strong healthy foes.

Nothing says she can't adapt. Hell, she came from the Void, Shurima isn't probably her first home. Also, not all animals will run. Some will actually try and scare their opponents, or see them a threat that they have to fight.

And if you actually figure out a sad pathetic excuse to the ones above simply answer me why SWAIN THE LEADER OF NOXUS is strolling around on his own without any guards, or hell AN ARMY behind him.

Easiest one yet. Because he doesn't need them.

Sneak Dog1 votes

Why isnt Fiddlesticks breaking havoc eveywhere he goes

Fiddlesticks isn't doom. He is simply the harbinger of doom. What Fiddlesticks does is just a foretaste to indicate the gravity of his message.

Jeddy0172 votes

My question is:Even if they were to change their mind on the retcon,would that suddenly have made the lore better? Wasn't there a number of unfinished story lines as well as other issues?Wasn't the last major event pre-retcon the Freljord thing back in 2013?And from what I read on boards,that Freljord arc didn't wrap up smoothly.It seems they weren't releasing much content BEFORE the retcon.

What I'm trying to say is:Undoing the retcon won't fix the problems with the lore or lore team.It would just fix the problems brought on by the retcon.

Sneak Dog2 votes

The Freljord thing is part of the new lore as indicated in the dev blog.

Jeddy0171 votes

And how much lore was release after that before the retcon happened?

Sneak Dog1 votes

Not saying your point wasn't valid, just wanted to make clear that the Freljord was very much part of the new lore and for me where the trouble started.

I miss Trundle...

Jeddy0171 votes

I was seriously asking.I started playing early last year & wasn't paying attention to the lore till August or September.What happened?

Sneak Dog3 votes

Ah.

We had a long period of lore silence after the JoJ stopped. Cue Freljord event, where suddenly some random champions (Trundle and I believe Udyr?) are now in the Freljord, Freljordian champions get reshuffled into three tribes and a huge build-up to some epic tribal showdown is made. And then it was gone again, leaving me infuriated by the removal of old Trundle for this new one.

Cue Dev blog where the removal of the IoW is announced, also announcing that the Freljord event was written without IoW in mind, implying that champions since about then were also written without IoW in mind.

From memory, since then we've had the Harrowing event which wasn't really an event, an awesome Reborn event that could've fit right into the old lore and the Shurima event with the (awfully) Nasus narrated videos, a neat journal and (only on the forum:) two neat full-sized backgrounds of Azir and Xerath. Sadly, once more, a character was changed as Xeraths main motivation and modus operandi were changed.

Before that we had the decent but consistent Journal of Justice and a bunch of irregular and honestly amazing champion Judgements, which you can no longer find on Riots official site but are available on third-party websites like the wikia.

This should be it in short with my own views on it too.

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