@Riot: Sorry, but I have to ask... (long post sorry)

Lord Vec·3/2/2015, 4:53:10 PM·3 votes·2,515 views

It is primarily about Syndra and Shyvana Lore and the effect of "shipping" and "fanfiction" on them as characters in League.

EDIT: I removed some links because they seemed to be against some rules on these forums. I saw the rules on the side a bit later, my apologies.

What is Riot's plan in regards to this? I did not think anything of it at the time but It is no secret to me now that Riot opened the floodgates when they made Ezreal x Lux canon and pretty much told the shipping community if they are loud enough they can bully Riot into making what they want.

To clarify my concerns: I am a huge Syndra fan and Shyvana is also one of my favorite champions in this game and has been since her release. I am pretty much enthralled by their power, independence, pride and general theme (Mage prodigy with unmatched power - Dragon shapeshifter. and both of them also retain their "neutral" or even "good guy" traits which makes them different from say Xerath who is primarily seen as a villain) And this is where my concerns lie, that Riot will listen to the shipping community and take away from Syndra and Shyvana one of the main thing I love so much about their character. Namely the power, pride and independence.

Shyvana: I can already see it in the community perception of Shyvana, she is starting to be seen as nothing more than a trophy for Jarvan, a fktoy for her "Prince J4 sempai-sama". There is a fan art at Riot's own forums "a billboard". Look at the depiction of Shyvana on the billboard. A happy go lucky Shyvana picture acting as a cheerleader and prompting people to join J4 Fan-club. Is this who Shyvana is, is this how Shyvana players want her to be? Is this how Riot wants the community to see their badass rage-filled dragon character? I most certainly do not.

Syndra: The fairly well know Zed x Syndra comic (I also really like Zed as a champion. Who does not like ninjas?). That depicts Zed and Syndra in a romantic relationship. I read a few pages, really well drawn. As a aspiring comic artist I can respect that, but what I cannot respect is the absolute butchering of any Syndra (and Zed for that matter) personality and defining traits of characters involved. That comic to me personally is a giant insult that mocks Syndra, Zed and their defining personality traits by replacing them with boring, typical anime stereotypes (although Syndra being interesting character is my personal opinion and you may not agree, which I can totally understand). Sadly that comic has evoked shipping community's need to force Riot to make that canon. And a red responding "I can't speak if others would be fond of the idea, but I personally find them appealing. I'll be fighting for 'em. ;D" is just disheartening. Honestly even the whole Syndra-Zed alliance is weird to me. Isn't what Zed is doing to other ninjas (being pretty much the authority figure of ninjas right now and forcing them to accept his rules and doctrine or be removed) exactly what was done to Syndra in her youth and caused her to mistrust and reject Ionian way of life? But on the other had I can see the similarities between them in the way they see power, but it feels forced just so that Riot has a group of dark Ionians for their Ionia event when it comes up.

Conclusion: In my personal not so humble opinion, strong and prideful female characters such as Syndra and Shyvana being depicted in a romantic relationship will only damage the quality of said characters and the only product of such lore direction will be the dirty jokes how Zed/Jarvan is "getting a piece of dat ass". The shipping from Riot's part has already destroyed a character for me before. I am talking about Twisted Fate and Evelyn. Tf will forever be "slimed" for me by that blue abomination called Eve (sorry Eve players I just don't like Eve as a champion aesthetics wise) and can't bring myself to even try playing Tf aynmore.

I am sorry for wall of text, and whoever read it fully you have my respects. It is not my intention to insult anyone (I tried to write with as little malice as possible) and if you are a romantic fanfic/shipping enthusiast even though it is clear I dislike romantic shipping I did not want to come off as judgemental towards your hobby. It is just that I feel your hobbies are starting to impede my fun in the game to the point of me not wanting to play the game anymore. I'd like to think I am representing a part of lol community who isn't vocal and for one reason or another does not want to express their opinion but is rather just stuck skulking around forums and reading feeling rather frustrated how their opinion is not considered or even represented.

TL;DR: Riot, I want a clear answer about your future plans for Syndra (Shyvana too would be nice but primarily Syndra) because I don't think I can handle another Twisted Fate x Eve situation that completely destroyed Twisted Fate as a character form me, or a battle bunny Riven skin that in my eyes also destroyed the champion (personal opinion). I have been playing this game since Vladimir release and I am not a competitive person and this is the first year I was determined to actually play ranked and get better at the champions I really like (Syndra, Shyvana, Zed, Sejuani). However I am starting to fear that Riot's lore direction will destroy the said favorite champions for me who are the only reason I even play this game after all these years and I will end up just wasting time on this game leaving with a bad taste in my mouth.

So Riot, an honest answer, yes or no? Am I packing my bags? If the answer is yes just say so and spare me time I could invest elsewhere, I am a busy student and have trouble finding time for League and my gaming friends as it is, so the last thing I want is later on regretting the time invested into this game. Don't get me wrong I love this game and am really invested into it, but I would rather see my champions nerfed to 35% winrate (I actually kinda enjoy playing weaker/less popular characters lol) than their lore being "destroyed" (again, personal opinion).

PS: If anyone want to leave a comment, please be civil. Yes I know it is kinda weird to care so much about random seemingly unimportant pieces of lore but it is the kind of person I am and have always been. I can't play games without fully involving myself with the world and the characters in it.

As for your personal interpretations of the situation, I will just say to each their own.

I do not believe that romance automatically removes power from any party, male or female. Poorly executed romance can ruin characters for some and cause feelings of betrayal (due to perceived investment, ownership, etc). However, I believe relationships between characters in general (regardless of whether it is romantic or not) only add to the depth of the story so long as these relationships serve a purpose.

Sure, some champions that the community have shipped are listed as "Friends". Friends grow apart, relationships fail. Exploring the hows and whys of these things is what brings characters to life. Love, loss, betrayal, redemption, all mean nothing if they just stay words. Great tales are told over time, not overnight.

I too love me some strong female characters. I also hate when strong females turn submissive for no good reason other than they are in love. But if a story arc was presented that explained why such a change occurs while staying true to the character's nature, then so be it.

As I said about 5 or so months ago after dreaded retcon occurred, I do not believe the retcon is a problem; the true problem was what followed. I think I described it as 'too great a change too soon'; most disagreed because of the previous long lore silence. By too soon, I meant before the replacement lore was ready. Now that 6 months have come and gone, I can say with reasonable confidence that I was right.

The retcon had the best intentions but the worst execution.

The new stories weren't ready. We were told the world had changed but weren't given even a sketch of a map. Communication between us and Narrative had its ups and downs, which is to be expected but the fact remains that we never received any real world building.

You want the hard truth? People aren't mad because there are 'technical difficulties' with delivering the stories or that the 'technology isn't working yet'. People are mad because that is a bullshit excuse.

It does not fucking matter if you are having difficulties. Every champion right now has a space for bios. Did the human race lose the ability to read? If every champion had their old text bios removed and replaced with lore presented in dot points, it would still be new stuff AND it would have allowed people to speculate, imagine, create, communicate, question, dissect.

But no, we get basic descriptions and promises that one day Soon™, there will be a link to the relevant stories.

You wanna know how easy it would be to make people happy?

Renekton Renekton was once a staunch gatekeeper of ancient Shurima, but in the centuries since the fall of that once-glorious empire, he has been consumed by madness. Now, he is little more than a rage-fueled beast who seeks to kill his brother Nasus, who he believes is to blame for his current state of mind.

Gatekeeper, Hero

Sacrifice

Corruption

Emperor reborn or impostor?

The Butcher

Brothers united

Those 5 extra lines in his bio can spur god knows how many discussions, and those are just headers/titles of the chapters in his story so far. Hell, since they are only titles, they can be changed if Narrative decides on a new direction internally.

This is the sad truth about the state of lore right now. Seriously, you could put a bunch of headers in bios and people would get to talking. They don't even have to be specific or make sense in order for people to speculate. Hell, the Void creatures could have shit like "dsnvlsjgl", "gubhve", or "shbsl", and some fool somewhere on these boards will devote an ungodly amount of time trying to make sense of it going back an forth between bio texts.

I understand that you love certain characters and do not wish to see them become something they are not. To that I say, I don't think Riot would sacrifice the integrity of their characters just to make a community ship canon. Despite their problems, they have good intentions.

I understand that Riot has problems and are working on fixing things slowly. To that I say, do what you can now. Characters who looked like shit got texture updates and maybe some minor tweaks, good. You got plenty of stories lined-up but the tech isn't ready? No worries, feel free to take your time to get it working properly and delivering awesome BUT at least make better use of the bio space. We really don't need much at this point.

@Riot: Sorry, but I have to ask... (long post sorry)

17 Comments

As for your personal interpretations of the situation, I will just say to each their own.

I too love me some strong female characters. I also hate when strong females turn submissive for no good reason other than they are in love. But if a story arc was presented that explained why such a change occurs while staying true to the character's nature, then so be it.

The new stories weren't ready. We were told the world had changed but weren't given even a sketch of a map. Communication between us and Narrative had its ups and downs, which is to be expected but the fact remains that we never received any real world building.