The lore team has been a little absent recently

Poolparty Sauron·Aug 3, 2017·39 votes·6,293 views

I hope something big is in the work cus im a little bit lore starved plus Leagues lore keeps getting better and better :D

47 Comments

RiotInterlocutionerAug 3, 201732 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ljFaKRTrI

(The writers are making Portal 3, confirmed.)

A Superb VillainAug 3, 20172 votes

So the lore team is comprised of a group that experiments as it pleases with little regard for human life?

RiotInterlocutionerAug 4, 20173 votes

Or maybe we ARE the experiment.

FasmodeyAug 3, 201711 votes

An official Riot writer has written 3 number in a sentence.

Half Life 3 copyrights are bought by Riot, confirmed.

Velzard of KozAug 3, 20175 votes

So they might finally use Riot GameS seriously.

5000000000000000Aug 3, 20172 votes

Wait but what about Mechs and Minions

TerozuAug 4, 20173 votes

And Blitzcrank Poro Round Up.

TheFancySkeletonAug 4, 20171 votes

And Cho'gath eats the world.

Hyrum GraffAug 4, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Half Life 3 copyrights

*copyriot's

Poolparty SauronAug 3, 20177 votes

FUCKING KNEW IT DOTA WAS BEHIND IT ALL ALONG

LostFr0stAug 3, 20172 votes

Why have I not heard this before... I guess I have a new song to loop while playing tonight. <3

Hyrum GraffAug 4, 20175 votes

{quoted}

Why have I not heard this before... I guess I have a new song to loop while playing tonight. <3

Probably because you haven't played through the portal series... which means you're missing out, and should go buy them on steam soon.

LostFr0stAug 4, 20171 votes

Yup, found that out yesterday too.

ZidarynAug 9, 20171 votes

there are lots of sales, feel free to wait for one.

LostFr0stAug 9, 20171 votes

[zombie-brand-facepalm] So, I realized today I have played Portal... just not Portal 2 or 3. Good stuff LostFr0st; way to remember a game's plot.

GenoXxAug 4, 20172 votes

Could you make a serious comment? I with OP on this one...

RiotInterlocutionerAug 4, 20176 votes

That actually was a serious comment... sort of. :D We're still alive, and still working on things we can't talk about because it would spoil the surprise!!!

Rest assured, things are coming!!!

GenoXxAug 4, 20175 votes

[slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

That's all we need

Soraka is SO HOTAug 4, 20172 votes

See: https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/story-art/Bnu9samb-reav3-or-kindlejack-soraka

I know you your fine self is sworn to secrecy~ ^_^

Just wanted to make sure the correct Rioter sees my post.

Could you possibly confirm or deny whether my Starchild has fallen off the radar?? It's been killing me.

Either way, thanks and love you! [slayer-jinx-catface]

RiotInterlocutionerAug 5, 20174 votes

Hey Yuki, Soraka's definitely still on our radar.

Also, as the narrative writer on Warwick, I owe you an apology... we should've made sure she was updated when he was.

I love the ASol quote you referenced, that would definitely be a good place to start unpacking who she is, and her place in new Runeterra.

Soraka is SO HOTAug 5, 20172 votes

Ahhhh thank you for noticing me Shen -pai!

No apologies needed - - just good to hear from such a talented writer! ^_^

Totally looking forward to what you all have in store. <3 [slayer-jinx-catface]

Blood MagicksAug 3, 201718 votes

Swain/Noxus is in the works.

sound of airhorns in the distance

Poolparty SauronAug 3, 20173 votes

I also remember a darkin invasion mentioned here and there

ChunLiiAug 3, 20172 votes

That's seems to be a long way off though, the Swain rework will probably happen some time in winter. I'm hoping for something sooner. Maybe that new champion with bring about some Freljord lore?

SkorchAug 4, 20172 votes

If i had to guess i would say maybe MAYBE a bit sooner.

I dont remember specifically what the ask riot said but i BELIEVE its Eve, New Vanguard champion, Swain OR New VG Champion, Eve, Swain With a small chance of New VG Champion, Eve, New Champion, Swain

And with a video Riot released a little bit ago saying near the end of the year we are getting slightly more niche picks, and riot now we are getting broader picks. I would guess we have 3 or so more champions this year, with 1 or 2 VGUs in between.

Since New Champions/VGUs are every 3ish patches. I wouldd guess we get Swain sometime in Late September/October/Maybe Early November.

If i remember correctly Riot wants to start focusing slightly more on VGUs so it wouldnt be surprising if we got 2 in a row.

ChunLiiAug 4, 20171 votes

The schedul is new champion > Eve> new champion >swain. I don't know if they changed it recently but this what I remember reading about this during the swain vgu announcement. Iirc they said eve will come out after worlds. So say the next new champion will come out in September and eve in November. Then let's say the next champion will come out in February after the holidays then this leaves Swain for March at the soonest. I welcome anyone to correct me on any misinformation because I am just going by memory.

Okay so I found proof of the schedual

https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/6oa84e/champion_roadmap_july_2017_a_new_vanguard_emerges/dkfzr19/

Reav3 comments that the schedule is new champ>xin>eve>new champ>swain

Im not sure where I read that Eve will be coming out after worlds though.

WestTigerAug 4, 20172 votes

Finally, the biggest plot pivot in League's entire history gets a rework and a lore update.

I mean, pretty tough to get one of THE major factions in the game involved with everyone's story, and their own story is still in no man's land in terms of actual canon.

Even though I feel like I probably won't like all changes, at least we'll fully know where Swain/Noxus stands nowadays.

SaltyToplaneGoatAug 3, 201712 votes

I have to say for a team of paid professionals their output is quite low. I mean, I know some crazy people on fanfiction and art sites who pump out more good stuff in their freaking free-time, completly reliant on donations and comissions. Sure it's not always the best quality, but it's sometimes truly remakrable.

And then you have the Riot team who slams out a few pages every half year, and that does look kinda sad in comparision...

Poolparty SauronAug 3, 20175 votes

The problem with that is that Riot need to take every little detail into consideration in order to build a connected world or we would end up with the mess that was pre retcon League, my guess is that Riot are working on both a darkin story and a Noxus update

SaltyToplaneGoatAug 3, 20177 votes

Yes, obviously higher quality demands more time needed for the content, but that doesn't in any way justify an output THAT low.

And there are always corners of the world that you can write short-stories of, like something about the daily live of Piltover/Demacia/Zaun/Shurima, literally wheverever, then run it through a checklist of things you are not allowed to spoil, the run it thorugh a checklist to avoid cultural incoherence, and if magic is involved, run it through another checklist with that system. Then get it proofread, edited, and wop, here's your weekly/monthly short-story.

You can't tell me than an entire team fo professional writers can't clank out 5-10 pages per month because they are sooo busy on these 50 or so pages that will be coming in the next lore event? That's just ridiculous.

ZyniXAug 3, 20177 votes

My guess is Riot employees can be on multiple teams at the same time and I doubt any one person is only writing lore.

SaltyToplaneGoatAug 3, 20172 votes

Well, they have hired professional writers. Now, what other team would you put am professinal writer on? Graphics design? Coding? Managing Esports? You know, game designers might get handed around reworks, new champs, and cliant work and so on. But writers? Nope.

WestTigerAug 4, 20172 votes

Actually you'd be surprised. While working where I was before, I was just a Production Coordination Assistant with some hand in writing quests. At the same time I was also the resident video editor. Simply put, you can be tasked with things that go with your strengths. I could write and I could edit videos, so there I was.

At one point, I had to communicate with the level designer in real-time on the phone, because while I was wriitng the quest and its dialogue, I needed to know exactly a) what was in this scene, b) what can the player actually do and c) was there any other scripted events in the scenario that I had to account for.

Now League is different in that the lore isn't an interactable component of the game.

However, here's a simple example - What color should this character's powers be described in? Does it have a special distinctive sound effect? What are its in-game effects?

When selling the character's story, they have to match what is seen in the game. To do that they must communicate with the game designers. And the game designers actually have precedence - the color chosen might be because of game mechanics, where they're higher contrast or more visible. The sound effect chosen is because they need to make the character unique amongst the huge cast and have the ability be instantly recognizable.

The writing team can contribute flavor text and the like, which then needs to be sent to the VO and their team to determine which lines can be kept, which lines are too long for the given limits of the game and so on. The game programmers on their end, may need to know if certain lines are triggered by specific events (for special interactions), which means they have to coordinate with the VO team to know exactly the audio cut-off lengths to prevent triggers overriding each other.

And this doesn't take into account the approval of the creative director or other editors and heads, who need to sign-off on what ultimately is chosen.

For an interactive medium, no one department stands alone, simply by virtue of what a game is.

SalsonAug 3, 20172 votes

I'm just guessing here, but writers could work on champion personality and voice lines.

PeponiPoroAug 3, 20172 votes

They do, and voice lines delve deeply into lore on newer champions, so this is a very astute explanation.

KoKobotoAug 3, 20171 votes

Yeah man jeez. Here's to hoping less than three years for another Demacia update.

WestTigerAug 4, 20174 votes

A little reality check, no disrespect meant but it's about the difference between writing for yourself, and for an entire organization.

A fanfic writer is their own writer, proofreader, editor, creative director, asset manager, reviewer, and final eye checker, all at once. All they have to say is 'yes' to themselves.

In a company where the creative output that gets signed off has repercussions, affecting the production of future stories or assets down-the-line, there is no way any one person gets to sign off on something, and getting a consensus and think-tank to come together to first decide on what to do, and then to edit and finalize the actual product, takes a shit ton of time.

Consider even more that Riot is trying to build a more cohesive lore, then there is great stakes involved. An off-hand or inaccurate remark in any written official lore would not only be a mark of low quality in QA, but also have potentially frustrating repercussions down the line if they don't rectify it.

This is the reality of working and writing for an organization. No one person has full control, even the creative director has to usually answer to the producer, who gets to put their input as well, or collaborates on equal footing with their editor, and so on. This is the reality of a creative project from many minds.

SaltyToplaneGoatAug 4, 20171 votes

And as I wrote before in another reply, higher quality takes more time, that's just logical. What irks me is that still with an entire team working we get as much output every half YEAR to what very passionate individuals create in a few days to times. Yes, you need to make it coherent, you need to check it with release shedules so it fits, get your editor look over it, re-do it, and so and and so on. It's all important.

Yet that doesn't explain the current level of output, which is abyssimal low compared to what a team should be capable of with that time-frame.

THE RlVER KlNGAug 4, 20172 votes

laughs in GRRM

mkynerAug 3, 20172 votes

I'm going to guess they're working on something related to Noxus. Given how big Noxus is and how many other regions they're involved in, this is probably one of those big things on which a lot of other stories and lore elements will turn. Riot -needs- to get this right.

AlistarMilkingAug 3, 20172 votes

Hoping for a big Noxus lore update when Swain's VGU launches :)

JusticePauldronsAug 4, 20172 votes

I mean we did get a tidbit of lore in Kayle Pentakill backstory. Saying she is an alien species that arrived on the back of a serpentine dragon makes it sound like her and AurelionSol hang out.

KillaburnAug 4, 20172 votes

ASOL x Kayle CONFIRMED!!

JusticePauldronsAug 4, 20171 votes

Also she is on the few champions he doesn't just insult the shit out of.

AeszarckAug 4, 20171 votes

I'm guessing that the writing of the stories for Pentakill's Grasp of the Undying release occupied some of Riot's writers for a bit, so that might explain the slow down.

ZER0 2Aug 4, 20171 votes

Ngl it's either related to the new champ (which im more doubtful of), or a big event surrounding the eve VGU since it's been so highly anticipated thus far. ;)