Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

It feels like the Impact of Yordles as a fantasy race in Runeterra has been replaced with Vastaya.

Yordle Gunner·1/6/2020, 11:27:29 AM·68 votes·21,366 views

Riot has pushed Yordles into an obscure position in the Lore which lets them fade into obscurity.

The introduction of Glamour meaning any Yordles that are on Runeterra might as well be nonexistent and the removal of Bandle City from the continent and putting it into another realm nearly completely separating it from all interaction from everyone else. But replacing this race now is Vastaya.

I just want to ask Riot, why. Why put Yordles in a position where they are almost non-existent in this universe anymore. The more I think about it the disappointed I am. The world knows Vastaya and Minitouars exist why treat Yordles so differently? This isn't what they originally were and I fail to see how any of this has benefited the story telling surrounding them.

I do like Vastaya I do like the other things Riot has done with the lore but what they have done with Yordles at this point is made them the most irrelevant thing and that's sad. It can be corrected with future events, I hope it will be.

89 Comments

Jaspers1/6/2020, 11:59:40 AM43 votes

Humanoid animals are easier to market and sell skins for. Why do you think Sett just looks a like a buff dude with cat ears?

Lore wise, Yordles have far more potential. Yet Riot don't seem to want to give them any. In a world of magic, where the dead come to life, beings of unspeakable evil roam the lands and base arse humans can be turned into gods, Yordles being short and furry with glamour hiding it isn't all that odd. They could do so much more with them, make they truely special but have yet to.

For example, Sylas since released last year has had 3 stories, appearance in a comic that wasn't about him yet the final pages were reserved for him and has retconned/influenced 3 major characters in Demacia. Corki is somewhere, we think, might be flying a plane, we don't know. He's listed as Bandle City, story is outdated and says Piltover.

Since Riot have now retconned Vastayan's from being 'born of magic' to being a bunch of people who used magic for something and what we have now are just descendents of them, it feels like the Demons and Yordles are the only true magic beings left (Angels don't exist and Darkin are Ascended who were men). No doubt they'll somehow make Yordles just human too.

boricCentaur11/6/2020, 12:05:56 PM21 votes

I personally I think riot has 0 fucking clue what to do with them and they basically stop caring for them.

Like that new book had basically nothing but a vague description of Bandle city which is dumb. Like I was hoping for story in the city or something but we got fucking nothing.

Also we hasn't gotten a new champion for them in a long time.

4 Step Cadence1/6/2020, 5:16:53 PM18 votes

Have any of the fantasy races on Runeterra really gotten any serious development, though? Fuck, the Vastaya's origin was completely retconned before it was even expanded upon, and the race as a whole is yet to be expanded upon/developed in the lore. The Minotaur have literally nothing going for them, and even with the recent re-introduction of them to the lore, Alistar still only has a whopping 2 paragraphs of biography and no color story. The Brakern and Skarner? Completely forgotten by most people.

Lets face it. Despite their interesting history and designs, the fantasy races are second to their human counterparts in most, if not all cases. Its not just the Yordles and Bandle City who have been basically forgotten in terms of actual lore. We need actual stories and lore for all the fantasy races and the champions that are a part of them, not more new champions of those races that are just going to be neglected and add nothing to the overall lore of the race.

Some examples:

What did we learn from Neeko? That some Vastaya are more pure than others due to their limited contact with humans, and that Neeko's tribe, the Oovi-Kat, possess the ability to shape-shift.

What did we learn from Sett? There is a tribe of wolverine Vastaya that wasn't even mentioned/named in his lore that a Rioter had to confirm because people wouldn't stop asking what kind of animal Sett is.

What did we learn from Yuumi? The spirit realm is home to weird looking talking animals. Also, there is a book that possess all the portals to and from Bandle City. We already knew about the portals, but not about the book.

See the difference? Neeko actually added something interesting and previously unheard of to the lore of the Vastaya, meanwhile Sett added basically nothing to them, just as Yuumi contributed nothing to the lore of the spirit realm/Bandle City. If there's going to be a new Yordle, new Vastaya, or any of the other fantasy races on Runeterra, let them actually fucking matter and contribute more than just a new character to play as.

NelsieLisnen1/6/2020, 4:53:18 PM12 votes

Sadly, adorable furry creatures aren't as popular as beefcakes and thots with animal ears. Not with 14 year-olds at least. In my opinion, vastaya are neither a well thought out species nor cohesive. Riot just decided to create a new faction and basically crammed every animal looking champion into it, even though they weren't created for that purpose. Most "vastaya" have really weak designs, save for Rengo and Nami maybe. Most yordles have much better lores and design, and are more engaging as characters. Stuff like Poppy, Heimer, Trist, Kled, Gnar and Veigar.

LemurMonster1/6/2020, 11:53:06 AM11 votes

I agree so much. There really is nothing new about them sadly. I feel they been pushed aside for once again.. human related things... It truly gets stale at some point.

Moska Nax1/6/2020, 3:58:40 PM10 votes

I agree so much. Even if some people dislike yordles it's not fair for everyone else. Every fantasy world that many people interact with, should at least have a cute race. Not the 'hot' kind of cute in a general sense, but cutesy cute. There are people and kids that love this kind of stuff and shouldn't get sidelined so much, especially if Riot are aiming to grab as many players and followers as possible.

I always found yordles to be very iconic and exciting because of the greater variation in their designs, their extreme personalities, and sense of wonder surrounding them. More of that, pls!

ChaosReyn1/6/2020, 7:16:19 PM8 votes

Riot: "This race is literally an obscure race that lives in obscurity from the world"

Fans: ok cool!

Riot: lets Yordles be obscure

Fans: [zombie-brand-mindblown]

Dreamspitter1/6/2020, 12:18:05 PM7 votes

Yordles extinct? No.

But Meglings? Yeah.

RyzeRework1/6/2020, 2:21:43 PM6 votes

I think that your ever reaching here. Not all yoordles even reside in bandle city either.

The Dreamwalker1/6/2020, 8:48:27 PM5 votes

I don't really think Vastaya have replaced the Yordles as the fantasy. They are just an expansion on the lore. The champions have always existed with the exclusion of Xayah and Rakan. Those two (X + R) were the unifying factor that Riot used to really tie together other champions like Ahri Nami etc.

It might just be that Riot doesn't know what to do with them? I mean, even the champions in the game are confused about what they are. Just my thoughts.

Camille Ferrøs1/6/2020, 1:24:53 PM4 votes

anthropomorphic characters are way too profitable at this day and age to be left in the dust.

Chembaron Yamada1/6/2020, 6:41:44 PM4 votes

Let's be honest, the original idea of yordles was really really weird and had no place in this game.

It got heavily implied that they are actually aliens, not some nature spirits or anything like that. They even built Bandle City around a "mothership". Many champions in the early days of league of legends had the same treatment, just getting called aliens, and almost all of them got retconned in that regard.

Anivia Used to be an alien from a cryophoenix planet. Now she is a demigod from Freljord. Malphite Used to be an alien from a rock-people planet. Now he is a living mountain from Ixtal. Kayle Morgana Used to be aliens from an angel planet. Now they are the daughters of a Targonian aspect in Demacia.

Aaaand so on. I think they could add more lore and stuff to yordles again, but comparing to the initial idea of that species, they improved the situation alot.

LordGeovanni1/8/2020, 12:32:04 AM3 votes

Glamour is stupid.

Arakadia1/6/2020, 6:22:23 PM2 votes

How does glamor make them basically nonexistent? Heimerdinger still does all his things in Piltover, the glamor only means everyone thinks he’s a human

Spooky Skeleton1/6/2020, 5:40:55 PM2 votes

Vastaya cater to weebs.

Frontline Fury1/7/2020, 2:08:22 AM2 votes

Eh, i’m glad the vastaya are taking their place. The yordles were interesting, once, but make too many of them and they lose their charm. Animal people, on the other hand... Much more room for interesting story telling. Riot seems to prefer going for low fantasy themes in their more recent stories. Makes them... Darker, i suppose.

They’ve done a lot of the possible yorlde arche types already, they’re just not very interesting anymore. There’re only so many ways you can spin dwarf/gnome/squirrel people with blue/beige skin.

(Seriously, Teemo and Kennen have to be some sort of half-breed Vastayans what with them having animal traits and fur all over, as opposed to poppy and tristana.)

Zinico1/7/2020, 8:43:13 AM2 votes

League kinda feels like it's been separated into 2 types of lore, classic lore and modern lore. I can't point where the line in the sand is, but it does feel like theres a separation.

And unfortunately, yordles dont' quite fit into the modern version as well it seems, or no one cares about them at riot HQ.

Catastroclysm1/8/2020, 1:49:55 AM2 votes

Bruh riot deleted the lore like 5 years ago. Almost nothing in the LoL universe makes sense since then lmao.

Doxkid1/14/2020, 5:02:43 AM1 votes

Vastaya are just sexy yordles.

Charmy Bird1/7/2020, 12:48:59 AM1 votes

It's very simple my friend. Riot only makes human champions who are either anime or furry of both. Human anime furry Champs sell yordles don't. Is it a coincidence that we keep getting a human after human and no monsters or animal like champions?