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Let's talk about the Immortal Journey skin line teaser and why this shouldn't happen again.

Melledoneus··79 votes·6,609 views

Sometime 3 days ago a skin teaser was posted on the Chinese LOL site featuring this image: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c3930b57bf1f463a44659d32753417863bf06d8014166da6da0d47e8384c49c9.jpg?w=800&h=1095

Now, we as a community are used to getting skin teasers for legendary skins or huge events, and a teaser like this with just a weapon is very reminiscent of many legendary teasers we've seen before: http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/lg/public/2017/05/02/pulsefire.jpg https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KfsFf5gJh5g/maxresdefault.jpg https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TJsOkFBKfsk/maxresdefault.jpg http://na.leagueoflegends.com/sites/default/files/styles/scale_xlarge/public/upload/mecha_banner_teaser.jpg?itok=CQKB-2ks

Many of these are vague and people can only guess what champion they could be for. Some, people have no idea (Mecha Zero Sion in the 4th image) while some are more obvious (Pulsefire Caitlyn). Teasers are meant to hype you up for a skin that is coming, and you show something that is either very vague or gives you an idea as to what to expect. That's what teasers do.

This teaser, however, has many issues: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c3930b57bf1f463a44659d32753417863bf06d8014166da6da0d47e8384c49c9.jpg?w=800&h=1095

Let's list the issues: 1: The sword has the identical shape and very similar eccentric design as Shen's 'spirit sword.' Here is an image for reference: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oUndvmK1kYA/VqaVkfJourI/AAAAAAAAK1o/6NpIYRoM408/s1600/shenpassive.jpg

The blades are similar in length and float in the exact same way. The handle-to-blade ratio is perfectly identical. There's even a ribbon on the sword leading off-screen and towards the screen (it's blurred) that looks like the would-be tether between Shen and his sword (and if you think about it, it would be kick-ass because you're standing between Shen and his sword, meaning you're in trouble). Even the shape of the hilt is very similar, and has just enough differences to warrant it being a skin. This would likely cause some confusion, but in a land of magic and people who use it, a floating sword can belong to anyone, right? Except we get to the second issue.

2: The whole teaser is reminiscent of Shen's spiritual energies and how he is portrayed. Let's take a quick look at Shen's splash art: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mHESLoV56CU/VpawP2-oZWI/AAAAAAAA2qI/fMg-ZE_tYhU/s1600/Shen_Splash_0.jpg

Do you see the similarities between the bottom of his ultimate channel and the ground beneath the sword? There are even identical energy droplets rising upward in the exact same fashion! Not to mention that if you look closely again at the bottom of the sword: http://i.imgur.com/QVDRKR0.png

There is a circular spiral of energies, and beyond that ripples of energy. Just like you-know-who's energy rings when he ults. It's so similar that one has trouble NOT thinking it's a Shen skin. Jumping to conclusions is bad, yes, but this was baiting to a whole other level.

3: The teaser looks more like Shen's blade than the actual thing. https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3s4adT5qjmg/Wbg7GgogMjI/AAAAAAAAuHc/hlAzaEZBe58LSS860nHxCtJuSO7cjqbJwCLcBGAs/s640/jannab.jpg

You can make the comparison for yourself.

"So, Mell, why does this matter? Salty much?"

Salty? Kinda. But this does matter because, as I see it, a teaser shouldn't blatantly point you in one direction so sharply that you basically know who it is FOR SURE. It also most certainly should not do that then turn everything on your head and completely make the group of people that were excited for it feel hurt and betrayed.

Teasers, I realize, are not canonical announcements and I can't say "you HAVE to be more clear!" But it would be nice if this never happens again with any other teaser, by any channel of media by Riot Games. I won't poo-poo the skins because they look nice, but I might have been happy to see them if this lingering bitterness wasn't overpowering the sweetness of it.

That's just my two-cents on it. Thank you for reading this far.

122 Comments

yay nibbers34 votes

This teaser was only shown in China though. Because it's a China focused set of skins. Not to mention this teaser was just an image while legendary skin teasers almost always have more to them (and aren't limited to China). Kind of baited yourself on this one really.

BØLT3 votes

I was also wondering if this type of misleading-mystery-trickedya-teaser is more common and more popular in China, I mean I just feel like they wouldn't have ever marketed this to us like that and we don't know who exactly called the marketing shots on the artwork either

yay nibbers6 votes

I don't think it was meant to be misleading (though it could be, who knows?). As I understand, the skins are based on Xianxia, which is some Chinese fantasy genre type thing. There's probably a lot to the skins and probably even the teaser that we just wouldn't get/appreciate over here which is pretty evident considering a lot of people just thought it was a Shen-related skin teaser.

In any case, it's a teaser that wasn't really meant for us in the west. Anyone who saw it and just assumed it was Shen related was setting themselves up for disappointment.

Melledoneus10 votes

Sometimes stuff gets leaked in other regions first, though, so while your point would be valid under any other circumstance, it's not fair to expect us to know the difference when teasers show up from everywhere.

Remember when Illaoi's champ select quote was teased? That was not in NA. That is one example off the top of my head.

yay nibbers2 votes

Unless I missed it, this teaser never showed up in other reasons though. Yes, sometimes teasers and such hit other regions first or are leaked in other regions first but usually they show up here not long after.

And if I recall correctly, wasn't Illaoi's champ select quote leaked onto the PBE? In name only is that not NA. I remember this one because I follow Surrenderat20.net pretty closely and it was pretty exciting when that foreign-language champ select quote showed up. Again though, it was on the PBE which is arguably an NA thing.

Xenos von Faneli12 votes

Look man let's be real here, at the end of the day Shen IS the champ with the floating sword, and NOBODY thought Janna when they saw this picture.

yay nibbers5 votes

From what I read, nobody in China thought it was Shen either. Apparently he doesn't fit the Xianxia theme.

Jet Sett4 votes

It's likely no one thought Shen would fit, but it's hard to believe no one THOUGHT of Shen seeing this picture. Unless we're playing 2 different games here.

yay nibbers2 votes

That Shen probably came to mind I don't doubt. But thinking of Shen and assuming he's getting a skin are different things.

Flawless Fetus1 votes

Meh. It looks nothing like Shen's sword other than the coloring. Looks like a yas/yi blade.

Jet Sett2 votes

It literally has the same guard and hilt design as Shen's base sword, as well as being a longsword in the same position as Shen's sword. Yi and Yasuo use katanas, I actually want to know what makes you think of their swords when it's nothing like them except Cosmic Blade Yi.

Flawless Fetus1 votes

Shen's sword is gigantic. It looks like something Cloud Strife would use. Lol. The sword in the picture looks like a lightweight blade that would be used by a lightweight fighter. Not the greatsword Shen drags along with him.

Jet Sett1 votes

Shen's base sword maybe, but it could easily work as a new sword for a new skin, that's why everyone thought it was for Shen. Not to mention everything about the sword screams Shen except MAYBE the size, it even has a tether or "ribbon" in this case just like Shen's sword would have.

Daedric Etwahl21 votes

Like someone else said though, whether your region is NA or EU or China or what have you, Shen is THE floating sword guy. Janna has never been associated with swords. Not only that but the details are extremely similar to Shen's.

Even if it was only officially released in China, they can't pretend other regions finding it is a surprise, it's inevitable with things like these, and I don't think this should have been done like this. Sure some might realize that it won't be Shen, but it's so painfully clear why people would think it's Shen. This shouldn't have happened, and it's not really the playerbase's fault.

yay nibbers5 votes

It's only outside of China that anyone thought it was Shen though. From what I've read, inside of China (the region the teaser was meant for) they guessed characters like Yi and Fiora for the theme and even (incorrectly there) others like Taliyah, because they actually understood the teaser. If you'd like some perspective, here's a really good post from the League subreddit that explains a bit about why Shen wouldn't fit the theme and why it wasn't surprising to anyone in the target demographic that not-Shen got skins from this teaser, they explain it much better than I can.

And obviously teasers in other regions are going to spread fast, the Internet exists. But that doesn't make this teaser in particular any less aimed specifically toward the Chinese audience, that's just a fact (as evidenced by China being the only region to get the teaser officially). It's not Riot's (or whoever is responsible in China)'s fault people outside of China who happened to see it lacked the context to make an informed prediction and ended up disappointed. Anyone who thought this would be a Shen skin baited themselves.

Daedric Etwahl5 votes

I've read all of that, I've seen it multiple places. I really don't think it was unreasonable for the majority of people to think Shen when the picture screams Shen. It wouldn't be hard to make Shen seem agile anyway, and guiding his spirit sword with mystic energy is pretty much what Shen does.

Regardless I'm less annoyed about how Shen didn't get the skin and more disappointed with how they made such a misleading teaser, deliberate or no.

yay nibbers1 votes

Evidently the picture only "screams Shen" to people who don't understand Xianxia though (i.e. people outside of China). That's why Chinese players guessed Yi and Fiora correctly and we guessed Shen. Because we didn't understand what we were looking at.

The fact that the teaser wasn't deliberately misleading is important. We're responsible for our own disappointment on this one. We made an assumption based on something not necessarily meant for our eyes with reference to things we don't know or understand.

Iota Theta1 votes

So how does Janna fit the Xianxia theme? She barely draws the sword. If anything besides Shen not getting it (he could've been made to fit if it was a legenday like a lot of teasers like this), it's a lot of confusion on why janna got a skin from a very sword oriented theme (from my limited understanding of it). That's my position on it.

yay nibbers1 votes

Some Rioters already answered that elsewhere, apparently she's more of a Lady of the Lake sort of deal rather than someone actually wielding the sword.

Iota Theta1 votes

Weird. Personally not a fan of Janna's (Yi and Fiora are cool), but that's just me. I think it's a beautiful looking skin, just that if the theme is focused on a sword group, my thought process would be that she should use the sword more. shrug That's just me though.

HalcyonDweller1 votes

Teasers are released in other countries for skins available globally all the time. I remember like a year or two ago there was a teaser for something in Brazil that ended up being global. So arguing that it was teased in China is not really supportive of the argument that it was meant only for the Chinese.

yay nibbers1 votes

Ususally those teasers come to other regions or other regions get their own teasers for the same thing though. The fact that the teaser was only put out in China pretty clearly indicates that the teaser was meant for China (as indicated by the fact that the teaser was only released in China).

HalcyonDweller1 votes

The teaser was what, two days ago? In the past we've seen teasers take up to a week to spread across the globe.

yay nibbers1 votes

So? How does that change that this teaser never spread officially outside of China? If anything this teaser being an exception to the norm strengthens my point.

HalcyonDweller1 votes

I'm not going to waste any more time arguing about this. Other people have expressed the same points I have and in some cases much better than I did.

You're so determined to cling to your point that it won't matter what any of us say, you're twisting everything around into 'support' for your argument when it most definitely isn't that. So I'm done. Seeya.

yay nibbers2 votes

I'm sorry you can't handle cold hard facts and logic my friend.

Valor Bot14 votes

Is Shadowblade Shen supposed to be a skin where he becomes master of the forbidden arts instead of Zed? If so, sign me up for that one.

ZER0 27 votes

Riot should keep doing these teasers because they're fun and THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE A GUESSING THING, not stop doing them because some people are upset that they guessed wrong. God dammit guys.

DarkRitual7 votes

Being a guessing thing is fine (Mecha Sion). They're not always a guess (Pulsefire Caitlyn). Being misleading is a big letdown for anyone who thought it wasn't a guessing game. Moreso when it appears to be a champ that has ZERO high quality skins.

ZER0 22 votes

It's always a guess =P No matter how hard/easy. It might be a letdown, and that's completely fine, but to ask Riot to stop it because people were wrong or disappointed is silly. SOMEONE out there, is happy. lmao

Melledoneus4 votes

I never asked Riot to stop making teasers. I apologize if the post came off as saying that. I was simply asking that in the future we don't, for example, get a sick-looking Mordekaiser-esque mace surrounded by darkness and fire in a teaser and later find out it was for Lulu.

That's what I was saying.

Beyond Legends6 votes

Seems to me to be a case of bad cordination on riots part.

DariusDemiurge3 votes

Anything but project for a shen skin. I'm bias to fun skins over serious though especially since all his skins are fairly serious ones aside for doctor that I can think of off the top of my head.

Also what does that kanji looking stuff say?

Melledoneus2 votes

'Xian xia.'

Glory ln Death3 votes

And what does that kanji sounding stuff mean?

Beyond Legends3 votes

...Man those two words are nearly impossible to translate lol

仙(xian) is a unique term that that doesn't really have english equivenlent. It's commanly translated as immortals though that isn't exactly correcr. Basicly a xian is some through the self understand of the dao or the way( a taoist concept google it) to become some of a god like status. There are powerful capable of supernatural things and are usually very long lived.

侠(xia) translates to hero, but more of the robin hood kind. These people are usually wanderers that do good deed base on their own sense of justice. Think superheroes but these guys are more willing to kill.

However when these are combine together these two means a type genre in china. It usually revolve around someone journey to become a xia or the ultimate bad ass. It's like a really high fantasy kung fu flick with technique that could be seen as magic.

Glory ln Death2 votes

So, basically...

Ascended Vigilante?

MuffledGarbage1 votes

kinda sounds like Shounen genre of anime...

Beyond Legends1 votes

Anime is not a genre lol, it's an art style. As for sound similiar to shounen well shounen by itseld just mean books liked by boys and teenagers and that could ecompse alot of things

SEKAI2 votes

[{quoted}](name=Beyond Legends,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=xPfbWvxF,comment-id=000200000000000100010000,timestamp=2017-09-13T10:34:08.473+0000)

Anime is not a genre lol, it's an art style. As for sound similiar to shounen well shounen by itseld just mean books liked by boys and teenagers and that could ecompse alot of things

Anime is not an artstyle. It's just an umbrella term for animation produced in Japan, by Japanese artists, and those inspired by their work; though that last one is typically debated because it raises many clarity issues.

"Anime" can be loosely used as a term to refer to the stereotypical trend and impression of anime, but it is by no means suggesting that anime means a specific artstyle.

Not to mention, anime artstyles varies from era to era and from artist to artist anyway, so this categorisation is ultimately very much moot if you really want to use it seriously for whatever reason.

.............

That said, anime or animation as a whole is indeed a media genre, just like live action movies are a media genre next to music, books etc.

SEKAI6 votes

[{quoted}](name=Glory ln Death,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=xPfbWvxF,comment-id=000200000000,timestamp=2017-09-13T01:52:50.663+0000)

And what does that kanji sounding stuff mean?

Kanji is used to refer to the written characters, words and phrases Japan borrowed from China. While Japan's entire written language system is more or less derived from/inspired by the Chinese written language to begin with, Kanji is a case where they simply take the words and use them as they are unchanged, though with altered meanings. In other words, while Kanji ARE Chinese characters and words, it's referring to the ones used in the Japanese language system.

And it is a form of WRITTEN language. Kanji themselves do not technically have their own sound, they are used mostly as word bundles to promote readability and to indicate technical terms/jargons in written pieces.

Therefore "kanji sounding stuff" is not the correct way to describe it. Not to mention, "Xian xia" is obviously not Japanese sounding to begin with.

You should just call it "Chinese words".

Glory ln Death2 votes

And what does your kanji sounding name mean?

SEKAI3 votes

[{quoted}](name=Glory ln Death,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=xPfbWvxF,comment-id=00020000000000020000,timestamp=2017-09-13T03:13:02.319+0000)

And what does your kanji sounding name mean?

As I've said, "Kanji sounding" is incorrect because Kanji is a sub-system within the Japanese written language system. It does not have its own designated pronunciation that is separate from the rest of the Japanese verbal/vocal language; there is only 1 Japanese verbal language, there are just a couple ways to write it out.

For instance, my ign is "Sekai". It's a romanised/"Romaji" spelling for the Japanese term for "World", where it's pronounced as "Se Kai". In Hiragana, which is I guess the 'default' written language of Japanese, it is written as "せかい". In Katakana it's written as "セカイ". And in Kanji, it's written as "世界".

That's 4 ways to write the same thing in Japanese, they are not pronounced differently nor do they mean different things. Though the reality is that vast majority of all writings are done in Hiragana and Kanji, as Katakana is reserved to spell terms borrowed from say the western languages and that there is little reason to use Romaji besides it being used to help foreigners learn Japanese, but this is just to show that "Kanji sounding" is simply an invalid use of description and makes little sense.

Glory ln Death1 votes

I'm glad I'm learning what all these kanji sounding things mean.

SEKAI5 votes

[{quoted}](name=Glory ln Death,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=xPfbWvxF,comment-id=0002000000000002000000000000,timestamp=2017-09-13T03:54:58.413+0000)

I'm glad I'm learning what all these kanji sounding things mean.

Yeah, whatever.

Glory ln Death1 votes

I'm glad you understand.

SEKAI7 votes

[{quoted}](name=Glory ln Death,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=xPfbWvxF,comment-id=000200000000000200000000000000000000,timestamp=2017-09-13T04:40:16.954+0000)

I'm glad you understand.

I was talking about your ridiculous trolling, not that the distinction and getting stuff right doesn't matter.

What's wrong with getting things right? Why is intentionally getting things wrong okay, even after being corrected? Because it surely isn't and no one would argue otherwise, but I guess that's entirely okay when it's against some things, some people and certain cultures and whatnot.

HalcyonDweller1 votes

This is such a pointless and shitty thing to do to people. You shouldn't waste their time like this.

Glory ln Death1 votes

I asked a simple question that was intentionally phrased to be similar to the previous question (kanji looking -> kanji sounding), since that question had only been partially answered (gave the English spelling, but not the meaning). Sekai then came in with an unnecessary lecture without bothering to provide the answer to the question or even address it ("I don't know what the translation is, myself, but that isn't actually kanji").

He fully dismissed the question and instead decided to go into full-on lecture mode. In return, I dismissed his lecture.

HalcyonDweller2 votes

I respect that you felt frustrated by their off-topic lecture, but your response didn't effectively clarify that you were asking about something else. Your response just looked like a tweaking of wording intended to dismiss and further needle the other person.

It would be much simpler to say, "You misunderstood me." And then to clarify what your question was really about.

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