League of Legends Will Reboot Story, Ditch Old Lore, in Future Updates

[BrotherRool]

They've completely fucked themselves with this one. They did it because they didn't feel they could do both the story AND the gameplay without fucking one of them up.

They have actually MADE THE GAME NON-CANON, according to their comments.

Well it's not like they're going to stop putting 99% of their resources towards gameplay.

When you think about this, this is actually how most normal games do it. You don't get a ten minute speech in the Last of Us about why health kits are so effective and Call of Duty didn't come up with a really complicated reason for the fact that there's actually a player controlling the characters involved.

They've just realised that we can accept differences between the story and what's going on in the game and that doesn't mean that the story suffers. In fact it can be better for the story to not be completely tied down.


It's like that thing Yahtzee said a long time ago, what's better a really detailed explanation for why the bullets aren't actually hitting you in an FPS, there's actually some 'luck bar' and when it runs out a bullet hits you and you die ... or giving the visceral impact of a bullet hitting the character and just accept that it's a magical world where it takes more than one bullet to hit you.

The first one is more realistic, but the second is actually better for the story because it makes you feel more involved.

In the same way it feels much better to think 'I'm playing as Jax, the ultimate warrior' than 'I'm playing as a person controlling Jax, the ultimate warrior, like a puppet' even though the second represents the game better

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I imagine they're just going to start telling stories about the characters going about their lives making enemies and friends and fighting people who stand in their way. The whole 5v5 destroy-the-base combat can just be an abstraction of that. Instead of Warwick and Jax fighting formal rule-based combat, the story will just be that they're fighting.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

thought the lore was semi-decent, for a MOBA anyway. On the plus side, I like that they're trying to reinvigorate the lore, it's just a question of whether they screw it up or not.

I fucking LOVE the side quests though, as rare as they come up.

 

[faefrost]

League of Legends has a story?

Who knew? Can't imagine what benefit it has or how it's actually conveyed in the game. I also can't imagine most people even care.

Ok glad to know I wasn't the only one wondering that? A story? Lore? I always assumed they just dreamed up wacky characters and just through them in... Because! They actually attempted to in some way make sense of it all? Where they drinking at the time?

 

[RJ 17]

While I do enjoy the personal backstories of the champions - my main-man Karthus', in particular - I can't help but doubt that the majority of the players take the game itself too seriously to rightly care about the game's story as a whole. That's not to say such players that do care aren't out there, just saying that I'd wager they're in the minority.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Nothing of value will be lost.
The lore and that pathetic jumble of random events they call a "story" is a clusterfuck.

 

[Brian Tams]

I thought the basic "story" of league of legends was that all the various champions had traveled from various alliances to battle against each other in order to claim fame/fortune/glory/etc.

What's wrong with that? Its serviceable and matches the gameplay. Why get unnecessarily complicated?

 

[Phil the Nervous]

That's a shame, the original story (the players being the bad guys) wasn't half bad

 

[softclocks]

Well if Riot says this is a good idea, it must be a good idea because the players can't deny.

Can't stop laughing at this one.

 

[RaikuFA]

Can they just reboot the players instead? I would play it again if that happened.

 

[Navvan]

League of Legends has a story?

Who knew? Can't imagine what benefit it has or how it's actually conveyed in the game. I also can't imagine most people even care.

Its conveyed in the game mostly through Easter eggs and character designs. Otherwise yes, its almost entirely peripheral to the game itself (which is why it makes sense to sever the chain of the game's mechanics like Riot is doing). The benefit is that for hardcore fans/lore enthusiasts it adds just a tad bit more depth to the game and makes it just that much more popular. Back in the day they had events based on lore that players could participate in but that tapered off for some reason.

 

[Phantom Renegade]

Riot has absolutely no interest in actually developing their lore as demonstrated by them constantly cutting the features that were actually about lore like the journal of justice and the League judgements in favour of having a new sign in music for every champion and crappy action cinematics nobody was asking for.

Moreover they've been so bad at handling their lore i can't possibly imagine they'll be able to weave a whole new narrative on top of such dissonant elements like having mortal enemies fighting together, gameplay elements like respawns etc etc. The summoners were all powerful and controlled the champions because that was the only way you could have such a diverse cast working together.

The lore wasnt great before, but at least it explained the gameplay, if they wanted to improve the lore they should just flesh out the existing champions.

 

[loa]

Based on all the cinematics they released, their "story" so far is "and then they beat the living shit out of each other, the end".
If I want to play a moba that respects its lore and actualy tries to make its fighters feel like characters instead of avatars, I'll play dawngate thank you very much.

Also where the fuck is ao shin already?
You don't announce that shit with concept art and then don't deliver for over a year and now The Next Big Thing is yet another ao shin unrelated thing that'll suck up tons of resources.

 

[Stats ^1]

Considering that they cut the lore department years ago, the story will be just as awful as it is now. I like League of Legends, but Riot area terrible company.

They change more things in League than George Lucas does in Star Wars. The reworks are never any good, Xerath and Gragas were reworked from interesting champions into the most generic trash imaginable, while the lore changes on champs like Gragas and Trundle change them from interesting champions into more generic faction garbage.

The company simply doesn't understand that reworks are supposed to be the ABSOLUTE FINAL RESORT to when they can't fix a champion which is exceptionally weak, using scrapped mechanics (e.g. Dodge), or is breaking the game.

And the lore was much better back when League was first released back when they had their original lore department. They'd write an in game newsletter called "the journal of justice" which would give story updates about Runeterra.

 

[Phil the Nervous]

they cut the lore department years ago

This explains so much

 

[ckam]

Spell-check your tags, dude.

On topic, I don't particularly mind the change, since I've been ignoring the story for a while now... Oh, well. Better luck next time.

 

[Symbio Joe]

Yep if you mention something about the lore you will have the majority of people reply: "You read the lore?". they admit they manuvered themselves into a dead end and it is very good they realised this, but the changes made so far are not good. It was mentioned as "generic garbage" before and is true it is all streamlined into well known gaming stereotypes.
I am not to thrilled that something significant will happen. They have no pressure to do things new and intersting so they'll probably play it boring save I guess.

 

[2xDouble]

So don't make joining the League of Legends voluntary. We, the players are pulling these characters out of their lives, their time and space, for our own little battle sport, not because they wanted to, but because WE wanted them. In fact, some of the characters might not even be aware they're being pulled into the League until after it happened, like a fish on a hook or alien abduction. I say go with that, to begin with. Let us play the role of evil, godlike entities, controlling these people and creatures as our puppets... because we are. You don't even have to undo everything you have, just say that it started out as a volunteer thing, and like any great power, eventually corrupted out of thirst for new experiences. Seriously, Riot, just let us be Q [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_(Star_Trek)].

That also explains why the summoners are mostly dicks to each other: we are the villains.

They've completely fucked themselves with this one. They did it because they didn't feel they could do both the story AND the gameplay without fucking one of them up.

They have actually MADE THE GAME NON-CANON, according to their comments.

To be honest, storywise the game never made much sense. Why get the strongest warriors in the land if you're just going to control them as puppets? Why would Garen fight Jarvan IV when he's sworn loyalty to him? Why would Garen fight another Garen? How the Hell can they die ten times per match and still be alive? Do they have resurrection magic in this world? In that case why can't Pantheon bring his dead brother back to life? Or Riven her dead friends? Yi everyone in his village? Who are the summoners controlling the champions? What is their end goal politically? Do their views ever conflict with each other? Do the champions always agree with what their summoner team is trying to accomplish? If Swain and Jarvan IV are on the same team I highly doubt it. So why do they stay with the League?

Watch this.
In order:
1) Why have weak fighters in your game? that's not as fun... unless as a joke, like Dan Hibiki.
2) Because you're controlling him.
3) Ditto.
4) See #5
5) They don't. YOU do.
6, 7, & 8) Because s/he's not you, and doesn't have resurrection magic.
9) You, the players.
10) Sport. Fun. Amusement. Competition. It doesn't matter to us, their politics are insignificant.
11) You tell me.
12) I doubt it, but they have no choice in the matter.
13) Ditto, they have no choice. They can't run. They can't hide. They are ours to command.

 

[freaper]

League of Legends has a story?

Who knew? Can't imagine what benefit it has or how it's actually conveyed in the game. I also can't imagine most people even care.

Most probably don't, but a few still do, me being one of them. I always enjoy reading character bios, and when learning all the different champions, I'd sometimes choose which one to play based on how interesting I found their lore.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Oh great, now the Lore in a Minute guys on YouTube are going to have to do another one for League of Legends. I wonder if they'll get Dodger back for it.

 

[NortherWolf]

Some of the Character lore was sort of fun and inspiring. But overall it felt really odd, like "Oh No, Kha'Zix is going to eat everything!...Naw, don't think so, Kha'Zix, your summoner orders you to...DANCE!"