cool

Whenever I see that a new champ is being teased, and when we finally see enough details to get a sense of the character both in-game and in the lore, I always wonder which aspect was the source of the original seed that grew into the character. I mean, I know that it's been said a few times that some champions have been on the drawing board for months at a time (how long did they say in the Quinn AMA that the champion had been in development? It was roughly a year, wasn't it?), but by the time the idea has been fully realized and made ready for us eager summoners to run with, certainly some things are much different than when the character was first envisioned, and I'm always curious about how much the finished character has deviated from the original concept.

Without giving anything away (honestly, I love the daily release of teasers, and I'd hate for that to get ruined - I'm starting to think my body can actually metabolize suspense when it needs sustenance), would it be possible for Morello or Ransom or someone to tell us if the idea for ZAC - whatever ZAC is; I can't wait to find out in good time - was originally conceived in the lore, or gameplay? This is always the thing I wonder about the creative development process at Riot.

(though I'm prepared to wait for the AMA, if there's gonna be one. The delicious suspense is killing me.)

"TONS OF DAMAGE"... anyone know who wrote that?? ¬¬

Where is thread 3 riot please ;_;

Love the prediction, I can actually see that happening. Plus it makes sense for ZAC to have had the help escaping, and it gives him a motive to join the League - to help his friends.

Just for the sake of discussion, though, I'd disagree with your characterization of all of those champs as being flat angry or evil. Vi, Quinn, and Nami - 3 of the last 4 champs - don't really fit that (Vi isn't angry, just ridiculously self-assured, not to mention that she's a good guy). And some of the ones that are evil or angry at first glance aren't so easily characterized as such. Rengar's not malicious in any sense, he's just a driven big-game hunter - think of him as a one-eyed, ultra-violent Ash; he just wants to be the very best, like no-one ever was. Kha'Zix is similar - no explicit malicious intent or overt rage, just a drive, and Zyra could be described in the same way. Sure, Ambition is Evil but it's subtler than just black-and-white bad guys. Syndra and Diana are a little closer to being eeeeeeeevil, but they also have some pretty explicit, rational motivations - the former is plumbing the true depths of her power while the latter is bitter about being labelled a heretic, so she's running with it. It's an over-simplification to just say they're angry and/or evil.

Yes, Elise, Darius, and Thresh are pretty obviously evil, won't argue that point. I just dunno if I'd agree that it's an idea that's been beaten to death - so far, a lot of recent champs have either avoided the archetype, or tweaked it enough to keep things interesting.

Zaun Science
Something Good

pick one.

Good question! When I started working at Riot, my job was to help the team come up with pitches for new champions, and I worked on ten or so champion concepts, including Zed, Thresh, Nami, Vi, Quinn, and now the Zaun Amorphous Combatant.

(If you're doing the math, that means I've still got at least four champions that have yet to see the light of day, and a couple more that are just twinkles in a concept artist's eye!)

After a while of working on pitches, I was assigned to develop and ship a new champion (my first!) from start to finish, and that would be the Z.A.C. So I've had a front row seat during the process of creating this fella, and I just wanted to let you know that 1) it's an illuminating story about how we create champions, and 2) we will definitely reveal all in a forthcoming AMA with Bravo Ray, subninja, and myself.

The awesome thing about creating champions is that no two are conceived in the same way, and just like us regular people, each finds its own way to grow and evolve into something unique. It makes for a job that never gets boring!

I know that doesn't fully answer your question, but let's sit tight and wait for Zaun Lab Bot to do his thing, and in due time you can ask us anything you want.

That actually does answer a few other little questions I've had nibbling away at my brain, so that sates my curiosity - at least until the next teaser images are released! I'm really eager to see what's next.

inb4 Zaun Lab Bot kills the blob in a terribly sympathetic story arc and joins the league himself as an out of control Zaun machine.

They mention he responds to music... Interesting if it makes it to the actual champ