I know that Reds have mentioned in the past that they're not happy about the way the lroe is currently deployed. The journals and lore entries feel really detached from the game, and only lore nerds (like myself) really get the benefit of enjoying them, because we seek them out. Other people who might not be initially interested in that sort of thing miss out on something they might otherwise enjoy. So, to remedy this,m I've come up with a couple possible solutions.

Solution 1:

I read somewhere that there may be some gameplay tips and interesting facts on the loading screen. This seems like a great opportunity to get some lore out there. Right now, I have a feeling you guys have already thought about that, but I worry that it will just be stuff that's already been established by journals and champ lore. It's fine to include that stuff for people that may not have read it, but why not throw some new stuff in there, too? It doesn't have to be anything big. As we saw with the hidden interactions on Shadow Isles, a lot of interest can be generated in the lore through a few sentences. Just build on stuff, provide a little intrigue, get people interested in what's going on in Runeterra.

Soultion 2:

Champion progression. It's simple. The more you play a champion, the more lore you have access to for said champion. Not only are unlockables a great way to get your audience excited about your stories (achievements had a similar effect on forgotten content in WoW), but it might even generate interest in otherwise underplayed champions. It could even lead up to a big cinematic at the end of each story. I know, there are 100 champions, that's a lot of work, but if you consider how many champions have intertwined stories, you could potentially have the same cinematics for multiple champs, or at least overlapping footage. This could go along nicely with a theater mode, which could overlap with the replay system (hint hint), and could be monetized by charging for increased replay storage space/time. This is probably the least practical idea, but I'm spitballing.

Solution 3:

Simple. More League Dispute matches. Ionia versus Noxus was a lot of fun. With the rising interest in pro League, and the fact that you'll be having them on salary soon, I don't see any reason why we couldn't have more "all-star" matches throughout season 3, and have them inform the direction of the lore. Certainly, the "hyper-competitive" branch of League fans are likely the least interested in the lore, since they play the game as a competitive outlet and not to experience The League of Legends, and this provides some overlap for them to maybe get into something they otherwise would have ignored for the most part.

Solution 4:

This is my favorite. A story mode. It works, essentially, like any other queue, except you can only pick champions from a given faction. Of course, this is nearly the same thing as the all-star matches I listed above, but it's something for the more casual player who might not be interested in pro-LoL. There's a few ways to do it. Have players pick their faction permanently, or at least for a considerable period of time, and have them fight for its glory. You could have the factions be randomly assigned at champion select. You could pull a players most-played faction in other game modes, and have the game assign them to a faction that would suit their champion pool. The story can progress for a given faction as you play through its "campaign", and win-rates for factions can inform the direction of the story, similar to the outcome of all-star matches settling major disputes.

Obviously execution is difficult here. Deploying the lore in a game that lacks a definitive story-driven experience is a daunting task. But I think some of these solutions, if done properly and with care, could really breathe some life back into the lore for the game. It also fits well with the way Riot, as a company, likes to involve its players and fans in the game development process. It's a way for us to give feedback to the lore team by simply playing the game.

About the solution 4, i just love it. I think that if it was implemented they should create a ladder for each faction where you as a summoner could see how well you've served your favourite city state (similar to the ELO system but not personal, for example with each match you play, and according to the result or how you developed in game or both, you gain a bunch of points for yout city state, and then there is a scoreboard where the points of each and every city state are displayed and well, you would want to see your city on the first position. Each week or month or every two weeks or whatever time gap you want there are prizes (RP, IP, Special Features like summoner icons, special themes for the different maps in honor to the monthly winning city state or whatever other cool stuff you may come up with).

There are three counters tho:

a- For this to work nicely there should be more city-states or at least some more regions with enough renown or weight in the lore. Just naming the ones that come into my mind now but i think we only have Demacia, Noxus, Zaun, Ionia, Pilotver, Bandle City, Shadow Isles aaand each city state probably isnt balanced in the champions they have.

b-How to avoid to have most summoners behind only one or two of the cities? Right now i think if this was implemented most of the players would join Demacia or Noxus

c-The arleady mentioned problem of invalanced teams for the differen factions. I know this would be a place for more casual gaming but still the meta is important and remember most of the players are not really involed into the Lore so for them it would be just another way to play matches and they would be pissed if the city they picked doesnt have a decent support or junlger or w/e

Anyway, love this, hope Riot takes this in consideration and tries to find some ways to apply it

I'm a big fan of #1 and #3. Do want.

I like #2 a tiny bit less. Being able to unlock more info and the little cinematic would be cool, if it was limited to a certain extent. I'd like to see Riven finally stand proud and announce her plans to take back Noxus, but there's no way they would be able to 'finish' anyone's story. It'll have to be optional though, since I know some people will find it irritating simply because they don't care.

#4 would be least impractical, not for the gameplay, but for the lore itself. The League is there to save the world and settle large disputes, not promote rivalries. Summoners are expected to be neutral third parties, not support certain city-states. It would turn Runeterra from "World on the brink of destruction" to "World obsessed with destruction".

Actually, the way it could be explained is that the story-mode only includes major conflicts in Runeterra's past, and would serve as conjured history lessons and reminders of why the League exists--so the wars would stop. What better way to pass on history than to actually show it to people, maybe even through the eyes of those who experienced it? It would be a great way to examine the pasts of certain characters in greater detail, such as Katarina, Garen, Irelia, etc.

There is no precedent for this. On the contrary, nearly every Champion in the game has alterior motives for participating in the League of Legends. Nearly all of the Demacian or Noxian join the League for political reasons and to raise the power of their own faction within the League. It specifically says that Irelia joined the League to defend her homeland. There are more examples of this, I'm sure.

This is also a cool idea.

One key point of the story mode, though, that I failed to mention is that the champions players can select should not be limited by who they own *too much*. If you're fighting for Demacia, you should be able to pick the major Demacian champions. Beyond that, you could include champions that would be neutral to the dispute on either side as selectable, but you need to own them.

This would let people play a wider variety of champions than the free week rotation, potentially making them more interested in buying champions, without allowing them such variety in the "competitive" game modes.

Are you mixing up champions and summoners?

I agree that 95% of the champions in the League have their own reasons for being there.
The summoners, on the other hand, are in charge of guiding these champions on the battlefield. Can you imagine the problems of having a Noxian-aligned summoner controlling a Demacian champion? One slip-up on either end would be blown way out of proportion, each one blaming the other. Especially in a circumstance that decides the outcome of a political argument, where tensions are running high.

In order to avoid this, summoners would need to remain neutral, or be forced to summon only from their faction. I'm not sure how much in-game content counts towards this, but we know any summoner can summon any champion based on their influence, so the logical assumption is that they are (at least outwardly) neutral.

Ah, yes I did confuse the two, my apologies.

Special champion select changes can be made for the story mode. For instance, if you're playing the Demacia campaign, you can only pick Demcia-aligned or neutral-to-the-given-dispute champions. So, the Void champions would be selectable in nearly every dispute. If, say, you're having a turf war between Demacia and Noxus, Freljord/Ionian champions would be available for both sides.

Except for the fact that Ionians pretty much hate Noxus for the invasion and occupation. I see where you're going with that though and it would make a lot of sense.

Overall, I really like the ideas here, particularly with the storymode and league disputes. I've been really disappointed that there haven't been any special events like these since what, 2010? I know that Riot likely makes a lot more money and such from the competitive side of the game now, but one look at the fanfic and lore forums reveal that there is still a rather large segment of the community that is heavily interested in the story and characters. After all, Riot still refers to us as summoners rather than players, so there is something ingrained even now.

Another cool unlockable along with additional lore, achievements, faction points, etc would be skins. Like play X character enough times, or get X number of champion takedowns in faction play, and you unlock Y skin for that champ.

Cinematics are quite expensive and take up a lot of time and effort. I think a small comic would be a more practical choice.

My favorite is story mode. The League exists to solve political/social conflicts between various factions, and this game mode could reflect that. Maybe there could be a sort of pie chart on the LoL website that shows how powerful each city state is at the moment. Additionally, it gives access to a more casual mode, which is rare in MOBAs.

However, how can Riot make a profit from all this? They are a company, so they will want to make money.