There has been some concern over the K/DA event that is arriving in Legends of Runeterra later this month. Riot has published a reddit thread discussing it.
- Events in Runeterra should have variety at a minimum.
- The K/DA cross-game campaign gives Riot the ability to push more League players to their other titles.
- Exploring more of their Runeterra IP through Legends of Runeterra will happen, its just a matter of time.
- This event will be used as a learning experience for the future.
- All the cards are earnable for free.
- You get 3 copies of each K/DA card when you earn them on the free pass.
- After the event pass ends, K/DA cards can be crafted through Shards or Wildcards, or earned in chests.
Quote From /u/Riot_DanCast I wanted to address some of the posts we’ve seen around the early K/DA news – while we’ve been listening to players globally and across channels, we’ve specifically seen quite a bit of confusion and concern here on the sub, so I’d like to provide some clarity. We’ll have more info to share before the event kicks off near the end of the month, but I can share some of the thinking behind what you’ve seen so far.
Specifically, we’ve seen concerns here clustering around two distinct topics: 1) the choice of K/DA as an event theme, and 2) cards derived from alternative themes / universes in our IP.
(1) Our goal for events is to create rich, accessible experiences that expand the possibilities of what LoR has to offer. We also think they’re a great opportunity to serve players with something novel, so you should definitely expect variety as a baseline.
As for the choice of K/DA for our next event, going back to its initial debut in 2018, K/DA has been a worldwide hit throughout the League ecosystem, and a doorway into that ecosystem for many new players and fans. This year’s cross-game K/DA campaign is another big worldwide event aiming to both deepen the experience for existing fans and invite new ones to discover our games, and we’ve been super excited to enable Legends of Runeterra and its players to be a part of that celebration.
(2) We're absolutely excited to eventually explore all the sprawling parts of the IP through Legends of Runeterra, including and even especially through cards. We plan for LoR to be around for a long time, which means a LOT of cards, and the rich and varied alternative universes of the IP are an incredible source of fan-loved content. To be clear, we think there are lots of players who would love to see those alternative universes filled out and explored as we have with the regions of Runeterra.
It’s a primary mission to bring to life (and grow) the core Runeterra world, however, we do want to start exploring what works and what doesn’t with visiting the other worlds. The K/DA cards are a small, early foray into the future, and as with all those forays we’re eager to observe, learn, and adapt as needed.
To make sure all players who want to explore the K/DA fantasy can easily do so, the K/DA cards are earnable as part of the free portion of the K/DA event pass (and yes, 3 copies of each spell are earned at once). You can use the cards anywhere, and after the end of the event they’ll be purchasable with shards or wildcards, or earned in chests, like any other card.
As always, we’ll be listening to your feedback on all parts of the event experience. Thanks as always for the feedback, and we can’t wait to see what you think of the event, as well as Monuments of Power and other spooky cosmetics before then.
Comments
I suggest renaming this article. Instead of “Riot Addresses Concerns...”, maybe “Riot Validates Concerns”.
I agree, but all we really have to do now is nothing.
They will get the message loud and clear if no one purchases the event pass.
Honestly, I suspect this will be a success for Riot. From this site and Reddit, I can confidently say that the festival is unpopular with American and maybe European players who are serious enough to go to message boards. But for the casual players? The rest of the world? The K/DA fans who haven’t tried the game yet? The LoL players who haven’t tried the game yet? There are lots of player bases out there that I don’t have any insight into.
I would bet money that this sells fewer passes than Spirit Blossom but brings in more new players, and that the game’s stakeholders will be perfectly happy.
I’ll still miss the cohesive lore, though.
Given some of the other ... questionable ... choices Riot has been making lately, I wouldn't be surprised if this were the straw that breaks the camel's back for a lot of people. I think the risk of alienating loyal players is far greater than the prospect of gaining new ones who actually stick around.
Of course, retention of both groups becomes a lot more likely if Riot stops breaking the game with terrible design decisions.
This problem would all go away if they let us apply alternative art to card faces. Give us a fantasy version of K/DA, and the haters won't have anything to complain about. I'm not a hater (in this case), but I'd definitely use that skin, as I find the discontinuity in flavor to be jarring.
This works even better if I set the art to the version I like and my setting doesn't affect what my opponent sees. That way, we each get the art we prefer, no matter who plays the card.
This post kind of worries me because it shows that at one point LoR will be full of alternate universe cards. I kind of wish that they had gone the route of only including new cards from the genres of Fantasy and Sci-Fi, so that the Aesthetic remains somewhat intact. I really don’t want to see a whole Pool Party expansion.
Agreed Parrot.
Not to mention the post pretty boils down to...
"Hi we've heard your concerns...and we really don't care, we are going to do this event anyways."
The vibe I get from riot is pretty much this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsW9MlYu31g
I'm hoping it won't ever come to that. They have a lot to go on for now. Star Guardians, Project, and many others. I am sure Pool Party isn't something we will see for a long time if ever.