5 things on our wishlist for League of Legends in 2023
From deeper lore to more game modes, here's what we hope to see from Riot Games next year
It’s been a busy year for Riot Games and League of Legends (LoL).
We saw five new champions debut on the Summoner’s Rift, eight champions reworked, one cross-game event, more than a hundred skins in 2022, and a packed LoL esports calendar.
And while we know the devs and creative folks are hard at work, there were a couple things we wanted to see more of in the game.
We already know that Riot won’t delete Yuumi but are giving her a rework, but what else do we want to see next year? Hint: It’s more than another hundred plus skins and new champions.
1. Deeper lore
LoL's lore used to be one of the game's strongest points. I loved how each champion has usually jaw-dropping revelations throughout the year, along with an overarching story in a certain region or more.
However, we found this year’s lore department a bit lacking. They started strong with 2022’s Season opening, “The Call”, and read a few well-written pieces related to the video here and there. However, fewer of these pieces came out, and it felt like most of the stories were left pretty much hanging.
Granted, more reveals are being dropped in Legends of Runeterra and LoL is perceived more as a competitive game — but a good story with a video here and there is always good to keep the players hooked and intrigue new players too.
For example, we were quite disappointed that Riot dropped the ball on the Void after seemingly hinting and hyping it up toward the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022.
The Void is one of the most unexplored regions of Runeterra, and we were hoping Riot digs deep and creates an event (not a long, grindy one) that would uncover Bel’veth’s sinister plan, especially after they changed Kai'sa's artwork to a corrupted one. But after a couple of stories here and there, we didn't see much progress elsewhere. Hopefully, they pick it up again in 2023.
2. An event that requires less grinding
The modern standard for in-game "events" in LoL requires players to clock in hundreds of games to unlock emotes, profile borders, and dating-simulation type of content.
But didn't they apologise about how grindy the Ruination event was in 2021? Why did they repeat this in Star Guardians? We miss the days when they'd randomly come up with surprises, like a PvE game mode for the Star Guardian event where all of you had to defeat the same villain.
Something that would break the monotony of playing hundreds of games, even if it's just once a year, can surely keep the players happy and engaged. So why not do it again? It keeps the LoL population alive, so this is a long-term strategy that we hope could be looked into again.
3. New Game Modes
It’s been a while since LoL has released new game modes. While there’s ARAM for most casual players and URF and Ultimate Spellbook rotated once in a while, we’d like to see how else the game can be played in a fun and relaxing way.
The ones that had potential were Twisted Treeline and Nexus Blitz, but with new MOBAs upcoming and new mechanics and ways to play the game, we’re hoping the devs can pay attention to creating or reviving more casual game modes periodically.
Rotating the game modes would give devs time to breathe, re-evaluate each game mode and make necessary changes to keep each one interesting to avoid players getting tired of each mode.
4. New Maps
If you’re an old-school LoL player, you probably miss the times that Riot tried out new maps once in a while, like the Twisted Treeline, or the Star Guardians’ Valoran City Park, when there was a one-time PvE event.
Most folks know the Summoner’s Rift and the Howling Abyss like the back of their hand — so why not explore other parts of Runeterra periodically?
We can keep the Summoner’s Rift on Ranked and Competitive Play so that it would be standard but wouldn’t it be fun to see map iterations of Shurima, Ionia, Noxus or Demacia?
5. Less skins, more player-focused plans
Skins are great, and Riot never fails to deliver in that regard, with over 140 plus unique skins released this year alone. It seems that in every other department, however, there aren’t many updates.
Instead of placing all of their resources on skins, it would be great if Riot focuses on fixing game-breaking bugs, improving the game's state and generally making the experience great for players.
We wouldn’t mind if the number of skins was reduced in the coming year, as long as the ultimate game experience improves.
We know the devs are listening and doing their best, with the durability update being an overall success and the team constantly tweaking Preseason 2023.
We hope to see more of that and progress toward fixing parts of the game and listening to the players while keeping their identity.
Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.
For more gaming news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooGamingSEA. Also follow us on Twitter, as well as our Gaming channel on YouTube, and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page!
