spazzxxcc12

it’s probably more that arcane S1 already premiered, and it’s not like they can (easily) go back and remake it to fit skarners lore. since they wrote the show to not fit skarners lore and be in some weird lore limbo (and have now changed it to be fully cannon) skarner and the brackern don’t entirely make sense.

You are correct in some regards. It was a couple of things. When we looked into it, what we didn't like about Skarner's lore is that he didn't really control his future and outcome. This really made him someone who was suffering an outcome rather than a main character with compelling goals that can be expanded upon, loved and empathized with. We don't want players to just feel sorry for the sad scorpion. But instead to understand his goals, his ideal outcomes and knows he has the power to potentially influence the political systems of a region. We also didn't want to completely take away the sense of loss of his beloved bond, so we thought the Ixtal people and the history he had seen can be part of that forlornness. His decisions has impact on the world versus being a victim. He is now in a position to decide, if he wants Ixtal to go down one path vs another. This also help build out Ixtal and the differing view points of some of the key players in that region. Previously, it was Qiyana and her imaginary friends :P (I see you reddit).
At the time, there were also higher level changes to the Lore where we were a bit uncertain the outcomes (One Runeterra was in discussion). We felt that we would be making players wait too long for the rework, if we waited for that discussion to settle. It would help us move forward faster if we build something compelling from scratch versus figuring every point of inconsistency in a changing dynamic of League lore. Especially in a world where synthetic hextech is the basis of Piltover.. it left not alot of breathing room for our beloved scorpion and his brackern (Why they killed them when they can just make it? Who found brackern crystals when Jayce and Viktor doing all that discovery? Etc etc). There were too many incompatible component that required us to withhold Skarner development. Mostly, during development we do DNA (Design, Narrative and Art) in parallel to make sure every element is cohesive. Narrative having to figure out the state of Piltover, Zaun and Brackern and make sure it retroactively in Arcane and other games in Runeterra universe is a huge undertaking in times of uncertainty. We prioritized getting him into players' hands faster with another compelling backstory than the original.

Winderkorffin

"WHAT'S UP WITH HEXTECH NOW?"

whatever is happening on arcane.

This. And stay tuned for S2 :O!

HandsomeTaco

When we looked into it, what we didn't like about Skarner's lore is that he didn't really control his future and outcome. This really made him someone who was suffering an outcome rather than a main character with compelling goals that can be expanded upon, loved and empathized with. We don't want players to just feel sorry for the sad scorpion.

That's because...you guys only wrote the beginning. Aurelion Sol is literally enslaved by a mind controlling crown, does that suddenly make him unworthy of being a champion? How many heroic journeys begin when the hero loses their family or village? You can be both a hero and a victim, and victimization can be the catalyst for someone fighting for something greater.

Fighting for your species is about as heroic as it gets, and if people "only feel sad" it's because Riot failed in portraying it as an heroic journey. But also, what's wrong with the primary emotion that a champion invokes being sadness? Yorick literally saw his homeland become a twisted mockery of itself and is surrounded by broken husks of people he once knew and loved, and still he endures.

Why they killed them when they can just make it?

You could explain this in a hundred different ways. E.g. genuine Brackern crystals being more potent, which the lore already hinted at multiple times. But also, who says synthetic creation doesn't rely on real crystals anyhow?

At the time, there were also higher level changes to the Lore where we were a bit uncertain the outcomes (One Runeterra was in discussion). We felt that we would be making players wait too long for the rework, if we waited for that discussion to settle.

So the solution was just not so subtly avoiding it, wasting years of writers' work, not to mention an entire Ekko game that got retconned a month after its own release.

While its true we can try to continue the story afterwards... it would be a bit odd for Arcane to not touch on it at all if we are a shared universe. This gives both team creative freedom and space to do their best work instead of putting all of the energy into how to twist a story to fit Skarner's background.

The other problem is that Skarner's lore is already in the space where he isn't given agency. His past story left him collecting the rocks of his brackern. Fairly siloed.. off on his own.

His new background puts him at the center of political struggle of a region.

HandsomeTaco

it would be a bit odd for Arcane to not touch on it at all if we are a shared universe.

Arcane doesn't touch on the ancient goddess who protects and watches over the cities. It doesn't touch on the cyborg spymaster manipulator who has controlled the cities for decades either, in fact it directly contradicts her existence. It doesn't touch on mutated rats or deliquent doctors.

It doesn't touch on those things because stories need to focus on what matters to them emotionally and storytelling wise.

If Riot's perception of PnZ and the world is purely based on what Arcane shows then I weep for the future of the setting.

Fairly siloed.. off on his own.

That just means you could have fleshed out why the Brackern were so powerful to begin with or in what ways they may be important for Runeterra as a whole. If their crystals can warp time, what does that say about them? What if they guarded the world runes? Suddenly you have a much more urgent angle to Skarner trying to mend them.

He could have been tied to a dozen different champions in a dozen different ways, while retaining his angle of "impending Piltovian reckoning", just like ASol is for Targon, just like Mordekaiser is for Noxus, just like Kayle is for Demacia, and many more. These things never stopped you before, but they stopped you now.

His new background puts him at the center of political struggle of a region.

I appreciate new Skarner, I just find most of these arguments nonsensical. Not every champion needs to be some riveting inspiring story.

Arcane was written before one runeterra. Skarner old lore was as well. Every narrative choice we make has consequences and hundreds of hours poured into pros and cons of each decision. We are no longer at a point where we can wave our hands and decide because we want to make sure our Runeterra is cohesive for decades and decades. We learned alot from the past rewrites etc etc. We want to make sure moving forward, every decision matters because it will be held as universe truth.While I can't completely show everything right now, which I understand makes it a bit hard to empathize with what we are trying to accomplish, but these choices did not come easy. It took months and months of looking at options.If this comes from you loving old Skarner lore, it is completely understandable! Players hate it when we take away something that is beloved (I myself still really love the old Trundle lore tbh). We did have to weigh our options here. While its not ideal for you, we did pretty deep research into understanding what players feel is compelling about Skarner (not just reddit, but across demographics). We retained what was compelling while giving Skarner a better shot at becoming a main player.

Zarathielis

Lexical, speaking of Ixtal, we don't have any marksman from Ixtal, can you consider that for the future? And one criticism I saw for Skarner is that we are missing a "benevolant monster" type of champion as opposed to dark/evil or in Skarner's case paranoid. I personally think Smolder has potential to be an upright monster in the future

I think Skarner is still benevolent! He is good to his people, just less logical/good to intruders :) I do think the intention of the spill the beans was not to sell him as evil, but more that he is powerful and awe inspiring. While he is a wise sentient being, he does let his thoughts of a potential outcome get the better himself when driving out intruders. He will chase them down, bulldoze them and smack them with rocks.

I do think Ixtal is missing a marksman mostly because Ixtal is so magic driven. Its an opportunity space that is missing!

FriendlyGhostLady

I'm a bit confused but is the arcane vgu thingy still this year? cause roadmap said next year but then someone said no, it's this year

It this year! But it will be towards end of year, mostly because we don't want to spoil anything!