Riot Games Alter 100 Thieves' Akali Emote
The world of League of Legends esports has been abuzz with controversy following Riot's unveiling of unique emotes created by elite teams. From altered designs to resurrecting past controversies, the release has sparked heated discussions among players. In this article, we'll delve into the details surrounding the emote rollout, dissecting the community's reactions and shedding light on the ongoing debate.
Riot unveiled the unique emotes created by elite teams competing in the top League of Legends esports competitions on August 12. The designs combine smart emotes from teams simply having fun with the memes with artwork advertising the esports team itself.
100 Thieves made the decision to design an emote that showed Akali performing a gesture that players would do to "trash talk" their opponents. Riot changed the emote to what some could consider a less aggressive motion in its PBE release; therefore, that design is not included in the game. SkinSpotlights noticed the difference and made an X (Twitter) post about it
Akali Emote: After (Left) and Before (Right). Credit: SkinSpotlightsHere, you can see the emote before and after the supposed change:
Riot Folded?
League players are furious because they think Riot has tainted what they thought was a fantastic emoticon. Some have even referred to Riot as "Cowards." However, it is still being determined whether the design was altered from its first release or whether it was just an earlier iteration. This is not the only controversy associated with this emote rollout.
Riot is bringing back the controversial bait ping as an emote thanks to Team BDS and its cosmetic design, which prominently features the ping's hook shape. A similar emote of just the hook was previously removed from LoL after the developer found players were using it in an "unacceptable" manner.
Riot's release of unique emotes has undoubtedly made waves within the League of Legends community. The controversy surrounding altered designs and the resurrection of past controversies has sparked passionate discussions among players.
As the situation continues to unfold, it's clear that the impact of these emotes extends beyond mere in-game cosmetics, touching on competitive spirit, player expression, and developer-player relations. It will be interesting to see how Riot navigates these issues and addresses the feedback from the community moving forward.
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Credit: SkinSpotlights & Riot Games
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