Riot Games has spent a lot of time and energy trying to make it's game's lore matter to the actual experience of playing it. To date it hasn't really succeeded, but it seems hard to argue with that fact that killing off a character (at least for a while, comic book style) will have some people sad that they can't use their favourite champion.
Yes, Gangplank, the stalwart pirate of the Summoner's Rift has been killed by Miss Fortune as part of the game's Bilgewater event. As you might expect, this hasn't pleased those that spent time or money building up their resources in order to buy Gangplank so they could play with him on a regular basis. Others still bought skins and other cosmetic items for him, so they're rather annoyed that Riot has removed access to the champion.
However, clearly Gangplank will make some sort of return, as instead of addressing fan concerns directly, Riot has instead played into the idea that it is unsure of what's going on and is saddened by the death of the character.
"Champion death is unprecedented in League of Legends, and we do not take it lightly. We encourage all Gangplank fans to remain calm for a few days until we can fully assess the situation," Riot wrote on the official forums.
"At this time, we are not addressing refund requests for him or his skins but please know that over the next several days we’ll do our best to make things right for everyone."
Making an ever evolving, ever expanding game make sense for players is hard enough, but tying in the lore so that that makes sense in the context of the game is an even more difficult task. Do you think Riot is doing a good job?
