The 2016 SKT Skins are looking to be one of the most popular skin lines that we’ve seen in quite some time, but there are those who have been less than happy with them for a reason that blindsided Riot: the price. See, as it turns out Riot laid down some very specific guidelines about how they would price skins years ago in a document known as the aptly named “Guide to Skin Price Tiers. In it, Riot explicitly stated that skins that cost 1350 RP could be counted on to he new sounds attached to them.
Guess what the majority of the newest crop SKT T1 skins are missing? If you guessed “new sounds” then you’re already well on your way to understanding the controversy that’s afoot. All of the new SKT T1 skins were announced as 1350 skins, and the discrepancy between what Riot promised in the past and what they’re delivering now hasn’t gone unnoticed by their fans.
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Fortunately, Riot rebounded quickly, and released a press statement that more or less placated their more angry fans. After much explanation about how this situation came about, they finally made the following announcement:
“In the case of the 2016 SKT World Championship Skins, we believe they are priced fairly for what they are: a high-quality execution across a number of dimensions, even if those dimensions don’t 1:1 match our checklist.
But we also know we made a commitment, so we’re going to live up to it. We’re still planning to release these skins at 1350RP in Patch 7.13, but we will release an update to them soon after that adds in sounds and checks those boxes. Honestly speaking, we’re not sure if the skins are necessarily better for it. That’s why they weren’t part of their original design. But we also don’t feel that we’re holding up our end of the bargain otherwise.
This conversation also gives us an opportunity to revamp our policies to match how we currently approach our work. We owe you an updated explanation that really gets into why we make the things we make. We’ll probably also update or retire that article once we can.”
So far there are no specific details as to who will be getting what or when, but the promise that they would, eventually, get upgraded has, for the moment, quelled the rumblings of discontent.
