Plan for vintage Limited Edition skins

Posted on at 6:30 PM by Moobeat
Riot has cooked up a new plan to deal with the issue of seasonal, limited availability skins! All of the Harrowing '10 & '11 , Snowdown Showdown '09 & '10, Winter Games '10, and World Cup  '10 skins will RETURN TO THE STORE for a limited time and then leave again classified as LEGACY skins. As compensation for buying them originally, anyone who previously owned any of these skins will have their RP refunded, given a special vintage loading screen border, and receive a exclusive summoner icon!
The first batch of limited skins to return will be the Harrowing '10 and '11 skins!
Continue reading for the full scoop!

Here's Udyr with more information:

"Hey summoners,

For the past year, we’ve been exploring ways to solve a conundrum with Limited Edition skins. Here’s the crux of the issue:
  • During events from December 2009 through October 2011, we released 34 skins for a limited time and communicated they wouldn’t come back into the store.
  • Since then, our playerbase has grown so much that these skins are virtually never seen in game
    • The most common, Bewitching Nidalee, appears once every 971 games in NA
    • The least common, Ice Toboggan Corki, appears once every 116,586 games in NA
  • Every day we receive heartfelt emails with compelling stories from players asking for the chance to own or gift their favorite skin, either because they missed the brief store window due to travel, illness, deployment, etc., or because they hadn’t joined the LoL community yet. 

We think it’s important to solve this, especially since we believe skins are primarily about self-expression and fun, not exclusivity.  We’ve evaluated solutions such as a trading auction or achievement system, but each has significant negatives.  We also feel that, while it’s important we solve this problem for the majority of players, it’s equally important that we preserve value for those who do own these skins.

Taking all that into account, we decided on the following solution:
  • The 34 Limited Edition skins will become available for purchase or gifting for a limited time during the following months:
    • Harrowing 2010 & 2011 skins during October 2013
    • Snowdown Showdown 2009 & 2010 skins during December 2013
    • Winter Games 2010 skins during February 2014
    • World Cup 2010 skins during June 2014

  • Given the reduction in exclusivity, we will be providing the following compensation to the original owners of these skins:
    • RP equal to the price they paid for the skin
    • Vintage treatment in the loading screen whenever they use the skin

    • Original Limited Edition skin owners will receive this exclusive summoner icon
  • Going forward these 34 skins will be considered Legacy skins, and may on rare occasion also come back for future events without additional compensation

Please note these changes don’t have any effect on:
  • Limited Edition skins that were once in the store but are not part of these events (Rusty Blitzcrank, Urf Warwick, Championship Riven, Riot Singed).  If these skins are ever brought back, they will be treated similarly.
  • Earned Limited Edition skins that were rewarded for events or achievements and never appeared in the store (PAX Twisted Fate, King Rammus, Victorious Jarvan, UFO Corki, etc.).  We have no plans to make these skins available.
  • Other Legacy skins (Riot K9 Nasus, Zombie Brand, Nottingham Ezreal, etc.), which may still come back into the store from time to time without compensation

We believe this is the best solution for the overall playerbase, and look forward to hearing your feedback.  To answer your questions on this and other eCommerce decisions, policies and features, we’re hosting an AMA on Reddit, Tuesday October 15, at 12pm Pacific Time.  See you there!


Here is the list of affected skins and when they will temporarily become available in the store (at some point during the month):

October 2013

  • Mundo Mundo
  • Pumpkinhead Fiddlesticks
  • Kitty Cat Katarina
  • Lollipoppy
  • Zombie Ryze
  • Nosferatu Vladimir
  • FrankenTibbers Annie
  • Definitely Not Blitzcrank
  • Bewitching Nidalee
  • Haunting Nocturne

December 2013

  • Snow Bunny Nidalee
  • Workshop Nunu
  • Happy Elf Teemo
  • Earnest Elf Tristana
  • Old Saint Zilean
  • Re-Gifted Amumu
  • Santa Gragas
  • Reindeer Kog’Maw
  • Candy Cane Miss Fortune
  • Ragdoll Poppy
  • Nutcracko
  • Silent Night Sona

February 2014

  • Vancouver Amumu
  • Team Spirit Anivia
  • Ice Toboggan Corki
  • Union Jack Fiddlesticks
  • The Mighty Jax
  • Festival Kassadin
  • Whistler Village Twitch
  • Curling Veigar

June 2014

  • All-Star Akali
  • Goalkeeper Blitzcrank
  • Striker Ezreal
  • Red Card Katarina"

The Harrowing skin loading frames are already up on the PBE, click here to check 'em all out.

For anyone interested, here are the prices for the skins when they were released - no promises they will stay the same:

"October 2013 - 8840 RP Total
  • Mundo Mundo - 975 RP
  • Pumpkinhead Fiddlesticks - 975 RP
  • Kitty Cat Katarina - 975 RP
  • Lollipoppy - 975 RP
  • Zombie Ryze - 975 RP
  • Nosferatu Vladimir - 975 RP
  • FrankenTibbers Annie - 975 RP
  • Definitely Not Blitzcrank - 520 RP
  • Bewitching Nidalee - 975 RP
  • Haunting Nocturne - 520 RP
December 2013 - 8515 RP Total
  • Snow Bunny Nidalee - 520 RP
  • Workshop Nunu - 520 RP
  • Happy Elf Teemo - 520 RP
  • Earnest Elf Tristana - 520 RP
  • Old Saint Zilean - 520 RP
  • Re-Gifted Amumu - 520 RP
  • Santa Gragas - 975 RP
  • Reindeer Kog’Maw - 975 RP
  • Candy Cane Miss Fortune - 975 RP
  • Ragdoll Poppy - 975 RP
  • Nutcracko - 975 RP
  • Silent Night Sona - 520 RP
February 2014 - 5460 RP Total
  • Vancouver Amumu - 520 RP
  • Team Spirit Anivia - 520 RP
  • Ice Toboggan Corki - 1820 RP
  • Union Jack Fiddlesticks - 520 RP
  • The Mighty Jax - 520 RP
  • Festival Kassadin - 520 RP
  • Whistler Village Twitch - 520 RP
  • Curling Veigar - 520 RP
June 2014 - 2535 RP Total
  • All-Star Akali - 975 RP
  • Goalkeeper Blitzcrank - 520 RP
  • Striker Ezreal - 520 RP
  • Red Card Katarina - 975 RP

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