[2020] Statement from LoR's sound designer on their decision not to include music in the new champ level-ups

Hi folks, I'm Jeff Seamster - Audio Director on LoR and the guy whose face is now associated with this topic (for better or worse). Thought I'd chime in with my thoughts since a 280-character tweet didn't quite capture the whole story.

I'll start off by stressing that no decision about how our game sounds is taken lightly. We went back and forth for a couple of months before deciding to limit music in champion level-ups. Some lovingly crafted writing and sound design go into these moments, and we chose those elements to showcase to our players. But that's just the beginning; here are a few other contributing factors:

• Players (and especially our streamers) often turn the music down or mute it entirely. That includes the music in our older level-ups and without it, they feel rather naked.
• Level-ups have gotten shorter! We’ve got 5 seconds to make these important moments shine, so clarity is key.
• We intend to play music where it will have the biggest impact. It’s entirely possible that we’ll find a way for music to return to level-ups without compromising clarity or player experience.

We're still experimenting a lot with how LoR sounds. There are big plans in store and I'd love to continue sharing what we learn as we go into 2021.

Thanks for listening.