Close Encounter with League of Legends

File: League of Legends

    

 

Gamer Score - 8.5

Difficulty Score - 8

Mystery Score - 3

Out of all of the games across time, and space I've come into orbit with over the years, League is by far my longest stint with a single one. This type of game will abduct you from all other possible encounters, and I often find myself back in its mysterious light even when different games try to sway my attention elsewhere. Most encounters will come to an end with time, but some titles such as Minecraft, World of Warcraft, or Runescape have been known to linger. With 10 years of experience under its belt, League is no different.

What even is a League of Legends?

League is free to play, and has decent graphics that do not require a gaming computer to play. It falls into the MOBA or Multiplayer Online Battle Arena genre. This style of game is made up of individual online matches, and has no campaign. Each of these matches is a fresh start at level 1 progressing towards level 18, and consists of 5 vs. 5 team combat. The primary objective of this game is to break the enemy nexus inside of their base, before they can break your teams. There is only one map for the most popular mode and ranked queues, Summoners Rift. The game is simplistic in the fact that it is not diluted with too many modes or maps. Summoners rift is split with 3 lanes laid through top, middle, and bottom. Each player has to select what role they will fill for the team, and that corresponding role goes to a specific lane. These roles typically rely on certain champions to fill a need of damage, tank, healing, etc. This setup contends with many types of people, because some will only like to play certain styles, while others think it is great to switch things up by playing all of the roles.

Summoners Rift

Beginning a Match

Once a match begins, the team has to split to their lane to start off the first portion, or 'laning phase', of the game. So the top lane player goes to the top lane right? Well if we follow that suit we have 3 players out of 5 assigned. That brings us to another section of the map, everything in between the lanes is the jungle, where you have a player killing monster camps for gold and experience. Also, helping out the ally lanes is the jungle roles primary calling. The other players subsequently kill minions for their gold and experience in lane, while skirmishing with the enemy lane opponent. Bottom lane is unique though, with a support to help their comrade in lane. The support does not kill minions typically, but instead either pokes the enemy lane opponent, or protects their ally. Killing minions is a skill, and knowing when to trade poke with the enemy feels good if you are the one dishing out damage. The length of this phase of the match typically changes based on the meta of the game, which can be defined as the types of champions being played and the state of the game, which is determined by other variables. A few examples would be turret health, monster spawning rates, or experience gained per minion kill. Turrets are in each lane for both sides, and must be knocked down by attacks in order to move closer to the nexus.

Enemy Turret

Pushing for Mid Game

The reason that team members kill minions/monsters is because they give gold and experience to the champion taking them out. With this gold, items can be purchased inside of your teams base. These items all provide improved stats, passive abilities, and activated abilities that will aid you as the game progresses. Their are a lot of items in the game, and it can be daunting at first. As I became more seasoned the items become more memorable, and build paths seem more narrow depending on the champion. A lot of the same items are used in every game, but I believe having more items would be too many to remember. Every player already has to learn what the different stats, such as attack damage, ability power, armor, etc. mean in order to play the game effectively. The player is required to know what stats have the best synergy with their champions kit. A champions kit is the abilities they have, as well as the basic idea of how the champion is recommended to be played. The best champions in the game have a kit that suits what you desire to do. Whether that is fancy moves to out play your opponent, or to heal your teammate and keep them from dying.This means based on stats, the player is in charge of buying what the champion being utilized requires. While gaining gold to get items, each champion gradually gets stronger from leveling up with experience. Which also allows them one level point to give to an ability their champion has. Almost all champions have 4 abilities that are unique to the champion, and then 2 summoner spells that any player can choose. The abilities of most champions feel good to use, while some champions are very niche play styles. A lot of frustration between the community is with how champions feel to play against and along side. Abilities are extremely important to the game for a few reasons. The obvious reason is so you can use them, it is critical to know what they do, and how to use them effectively together. Another reason is knowledge of your ally and enemies abilities, this will let you know how your allies can help you, and how your enemies can attack you. There's nothing like going against an enemy that you don't understand at all. The enemy can take advantage of this with ease, and dominate you. All of this making sense?? This game does have a hefty learning curve, but I'll get to that in a minute.

League Item page

Now that we understand the basic role/lane progression of the game, lets discuss some of the strategy involved with objectives as we move into the mid game. The objectives that can help you beat your opponents nexus are: turrets, Dragons, Rift Herald, and Baron. The most critical thing to know about these is each team will play around when is the most efficient time to try and secure one of the objectives to help progress through the game in a positive and meaningful way. Stealing an objective, or securing one gives a sense of satisfaction, and success. Sometimes you have to fight with the enemy for these objectives to keep them from obtaining them. This sets up a ton of possibilities that involve team communication, and strategy. Sometimes it can be one of the toughest aspects of league when you are playing with people that you don't know, and have no way of properly communicating with. This is actually one of leagues downfalls for most players. Relying so much on people that you don't know, means you have no idea what skills they holster, nor do you have a clue what their IQ of the game is. The most annoying part about League is when you know exactly what to do, but your teammates do not, and seem brain dead. This can lead to some irritating outcomes, and upsetting defeats.

Dragons

Personal Experiences

I feel that League has always been the most fun with friends, but it's a game that can cause arguments if anyone is competitive at all. With the competitive nature involved, you can form a team with your friends and compete in clash, a tournament style event ran in the client. This can transform the dynamic of the game from a relaxed 'just for fun' experience, all the way into an intense competitive team sport.

I have played since Season 4, and it all started as a relaxed game to have fun with my friends that were also playing it. After a couple of seasons I started to get into ranked more until I had that overly competitive energy oozing from me. This causes a tense, and somewhat toxic setting when not all of the players are in the same mindset, and can also put a lot of emotion on winning or losing matches. The League community is riddled with this same mix of player mindsets, and it can stir a toxic brew. I felt this was the case at its highest point in the later portion of season 6 and beginning of season 7. The parts of these seasons fell in the summer/fall of 2016, when I was also graduating with my bachelors degree, and going into the real world. This is the only time I actually quit league for a few months because it became overwhelming to me. So I took a 3 month break on a game that I have played now for 6 or 7 years. That's the kind of pull this game can have on a person though! There are a few things that have kept me coming back for years. The number is champions keeps growing and is currently at a whopping 148 champions on July 27, 2020. They are constantly adding new champions, or reworking old ones to keep up with the state of the game. Anybody that plays this game can find a champion that they enjoy, or think is cool. You will probably main the champion you think fits your appetite, and learn the ins and outs of playing them. Another major reason to stick around is the patches. Riot games has made a point to constantly updated this game. It gets these patches every 2 weeks, where champions are brought in and out of the meta based on being weakened or strengthened. With a constant rotation of what is good and bad the player base sees different champions in different metas, which keeps the game refreshing. After every season the game also goes through a preseason, where the developers try to change major aspects of the game to improve old systems/graphics, or to add new ideas to the mix!

Conclusion

League of Legends is a fun, well rounded game, but it is difficult to learn because it has so many working parts. Beginners generally struggle with all of the concepts between unique champions, items, and roles. As players learn the game, it is hard to resist the addicting nature of this game. If the player is competitive this will only drive the urge to learn more and progress towards being better or higher rank. When playing with friends the game has its pros and cons like any other game. I would say just have fun, and if you find that you want to be competitive, try to make or join a team for clash tournaments. League also has an incredible Esports scene if competition is your fancy. It is great for seeing the game played at a high level. With a free game you don't see very often where is has such a large community. It does have in game cosmetics to gain revenue, but you don't have to pay anything to play this game in its entirety. Of course I have spent way too much money, and continue to do so for these sweet, sweet skins, but I digress... The champions feel good, and are generally a lot of fun to play, but can seem unfair in the right hands when used against you! League of Legends deserves more credit than it gets, but I can understand peoples frustrations with the community, or matches dependence on others. In short, League will take you on an emotional roller coaster, but at the end you'll just remember it as a great ride. 

Difficulty Score

I scored this game at an 8 out of 10 for difficulty because of its intense learning curve. For some it is easier than others if they can grasp the concepts quickly, or have played a similar game. I would say for the average person it takes quite a while to get everything down, even after gaining an understanding. Putting what is learned outside of the game into practice once on the rift it's a doozy!

Teemo is sad because league can be tough

Mystery Score

League does not have a ton of mystery to it. There will be champion reveals, or teasers that can tend to this need, but otherwise the only bonus content is the lore. Leagues lore is constantly being formed into its own universe. This does call for in game voice lines between certain characters, and story lines outside of the rift, but it is not game impacting. However, lore could be more important soon as Riot continues to release new planned titles that will involve characters and regions from Leagues lore.