"League of Legends is a fast-paced, competitive online game that blends the speed and intensity of an RTS with RPG elements. Two teams of powerful champions, each with a unique design and playstyle, battle head-to-head across multiple battlefields and game modes. With an ever-expanding roster of champions, frequent updates and a thriving tournament scene, League of Legends offers endless replayability for players of every skill level."-Riot Games
Passing through the halls of Biotechnology High School you might have heard the name of this free-to-play game randomly. League of Legends has become the most popular game in the world with over 27 million active daily players worldwide and over 67 million monthly users; a dozen or so are located in Biotech, including myself.
In this post it is my aim to discuss League of Legend's origin, gameplay, and even the culture it has cultivated through its growth. Maybe I can help unravel the mystery of what causes so much excitement within the video game nerds community and potentially even influence some people on-the-fence to try it out because I legitimately do believe that it is the best game I have ever played because it has the core concepts of replayability, competition, interaction, and skill.
Origin
Inspired by the game Defense of the Ancients, a mod for Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, which was created by the highly successful company Blizzard Entertainment known for creating World of Warcraft and all the things that go along with it, Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill partnered with designers to create League of Legends. The Riot Games offices opened in September 2006, and League of Legends was officially released on October 27th, 2009. The game is currently only playable on the computer.
Gameplay
The genre that League of Legends falls under is Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA). MOBAs are very similar to each other in the basic form that there are two teams on a specifically designed arena in which they have to secure certain objectives to win the game.
League of Legends, like most MOBAs, has multiple game modes with different objectives and arenas, but by far the most popular arena goes by the name of "Summoner's Rift," pictured below (recently got a huge visual update!).
In this post it is my aim to discuss League of Legend's origin, gameplay, and even the culture it has cultivated through its growth. Maybe I can help unravel the mystery of what causes so much excitement within the video game nerds community and potentially even influence some people on-the-fence to try it out because I legitimately do believe that it is the best game I have ever played because it has the core concepts of replayability, competition, interaction, and skill.
Origin
Inspired by the game Defense of the Ancients, a mod for Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, which was created by the highly successful company Blizzard Entertainment known for creating World of Warcraft and all the things that go along with it, Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill partnered with designers to create League of Legends. The Riot Games offices opened in September 2006, and League of Legends was officially released on October 27th, 2009. The game is currently only playable on the computer.
Gameplay
The genre that League of Legends falls under is Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA). MOBAs are very similar to each other in the basic form that there are two teams on a specifically designed arena in which they have to secure certain objectives to win the game.
League of Legends, like most MOBAs, has multiple game modes with different objectives and arenas, but by far the most popular arena goes by the name of "Summoner's Rift," pictured below (recently got a huge visual update!).
Because of its extreme popularity compared to all the others', I'll go into detail about how Summoner's Rift works (use image above for reference).
2 teams of 5 people each start either on the blue side (bottom) or red side (top) of the map. Each of these players control one of 120+ characters called champions each with a different playstyle and unique kit of abilities. All of the champions also have lore written about them, usually interconnecting them with other champions in some way. Champions also share a similar look to each other based on their lore origin be it the cute, tiny yordles, the technological Zaun people, the godly Ascended from Shurima, the bloodthirsty Darkin, and the strong Iceborn from Frejlord As you can see the designers really wanted the players to feel fully immersed in the game by providing a story.
But I have digressed. So, the main objective of the a team is to push through the enemy's defenses to destroy their nexus and win the game. To do so, the team usually splits into 5 roles popularized by professional play:
The Bruiser-
The bruiser is usually acquires some items throughout the game that give them the ability to stay in a fight longer i.e be "tanky" and is usually the main front line to protect the "squishies" of a team. They play in the top lane.
The Jungler- The jungler is the team's wild card whose main goal is to pop up every now and then to gang-kill or "gank" a lane to either relieve pressure from his/her team or apply pressure to the enemy team. Junglers vary tremendously in their playstyle and builds; the role's boundless limits surprise me every day. Junglers by their name spend their time in the game going through the jungle, killing neutral monsters for gold and controlling objectives like "Baron Nashor" and "Drake" which give teams significant buffs when taken. The jungle is everything in between the 3 lanes and the objectives mentioned are located in the 2 large pits down the river which connects all the lanes through the middle.
The Mage/Assassin- The middle lane is usually occupied by a mage or assassin type champion. Mages/assassins carry the ability the deal massive amounts of damage in short periods of time and usually have some sort of ability to allow them to escape. The role of the mage/assassin is to quickly get to the back-line and take out the opposing enemy mage/assassin and/or marksman to significantly lower the enemy team's damage output and to also clear the ongoing waves of minions trying to destroy defenses.
The Marksman- The first part of the bottom lane is the marksman, usually called the Attack-Damage Carry (ADC). The ADC does not rely on their abilities to do their damage, but their basic attacks, dealing massive and sustained damage over time. The ADC's job is to "farm" up minions to get enough gold to buy their core items, making them a lot stronger later in the game than most champions, although a lot weaker earlier. ADCs are usually the "squishiest" of champions having little to no escape methods and almost always requiring someone by their side to prevent being taken out and protect them while they do damage from the backline. ADCs are also invaluable in taking objectives and the best ones in the whole game take up the majority of the top leaderboard spots.
The Support-The second role in the bottom lane, and most underrated role in a team is the support. Supports usually sacrifice some power potential from their champions in order to buy items that help out the team in general and be a great utility provider. Support champions vary in build but all have a similar playstyle/kit. Usually, supports are the champions with the most "crowd-control" (CC), capable of locking up or impeding opposing members who are usually trying to get to your ADC. Throughout the game supports also have the main role in controlling vision of the map through small structures called "wards." Wards are an essential part in controlling the map as it gives the advantage of predicting enemy movements and controlling objectives Because of all the strategical knowledge required to masterfully play this role, it is my favorite, even though it is the least popular role in the game.
Together these five roles have to synergize together to create a winning team, which is a lot harder than it sounds. These are just the basics to the gameplay and of course there is a lot more information that can be only explained to players i.e the ranking system and the etiquette system. League of Legends develops communication, strategic thinking, and a variable degree of hand-eye coordination.
Culture
When League of Legends was first released I do not think anyone expected to blow up the way it did. The game has gotten so tremendously popular that all of Riot Games' efforts are focused on League of Legends, they have not produced and have as of now not announced on planning to produce any other game. Even though League of Legends is free-to-play Riot Games has provided very popular in-game purchasables called "skins" which change the appearance and sometimes the animations of champions. Riot Games' revenue in 2013 was +$624 million, which I would say is fairly successful! The company has even spread worldwide and they have offices in 11 different locations:California, Missouri, Ireland, Germany, South Korea, Brazil, Turkey, Russia, Australia, and Taiwan.
League of Legends may be an American product but it has reached peak popularity in the country of South Korea. Ever since the dawn of real-time strategy (RTS) games like Starcraft, South Koreans have treated e-sports like the United States treats American football. "Couples going to gaming clubs is about as common as couples [here] going to the movies." One could even say professional play of League of Legends spawned from the community of South Korea!
Just give a glimpse of just how massive gaming culture has blossomed in South Korea, here is a video of the Grand Finale of the League of Legends World Championships which occurred in October of 2014. Also for any Imagine Dragons fans skip the video to the 3:50 mark and enjoy! Additionally, if you want to see how seriously South Koreans take League of Legends and have a little chuckle in the differences between our cultures skip to the 6:50 mark.
2 teams of 5 people each start either on the blue side (bottom) or red side (top) of the map. Each of these players control one of 120+ characters called champions each with a different playstyle and unique kit of abilities. All of the champions also have lore written about them, usually interconnecting them with other champions in some way. Champions also share a similar look to each other based on their lore origin be it the cute, tiny yordles, the technological Zaun people, the godly Ascended from Shurima, the bloodthirsty Darkin, and the strong Iceborn from Frejlord As you can see the designers really wanted the players to feel fully immersed in the game by providing a story.
But I have digressed. So, the main objective of the a team is to push through the enemy's defenses to destroy their nexus and win the game. To do so, the team usually splits into 5 roles popularized by professional play:
The Bruiser-
The bruiser is usually acquires some items throughout the game that give them the ability to stay in a fight longer i.e be "tanky" and is usually the main front line to protect the "squishies" of a team. They play in the top lane.
The Jungler- The jungler is the team's wild card whose main goal is to pop up every now and then to gang-kill or "gank" a lane to either relieve pressure from his/her team or apply pressure to the enemy team. Junglers vary tremendously in their playstyle and builds; the role's boundless limits surprise me every day. Junglers by their name spend their time in the game going through the jungle, killing neutral monsters for gold and controlling objectives like "Baron Nashor" and "Drake" which give teams significant buffs when taken. The jungle is everything in between the 3 lanes and the objectives mentioned are located in the 2 large pits down the river which connects all the lanes through the middle.
The Mage/Assassin- The middle lane is usually occupied by a mage or assassin type champion. Mages/assassins carry the ability the deal massive amounts of damage in short periods of time and usually have some sort of ability to allow them to escape. The role of the mage/assassin is to quickly get to the back-line and take out the opposing enemy mage/assassin and/or marksman to significantly lower the enemy team's damage output and to also clear the ongoing waves of minions trying to destroy defenses.
The Marksman- The first part of the bottom lane is the marksman, usually called the Attack-Damage Carry (ADC). The ADC does not rely on their abilities to do their damage, but their basic attacks, dealing massive and sustained damage over time. The ADC's job is to "farm" up minions to get enough gold to buy their core items, making them a lot stronger later in the game than most champions, although a lot weaker earlier. ADCs are usually the "squishiest" of champions having little to no escape methods and almost always requiring someone by their side to prevent being taken out and protect them while they do damage from the backline. ADCs are also invaluable in taking objectives and the best ones in the whole game take up the majority of the top leaderboard spots.
The Support-The second role in the bottom lane, and most underrated role in a team is the support. Supports usually sacrifice some power potential from their champions in order to buy items that help out the team in general and be a great utility provider. Support champions vary in build but all have a similar playstyle/kit. Usually, supports are the champions with the most "crowd-control" (CC), capable of locking up or impeding opposing members who are usually trying to get to your ADC. Throughout the game supports also have the main role in controlling vision of the map through small structures called "wards." Wards are an essential part in controlling the map as it gives the advantage of predicting enemy movements and controlling objectives Because of all the strategical knowledge required to masterfully play this role, it is my favorite, even though it is the least popular role in the game.
Together these five roles have to synergize together to create a winning team, which is a lot harder than it sounds. These are just the basics to the gameplay and of course there is a lot more information that can be only explained to players i.e the ranking system and the etiquette system. League of Legends develops communication, strategic thinking, and a variable degree of hand-eye coordination.
Culture
When League of Legends was first released I do not think anyone expected to blow up the way it did. The game has gotten so tremendously popular that all of Riot Games' efforts are focused on League of Legends, they have not produced and have as of now not announced on planning to produce any other game. Even though League of Legends is free-to-play Riot Games has provided very popular in-game purchasables called "skins" which change the appearance and sometimes the animations of champions. Riot Games' revenue in 2013 was +$624 million, which I would say is fairly successful! The company has even spread worldwide and they have offices in 11 different locations:California, Missouri, Ireland, Germany, South Korea, Brazil, Turkey, Russia, Australia, and Taiwan.
League of Legends may be an American product but it has reached peak popularity in the country of South Korea. Ever since the dawn of real-time strategy (RTS) games like Starcraft, South Koreans have treated e-sports like the United States treats American football. "Couples going to gaming clubs is about as common as couples [here] going to the movies." One could even say professional play of League of Legends spawned from the community of South Korea!
Just give a glimpse of just how massive gaming culture has blossomed in South Korea, here is a video of the Grand Finale of the League of Legends World Championships which occurred in October of 2014. Also for any Imagine Dragons fans skip the video to the 3:50 mark and enjoy! Additionally, if you want to see how seriously South Koreans take League of Legends and have a little chuckle in the differences between our cultures skip to the 6:50 mark.
If that is not impressive I don't know what is! E-sports are slowly but surely becoming more and more accepted in society and some interesting examples are that a couple of colleges in the United States have even started offering athletic scholarships to skilled League of Legends players, such as Robert Morris University in Chicago.
Ultimately, after doing all this research trying to explain League of Legends, I decided I do not care what people think of me for playing the game. I may have spent 348 hours, or 15 days, of my life on this game (via wastedonlol.com), but I'll be goddamned, excuse the language, if those weren't some of the most fun and satisfying hours I have ever spent on the computer. Once I heard Biotech was getting to compete in League of Legends I felt the need to clear up some stuff about the game and show how it is so popular and why it got such tremendous love from its community before people started judging.
Ultimately, after doing all this research trying to explain League of Legends, I decided I do not care what people think of me for playing the game. I may have spent 348 hours, or 15 days, of my life on this game (via wastedonlol.com), but I'll be goddamned, excuse the language, if those weren't some of the most fun and satisfying hours I have ever spent on the computer. Once I heard Biotech was getting to compete in League of Legends I felt the need to clear up some stuff about the game and show how it is so popular and why it got such tremendous love from its community before people started judging.