Game-A-Week Episode 12: League of Legends
Lord DankerinoLast Monday at 1:45 AM
It feels weird to do a Game-A-Week on a game like League.
[1:45 AM]
Because its a game we all know and very few of us actually love.
[1:46 AM]
So, I had a plan for the week. A seven day plan. Where I would do something different each day.
[1:47 AM]
For those who live under a rock, League of Legends is the current #1 MOBA game which is a hybrid genre that was birthed out of a Warcraft III mod.
[1:47 AM]
Its a slow burn to make your way into the other side's base and destroy their base rock or something.
[1:48 AM]
The winner is whoever has the most patience because this game is SLOW. Its honestly a wonder how it became such a big esport force.
[1:48 AM]
Anyway, I feel like a game like this needs no introduction so lets get in to Day 1.
[1:49 AM]
Monday - Throw ranked games
[1:49 AM]
The last time I played this game, the lowest rank was Bronze. But I heard they introduced a rank UNDER Bronze called Iron.
[1:50 AM]
Well, I had to see what kind of shenanigans went on there so for the first day, I went into ranked games and made sure to lose each and every one of them.
[1:51 AM]
I played things no one in their right mind would play.
[1:51 AM]
And let me tell you, the League community has to be the absolute worst of any online community.
[1:51 AM]
I was called many names on this day.
[1:52 AM]
Retarded, a drug addict, a sociopath and some even asked why I bothered to install the game to begin with.
[1:52 AM]
How rude.
[1:53 AM]
Then again, this is a game where playing badly is a bannable offensive so the toxicity pretty much breeds itself. The problem starts with the devs.
[1:54 AM]
In fact, in my first game I played, not only did I have people calling me mean things, but they also all told me they were going to report me.
[1:54 AM]
According to them, this was my last game playing because 9 reports will get anyone banned for anything.
[1:55 AM]
So anyway, seven days later, I'm not banned.
[1:56 AM]
After that, I just reminded anyone who had a problem with me that they were in a rank below Bronze and if they didn't like playing bottom rank, they should prove that they're good enough to make it to the previously lowest rank.
[1:56 AM]
That shut them up every time.
[1:57 AM]
Anyway, Iron turned out to not be as fun as I had hoped. Everyone takes this game way too seriously. Like chill.
[1:57 AM]
Tuesday - Teamfight Tactics
[1:57 AM]
So for Tuesday, I wanted to try out the newest game mode: Teamfight Tactics.
[1:57 AM]
And really, its pretty much a whole new game altogether.
[1:58 AM]
Its a tactics game a la Fire Emblem but with a real time twist.
[1:58 AM]
Apparently, this is a new genre called Auto Chess. Which, funnily enough, started as a Dota 2 mod which started as a Warcraft III mod.
[1:59 AM]
We truly have come full circle.
[1:59 AM]
At the height of League's success, MOBAs were the hot new thing. Everyone wanted to make a MOBA, it was the "cool" genre in the video game industry. And now that the Battle Royale fad is starting to die out, it seems Auto Chess is the new "cool" genre.
[2:01 AM]
Dota's doing it, League's doing it, even the creators of the orginal Dota 2 mod that started it all went on to make their own legit game out of it.
[2:01 AM]
But the only one I care about playing is League's version: Teamfight Tactics.
[2:02 AM]
You place your guys on a grid, and they fight it out automatically according to their Ai.I which is dependent on whatever class they are,
[2:03 AM]
Assassins will jump to the back row, mages and rangers will shoot stuff, warden will fight anything in front of them, berserkers will jump to the front row, etc. etc. etc.
[2:04 AM]
And I really like it.
[2:05 AM]
I love strategy games and this was no different. I'm a thinking man, I ALWAYS prefer strategy games over dexterity games. My brain is my strongest muscle.
[2:05 AM]
That's why my favorite genre of games are turn based RPGS.
[2:05 AM]
I feel strategy always has more depth to it than action.
[2:06 AM]
Anyway, I liked this game mode so much that I stopped when it was 5 A.M. I didn't even realize it had become that late
[2:07 AM]
At first, I tried to get a balanced team going and then I realized that characters of the same type get bonuses when they're on the field together.
[2:07 AM]
So I decided it was better to stack all-in on one type of character.
[2:08 AM]
I tried a lot of different styles but eventually, I found Shadow to be the winning strategy.
[2:08 AM]
The second I got 6 Shadows on the field, that's it. I won. I was taken down to 14 HP trying to set it up but once I did, I never lost a battle.
[2:08 AM]
I was unstoppable.
[2:10 AM]
But I also felt like I had solved the game. After all, how could anyone go up against my perfect strategy?
[2:10 AM]
Well, as it turns out, luck is a big factor in this game and you can't always get 6 shadows before someone takes you out.
[2:11 AM]
Characters come in 6 rarities. Higher rarities are obviously better than lower rarities.
[2:11 AM]
It goes Gray -> Green -> Blue -> Purple -> Gold -> Lux
[2:12 AM]
Yes, you read that correctly. Lux.
[2:12 AM]
There is a rainbow colored tier above gold but the only character in that tier is Lux. Riot must really like Lux because this is hardcore favoritism.
[2:13 AM]
Anyway, at the end of the day, I loved Teamfight Tactics and I absolutely would play it endlessly. Its so addictive!
[2:13 AM]
Wednesday - Chest and Key farming
[2:15 AM]
One of the best newer features League introduced was the loot system. You could get premium stuff like skins for free. Every time you got an S rank, you'd get a chest and every time you'd get honored, you'd get a key fragment. Combine three fragments to make a key and you can open a chest to claim whatever is inside.
[2:15 AM]
Its a fun incentive to play the game.
[2:15 AM]
So for Wednesday, I thought I'd go out of my way to grind them out.
[2:15 AM]
I didn't get any.
[2:15 AM]
Thursday - Any fun game modes available/ play for real
[2:16 AM]
Sometimes, they have limited time game modes available like Urf or Demon Lord Teemo.
[2:17 AM]
None of that was going on to plan B for Thursday was to play my main.
[2:17 AM]
It was Tahm Time!
[2:17 AM]
Unfortunately, Tahm Kench isn't meta and since the meta of 5 champions for every role is all that matters, it didn't go very well.
[2:17 AM]
Friday - ARAM
[2:18 AM]
ARAM is the third and final game mode available.
[2:18 AM]
Everyone gets assigned a random champion to play as and there are no lanes so you can just go at it and have a ball.
[2:19 AM]
It removes all the boring parts of the game so I honestly prefer it to regular League.
[2:19 AM]
I had a good time playing this. I even got to play some character I don't own so that was fun.
[2:20 AM]
League has a pretty solid waifu game going on btw. My newest obsession is Neeko, she's such a QT Pi!
[2:20 AM]
Saturday - Play for real/ play meta
[2:20 AM]
Since I already did Tahm time, it was time for the meta.
[2:20 AM]
So according to the meta, my only god tier character was Leona.
[2:20 AM]
So I played support all day.
[2:21 AM]
I understand why support is the least played role because it feels so passive. Its like you're not even playing the game.
[2:24 AM]
Anyway, asses were kicked and I won like... one game. Playing a god tier character doesn't get you very far when everyone else is ALSO playing god tier characters. In fact, you're at a disadvantage if you don't play one. The game is really becoming like Super Smash Bros Melee where you have a ton of playable characters but only a handful are actually worth using. Its garbage balance like this that makes me play other superior games like Smash Bros Ultimate where the game is balanced enough that every character can be good and you're never at a disadvantage just for playing a certain character.
[2:24 AM]
Sunday - play with friends/ play for real
[2:24 AM]
And the grand finale: It was time to play with friends.
[2:25 AM]
Since my friends are trash, the plan B was to go in for more Tahm Time but I didn't have to. They actually showed up and we all had a good time.
[2:26 AM]
Its real nice knowing I can play Jungle Annie and not get yelled at for being the reason someone dropped from Bronze into Iron.
[2:27 AM]
I may complain about these guys and they get on my nerves a lot for being wrong almost constantly. But when the chips are down, I'm lucky to have friends like these that can turn even the most insipid games into a fun time. I've been with this pack of idiots for almost two decades now and I wouldn't have it any other way.
[2:27 AM]
I just wish they liked the same things I did.
[2:31 AM]
I give League of Legends a 5/10. Its frankly a slow game that gets old fast when every match ends up playing out exactly the same way each time without fail. But I'll be keeping it on my computer. Because its been on my computer for one reason only: Jonah told me to do it. I wouldn't play it on my own, but I'd play it with them. Except for TeamFight Tactics. I'd actually play it on my own. That game is dope. Also, I need to mention, it patches every time I boot it up. Something is obviously wrong and uninstalling and reinstalling didn't help anything. I had to keep my computer running these last few days just so I could bypass the patching. Fix your shit, Riot. I know its not a problem on my end, I've never had this issue before.
[4:21 AM]
Good friends can make even a bad game good fun.
[4:22 AM]
Also, I finished the night with one last Teamfight Tactics ranked match. I was winning so I decided to record the final moments so you can see my perfect army in action.
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