Late to the Party – League of Legends

I have really been enjoying myself in League of Legends. It’s a pretty good PVP game, and one area in particular I think scales well in general (and a good lesson for other games) – the learning curve.

I did the tutorial(s), and jumped into Co-Op vs AI pretty quick for a bunch of levels. Here is where I learned the basics of the game, and familiarized myself with a few different champs (both playing, and against). Took me a while to get comfortable with the constant running away, but hey, it’s a feature!

Level 10 jumped into PVP and they were pretty basic matches – stay in your lane, push towers, clear your lane of towers, push base, win.

I am now only level 16, and sitting at a 36W-26L record. Not spectacular, I know – but it’s all part of the learning. As I progress, the game around me changes naturally as more advanced players are introduced and more advanced tactics. I’m sure somewhere around 20 random teams will start worrying about comps and junglers, but right now the game is advancing in difficulty (generally) as I am advancing in skill (generally). I don’t actually play to win as much as I play to learn. Seems the more I focus on the latter the more the former happens.

This pace, if the average player pays attention and is willing to adapt, is providing a good learning curve. I suspect as I push 30 the games will continue to change to more of what the lvl 30 ranked games look like – I have a long way to go, but looking forward to learning and getting there. While not a MMO, I am actually enjoying the journey.

I even bought some Riot Points (LoL is FTP) and all that really does is helps me to get to 30 faster, if I feel my skills are outpacing my advancement (which it did) and I find I enjoy challenging games more than RoFL stomps anyway.

I’m playing Morgana, who is classified as support – but feels more like ranged damage. I also already own Soraka (support), Taric (support), Amumu (tank) and Pantheon (Melee/Damage). Morgana is who I play the best (and most) but I’m told that it’s good to get good with a various amount of champions in case your team requires a role (at 16, no one seems to care about team comps – everyone just picks their favorite). So I’m twisting in different champs to get familiar and comfortable.

It’s free and worth picking up, just get to level 10 before you decide the gameplay sucks. First few games I really didn’t enjoy myself – but that is because I didn’t take the time to learn the expectations (didn’t watch a video, nada) – the team and strategy aspects really shines through once you get comfortable and a full grasp of what the point is.

Always seem to be late to the good parties. Fashionably late, of course.