LoL

So… ya.  I played the infamous League of Legends the other day.

League of Legends is a multiplayer online game based upon the world-wide hit Defense of the Ancients (DotA).  Users duke it out against bots or other players in 1v1, 3v3, and 5v5 setups.  With the number of characters a player may choose, the spells used, the combos implemented, choices of characters of teammates and opponents, and the huge amount of buffing gear to buy, anyone can do anything nearly anytime.

The game is free-to-play, but too many people get suckered into buying character skins and the champions themselves with cold-hard-credit.  The free aspect is what brings a person in, but the skin buying pays the bills for the LoL team.  Despite the freedom to play, I like to think that I’m a rare exception to the trend.

I’ve hosted and organized LoL tournaments, seen it played, know the discussion, and steadfastly said no to all requests (be they demands?) to play.  But on Monday, my League virginity was taken!  I won’t go into how I came about to play the game - just know that I did not install it on any of my machines!

The character I played was Nunu, the Yeti Rider.  It was a 5v5 easy bot game (so I wouldn’t get completely trounced).  During play, I learned a lot about alts (super-powered, end-all blasts of epic-ness), buying gear, making builds, and staying the frak away from those pesky turrets.

All in all, I had a good time.  The game is not the most fun I’ve had, but it works as a nice time-filler.  I would play again, but League won’t ever see a byte of memory on my laptop.  However, having at least played the game now, I have been granted “critic” privileges over the players of LoL.  I can’t say that I can really bash the game now, especially after seeing nothing inherently wrong with it (that, and it is an official MLG title).  But, for those people who get a wee-bit too much into it, I don’t mind letting them know they’re addicted.

Conclusion – LoL is a good game.  It is free to play.  Some things cost money.  Approach with caution.