Why I love League of Legends

League of Legends often gets a bad reputation, even among the player base many see League more as an unhealthy addiction than a fun experience. While there is more than enough room to criticize the game, I want to talk about the reason why League is my favorite game and why so many other titles pale in comparison since I started playing it 6 years ago.

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It is free to play

It is rare to find a true F2P game. Many will lure you in only to reveal that good content or normal paced progression is hidden behind a pay wall. In League you can unlock everything relevant through game progression, Skins are the only item that is exclusively purchasable through real money.

Strategy, Tactics and fast reaction times

I like all three elements and combined well, they make a very holistic gaming experience. Even though I played my fair share of ego shooters, reaction times or more broader termed my "mechanics" are not really my strong suit. Mechanics refer to the micro-management of my character, so how good am I able to sidestep skillshots, aim my own skillshots and my general reaction time.

Estimating how much time something takes, predicting enemy movement and actions, estimating the outcome of a skirmish – the Tactics. Maybe my favorite part of the game, psychology also plays a huge part in it. You have to make your opponent scared to take on the next objective. As in real life being determined can often beat pure strength.

The Strategy aspect is to have an overall plan to finish the game. One of the biggest mistakes low ranked players make is to just run around and kill their enemies over and over, the game is not decided by the scoreboard though.

The Competetiveness

There is a ranking system in League of Legends also referred to as "ELO"

Tiers from lowest to highest: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Challenger - numbers are from 2015 , source

The system works pretty good, even though some people might debate that. I am at Platinum V right now and quite happy with what I achieved in League, I know my weaknesses but I refuse to work on them because that would mean self restriction, mondain training and giving up some unique aspects of my playstyle. There is a career opportunity for streaming on twitch.tv when you reach the high diamond tier and if you reach challenger you can get picked up by the professional teams who play in different Leagues sponsored by Riot Games (LCS, LCK, etc). But that also puts high elo players under a lot of pressure, so I do not really plan on becoming a pro.

The Community

A lot of memes and banter, but also people who are very seriously analyzing, strategyzing and idea-crafting different areas of the game and the great content of many League-Youtubers like Videogamedunkey, Singed420, Sp4zie and lately Boxerpete have been always drawing me back to the game. Boxerpete is a secret tip for every toplaner that seeks some guidance: very entertaining but also very educational even though he is a Tryndamere one-trick.

Self-Improvement

For the longest time I thought of League as an unhealthy addiction, a waste of time. But I recently came to suspect that some improvements I witnessed over the last years are connected to me playing League. My clumsiness in real life seriously lessened, I tend to remember things better than I did 8 years ago and I don't trip that often over my own leg.

I also learned a lot when it comes to empathy and synergy. You do not communicate every step, but you trust your team members to understand your tactic and follow along. Same thing as in basketball where you don't announce every move you make as a team but just do it and there are quite complex maneuvers you can pull of in League as a team.

Do you plan to make League of Legends content now?

Maybe some depending on the feedback I get here. I really love the game so sooner or later I will write something about it. The main thing I can bring to the table is understandable advice for people who are new to the game. Diamond and Master Tier coaches might know more than me, but I feel like I am more connected to the actual struggles of a Bronze to Silver Tier Player.

I am also part of a community that plays a specific game mode called ABAM - it is ARAM but you can pick your champion. We sometimes have drama, but overall we respect each other and try to build a community around our favorite game mode, so I might promote my ABAM guild at some point or another here on Steemit.