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The Summoner's Guidebook: My goals in League of Legends
Whenever I enter a League of Legends match, I have a few goals set in mind. Of course, winning is a goal, but that's not the only goal. My agenda tends to be a lot more long-term, relative to other LoL players. We've talked a lot about meta lately, and it tends to be a hot topic with Season 4's preseason patches shaking up the meta quite a bit. There are a lot of reasons to justify not playing meta. There are also a lot of reasons to take risky decisions that might not pan out.
The Summoner's Guidebook: A League of Legends guide to guides
The goal of The Summoner's Guidebook is and always has been to encourage the development of player skill in League of Legends, especially for beginner and intermediate players. The focus on developing individual skills means that we do fewer in-depth guides on specific elements of the game. When I write about why you should not always buy Deathcap, I'm trying to help you develop the critical thinking skills to look at items and make in-the-moment value decisions about which item is better. I could use any item, but Deathcap has a lot of little things to think about. Either way, there are other guides out there for League of Legends. Let's not kid ourselves here. There are thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands?) of guides out there. Actually, there are probably thousands of websites that provide information on LoL of some kind or another. The Guidebook is really just a drop in the ocean. Therefore, this week I'm going to talk about them.
Practice Timer keeps track of how long you practice your instrument
Continuing in the theme of iOS apps that help you practice with your instrument to become a better musician, Practice Timer keeps a log of how many seconds, minutes and hours you've spent practicing. It is said that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become a master of something. Practice Timer gives you a simple indication of just how far along you are. The idea is simple, and so is the app. When you start playing your instrument, the app starts a timer. When you stop, the timer stops. Start again, and the timer picks up from where you last left it. Unfortunately, the app picks up any audible noise present -- there's no fancy algorithm to distinguish what is a musical instrument and what is the TV. However, there is an adjustable input volume threshold to customize to the volume of what you're practicing on, so unwanted input can be accounted for. Additionally, when looking back, there's a calender that tracks your progress on a daily and monthly basis. Simply select a range of dates to see how much time you've put in at specific points in a month. You can print, email and brag about your log to your Facebook and Twitter friends, too. In practice (excuse the pun), Practice Timer is probably going to be beneficial to kids who need a bit of encouragement and discipline in learning the art of practicing. For everyone else, it's probably not going to be all that necessary to track your practice time in this much detail, but each to their own. Practice Timer would also benefit from some extra features to aid with practicing, like a built-in metronome. Practice Timer is available from the iOS App Store for US$1.99. But do check out a couple of the free options on the App Store first before taking the plunge with Practice Timer.
The Summoner's Guidebook: Controlling space in League of Legends
Zoning is a concept that's been covered quite a bit. The concept of space control is something central to most competitive video games, and Shurelia already made an excellent video on zoning that is very specific to League of Legends. While Shurelia's video is well worth the watch, there are some areas she didn't cover and a few things that could be explained in a little more depth. I would consider this more of an addendum to her excellent tutorial, and you should watch it before you continue on. Controlling space effectively is incredibly powerful in League. Skillful use of zoning can lead to lots of free damage, and even if your opponent is good at avoiding you, zoning can allow you to last-hit in lane or win a teamfight. If you've ever wanted to drive your opponent completely out of the lane, continue on. We've got a lot of ground to cover.
