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The Summoner's Guidebook: You're wrong about the LoL community
I'm finally home from PAX, and I'm exhausted. And if there's one thing everyone I talked to mentioned, it's that Riot Games was the elephant in the con. Everyone was comparing something to a similar thing Riot did, whether that was mistakes made or successes had or risks taken. League of Legends is enormous, and even as a columnist for the game, I didn't really grasp just how big it was until now. Let me paint you a story. I'm familiar with fandoms. They're not a new thing. However, when you go to a huge convention and you see that probably a quarter of the people play League of Legends, it changes your perspective. When every non-Riot developer talks about LoL, it opens your eyes to just how pervasive the game is. There was another unified thing about everyone I talked to who played LoL: All of them hated jerks. None of them were intentional trolls, and everyone loved the game and wanted to make it better. All the Riot staffers I talked to preached the same mantra: "It's all about the fans." It's clear that their attitude has paid some pretty big dividends. There's a lot of you guys, and you're all pretty awesome.
PAX Prime 2013: Riot Games' Whalen Rozelle on LoL Season 3
I was really excited to step into Riot's press room on Friday at PAX Prime. We had just finished the first series of matches of the day, and it was pretty exciting to talk to people about the matches yet to come. But I don't think anyone was more excited to talk about League of Legends' e-sports scene than Whalen Rozelle, or RiotMagus as he's known on the internet. As the senior e-sports manager at Riot, he's tasked with making sure that events run smoothly, and I took the opportunity to ask him about the format for Season 3 -- especially improvements over Season 2 and the lessons Riot will be taking into Season 4.
The Summoner's Guidebook: Performing under pressure in League of Legends
"Clutch" is one of those universal skills that I never really developed. In ranked or tournament play or any time when the outcome of a League of Legends match "matters," the ability to perform under fire can make a huge difference. But I am not one of those people who can claim mastery in this skill. I mostly rely on improving my overall play level, which naturally improves my ability to play under stress. However, coping with stress in tough situations is important. If I'm in a bad situation and my play gets worse, that's no good even if my skill level is high. I want to step up when the chips are down, not struggle.
Government bans female League of Legends characters at Iranian tourney
League of Legends players will be short a few fighters at Iran's World Cyber Games tournament that's scheduled to begin on September 12th. The Iranian government has its knickers in a knot over some of the MOBA's more scantily clad femme fatales, and so tourney participants will have to do without the services of champions including Ahri, Miss Fortune, Lulu, and dozens of others. Kotaku reports that WGC Iran may be forced to shut down the tournament altogether if it doesn't comply with the ban, though it's worth noting that a few female avatars are "under consideration for tournament play."
The Soapbox: Actually, that really isn't an MMO
In last week's edition of The Soapbox, Mike Foster argued that online gaming has evolved over the past few years and that the term MMO should be expanded to cover other online games like MOBAs. He examined the blurred dividing line between new online games and the classic MMOs of yesteryear, and he made the controversial argument that Call of Duty and League of Legends should now fall under the MMO umbrella. I found myself disagreeing with many of Mike's arguments and wanting to make additional points of my own, so this week I'd like to offer a few counter-points on the same topic for debate. The MMO market has certainly evolved since Massively was founded, with some pretty big innovations in gameplay and new ideas like the free-to-play business model taking hold. As much as people like to complain about a lack of innovation in the games industry, the same level of experimentation and evolution has hit industry-wide. Call of Duty has borrowed unlock and XP systems from the world of orcs and dragons, and League of Legends came from nowhere to be at the forefront of a global MOBA revolution, but neither of them is an MMO by any stretch of the imagination. In this in-depth opinion piece, I break down the definition arguments surrounding the term MMO, offer a reasoned view of where the line can and should be drawn, and look at why Massively covers games other than MMOs.
The Summoner's Guidebook: Advice on buying League of Legends champions
One thing that really bothered me about all the various League of Legends guides available is that none of them covers which champions to pick up. A few role guides (mostly jungle guides) tackle character choices, but most are not geared toward new players. If I'm a new player on a tight budget, which characters would be the right ones? This week, we'll look at some of my favorite bargain bin picks and which roles they are good for. I'll also be talking about Dominion roles since there are some picks that work very well for that mode.
League of Legends compromised; North American accounts and transactions accessed
Riot Games has just issued a letter to League of Legends players revealing that North American account information has been compromised by hackers. According to the message, usernames, email addresses, "salted password hashes," and real names were accessed. Riot insists that password information is unreadable but that players with easy-to-guess passwords might be at risk. Also accessed were hashed and salted credit card numbers from around 120,000 transactions made in 2011. Riot noted that the payment system in question has not been used since July of 2011 and that it is "taking appropriate action to notify and safeguard affected players." If your information was affected, you will receive an email from Riot. All North American players will be required to change their passwords "to stronger ones that are much harder to guess." In the meantime, keep an eye on your accounts for any suspicious activity.
The Soapbox: That's not an MMO
You may not be aware of this, but Massively is a website focused primarily on massively multiplayer online games. It's kind of what we do. However, the world of MMOs in 2013 is far different from the world of MMOs in 2007, when the site was founded. The niche has changed and the games industry has evolved. There was a time when "online" told you everything you needed to know about a game because there was really only one type of online game. You knew in picking up an online game that you and some friends would be leveling, looting gear, and slaying dragons. It took a while for developers to notice that online play was actually a thing that could work in more than one particular format. Nowadays, online games range from traditional MMORPGs like Guild Wars 2 and RIFT to MOBAs like SMITE and League of Legends. There's no clear definition for what an MMO is or isn't because so many games are massive, multiplayer, and online. Maybe it's time to embrace MMO as a broader term than previously thought.
The Summoner's Guidebook: How to be the best at League of Legends
What does it take to be a top League of Legends player? A lot of people sell themselves short, saying, "I could never be as good as HotshotGG," but I think that's a falsehood. Don't mistake me, I do think that most of the current LoL pros (including Hotshot) are prodigal. I do think that they got to where they are partially due to natural talent. I've watched a lot of streams and interviews and listened to pros talk about their training schedules, and I can honestly say that while they do practice a lot, most of them don't practice enough. But no amount of talent can replace the other skills you'll need. Even if Pobelter has a natural ability to dominate LoL matches, he has refined that talent through hard work. If you practice the skills here dilligently, you can get in the top levels of the solo-duo ranked ladder and you can get picked up by a pro team.
The Summoner's Guidebook: Stealth mechanics, stiletto heels, and League of Legends
Recently my League of Legends games have included a lot of solo mid (mostly by choice), and while I play Syndra quite a bit because she's really fun, I've had the most success playing Evelynn. I've had a fair number of games where I've carried my team kicking and screaming over the goal line despite their insistence on making awful decisions. I just walked into teamfights, hit R, and proceeded to steamroll their entire team after a completely dominating laning phase where I ganked everywhere including the enemy jungle. Evelynn's pretty much the polar opposite of Poppy. They both have blue skin, but the similarities pretty much end there. Poppy is a tiny tomboyish warrior in plate and chain with a mighty hammer and a direct approach to problems. Evelynn is a subtle temptress with stealth, vampiric abilities, a supermodel figure, and an outfit that suggests that "lady of the night" might have a double meaning.
The Summoner's Guidebook: Divorcing skill from teaching skills in League of Legends
League of Legends is a game where skill takes many forms. Knowledge is a skill, as is mechanical execution, adaptability, decision-making, and prediction. In LoL, the emphasis is mostly on decision-making and knowledge. This doesn't mean that the other skills aren't necessary to become a great player, but being a good player mostly requires those skills. I've said it once and I'll say it again: I'm not a great player. If I were, I'd probably be trying to get on a pro team (or I'd already be on one). Even "good" is debatable. I am kind of emotional when I play, and it messes me up. I tend to surrender vote early, which sometimes brings my team down. I am not a team player. I tend to rely on my superior mechanics. Even my mechanics are bad compared to great players. I tend to think of myself as OK at best and that most people are just awful. However, I also think I'm pretty good at teaching people how to play. LoL has a lot of games-within-a-game to play, and I'm not too bad at explaining how those things work over time. I'd like to think I'm good at giving commentary (both positive and negative) to a player trying to learn. I could be a coach, and I sort of am -- I get to coach all of you guys, after all.
League of Legends steels itself for patch 3.10
How do you know when a patch is a big deal? How about when its designation ends with a zero and when it has its own seven-minute preview video. League of Legends patch 3.10 has both of these, and while it's not yet live, players can check out the full patch notes and patch video to prepare for the changes. Patch 3.10 begins with a nerf to Elise's spiderling pets and her rappel range. It goes on to make Twisted Fate's passive fit his gambling theme better, make a few jungle tweaks, take runic bulwark out, and add a new mid-level magic resistance item to the game. You can check out the 3.10 preview video after the jump.
The Summoner's Guidebook: Wealth and power in League of Legends
Although it's nothing unusual to see commenters complain about something I wrote in the Summoner's Guidebook, last week I noticed a trend. A lot of people explained things like "Karthus is good with a Tear," which led me to believe that there were some bad assumptions that were held by some of you. Sometimes we take certain things we know for granted. It's why people say League of Legends is an easy game when it's actually very difficult and complex. In the same way, I mostly assumed that people understood the basic idea of using wealth to get you ahead in the game. However, it seems like for the most part people do not. Everyone understands the idea that getting gold gets you items and items make you stronger. However, it doesn't seem to be widely understood that because you can turn wealth into power, you want to turn it into as much power as you can right now and leverage it to put you ahead. Power now is always better than power later.
Owner of e-sports team charged with participation in massive hacking operation
What do League of Legends, Dota 2, and Counterstrike have in common? If you answered "all three games were played by eSports team Moscow 5," you are remarkably well-informed and also correct. And if you're that well-informed, you also probably know that the team owner, Dmitry Smilianets, was arrested a year ago as part of an investigation by the FBI. What you might not be aware of is that Smilianets has now been officially charged with taking part in a massive hacking network along with five other Russian and Ukranian nationals. According to a statement by U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, this represents the largest such case tried in the US, as Smilianets and his accomplices are charged with stealing at least 160 million debit and credit card numbers. Smilianets is in custody, as he was arrested while sightseeing in the United States, and is expected to be in federal court next week.
The Summoner's Guidebook: When to buy LoL's Tear of the Goddess (or not)
One of the things I see a lot of in normal and ARAM games is far too many Archangel Staves. It's my personal opinion that Archangels are one of the most overrated items in League of Legends, but it wouldn't be good to just talk about them. It'd be the shortest issue of the Guidebook ever: "Basically just don't buy Archangel's Staff ever." Instead we're going to look at its primary component item, Tear of the Goddess. Tear is a more useful item to look at because it has some easy comparisons for other items buyable in the same price range. I think that when people buy a Tear, they don't realize how much they're giving to their opponent.
Uncle Sam: League of Legends pros are pro athletes
"The United States government recognizes League of Legends pro players as professional athletes, and awards visas to essentially work in the United States under that title," Riot e-sports manager Nick Allen tells Gamespot. Allen says that international tourney organization is now much easier, though getting the initial batch of visas was a "lengthy process" that required a lot of legwork in order to provide enough proof to satisfy government officials.
Riot is apparently a really good place to work
Business Insider has teamed with Glassdoor.com to publish a list of the 25 best tech companies to work for, according to those companies' own employees. Reviews and ratings were compiled spanning the past 12 months, and only companies with more than 25 employee reviews were considered. Riot is the only gaming company on the list, but the League of Legends studio places a respectable fourth thanks to glowing employee feedback. "The company takes ridiculously good care of us, and tries every step of the way to make sure we're engaged culturally, intellectually, and socially with the industry and each other. It's by far the best place I've ever worked," gushes one staffer.
Anonymous donor posts 500K bail for jailed League of Legends player
Two weeks ago we reported that a teenager from Texas was incarcerated last March after his comments on Facebook during a verbal exchange with another League of Legends player were deemed terrorist threats by authorities. Jailed for months, Justin Carter has been in solitary confinement after repeated assaults by other inmates and on suicide watch due to depression. After reading about Carter's plight, numerous folks have stepped forward to sign the petition for the boy's release. Another anonymous donor has come forward and donated $500,000 to the family to meet bail, allowing Carter to return home until his court appearance on the July 16th.
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.
The problem with F2P is dishonest product marking, says David Paris
Game developer David Paris has penned a new blog at Gamasutra focused on the stigma of free-to-play business models. Paris, whose bio lists him as the builder of the world's first subscription-based internet MOG (Valhalla), says that there's nothing inherently wrong with F2P that more honest product marking won't fix. And thus we come to the core of the problem - the lack of honesty about how much impact IAPs [in-app purchases] have on games. The truth is that F2P monetization is frequently very much about concealing exactly this impact from its players so that we will either play until we are so invested that we will cough up and pay, or so that we'll provide an audience for the whales to lord it over. Burying pay-to-win mechanics under an initial layer of skill-to-win, providing advantages that become required for competitive play, roadblocks or surprisingly reduced game functionality tucked underneath paid barriers that weren't obvious when you started. He cites League of Legends and Marvel Heroes as games that do it right and wrong, respectively, though he does criticize LoL for failing to offer an all-the-content-for-a-single-price option.
