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The Summoner's Guidebook: Is League of Legends' grind too much for a competitive game?
League of Legends has had one of the most meteoric ascensions of any current e-sport. From the first tournaments of season one to tomorrow's MLG Summer Arena, LoL has made a bigger splash in the e-sports community than any title launched since StarCraft II. However, the long grind to get to summoner level 30 poses a difficult barrier of entry for players looking to someday join the pros. It isn't necessary to grind levels to unlock +3 infantry weapons in StarCraft, so gating runes and masteries behind a grind seems a bit ridiculous. I've thought that the forced grind was excessive since I started playing LoL. I'm not opposed to having a grind at all, but I've always thought it was silly that levels and runes can't be purchased with real money. Are levels and grinds bad for a competitive game like League of Legends, or does the grind actually improve the quality of player skill at the higher levels?
gamigo's Golfstar MMO tees off
Free-to-play publisher gamigo has added a sports title to its MMO roster in the form of Golfstar, a new title that officially teed off earlier today. Golfstar features five game modes (stroke, match, skins, tournament, and team tournament) and allows for up to 30 players to compete simultaneously on a single course. The game also features a progression element in the form of outfit and accessory collecting, and your virtual golfer can procure clubs, clothing, and a variety of "practical accessories that will make playing easier" according to a gamigo press release. Head to the official Golfstar website for further details, and check out the gameplay video we've got for you after the cut.
Upper Deck's Hero of the Year
This rather strange announcement over on the Upper Deck page about the TCG (in which, by the way, they admit that all of those problems you contest winners have been having giving your codes to Landro are completely intentional -- they're joking, in case you're wondering) is all about one of the cooler things they're doing with the TCG tournament system, something called Hero of the Year. The world champs have already been chosen, but as I understand it, these are like points winners: they may not have won the championship, but they earn points for placing in each tournament, and at the end of the year the person with the most points gets named Hero of the Year, and wins all the prizes associated with that: a free year of Upper Deck product and play, years of GameFly and Netflix, and of course lots of loot cards and exclusive loot. 2009's Hero of the Year is a guy named Jan Palys from Germany -- congrats to him and the rest of the top 10, called the Elite Minions. There's some other fun with this as well, especially if you're planning to hit up an event next year: for the next 12 months, anyone who beats one of these winners in tournament play will get a special exclusive card called Mystic Denial that will block any card your opponent plays. It's a cool idea -- gives you something else to chase as you hit up whatever Upper Deck event happens to show up in your town.
