Thousands of Hours of League of Legends

I will be honest, StarCraft scares me. I want to play more, but every time I get online, ready to play a match, my palms get sweaty and my heart takes on the consistency of 50lb chunk of whatever those mineral crystals are that my SCVs are harvesting. One of the great benefits of StarCraft ownership is that it comes packaged with a community that loves to modificate. DOTA (defense of the Ancients) is arguably the most popular mod for StarCraft and it has spawned so many clones and inspired so many variations that DOTA is now more synonymous with a genre than a single game. Riot Games' League of Legends is one such game, so if you haven't heard of this game, come out from under your rock and join me as we jump into Damacia.

League of Legends is one of the most infuriating games I have ever played and that, my friends, is how I know that I love it.

I loved Amnesia: The Dark Descent because it made me turn around in my chair thinking there was someone or something behind me all the while unwillingly soiling myself. I can't stop playing Frozen Synapse because the sense of accomplishment I feel when I can out-plan my opponent makes me feel like a smart human being. Now, I can't stop playing League of Legends because when it goes right, ripping apart the other team with my sword, gun, magic, or Barrel of Grog is a syringe filled with ecstasy being injected directly into the the Limbic system of my brain.

Here's the fact dump: Players (summoners) choose a champion with whom they are commissioned to decommission the other teams Nexus, from which a never ending series of minions spew. Your task is to push along with your minions one of three lanes that lead from your nexus to that of your enemies taking down enemy minions, turrety towers and enemy champions as needed. Seasoned players will be upset with the simplicity of my description because there certainly is more to it, but you learn as you play.

Like all team-based games, League of Legends lives and dies by those you play with, luckily it's easy to make friends over the course of the match, which can vary in length from 15 minutes (someone is doing very well and someone else is having a really bad day) to over an hour (almost always a great game no matter who wins).

Yes there are people there who want nothing more to

make you angry and then question you about it, bro; welcome to the internet. Riot is doing what they can the quell the storm of trolldom from Trollopalis, but there are a lot bridges out there and even more people living under them.

League of Legends is a case study in how Free to Play gaming does and should work. A player can earn all the essentials with gameplay, the only exclusion being full body hats... skins! that's it! The game currency is reasonably priced, as are the items on which you spend it. Free to Play games could learn something from Riot's store. You will sell 1,000 French Maid Nidalee skins before you sell 52 Eve Online monocles, and you will make more money (and friends for that matter) doing it.

They even managed to implement a system akin to what the manshoots are running and gunning with nowadays. Leveling, loadouts, and specializations are all part of the game, under the guise of summoner skills, runes, and masteries.

I will close by stating the obvious... what are you doing still reading this? Sign up and download the client here and hit me up for a game. They call me Antipunk