League Of Legends is what got me through college. In between cramming for exams and smoking my weight in ganj, I battled on the fields of Summoner’s Rift. For weeks after I graduated, I did nothing but wake up, eat and play League . Thousands of games and hours have been funneled into my mains Sion and Annie, desperately trying to climb that ranked ELO ladder. About six months ago, after an unfortunate accident involving a tipped over bong, my gaming laptop was no longer usable. League left my life almost immediately, with all of my practice going straight down the toilet.
To get my competitive gaming fix, I started playing Overwatch on Xbox, quickly realizing that FPS just weren’t for me. Then, I moved onto Hearthstone , but it just doesn't have the same level of engagement as a high-stakes 50-minute League game. A few days ago, I finally splurged on a new gaming PC, one that can handle all the popular games, including my League Of Legends bae.
After six months away, how has my League Of Legends experience transformed? The answer: not very much. There are 10 bans, weird client missions and seven new champions, but the game and community are still pretty much the same.
Toxicity Awaits- League Of Legends has the most toxic community of any video game I’ve ever played. I’ve been called horrible words in Overwatch, been added after a Hearthstone game to get called “trash” and even heard some truly awful stuff getting thrown around in the PlayerUnknown: Battleground lobby, but never anything to the extent that I find in an average League game. In silver and gold ELO, players tend to want to quit after a few failed ganks or start to tilt to oblivion. I remember a game where I played as Rammus and couldn’t gank because every lane was pushing up to the enemy tower. They berated me in all chat, telling the other team to report me for “not ganking” and, to spite me even further, our bot lane started intentionally feeding.
I can say, after my few months away, that nothing has changed. Teams can now surrender at 15 minutes, meaning that teams have even less time to convince their allies they can win. I’ve played nearly all my placement matches for the season, teaming with players in low silver and high silver, and boy do they love to give up. In one game, our Rammus failed to gank an Orianna, giving two kills to the enemy Kayn, which meant the game was unwinnable. “You guys keep playing, but I’m afk,” the spiked menace typed as I heard the familiar “a summoner has disconnected.”
But I Still Love It- The thing about League Of Legends is every once in awhile you have that perfect game that reminds you why you play. Nobody flames because you’re crushing the other team, meaning everyone is actually working together. It’s a rare sight to behold, but like the Aurora Borealis or an Overwatch cinematic, it’s beautiful to see. As Sion, I ended 9/1/6 and actually had a good time stomping the enemy Teemo. Remembering how to kill creeps with last-hits, knowing when to jump into a teamfight and when to sit back are all skills that came back to me after a just a few games.
I may hate League Of Legends for its rapid balancing cycles that are impossible to keep up with, its overpowered champions and the rage quitters, but I’ll play it all the same.
How long have you been playing League Of Legends? tell us in the comments.
