Four Paths

                League of Legends have four different game modes you can play, each with its own unique way of playing the game and objective. With the four different game modes, each one contains its own map designed for its game play. Along with these four game modes, three of them gives you the choice to choose between playing against people or computers. As new players, I suggest you start off playing against computers as they are easier than real people. The four maps you can play in are called Summoner's Rift, Twisted Treeline,  The Crystal Scar, and The Howling Abyss.

Summoners Rift - Average Game Length - 30-45 minutes

                In Summoner's Rift, you are playing on a team of five people against another team of five people. There are three lanes in this map and some jungle camps. The usually set up for this map is one person goes top, one person goes middle, two people go bottom, and one person would go into the jungle. The main objective of this map is to clear towers, inhibitors, and finally, to kill the enemy's nexus. This map is the most commonly played and main map in League of Legends and also the League of Legends tournament games are played on Summoner's Rift. If you're not use to this map, there is a second option of playing against computers first. This would be great for new people who are not use to the map and want to get a good feel and experience of it.

Twisted Treeline - Average Game Length - 20-30 minutes

                Twisted Treeline is the only map in League of Legends where it is designed for three vs three. Because of the smaller amount of players on each team, the map is designed to be smaller than Summoner's Rift's map by quite a bit. The map only has two lanes and the jungle is in between the two lanes. Twisted Treeline is a great map to play when you're just starting out. Since its only 3v3, you get a much better feel at fighting enemy champions and just experience the game play. Also, if real life people are too hard, this map also has the option of playing against computers.

Dominion - Average Game Length - 15-25 minutes

                Dominion's game play is different than Summoner's Rift, Twisted Treeline, and Howling Abyss. In this map, there are five statues around the map and you have to "capture" the towers. In order to "capture" these towers around the map you or your ally team members have to stand on the towers. It takes about 10 seconds to capture a tower and enemy champions can stop you by attacking you. Once a tower is captured, it starts depleting points from your enemy's points bar. Each team will have 500 points to start and it decreases from there. This game is more like capture the flag, League of Legends style. This game is more chill than Summoner's Rift and Twistedtreeline. I suggest giving this map a try when you just want to have fun and  want to play some capture the flag. And if you're not too comfortable with this map or it's game play, playing against computers is available.

Howling Abyss - Average Game Time- ???

                In the Howling Abyss, it is a 5v5 map and it is a single lane in a small cramped map. The reason for the single lane is because in this map, your champions are chosen at random for you, your teammates, and the enemy. In every game you play in this map, the champion get choose will be a surprise for everyone. There are options to change your champions. Everyone gets two "rolls" which is going to random your champion again, you restore your "rolls" by playing more games in Howling Abyss. Unfortunately, in this map, you do not get the option of playing against computers. This is a great map to just have fun because the gold generating system is faster than the other maps, so you can become powerful quicker. This map is also great to practice your fighting skills in team battles.

               

                These are the four maps are the options you get to choose to play in. Two of the maps are more competitive and the other two are made for more fun purposes. The good thing about these maps is that they tell you what the average game time is, so if you don't have much time to play a game, you could always choose one of the lower average game time maps. If you just want to have fun, give Howling Abyss a try, it will be a fun experience.

 

What do you look for in games?

Do you like winning or playing games for fun?

Unlike Any Other

                League of Legends one of the more popular role playing game (RPG) out there. It is free to play unlike some games like World of  Warcraft and starcraft 2. League of Legends have millions of players playing it actively around the world. Many people prefer League of Legends rather than DOTA 2, Sprite, World of Warcraft, and Diablo 3. According to John Gaudiosi, "League of Legends launched in 2009 and has over 70 million registered gamers with some 32 million playing on a monthly basis" (2013, Gaudiosi).  Because League of Legends has such a large amount of people playing, it is ranked one of the top RPG games. 

 

Pay To Play

                League of Legends is not one of those games where you are pressured in buying in-game advantages with real money. League of Legends does not have any special short cuts, everyone starts off the same in every single match. In order to be good at LOL, you are not required to spent countless money on items or anything that will give you an edge over someone who did not pay money. Also, League of Legends does not require players to pay a membership fee, unlike World of Warcraft, which brings in even more players. 

 

Official Electronic Sport

                Riot, the company who made League of Legends, invested millions of dollars into making League of Legends an E-sport and it has been officially announced an E-sport by the government. The change of status for League of Legends wasn't just in the U.S. but as Gaudiosi said that the funding for league of legends, "turning League of Legends into an international spectator sport and propelling professional gaming into the stratosphere with huge numbers of live-streams. Riot's League of Legends Championship series is currently in its third year" (NPG,Gaudiosi). Not every game could consider themselves an E-sport like League of Legends. 

Caring For The Players

            League of Legends' customer service is outstanding compared to other games. League of Legends have a scheduled maintenance and updates to check for any suspicious activities. This way, you can't hack in League of Legends due to the constant updates, therefore causing everyone to play on a even playing field. League of Legend's customer support is outstanding compared to many games like Maplestory. When you submit a ticket to a customer service representative, you will get a reply within an hour to a day, depending on how many people are being assisted with. Riot's customer service actually care about the players and tries to understand the situation given and tries to resolve it with integrity. This customer services makes games like Maplestory seem like trash, once you've submitted a ticket to Maplestory's customer service, expect a week to a few years for them to reply back. Riot's constant thought about how to improve their player's experience is what keeps a player playing their game.

            Unlike a lot of online role playing games out there, League of Legends has became a very well-known game with millions of players. With League of Legends, you can expect great servers, with no unexpected maintenance, and quick responding customer service with workers who care about your issues. League of Legends is a great game and does not lack in any areas. If you are looking for a free to play game, then give League of Legends a shot. 

      What keeps you loyal to a company?

The Five Roles

               

                In League of Legends there are six different categories that champions are split into. These categories area assassins, fighters, mage, marksman, support and tank. Each of these categories play a role in the game. When you are lower levels, you will most likely won't follow the meta which is currently tank/fighter top lane, assassin/mage middle lane, fighter/tank in the jungle, and marksman and support bottom lane. The meta is the best strategy to play the game. Each of these five roles have their own purpose. You are not limited to one role every single game, try all of them and see which one you enjoy best.

Bot Lane

                 Attack Damage Carry (ADC) is what people call marksmen, they are the highest output damage late game. ADCs have a very strong late game and to compensate this, their early game isn't as strong as the other roles. Their main build is mainly attack damage and speed items, with a defense item or two for survivability. ADCs are known for being "squishy" because their main purpose is to focus on getting items that will allow them to have high damage output. If you enjoy doing high damage output, I suggest you give ADCs a try.

                Supports assist the ADC in lane, whether it is shielding them, healing them, or taking a hit for them. Riotstatikk, a worker for the game's company, said "These heroes excel at supporting teammates typically through heals, disables (stuns, silences, etc.), auras, and ally buffs/enemy debuffs that allow their other teammates to dominate the opposing force."(Leagueoflegends,2010) Supports are not meant to be powerful and their skills are mainly utility. If you enjoy assisting your teammates from behind and having the lowest damage output on your team, then give supports a shot!

Mid Lane

            Mages are commonly referred to as AP (ability power) and are sent to the midlane. Mages purpose is to have high burst damage to assassinate primary targets. With this role's goal, assassins could also be sent middle due to their high burst and most of them have high mobility. Mages have low attack damage so it is harder to last hit minions for gold compared to the other classes. If you enjoy the high burst damage kind of role, mid lane is for you.

Top Lane

                Usually, top lanes are either fighters or tanks. Top lane champions are mainly referred to as bruisers. Bruisers are either attacking the enemy carries or  peeling for their team ADC or AP carries. Bruisers items consist of mainly defensive items to avoid being killed so easily, but some also build attack damage items so they can deal damage to kill the enemy carries. If you enjoy being the guy who can soak up a lot of damage, then I recommend you top lane.

The Jungle

            A jungler is usually a tank or a fighter. The jungler should have the ability to clear minion camps within the jungle at a decent pace. The faster the clear time, the better it is. Besides clearing jump camps, the jungle is suppose to gank lanes to help your team gain advantages, whether the advantage is gained for that lane or team wise. Junglers also should have control of their buffs and decide whether to keep them for themselves or pass it on to a teammate.
If you enjoy surprise attacking enemies, then the jungle is the best role to do just that!

                These roles were the meta in season three, which just ended on November 11, 2013. Season four is approaching and with the previews they've released, there are ma

ny different changes coming. This meta may be obsolete soon and the roles may change. There are many champions available that you may and may not enjoy. During the lower levels, roles do not matter for the most part; one should focus on trying out different champions, and most importantly, having fun with the game.

                What do you expect in the upcoming season 4?

            What part of these roles and their sound interesting to you?

            Which role sounds like it fits your style?