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WhAt Is LeAguE Of
lEgEnDs(LOL?)
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layers are formed into 2
even teams of
Champions, 3v3 or 5v5.
As of June 13, 2013, there are
114 different Champions from
which to choose. Each player
begins at opposing sides of a
map in an area called the
Spawning Pool, near what is
called a Nexus. A match is won
when either team's nexus is
destroyed. To destroy a Nexus,
each team must work through a
series of Turrets placed along a
path to each base referred to as
a Lane. Along the way, each
player gains levels from killing
the opposing team's Champions
and Minions (NPCs that
constantly spawn and attack
the other team) and defeating
neutral monsters. Completing
objectives rewards players with
gold which is used to purchase
items. Game modes and
matchmaking
L
eague of Legends is a
session-based game.
Matchmaking occurs
based on the average Elo
ratings of each individual
players, with slight proprietary
adjustments.
he game can currently be
played in five different
modes: Tutorial,
Custom, Co-Op vs. AI,
Normal and Ranked. Custom
mode allows players to
manually create custom game
sessions that other players can
find on a game list and join. Coop vs. AI is a mode where
players are matched either
alone or as part of a group
against a team of bots.
T
he Ranked mode
originally became
available to players of
level 20 and higher, but
was later changed to only be
available to players of level 30
(players can still queue for
Ranked games if they are over
level 20, but only if they are in
an arranged team). Ranked uses
Draft Mode where each team
can ban up to 3 champions from
the game, and the two teams
cannot play the same
champion. In addition,
opponent Champions picks are
visible before the loading of the
actual game. Second, an
exclusive, visible rating is
T
calculated based on the player's
performance in Ranked games.
The player is placed on the
ladder according to their rating,
and top teams on the ladder
have a chance to compete in the
"$100,000 Global Finals" at the
end of the season. Season Two,
launched in November 2011,
introduced the addition of sixban games, ranked teams and a
complete change of the
masteries.
Fields of Justice
M
aps in League of
Legends are called
"Fields of Justice".
There are currently four Fields
of Justice that the players can
choose from, three 5-vs-5 maps
and one 3-vs-3 map.
A
match puts two teams
with a fixed number of
players against each
other. Each team has its base,
which contains the re-spawn
point, item shop and nexus. The
two bases are connected by
lanes. Periodically, waves of
minions spawn from the nexus,
AI-controlled troops that walk
down the lanes, engaging any
enemies they encounter. The
lanes are lined with turrets that
engage enemies within range.
Once a turret is destroyed, it
cannot be rebuilt. Each lane has
an inhibitor on both ends.
Inhibitor is a building that
prevents powerful "super
minions" from being spawned
for the enemy team. The team
that destroyed an inhibitor will
gain a temporary advantage,
but inhibitors will respawn after
5 minutes.
B
esides the lanes, the
maps also contain
"jungle" areas, which
contain neutral monsters to be
killed for bonus gold and
experience. Some powerful
neutral monsters grant the
killer a temporary buff that will
help them in battle. Another
special terrain feature is the
brush. Brush blocks the line of
sight of units, allowing
champions to hide and set up an
ambush.
T
he goal of each team is
to destroy the enemy
Nexus. The first team to
achieve this is the victor.
Victory is also attained if the
opponent surrenders, using a
voting system where 70% of the
team must agree (4 of 5 players
usually), but only after enough
time has passed.
Dominion
mode. The Teleportsummoner
getting enough experience. The
must be unlocked in the Store and
ominion is a
spell is not available in
Summoner can also choose two
it is possible to have more than
game mode
Dominion. This game mode is
summoner spells. These spells
one copy of a rune. Summoners
released by Riot
aimed to be much shorter than
significantly impact gameplay,
must arrange their runes in the
Games in September
conventional 30-45-minute
and have a high cooldown while
Runebook to benefit from them.
2011.[11] Dominion brings faster
classic games: most Dominion
costing no mana. All spells can be
The Runebook has limited
action and tactical gameplay
games average about 15–25
improved by masteries, which are
number of slots for each rune type,
played on a new map, The Crystal
minutes in duration.
developed in a skill
but more rune pages can be
tree.[13] Masteries are perks that
purchased from either Influence
affect gameplay, structured in
Points or Riot Points. Combining
a skill tree. All of the masteries
two equal-tier runes produces a
are passive effects, although some
random rune of the same tier,
he Summoner
augment summoner spells, which
while combining 5 equal-tier
acts as the
can be activated. They are
runes produces a higher-tier rune.
persistent element
grouped into Offensive,
D
Scar, and features a new Captureand-Hold playstyle. The
Inhibitors and Turrets have been
removed - instead, the map has
five Capture Points. Capturing
one of these points will turn it
into a Turret and allow it to start
spawning minions. Item
availability is also different in
Dominion,. Two new summoner
spells,
called Garrison and Promote were
released with the new game mode,
Persistence and
meta-game
T
in the game, to be used to track
Defensive, and Utility categories.
statistics and scores for each
Masteries can be re-distributed at
player.
will between battles.
T
ummoners
Similar to masteries, runes affect
additional options through Riot
gain experience
gameplay in minor ways. Runes
Points (RP) and Influence
points and
are categorized into Marks
Points (IP). Riot
S
"Influence Points" (in-game
(offensive), Seals (defensive),
in Summoner's Rift. Promote is
currency) for each battle they
Glyphs (magic) and
no longer available in either game
participate in. They level up by
Quintessences (utility). Runes
with the latter also being available
he League of
Legends Store
allows
Summoners to purchase
Points must be bought using real
money, while Influence Points
are earned by playing the game.
M
oderation is
submitted reports are reviewed by
demonstrated. A consensus
bans are distributed manually."
conducted
other players on a case-by-case
renders the decision official. It is
Reviewers receive a Justice
through a
basis. The reviewing players then
notable that players are unable to
Rating based on their accuracy to
democratic system known as The
submit their opinions on the
be permanently banned through
encourage thorough analysis of
Tribunal. In this system, player-
legality of the behavior
this system, since "all permanent
cases.
Tournaments
World Championships in June
US$5,000,000 would be paid out
based client had been quickly
2011. The event, held at
over Season 2. Of this 5 million,
developed, designed for use in
at Dreamhack in Sweden,
2 million will go to Riot's
tournament environments where
featured US$100,000 in prizes.
partners including the IPL and
the effects of lag and other
The European
other major eSports associations.
network issues can be detrimental
team Fnatic defeated teams from
Another 2 million goes to Riot's
to the proper organization of an
Europe, the USA, and Asia to
Season 2 qualifiers and
event. The LAN client was
win the tournament and received
championship. The final one
deployed for the first time during
US$50,000 of prize money. Over
million goes to small organizers
the first quarter-final and semi-
1.6 million viewers watched
who apply to Riot to host League
final matches played following the
streaming broadcast of the event,
of Legends tournaments.
re-scheduled matches, and was in
L
eague of
Legends has long
been a focus of
public competition. The
2010 World Cyber Games Grand
Finals in Los Angeles hosted
aLeague of Legends tournament,
at which teams from China,
Europe, and the America
competed. The Counter Logic
Gaming team from North
America won the tournament,
earning a $7,000 prize.
C
ompetitive play
reached new heights
at the Season 1
fter Season 1,
f
led to several matches being
Assassins (TPA) triumphed
Riot announced
delayed, Riot revealed on October
over South Korea's Azubu Frost
that
13, 2012, that a special LAN-
3-to-1 in the Finals of Season 2
with a peak of over 210,000
simultaneous viewers in one
semi-final match
A
ter a series of network
use during the finals
issues during the Season
On October 13, 2012, Taiwan's
2 World Playoffs that
professional team Taipei
World Championship, and
On March 23, 2013, the
cosplay contest and a challenge
-that Shinichi Nakamoto ported
claimed the $1 million in prize
cinematographic studios in Rome
match between two Italian clans.
bomberman to the original
money.]
hosted the Italian launch
Nintendo in a single 72 hour
of League of Legends; more than
game!
1500 people were present, along
As of 2013, League of Legends is
the most popular e-sports game in
South Korea.
journalists and various guests.
DiD You
KnOw?
-That Marios job as the referee
in the pucnh-out!! wasn’t planned
The show schedule included a
Developement
R
with Riot Games developers,
iot Games was cofounded by
Brandon Beck
and Marc Merrill. They
partnered with Steve "Guinsoo"
Feak, the previous designer of the
popular Warcraft III: The
Frozen Throne custom
map Defense of the Ancients, and
Legends. Using the original
than another Mod of Warcraft
September 2006, and currently
DotA created by Eul (the original
III began to materialize at the
has about 100 people working
Defence of The Ancients map for
end of 2005. League of
on League of Legends, "including
Warcraft III as a base, Guinsoo
Legends was born "when a couple
their robust technology platform to
made DotA Allstars by inserting
of very active DotAcommunity
service and operate the game as
his own mix of content, greatly
members believed that the
well as a team dedicated to
expanding the number of the
gameplay was so much fun and so
community relations."According
heroes, and adding recipes,
innovative that it represented the
to Marc Merrill, when creating
numerous items and various
spawning of a new genre and
the various champions in the
gameplay changes. Guinsoo then
deserved to be its own professional
game, instead of leaving the
passed version 6 of the map on to
game with significantly enhanced
champion creation to just a few
a new developer, IceFrog.
features and around-game
people, they decided to open up the
services."
champion creation process to
Steve "Pendragon" Mescon, the
administrator of the former
official support base for the map
(www.dota-allstars.com) to
develop League Of
The idea of a spiritual successor
to Defense of the Ancients that
would be its own stand-alone
game with its own engine, rather
R
iot Games
officially opened
its office in
everyone in the company based
upon a template where they could
vote on which champions made it
into the game.
POEM TO A GAMER!!
A Sonnet To A Hedgehog:
Running at the speed of sound
A sight seen by precious few
Always running, the blur of blue
In thirty-two seconds he runs the world 'round
But to this planet Earth he's eternally bound
We know of his color but what of his hue?
Is he truly mellow as yellow Honeydew
Or grey and saddening as an unkept pound?
Always running for to crack an Egg,
Will there truly ever be an end
To the running, cycle, or fleeting youth?
Eventually he'll have to rest a leg,
Or hear the sound of a creak when he'll bend
For isn't the definitive truth?