Continuing my look at games that are breaking the "MMO" mold, this blog will be taking a look at a game that, on this thursday, will be celebrating it's second "birthday." The game I'm talking about is called League of Legends.
League of Legends, developed by Riot Games, actually has its roots in Blizzard, the company behind WoW. In the game World of Warcraft 3 it was possible to make your own maps and gametypes. A man created a gametype that would become exceptionally popular called Defense of the Ancients (DotA). Eventually another man named Steve Feak took that gametype and made a newer more advanced version called DotA Allstars. Not too long after he and a fellow designer got together and created the game League of Legends, which follows the same formula, albeit with some key changes.
League of Legends is a DotA style game that is played online between 10 people in 5v5 games, or 6 people in 3v3 games. The way it works is this: Players choose from a large number of characters called champions, each with their own unique abilities. Their objective is to defend their "nexus," a structure in their base, while trying to destroy the nexus of the enemy. All the while NPCs called minions constantly spawn and move to attack the enemy. Players earn gold and experience for their champion by killing minions, enemy players, and neutral monsters found throughout the game map. They use the experience to level up abilities, starting at level 1 every game and maxing their level at 18. They use the gold to buy weapons and armor which can be used to create stronger equipment, which makes their champion significantly stronger. Along the paths between the bases are towers which are exceptionally powerful, but can be destroyed with persistence.
Player stats are tracked, and they level up themselves based on how they do in games. They use the levels they obtain to make minor upgrades to their profile which effect any champions they play as, including attack speed, health, and experience gained. Players can make friends and play games in groups.
While it could be said this game has more in common with a game like Counter-Strike than WoW, League of Legends is relevant because it spells a different end to the WoW era. The complete abandonment of the MMORPG as a genre. As dramatic as that sounds, let me explain. Essentially, there were only two real types of games played online in the days when the PC dominated that market: MMORPGs and online shooters. Shooters have evolved to adapt to the console generation, while the MMO has largely stayed on the PC. As game developers move on from the WoW generation to different forms of online play, games like League of Legends come about (which has oddly enough spawned its own batch of imitators) which could mean developers are moving away from the MMO altogether, in order to capture a different market.
On that note, another interesting point about League of Legends is that it's 100% free to play. There is no "level cap" for players, none of the characters are restricted to players who pay real money, and none of the gametypes are exclusive. Champion selection has a free rotation that allows players to play a handful of the available champions as much as they want, and as they play they earn in game currency which can be used to purchase and permanently unlock champions, so they may always play as them, regardless of the rotation. Real money may also be used to unlock champions, and is the only way to unlock "skins," extra costumes for the champions, but it's not necessary.
I've actually been playing League of Legends for a bit over a month now. I've paid for a couple of things, but at most I think I've put about 40 dollars into the game. I find it very fun, and I've even gotten several of my friends to start playing. I think what makes it more enjoyable than say getting everyone in on an MMO is the lack of commitment. MMOs require a lot of time and effort to really be rewarding, while a game like League of Legends can give that sort of feeling within about 40 minutes. Does that mean impatience? Or does that mean I don't want to sink half a year into a game before it gets interesting? I suppose that question can be answered both ways, depending on the individual.
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