Yeah yeah yeah... #1) I haven't written here in forever. #2) What rock have I been under to have ignored a booming game in the past 2 years?

I've been under this rock called WoW, and I've been diillusioned for too long thinking it was the GAME FOR MEH! So now I'm starting to actually try out lots of new games and send my $ elsewhere.

Well I downloaded LoL for the first time last week. I didn't really know what to expect I suppose. I haven't played DOTA or HoN in ages. My HoN friends are way too competitive for my liking and I seriously can't play HoN without foaming at the mouth before I scroll back to base and buy my boots.

Lately I've been insanely curious about LoL - it has a huge fanbase, HoN recently went the same free to play way, and the character art is always so... inviting? Riot must be doing something right.

When you first login you have to choose your SUMMONER name - I was confused and didn't realize it wasn't the same as your login name. My impression was it was there to prevent people from trying to link their names to their logins AKA getting hacked, but also to make a unique identity. It really gives you the impression you are a 'Summoner' starting to learn about this weird game you're participating in.

I went with all the Tutorial mode options since I really had no idea how game play here worked. The tutorial was super easy to understand, and reading the tips along the side was actually helpful as opposed to just redundancy of what the tutorial was telling you. And in the Battle Training one there is "quests" that help you learn the map and creep spawns, which I feel they did a great job with.



But I have to say this right now: OMG. THIS. ANNOUNCER. VOICE. It is so robotic and emotionless, monotone really. It annoys the hell out of me. It's like she has this bullshit concern for the well-being of my champions! STFU! (They seriously need announcer voice options or the ability to shut her up.)



After learning the basics, you can head straight into games VS Bots or other Players. I like the option of playing VS AI/Bots, especially for a beginner or to try out some new heroes. By playing with the Custom map options, you can even play in a game with all teammates and opponents as AI. I can see this as a great start to these types of games. And the AI do actually use skills and make you wonder what they're up to!



Looking through Champions and trying to find one you may like is even easier. They have broken Champs down into multiple categories such as Pusher, Jungler, Carry, Ranged, etc etc Maybe you like to get last hits and Assassinate your foes, or just wanna hang back and Support the team. Whatever play-style you might enjoy, they are definitely all here.



I like this the most personally because since I'm a not-hardcore player of HoN/DOTA anymore I haven't kept up with some of the Heroes and their changes. Is this or that even viable as a 'Carry' anymore? Do we have too many 'Tanks' on a team? By dividing the Champions into several categories, you can easily find a Ranged Support, or a Tank that can also Push.



YES I agree, all of these things make it a lot "easier" to understand the game. But is that really such a bad thing? If someone chose a hero like Madman in HoN CAUSE HE LOOKS SO COOL - and didn't know the best way to build him, or what he's best at in team play - this just causes more hate and rage, at not only the Newbie whose just trying to enjoy themselves, but also resentment at the team who won't even bother to help them. "L2P" is the new mantra across all games, but in MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) games that are fast-paced & team based - on the fly decisions can make or break a Victory.



Another thing I enjoy is the visual aspect of most attacks. Whether you are throwing a Spear or a Volley of Arrows, there is a projected texture that shows you the range and area of effect of what's going to be affected. I feel this is fantastic as people can make better decisions and place their attacks better with these textures, as opposed to missing everything even if they have never played that champion before.




Gripes

Okay, i've talked a lot about things I enjoy in LoL thus far, but what really grinds my gears!?

#1 - Would have to be the client/UI itself. The game loads into a new window? Or something. The client seems to use Adobe AIR programming to run, which I don't know why? For a game that's been around awhile, has it always been like this? You don't even have the Video options unless you are inside a game, so when trying to find a good resolution or test things out, you need to either play an AI game, or just leave your team hanging while playing with the options. Only thing you can really play with is the Music options. Which reminds me...

* Music! Or even the lack thereof. Loading into a game is eerily silent, and even the Home screens aren't inviting. I'm not a fan of the Summoner's Rift music either. Just seems way too... passive? I don't know I just don't feel it suits the game at all. I'm never usually one to turn off game music, but I definitely made an exception here. (Also the Announcer voice bugs me as I mentioned already.)

* Loading times. Although it seems things have improved over the latest patch, the Load times for some people are ridiculous! I know that in HoN if you load the first time into a game, it takes some time. But after that, everything is cached and makes getting into the action a lot smoother. Since people usually login to play a few consecutive games, whether with friends or on their own, something like this only makes sense.

* The in-game Shop for champions really bugs me at times. Unless I'm just not sure how to hotkey it or go through everything quickly yet since I'm not sure where everything is, sometimes I feel like I'm wasting time going page by page by page. I'll look at a champion guide, see their item suggestions, but then I have no idea where they are! Although I am getting better at finding things after playing for a bit, I still have a headache trying to find something specific.


Overall I really do enjoy the game so far, it's definitely something I've been having fun with. I'll be honest that one of the major reasons I never played was I got some BAD reviews about it from friends way back when it was being tested/released. But when I look back I can understand why - People (Or maybe just my friends >.>) were looking for the next DOTA and LoL is NOT similar to DOTA, other than genre. However LoL definitely has legs to stand on in the current PC gaming environment. It'll be interesting to see what else to bring to the table and make everyone else step up.



I could probably go into another million reasons on what I enjoy and don't enjoy, but I think I've summed up all my major reasons pretty well. Do you play LoL? What do you hate or love? Looking forward to Dominion?! I know I am now. ;]