League of Legends

[Reese]

The Warcraft 3 scenario Defense of the Ancients is probably the most popular scenario out there, Well, The same guys that made DOTA have made a whole game out of it. It's got quite a following and if you like DOTA, you'll probably like LOL. It still pretty much looks and plays like the Warcraft 3 map.


Edit: I took out the beta stuff from this post to avoid confusion. The game is out now and free to play. Thanks go to Cynthetiq and Zeraph for gettin the title changed.

League of Legends - Index

[Reese]

I have 2 invites left. Turns out I had 6 invites.

[YaWhateva]

I have 3 invites remaining. You can PM me if Reese is out.

[Orchrist]

Have not noticed if I got one of Reese's yet or not, but I just wanted to say thanks guys for posting em up here.

[Reese]

The invite might get filtered into the spam folder but I've sent out invites to all the people that's pmed me with their email.

[Orchrist]

Nope, no spam folder, maybe they're holding back on sending out their e-mails yet, unless its coming direct from you? No idea.

[highdro69]

I, as well, have five invites. Holler.

[ironpham]

You guys have like a group or whatever? Thanks to YaWhateva, I'm in and I guess it would be easier for me to play with people who can teach me a little

[YaWhateva]

Originally Posted by ironpham

You guys have like a group or whatever? Thanks to YaWhateva, I'm in and I guess it would be easier for me to play with people who can teach me a little

my name in game is 'thejuanald' add me as a friend. I probably don't have much time this week until Friday (fuck grad school!) but this weekend I can probably catch a game or two with you.

[ironpham]

Ok. I guess I'll take some time after I finish all my work to learn how to play later today/this week. My in-game name is Phamily.

[Orchrist]

Hey so I finally got in, turns out their automailer filters my e-mail address.. yay. My name is "Orchrist" so if anything wants to look me up go for it. After playing DotA for so many years its going to take me awhile to UN-learn using A for attack move, seriously who thought using X was a good idea, I hate them. =(

[ironpham]

I was thinking the same thing, Orchrist. I never played Dota, but I'm still so used to A+left click. X+left click doesn't even make sense. MY FINGERS AREN'T THERE NATURALLY!!!

[dkenpachi]

I just hope to God LoL isnt LIVE or Steam. . . just good 'ol fasioned log on and play that Sh***.
PLz dont sell us Icefrog . . .

[YaWhateva]

Originally Posted by dkenpachi

I just hope to God LoL isnt LIVE or Steam. . . just good 'ol fasioned log on and play that Sh***.
PLz dont sell us Icefrog . . .

I don't think it is but why would it being on Steam be bad?

[Orchrist]

I have to admit I'm not enamored with it so far, the graphics are so incredibly cartoony it's a turn-off. The recommended items system seems to cheapen the variance of items people will buy to build there character, sure people will still do it, but its less likely they'll try. I have not even tried to change the controls yet, hopefully that's possible because X as attack move and A as a insanely long refresh heal is just something that needs to go away. Now I need to find a Heroes of Newerth beta invite...(complete DotA clone with different names).

[ironpham]

The items aren't that hard to navigate through. Just pick a couple of things you want or think your dude needs and buy the best in that category.

[YaWhateva]

Originally Posted by Orchrist

I have to admit I'm not enamored with it so far, the graphics are so incredibly cartoony it's a turn-off. The recommended items system seems to cheapen the variance of items people will buy to build there character, sure people will still do it, but its less likely they'll try. I have not even tried to change the controls yet, hopefully that's possible because X as attack move and A as a insanely long refresh heal is just something that needs to go away. Now I need to find a Heroes of Newerth beta invite...(complete DotA clone with different names).

I never use the recommended items system and I dont think hardly anyone does.

[dkenpachi]

I wouldnt mind being the only dude in South Africa having a beta key invite. I cans hav key plox.
Why Steam? The endless bombardment of updating every scrap and corner of your Steamy products. I can go on and on, but time and place.

[YaWhateva]

Originally Posted by dkenpachi

I wouldnt mind being the only dude in South Africa having a beta key invite. I cans hav key plox.
Why Steam? The endless bombardment of updating every scrap and corner of your Steamy products. I can go on and on, but time and place.

PM me an email address and I will get you one.

[Lasereth]

Ok I've been playing this game for the past 2 days and holy cow I'm addicted to it. It's like WoW PVP and items except you don't have to play for hours at a time. Matches are around 30-60 minutes so it's over quick. Since I switched to using Master Yi as my champion, I'm 15-0. Who cares to try and break my streak??????

[Jozrael]

Back after a couple months guys. Guess which game has been keeping me away from TFP? ;D

I'm willing to play any 5 of you guys anytime. My IGN is Skystriker. Adding TheJuanald, Phamily, and Orchrist to my list after the patch. Please list off your SNs .

I officially challenge yoU lasereth since you seem the most confident . Name your terms!

Not sure how many of you follow the competitive scene on LoL:

here

here

is the first part of the first game of the finals in the last tourney. Had $850 worth of prizes I believe. Not bad for a game in beta ;D. The person frapsing it has their vent key sounds, which are somewhat annoying, but don't really detract from the video imo.

[Lasereth]

I've tried some different champions and I keep going back to Master Yi. He definitely requires a ton of gold and items to be truly great but once he gets the items he needs...watch out!!!!!!!! The match before last, I ambushed the other team on 3v3 and I killed all 3 of them in under 10 seconds using highlander and wuju style over and over (because if you kill a champion using highlander, all your CDs refresh). He is simply sick at end game. Taking down turrets in 3 seconds.

[Jozrael]

Yi is most definitely a carry. And he's fantastic at that. However, he's the squishiest of the melee DPS (big downside), plus lacks any CC entirely. His escape mechanisms are modest, but at least not nonexistent. A (rarely) situational blink and an ult that gives immunity to slows is decent.

Yi will perform better on TT due to less CC. Many heroes that are merely modest picks on SR are much better on TT. Still, if you were able to 1v3 the other team, I have my doubts that they were on your skill level :P.

But anyways: What is your summoner name Lasereth? I want to add you .

[Lasereth]

It's Razerwind.

Also, this game is getting annoying because all it is after level 10 is gank squad mode. If you show your face on the minimap after level 10, you're dead. I'm glad they are proposing changes to put at least SOME incentive in the game to kill turrets and push your lane by yourself or with little help. Right now after level 10 you're not even playing LoL anymore, you're playing hide in the brush until an enemy shows his face and then 5v1 him. Boring and annoying.

And yes Master Yi can get shutdown so easily that I rarely play him now. I always get #1 damage, gold earned, minions killed, turrets killed, health restored, etc. when I play him but we always end up losing because the moment I show my face I'm dead versus the stunners.

BTW I would love to play against you 1v1 or 2v2 but me and my friends still suck at 5v5 so forget that. We hate playing gank squad mode so we always lose.

[ironpham]

I haven't played in a while, but for a little bit I was using one of the new heroes. The german engineer guy, whatever his name is. I watched some dude playing as him on my team go 21-0 in a match and I was sold. Those turrets he sets up are monstrous. When I tried it, I literally took on a 1v5 with almost no problems. (Yeah, they sucked, but still...) I've found what he needs is +speed and +ability power. The speed is to kite the opponents to your turret farm which is nicely tucked away behind the bushes. Three games in a row gave me 12-0, 8-0, and 8-3.

[Jozrael]

Lasereth, in such a short time your analysis has improved immensely o_O. I wonder how far down the metagame trickles and how fast ;o.

I'm also glad you're current on the changes they are doing to combat this new metagame. Yi is still viable, just you really need to construct a team around him.

Also, I'm not a huge fan of 5v5 gank squad so my friends and I try to avoid it as well. I'm down for 3v3 TT if you are especially, that's my favorite map.


@Ironpham: Hahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahaha ha. Heimerdinger. xD.

If you haven't played in a while, you might've missed the nerf to him. He's pretty much the only hero I don't consider viable right now. . I liked him too, it was a shame. Personally I think he needs to be reworked, he affects the metagame very negatively.

[ironpham]

Aww damn. That's a shame he got nerfed. I guess, then again, he was really overpowered with a good team. Ahh well. You might have to teach me how to play with other heroes though when we play.

[Jozrael]

For sure. I've always loved teaching people to play games I play. I love watching them improve.

Razer and his friend and I just pwnt some peeps on Twisted Treeline. No contestttt. Maybe we can get a full 5s team going from TFP one of these days :3?

Btw, use vent ;D. Makes such a diff ^_^

[Zeraph]

Maybe someone should suggest to the LoL team to put some sort of % damage reduction per person. So like, a 5v5 might have a -20% damage reduction in game to slow down the combat and keep ganking type strategies to a minimum. They do this in many PvP MMOs to keep people from being one shotted. There are many ways to do such, like another method is to cap maximum incoming damage. Like you can't take more than 50% hps within 1 sec. This keeps the game away from insta gibbing.

[Jozrael]

Insta gibbing is not discouraged in LoL, but it's generally difficult to do against an intelligent player.

The problem is CC dependence right now. The next 2 patches are implementing SO many gameplay tweaks that are going to drastically transform the metagame. The game in less than a month will be entirely different from today. There will be new metagame monsters, and Riot will conquer them. They have some of the best designers in the industry on their team :3.

[Lasereth]

Yeah the CC dependence is exactly right from my experiences.

BTW, this is sorta out there, but it seems to me like the game should be built around 4v4. That way 3 people can be in each lane and 1 person can be ganking. This way most ganks will be 2v1 which is much more interesting. The possibility for 3v1 is there also, but if it were 4v4, players would be forced to give up a lane until the gank is over with. Give and take. Right now, even in the beginning, you can put 1 person on each lane, and then still have 2 leftover for ganking which is ridiculous.

[Jozrael]

They've run Summoner's Rift with both 6v6 and 4v4. They felt both inadequate as compared to 5v5. Personally, I don't find it ... 'ridiculous'? that you can gank with 2. It is very very very rare to have two junglers, and very very difficult to pull off well competitively (I've never seen it done well, each time that team failed hard). In a competitive team, with everyone on vent, you try to keep everyone updated on the enemy teams whereabouts. So if 2 people suddenly disappear from their lanes, -someone- should be calling it out on vent, and each lane preps itself to be ganked. They might move closer to their tower, dig in, or idk. Perhaps they might go missing as well, try to get a couple people together and do a gank of their own or try to countergank the ganking party.

That being said, it's totally possible to go host a 4v4 in practice games right now. I will say it is a slightly different experience, and not negatively.

[Lasereth]

Yeah the 4v4 is way funner IMO. Though I am really starting to like 3v3 TT.

[Jozrael]

Are you online atm? I can't tell cuz of the buggy friends list. Can't wait for the next 2 maintenance patches. It's going to fix like 95% of the stability issues in the game :P. Now they just need to switch ISPs or w.e so we don't lag at peak times

EDIT: It seems the hotfix last night was for the lag, nvm

[Zeraph]

I always liked the lower pop dota games. When I played it always annoyed me that people insisted on waiting for a full 5v5 (which could take a looong time).

[Jozrael]

1v1 was ok between friends just to chat, 2v2 was cool only mid. 3v3 was pretty horrid (whether you used all 3 lanes or only 2). 4v4 was fun, but 5v5 was best imo. I like LoL in that it made 3v3 just as appealing (even more so to some people) as 5v5. In LoL waiting for 5v5 is near instantaneous if you queue. Their practice game (same method of hosting as DotA) implementation is pretty sucktacular right now. I can't wait for them to retool that.

[Zeraph]

So I only just started, but I always thought Nasus was a dumb hero for some reason. I just tried him and *killed* 21 kills in like 40 minutes (maybe not that impressive but my personal best). I was like taking on 2 heroes at once, it was amazing. Granted, "newb" game, but still.

So does anyone else think that the mage dps types are underpowered? They just don't seem to scale well at all. Aniva and the like are fine of course for their CC usefulness.

Also, anyone know if anyone else has stealth besides twitch and evelynn? I love playing assasin characters but besides twitch none of them feel very assasiny (evelynn feels too casterish even tho she's melee).

And one more question, (I'd search their forums but they seriously hurt my eyes for some reason) anyone know what the deal with cost for this game is? Its technically out right? So the accounts we have now arent going to be wiped? I take it its like one of those free 2 play mmos that have items banks for real cash?

[Jozrael]

Alright, I'll go through 1 by 1.

Nasus is RIDICULOUS. There are 2 strong builds for him. 1, if you're new to the game/him/aren't very good in general (no offense): Max spirit fire. Its cruise control for farming. Sit in a lane and just kill each creep wave with spirit fire. Endgame, you've got ridiculous items and you run around and wtfkerpwn everyone.

Option 2: (Much more active): Take a level of your SS first, and farm it like -mad- for the rest of the game. Every time it's off cd you should be grabbing a lasthit with it. MAX your wither. One of the BEST slows in the game. Ridiculously awesome. Slightly more fluid after that. I go: Q W Q W W R W E W E R, max q, max e. Basically e is good to lay down in a teamfight for the debuff, not really for the damage (unless you go option 1...in which case you're useless after you lay down your e).

What do you mean by mage dps? Do you mean like, veigar? (Who nukes the crap out of everyone), or corki (who is a hybrid, a dps that's also a caster). The first (nukers) were the most easily shutdown 'class' before today. Now with triple the mpen (magic penetration) items after this patch, they are going to be a LOT more viable. Hybrids were always scarily strong (despite the lack of cc, Corki is imo one of the strongest carries in the game right now).

Others with stealth: Shaco. He's a BEAST. (And VERY assassiny) He got hit pretty hard with the nerfbat today (as always with Riot, a wide selection of tiny nerfs). Here's hoping he's a lot more fun to have in a game now. Teemo also got his passive reworked with this patch, except:

Riot f'd up with this patch. They introduced a bug which basically makes the game unplayable for over half of the playerbase. Obviously, they are working on this right now and will have a hotfix out A.S.A.P.

So once the patch is all up and working, Teemo's new passive (lie in wait) makes him stealth if he's stood still for 6 seconds. Taking damage, or moving / any action will break teemo's stealth. Seems interesting, gonna have to wait and see how it works.

There will be no more wipes, period, unless something catastrophic happens to their servers xD. Riot's business model: unnecessary microtransactions.

Right now we're living the good life with all champs unlocked (but no runes T_T). Come the 17th, the store opens (hopefully, assuming it's not delayed again), and we lose all free access to all champions.

There will be a rotating roster of 10 free champions each week. You are also able to unlock champions with either IP (earned by playing) or RP ($$). I have about 10k IP (curse you school). This is enough to unlock 3 of the most expensive champions permanently, about 6 midtier champions, or over 10 of the cheapest. Unlocking a champion is permanent. Also, if you choose to BUY the game (the collector's edition for $30), one of the many perks you will get is 20 (half!) of the champions unlocked permanently. Not to mention $10 in Riot points, which is probably enough to unlock another couple.

You can unlock EVERYTHING by playing (long enough), or pay to unlock champions. Runes will only be available with IP, not $$. I will probably spend my IP on runes and purchase the collectors edition + a couple champions that I really enjoy with $$.

The reason Riot chose this business model over a flatout box is they need continued income over the years. They plan on working on LoL for years to come (LimaBeans said that their minimum goal, if everything goes wrong and they can't sustain the game, is 2 years. He said their real goal is over a decade), so just like a MMORPG, they need continued revenue.





Now for my feelings on the patch.

Riot is amazing at fixing things that need to be fixed. Over 20 of the worst bugs have been fixed. Thank you jeezus.

They have balanced SO many things that need to be balanced.

Yet the biggest thing that we've been bitching about, the baron buff, stays nearly untouched. It's quite possible that all the other changes in this patch will so severely affect the metagame that this isn't necessary. Who knows, tho. Either way, we've gotta live with this baron for another week or two :P

[Zeraph]

Thanks tons for explaining. I don't know what it is about their website (must be the color scheme) that just plays games with my eyes.

mage dps (mage nuker would be a more appropriate title i spose): Ya, like veigar. Glad to hear they're fixing it.

I played DoTA forever (since it originally came out till like a year ago)..I wonder if I should buy the CE. Especially since I like playing random. 30$ is pretty reasonable so long as they don't keep springing new fees.

So you seem to know quite a bit about the game. Who are the top 10 hero picks (for pwning...I understand a pro team would have support heroes). So I can start to focus and make a list of which ones I want available before they lock em all out. Should help me decide if I want to buy it or spend time unlocking.

granted the patch prob just changed a lot...

So it sounds like (for ex)
Nasus
Shaco
Corki...

...Teemo and Annie?..
?

[Jozrael]

Hey hooo.

I love explaining things :3. Satisfies some unconscious need to be useful I guess ;D.

I think the CE is well worth the money. I'll be buying it soon. As for new fees: they're going to be introducing new content to the game. However, they don't want to follow a model like WoWs: power creeping. They don't want new heroes to be BETTER. Have to stay balanced. New runes shouldn't be BETTER. Etc. So at some point, you WILL have a fully powered up LoL account that there's no need to ever buy anything again for. If you want the new flashy skins they make, or blah blah, you're free to do so.

And of course, you can get to that powered up acct without spending a dime (it'll be quite the grind for a FULL runebook, I'm the first to admit :P).

Top hero picks are a rough thing. The fact is, if any top 1% player entered even a middle-high game, he would destroy with whatever hero he picked (except maybe Heimer...).

I'll list some heroes that if you get really good at, really let you shine while solo queueing:

Tryndamere
Corki
Teemo
Annie
Jax
Kassadin
Twisted Fate
Twitch
Katarina
Shaco