What is League of Legends ("LoL")?
LoL is a multiplayer online battle arena ("MOBA"). Two teams of five players fight against each other, each picking a specific "champion" to play. The first team to destroy the other base wins.
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Is this blind?
No. I've watched some League of Legends eSports, and played it briefly long ago, like 2011-2012 for a few months. Mostly against AI opponents, "bots." Never quite understood what was going on but it looked cool.
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Why? Whyyyyyy???
This is an unusual choice for me. I'm one of the least competitive people on the planet, so PvP games turn me off. There are three reasons I'm starting this:
1) Runeterra. The lore, characters, and worldbuilding around LoL's Runeterra fascinate me. It blends many brands of horror, science fiction, and fantasy to form something fresh. Some of Riot Games' promotional videos simply blew me away, such as the video promoting the 2019 competitive season.
My favorite of the three main scenes here focuses on interactions between the masked dude, Jhin, and the cyborg officer, Camille. Jhin is an "artistic" serial killer (think Hannibal) and Camille is with the city's secret police. The color, the sound, everything about those scenes is beautiful.
One more I'll share is a surreal origin story for the champion Varus.
One hunter is mortally wounded. He and his lover seek healing from a place of forbidden magic, but the magic's source turns out to be an imprisoned vengeful spirit. The spirit binds the two hunters with himself into one body and escapes. Varus, Three-in-One.
It's super queer and I love every second of it. AND THAT MUSIC!
I find myself checking out lore videos and character wikipedia pages just to experience it more.
2) Something new. I haven't tried combative PvP games before. Maybe I'll enjoy them more than I think.
3) I want to build personal resilience. I'm not a consistent person. I crumble and give up frequently on things. But I like video games, always have. They've helped shape both positive and negative aspects of my life. Maybe a more confrontational game can help me become accustomed to loss and discomfort in a way that PvE games can't.
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What's the format?
I'll try about a post per week. Some will introduce you (and me) to a particular champion, their lore and abilities and strats, and try to make sense of them in the context of this new (to me) game. Probably even find some themed music that fits the character to play as I play.
Other posts will be more about mechanics and gameplay. I'll try playing games with the characters, testing them out and logging my experience and learning.
Feel free to add me in game! Username is Coldrun on the North American server.
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Is this forever?
NO! I have no idea if I'll enjoy it. Gonna take it month by month and see if I want to continue.
