1 Introduction to the game

The name of the game

League of Legends Acronym: LoL This expression is also used a lot in digital communication and stands for: laughing out loud.

The producers and creators of the game

Riot Games Riot Games is an independent video game developer and publisher based in Culver City, California. Established in 2006,Riot Games launched its first title in October 2009, the multiplayer online battle arena League of Legends.Some of their notable employees include Steve Guinsoo Feak, a former developer of the Warcraft 3 custom map Defense of the Ancients; and Steve Pendragon Mescon, who created the Defense of the Ancients community website DotA-Allstars.com. Riot Games also employs several former Blizzard developers, including Shawn Carnes and Tom Cadwell. In early 2011, the Chinese company Tencent Holdings bought a majority stake in Riot Games. Riot Games will maintain independent operations and its existing management team. - from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 13.06.2011

1 Introduction to the game

Background information
League of Legends is based on a WarCraft 3 Mod called Defense of the Ancients, short DotA. It is one of the most successful Community Mods. That means DotA is not made by professionals, but instead by a Community of fans. Because of that the Mod is entirely free to play, you only need to have a copy of WarCraft 3. DotA was so successful that in the last few years there where more people playing this WarCraft 3 Mod than there where people playing the original game. Even now there are still updates, support and tournaments for this game. Thats why there are thousands of active players.

1 Introduction to the game

Background information
Heroes of Newerth was the first game who brought the game concept of DotA to a standalone game. Some of the early developers of DotA also worked on HoN. Some of the improvements where better graphics, a better hosting system and a way to reconnect to a game where you got disconnected. All in all HoN was designed to give DotA players a very similar experience but with some very nice extra features. The gameplay was nearly the same as DotAs and therefore the transition from one game to the other was very simple.

1 Introduction to the game

Language
There are three different clients for League of Legends. One for Europe, one for North America and one for South East Asia. Depending on the client there are different language options: German, English, French, Spanish, Korean and Chinese.

Game platform used for review

So far League of Legends is only supported by PC. Therefore we had to use this platform for our review.

Other available platforms

Mac compatibility is currently under development.

Minimum technical requirements

2 GHz processor 1 GB RAM 750 MB available hard disk space Shader version 2.0 capable video card DirectX 9.0 capable video card Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 (Mac OS is currently not supported)

1 Introduction to the game

Recommended System Requirements
3 GHz processor 1 GB RAM 750 MB available hard disk space GeForce 8800 or equivalent video card Windows XP with the latest service pack installed, Windows Vista with the latest service pack installed, or Windows 7 (Mac OS is currently not supported) The latest update to .NET Framework from Microsoft The latest version of Adobe Air is required to connect to PVP.net. Adobe Air is included with all League of Legends setup files, but can also be downloaded from Adobes website.

Input devices/ peripherals required

To play the game properly, youll need a mouse and a keyboard. The game is based a lot on mouse movement and clicking. Your Champion moves where you click, like in common strategy games. The keyboard is used to execute your skills. The combination is kind of tricky at the beginning, but the learning curve scales well. A headset is highly recommended, but not necessary. Because in this game teamplay you gain a huge advantage if you are arranged. Communication is the key to success. If you want to use voice communication you will need software like Teamspeak, Ventrilo or Skype.

Documentation and help files

The game comes with a very good ingame tutorial. It leads you through all the basic information needed to start off. The whole tutorial is commented by a voice in your language explaining the mechanics. After the tutorial you can also play in battle training mode, where the voice guide helps you with more indepth information and hints. The training mode simulates a certain public online game, so it helps preparing a lot. If you still dont feel ready for the serious fight out there on the pvp.net, you can choose a custom game filled with bots(NPCs, non player characters). This mode is a lot harder than the tutorials and its perfect for trying things out and raising your skills. Additionaly you can gather information on the official website www.leagueoflegends.com. There are different areas to gather information like a very detailed learning center, help and support, knownledge base, forums and of course a FAQ.

2 Summary description / categorisation

Target audience
League of Legends can be played in both, single and multiplayer mode. Where the singleplayer mode (custom game with NPCs) is mainly for training purposes, the game is generally designed to be played as a multiplayer game.

Rating information: PEGI/ ESRB

PEGI: 12+ ESRB: Rating pending Descriptors: Online gameplay

Game genre
LoL is a mixture between a strategy and a roleplaying game. These two genres combined together with the competitive online multiplayer background result in a new genre called Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA).

Categorisation of the game

Decision making (strategy & problem solving) To be successful in this game you need to have some strategic thinking. E.g. What champion to pick to form a strong team composition. Which champions counters each other, when to initiate a fight, and when to retreat. Social interaction/ values/ cultures If you have a good strategy for your team, you also need to be able to communicate your actions. Because even the best player with the best strategy will fail, if he plays without his team. A good set of social skills is also very important. For example, when one of your allies dies a few times and gets frustrated, its crucial not to mock them, but instead motivate and help them, because only as a team you can win.

2 Summary description and categorisation of the game

Other cultural aspects
Through playing this game you meet people from all over the world. By interacting with them, you get to know their culture.

3 Overview/ walkthrough of the game

Skill level/ experience in terms of computer/ video games:

For me as an Expert / Frequently player it was hard starting off with this game. The first matches where more frustrating than fun. Most of the time I died and I wasnt really helping my team, but the game motivated me to become better. One of the reasons why beginning with LoL is so tough, is because there is just so much you need to know about the game. E.g. you need to know the different champions and what abilities they have, what items there are and which character needs to buy which of them. Then there is also neutral monsters, different strategies, the expressions used by players and so on. Thats why its good to have someone who is more experienced to help when starting the game. Also just asking other players for information and playing with others who have more experience, will greatly improve your gameplay.

3 Overview/ walkthrough of the game

Conditions to win a match
Players are formed into 2 even teams with 15 Champion(s) on each team. Each team starts at opposing sides of a map in an area called the fountain, near what is called a Nexus. A match is won when either the opposing teams Nexus is destroyed or the other team surrenders. To destroy a Nexus, each team must work through a series of towers called Turrets. Turrets are often placed along a path to each base referred to as a Lane. Along the way, each player gains levels from killing the opposing teams champions and Minions (small NPCs that constantly spawn and attack the other team) and defeating neutral monsters (some of which grant buffs known as crests upon death). Killing enemies allows champions to purchase Items with in-match gold to improve their statistics. In League of Legends, each player starts at level 1 at the beginning of the match and can obtain the maximum of level 18 with their champion, leveling 4 different champion-specific abilities.

3 Overview/ walkthrough of the game

Steps for successful play
picking the right champion: depending on what champions your team has picked so far, you should adjust your character selection. E.g. If there are 4 damage dealers on your team, you might want to pick a support or tank champion to assist your teammates.

Choosing the lanes and partner: The early phase of a match is called the laning phase. Called like that because you mainly stay in your lane at the beginning. Therefore it is very important to have each champion on the lane that suits them best. There are some heroes who perform very well on their own, thats why they are perfect for a solo lane. Other champions are fragile at the beginning and need some help. Because of that they should stay together with a partner who can balance their weaknesses.

3 Overview/ walkthrough of the game

Killing minions: Most important part at the beginning is to kill minions to obtain gold and experience. By doing so you get yourself and your team in good position for the later game. If you perform better than your opponents at gaining experience points or deny them getting exp by harrassing them, you can get an early advantage.

To ambush: If you see the opportunity you can try to ambush and kill one of your enemies. For doing so its important to coordinate your attack with your teammates. The more of your allies help the more likely youre to succeed. This will give you a big advantage, because you earn some gold and your victim has to wait a certain amount of time till he respawns. The higher the level of the character who dies, the longer he has to wait, meaning dying early in the game isnt as severe as dying later on.

3 Overview/ walkthrough of the game

Teamfights: At the mid of the game the team gathers and clashes together with the opposing team. In these fights its important to focus the same target, and to know when to retreat, if the odds are against you. If one team anihilates the whole enemy team in such a fight, it can directly lead to a win.

Destroying turrets and pushing: After winning a teamfight its best to gather your team and destroy one or several turrets while the opponent is weakened. If you manage to push inside the enemy base you can destroy an enemy inhibitor. By doing so your side receives superminions, which help you destroying the enemy nexus. Even if your team is way ahead in kills, you can still loose if your opponents manage to destroy your nexus. Therefore destroying turrets and pushing inside their base is your top priority.

3 Overview/ walkthrough of the game

Game play and navigation
Every Champion got four abilities and one passive skill. To use one of these four abilities you can use the hotkeys on your keyboard (Q - first, W - second, E - third, R - fourth ability / Ultimate). The fourth is your Champions Ultimate, its the most powerful ability your champion has, and it can change the tide of a battle. Usually the Ultimate has the highest cooldown (time until you can use the spell again) so dont waste it. There are two main kinds of damage. Physical and magical damage. Fighter characters mostly deal physical damage, while casters only use spells that deal magic damage. There are different items that either increase physical or magical damage and there are defensive items that protect you either from magic or physical damage. Thats why its important to know what kind of champion you and your opponent are using.

3 Overview/ walkthrough of the game

Hinder play/ confusing aspects
As a newby the game tends to be frustrating, because you die so easily to the enemy turrets. Especially if you play for the first time, you will probably die because you are getting to close and the turret only needs three to four shots to eliminate you. Another frustrating thing are other players who cannot keep their emotions under control and start insulting or mocking you. In worst case someone like this can ruin the fun of playing the game.

Estimate time for one round

A game usually takes between 20 and 70 minutes. After 20 minutes players of each teams can start a vote to surrender. Thats why there are hardly any games, that need less time. The average duration of a game is about 40 minutes.

Learning curve time

the basics can be learned in a few hours. to become a decent player it needs about 100 games, depending on how much you deal with the game. You can alot in little time, but there is just so much to learn, that it still takes a while.

Save and restart the game

The game cant be saved and continued later on, because its an online multiplayer game, where you play with other people from all over the world. However if you disconnect from the game, you are able to reconnect to the ongoing match. But of course the game is not paused while youre gone and continues without you.

4 Pedagogical aspects

Use in classroom
The game should be suggested for use in the classroom. Depending on the age of people playing the game it can be used in classrooms too. For the younger ones its to understand the characteristics of their character or the role of your player in a team. If you get better you learn how to lead a team, how to control the conversation in your team or how to make good strategies.

Real life
Its also possible to learn things for real life. League of Legends is a team-player game. You learn how to interact with different people. Communication is very important, if it doesnt work the chance to win a game isnt high. These are things you need in real life too. If you work in group at an agency its better for everybody if communication works.

Language
If you play with people from a different country your skills in other languages can be improved what is useful too.