With all the hype from Rioters over the course of the week, it looked like we might finally see an actual release announcement for Magma Chamber. Well, that didn’t happen, but I think Riot did us one (maybe two) better. Today Riot announced Dominion, a new game mode for League of Legends that’s also played on an entirely new map, the Crystal Scar.
The game mode seems to play a lot like Arathi Basin in World of Warcraft. Two teams fight for control of certain waypoints around the map and accrue points based on how many waypoints they control. Riot says games last roughly twenty minutes, a time frame in which most Summoner’s Rift matches are just getting started.
For my dollar, Dominion is a brilliant release, provided we can play it before the end of the year. There are a lot of people who still enjoy Summoner’s Rift, who are still learning the playstyle for the map or, in some cases, still learning how to play a MOBA. For the veterans, though, Summoner’s Rift can be stale at times. I love the idea of jumping into a 20-minute slugfest on a map that forces players to be in combat at all times. Riot mentioned to several media outlets that they’re trying to make sure the game doesn’t snowball into victory, a goal that makes a lot of sense considering the similarities to other capture-and-defend gametypes in various games.
For all of my excitement about Dominion, I’m also being a bit cautious. Sorry, Riot, but you’ve burned me before. I think it’s a great sign that Dominion will be playable at both Gamescom (August 17-21) and PAX Prime (August 26-28). That could mean the new map/mode are ready for a late September/Early October release. If the past has taught us anything, it’s to be wary of feature releases coming out of Riot offices. Dominion looks to be so fleshed out, though, that I can’t imagine it going live any later than October 15th.
What do you think? Is Dominion going to rock face or stagger toward release?
