Author: Jeff Morgan (Page 48 of 260)

      Today I learned how big League of Legends truly is

      July 28, 2011 /

      Shrimp Tacos

      My girlfriend and I are headed on a road trip up to Ohio this coming weekend to spend 10 days or so with our families. We’ve been preparing for the trip for the better part of the week so far – buying snacks for the road, doing laundry, all the boring stuff you do before a road trip. We also wanted to get together with some friends before taking off, which tonight meant dollar tacos at a local bar. They’re good too – way beyond fast food fare, replete with cherry tomatoes and a sprinkle of cheese.

      A friend turned to me at one point during the meal and said, “I just read that League of Legends has 15 million subscribers. That’s huge, right?” Granted, he knows that’s the game I write about, but he’s not a particularly avid gamer, and certainly not a PC gamer. Still, he not only knew the game, he knew the numbers, and that speaks volumes more than any number could.

      To say that League of Legends holds a special place in the gaming industry would be a gross understatement. At the beginning of the week, Marc Merrill gave us proof of the game’s success in numbers so big I couldn’t begin to break them down. My conversation over dollar tacos tonight gave me tangible evidence of LoL’s unique position in the industry.

      I’m tempted to quote Spider-Man here, but I think I’ll just say this: keep earning it, Riot. Riot earned my loyalty to the game by honing one of the most energetic and aggressive new genres into an excellent play experience. To keep my loyalty, they need to give us something great for Season Two. I absolutely think they can do, but I’ve also been burned before, and that’s not a good feeling going into Season Two. Here’s hoping the game gets the support it needs. Here’s hoping that six months from now I have random people rattling off news stories about a game over dinner.

      Current Affairs, league of legends

      Champ of the Week: Tryndamere

      July 26, 2011 /

      Well, unfortunately I’m going to have to push back some of the upcoming changes I have to the Champ of the Week feature, but that doesn’t have to delay this week’s Champ any longer. This week I’ll be playing Tryndamere.

      If you check my recent games list, you can see that I’ve already played a decent number of games with the Barbarian King. I made sure to sneak in a few before the remake so I could assess what the changes have given to or taken from his viability. First, let’s talk some history.

      Tryndamere has posed some fairly unique problems to the League in the past. For a while it was Cleanse that gave him some ridiculous killing power, back when it could clear Ignite and offered CC immunity. I remember some of my earliest games against Tryndamere being more frustrating than even old Eve games. Even after the Cleanse nerfs, though, Tryndamere has enjoyed insane power creep. He remains the one champion that has allowed me to come back from a game in which all of my buildings were down but the nexus. I got to a point quickly enough in that game that I simply could not be killed and I was able to 2-3 shot most of my opponents.

      Tryndamere’s basic design issue is that he gets exponentially stronger as he loses health, but can remain at one health point – his strongest point in the game – for an extended duration thanks to his ult. The old Tryndamere gained crit chance as his health went down. As he crit targets, he gained stacks of Bloodlust that improved his crit damage and could also be spent for a sizable heal.

      He caught a remake today that changed all that. Continue reading »

      Champ of the Week, league of legends

      Wukong patch goes live without Wukong

      July 26, 2011 /

      General Wukong

      For the second patch in a row, balance changes have been activated prior to the release of the champion for the given patch. Riot’s giving the same reason for the delay – the company wants to be sure the servers are stable before activating the champion on live. With the numbers report issued by Tryndamere this morning, I understand a bit more clearly why this is such an issue, even if I’m not in love with the practice.

      There have been a couple other issues with the patch so far as well. Apparently Kayle’s passive isn’t shredding total armor and magic resist values, but rather just base values. If the target has a Banshee’s Veil, he/she still gets the full MR benefit of the item. If the community was unhappy about the remake in the first place, they certainly aren’t pleased now. Riot has confirmed the bug and is looking for a fix.

      That said, I’ve already seen a lot more Kayle and Galio presence in games. We’ll see if the buffs/reworks will be enough to keep people interested over the next week or so. How has your patch day been so far?

      league of legends, News, Patches

      Wukong Champion Spotlight is live

      July 26, 2011 /

      Riot posted the Champion Spotlight for Wukong this evening, giving everyone an early look at the League’s latest Tanky DPS champion. I’m not going to bother sugar-coating this in any way; I’m not happy to see another champion join the League whose optimal build is Trinity Force and probably a Wriggles. Yuck.

      But that’s me, and who knows, you might be really pumped about him. He definitely looks like he’ll be fun to play, but I’m skeptical about the spotlight for a couple reasons. For starters, his kit looks really strong, like, too strong. His harass combo is just too good when coupled with a stealth ability. He’ll likely be a nightmare to lane against because of it, but I’m willing to bet he’ll also jungle well. Secondly, Phreak was 30-6 in the main spotlight game, so it’s tough to say what the real numbers on his kit are. I think the skills are definitely strong mechanically, but they might have weak numbers.

      In either case, Wukong is out tomorrow, so we’ll all have some time to get to know him. I know I promised the Champ of the Week tonight, but it’s going to have to wait. I’ve got some neat ideas that I want to use to unveil him (spoiler!).

      What do you think about the Monkey King spotlight?

      Champions, league of legends, News, Patches

      FG LoL Mondays for the next couple weeks

      July 25, 2011 /

      FG LoL Mondays

      My schedule is going to be a bit erratic for the next three weeks so I won’t be holding official game nights during that time, including tonight. I might be around for a game or two this evening – if I’m online at “The Wiggin Boy” you can always invite me for a game. Just shoot me a message and remind me that you read here. My friends list is officially out of control.

      I’ll try to be around for at least one other Monday night over the next three weeks but I really can’t promise anything. After that, though, we’ll be back to normal. Check back later tonight for this week’s Champ of the Week. I’m planning something a little different for upcoming Champ of the Week spots – if it doesn’t make it into the initial post for this week it will certainly be in the wrapup.

      FG LoL Mondays, league of legends

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