Category: league of legends (Page 37 of 163)

      Dominion content around the web

      August 5, 2011 /

      One of Riot’s PR managers was kind enough to put together a content roundup from the various sources that got a sneak peek at Dominion earlier this week. There’s some good stuff out there, including the video Berseking put in the comments of a post here (which is now at the top of the post). I figured I’d put up the links so you guys can grab the information that’s out there and get a closer look at the map.

      Joystiq
      “Dominion certainly turns the genre on its head, in a way that retains the elements that are now standard, and tweaks the gameplay in brand new ways. Riot promised players that it would do something “surprising,” and it wanted to bring something new to the genre, so Dominion seems destined to enable both goals.”

      IGN
      “Dominion, an entirely new game type for League of Legends, is more exciting than a rollercoaster built on top of a giant rollercoaster car that is actively moving on another rollercoaster. On fire.”

      “Dominion is playable at the upcoming Gamescom and Penny Arcade Expo consumer trade shows, and — according to Riot — it goes live shortly thereafter. It’s also freely available to all players from the moment it comes out. Ohhhhhh yeeeeaaaah!”

      Eurogamer
      “This represents an enormous addition to a game that has been traditional, almost conservative in adhering to its DotA-influenced style of play, and where the focus has almost always been on the development of new characters or new tactics. This Riot has started a revolution, and one that has arrived at just the right time.”

      PC Gamer
      “From start to finish, each Dominion match felt like it was filled with back-to-back battles, and with the hectic back-and-forth nature of the map, it’s never over til it’s over.”

      Gamespot
      Video interview with Volibar

      Kotaku
      “Riot Games describe Dominion as an “accelerated version of the classic League of Legends” with matches lasting about 20 minutes. Gamers will have their first chance to check out the game later this month at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, and later at PAX Prime in Seattle.”

      Destructoid
      “Riot Games has addressed this issue by introducing something entirely unheard of in the genre. Enter Dominion, the newest gameplay mode that overhauls the classic system to accommodate a more fast-paced, action-packed gaming experience.”

      GamesRadar
      “There are tons of great mechanics and features that encourage lots of back-and-forth as both teams battle over control of the map.”

      G4 TV
      “For League of Legends veterans who’ve been waiting a long time for a new mode, you definitely won’t be disappointed with League of Legends Dominion.”

      ZAM
      “In a nutshell, Dominion is League of Legends distilled into pure adrenaline.”

      The Escapist
      “The result is a League of Legends experience that has quick and furious combat right at the get go and sustained throughout the average 20 minutes of play. After my first hands-on I couldn’t help but scrawl 23 minutes of awesome in my notepad.”

      Dominion, league of legends, News

      Champ of the Week: Rocket grabbed

      August 5, 2011 /

      steamgolem_splash_2

      I’ve been spending my time this week with Blitzcrank, a champion I cut my teeth on way back in the day. Blitz was always appealing because of the huge dopamine hit I get whenever I land a hook. It just…feels…so…good. More than that, a good Blitzcrank grab can determine the outcome of a fight, or at least I used to feel like it could. While I’m still having fun with Blitz, I can’t help but feel like he’s a little outclassed by the new crop of Tanky DPS champions.

      It used to be that a hook under the tower was a kill on most of the damage dealing characters in the game, unless they could pull off a nice Flash. Thanks to new tower-tanking mechanics and tankier champions, I feel much less confident in my ability to land a kill under the turret on anything but the squishiest of champions. Against the squishy champs, Blitz still feels amazing though. There really is nothing quite like landing a grab in the early game for first blood.

      With the increased survivability of several of Blitzcrank’s opponents, it’s really important to have a strong lane mate. In most cases, any stunner will do, but having a character with heavy harass by your side means you become a much greater threat to your opponent. When I hook full-health Jarvan, for instance, he stabs me and smacks me twice and I’m at half hp. When I hook a half-hp Jarvan, though, he immediately thinks about running away. If you’re interested in playing Blitzcrank, make sure you bring a friend with some solid harass.

      I’ve also had some trouble convincing my teammates to gank at level one, and I can’t figure out why. When I see a Blitzcrank on the enemy team, I usually run for cover at level. I’ll hang around turrets, hoping my team has a CV and knows how to use it. For whatever reason, though, my teammates have been fleeing the scene when I try to gank in the early game, which is where Blitz really tends to shine. I woul encourage any budding Blitzcrank player to play extra nice in the early game so that your teammates are more likely to lend a hand. It’s tough getting solo kills early in the game, but not so bad if you have a team surrounding you.

      Check back this weekend for the Blitzcrank wrapup. I think I have some decent ideas for giving Blitzcrank a little boost without turrning him into the OP champ of the month.

      Champ of the Week, league of legends

      Riot announces new Dominion game mode and map

      August 4, 2011 /

      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?

      Development, league of legends, News

      Tryndamere gets a Champion Spotlight

      August 3, 2011 /

      Hot on the heels of the Tryndamere remake, Phreak put together a Tryndamere remake to show off his new skills. The video was supposed to “show [us] how to use his new tricks,” but it was pretty much a spotlight like any other. Phreak briefly explained his skills and then went on a tear, amassing 20+ kills in what looked to be a very slanted game.

      I was hoping for a bit more when I saw that a Tryndamere video had been posted. Really, I was hoping I had missed something in the Champ of the Week last week. Maybe I just misunderstood his skillset, or maybe the key lies in some strange build. Unfortunately, it seems the key is as expected – get fed and he feels great.

      What do you think? Did the spotlight make you a believer?

      Champions, league of legends, News, Video

      MOBA competitors are gunning for LoL

      August 3, 2011 /

      This isn’t exactly fresh news, but I do think it’s interesting to see some of the tactics employed to unseat League of Legends as king of the MOBA world. As you probably heard, Heroes of Newerth went free-to-play over the weekend. The rollout included some interesting ads on various gaming sites. One such ad encourages players to “stop laughing” and “get serious.” I can only imagine that’s a dig at the LoL acronym everyone is using for League of Legends.

      The more serious threat is obviously Valve and DotA 2. I wasn’t surprised to hear that the game would be unveiled at Gamescom – there had been rumors about the tournament for weeks – but the prize purse for the tournament shocked me. For those who aren’t up to speed, Valve is flying the top 16 DotA teams to Germany to compete for a $1 million prize purse. Yes, again, a million bucks. That’s not buy-a-new-computer-and-pay-for-college-supplies money. That is life-changing money, money that could support a professional gaming career into the forseeable future. The benefit to Valve for making that commitment is obvious – they want every competitive team to come play DotA 2.

      Will it work? Absolutely. I cannot imagine any of the top teams in competitive strategy games not taking a crack at DotA 2 with that kind of prize purse available. As for HoN, well, I think the game has enough barriers to entry that players entrenched in other games are unlikely to leave.

      DotA, league of legends, News

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