Silver Lining

My provisional time in League of Legends has come to an end. I played my ten games. I believe I won six of them. I wasn't sure what to expect because I wasn't really keeping track of anything. I'm just out there to have fun. So color me surprised to have come up with a Silver III initial rating. I'm in Sion's Brigade or something like that.

I'm not exactly sure what the rankings mean, so maybe that's really awful. I figure it's better than Bronze though, right? Does it go Bronze (numbers), Silver (numbers), Gold (numbers)... and then I think there's like Platinum and stuff. Or, does it go Bronze, Silver, Gold, etc of the same number and then bump up? If it's that second one, then the III probably means I suck. It's not like it matters all that much. I'm pretty sure I'm a ways away from any MLG tournaments in any case.

My first foray into Silver level play wasn't exactly cheery. The team I was on never gelled, and we lost bottom right away, which led to bickering. Most of the time, I'm playing Morgana because she's basically my "main" and I think the champion is fairly flexible. I can solo top or mid, and I can build her to support. This means I can cover any lane. I just can't jungle.

In this case, I was assigned to the top lane against Vladimir. Afterward, Vlad's summoner apologized for being a part of the "most boring lane ever." It was pretty much a standoff between the two of us. I dodged his jungler's attempts to gank me. My jungler never made it up my way. The entire game was played in the other lanes and then it was a surrender at 20.

It was sort of funny to watch everyone else bicker when you're doing just fine in your lane. It was boring because neither of us were gaining a clear edge on each other, so it wasn't like I could help. Finally, when we were pretty sunk, I abandoned my outer turret to go support where I could. It was far too little too late.

Post game, I got a friend request from one of the team members. I thought maybe the individual was going to compliment calm demeanor (I didn't say anything disparaging!), or maybe just complain about the other team members. Instead, he/she/it decided to berate my being. Not my play, mind you, but my existence. Classic harassment stuff. Are people even offended by this anymore? It's just so silly, and there's an "ignore" button. None of it was even particularly clever or offensive. I mean they didn't go racist or sexist or any of the things you might normally expect. Just stuff about how I should never have been born.

I wonder what the reply would have been if I'd have confessed that, yes, I was premature and almost died at birth, so it was a very close thing. I'm sure this person would have been thoroughly appreciative of the fragility of life. Certainly.

Trying To Get Ranked

My little MMO project I mentioned last time is not going as planned. We only can work out maybe one night a week to try to play. The previous week we had technical difficulties, and this week my friend was sick. We have, however, settled on a game. We're going to give Neverwinter a try. Consensus is that it may be the best for leisurely questing.

On the solo side of things, I was finally able to cap my summoner in the League of Legends. Level 30 opens me to the "end game" that is Ranked Play. Apparently, you need to own at least 16 champions in order to participate in ranked games. So I had to purchase a smorgasbord of champions to fill up my stable. I was glad I'd been playing ARAM, as I had a bunch I knew that I sort of enjoyed. I also picked up a few of the cheap ones that weren't awful.

As fate would have it, the very first ranked game I queue up for, I end up being the captain. This means I'm responsible for banning three champions in order to prevent "OP" characters from being used. I have to admit, I was completely out of my element. I know what I like to play, but I have no concept of what is "OP." In my opinion, it depends a whole bunch on the person playing the champion.

So, I asked, "Thoughts on banning?" There were a few minor squabbles, but I got good recs from the team. We lost that first game, but no one whined about "why didn't you ban so and so?" Communication saves the day, right?

The second ranked game I played, I was picked Captain again. Go figure. Again I asked. Again I got good recs (though by this time I was starting to recognize the "trendy" things to do). We won this game, and all was right in the League.

The third game, I was finally out of the hot seat. We won that, too. So I'm sitting 2-1, 7 games to go before I'm fully qualified to be ranked. (I think it takes 10, right?)

I like asking the team, even if already know who you want to ban. It promotes communication and can help a team get off the ground. It doesn't always work, and there will always be asshats, but I don't think it can really hurt. Haters gon' hate, whether or not you are polite and ask them for help.

For the curious, so far I've only been playing Morgana in my ranked games. I'm best with her, she's incredibly flexible (mid, support, apc are all viable roles... even sort of tanky), and no one has been banning her. I've been positive in my k/d/a ratio so far, so I think that's pretty solid. Even in the loss, I was the sole bright spot!

Almost There!

As I mentioned in my last post, many moons ago, League of Legends has been infringing upon my time. I've found myself sucked into the game again, and possessing a deep desire to hit 30 and start playing some ranked games. I credit the ARAM game mode with rekindling my desire. With the main game modes, I always felt pressured to pick champions that I knew. I didn't want to be a drag on the team.

With ARAM, you don't usually get five people who are all-stars, even at my level (29). There's a basic competence to the game, but depending on the luck of the roll, you're not always getting someone's favorite champion. It makes a world of difference, as it provides some room for safe experimentation. I've branched out and purchased several more champions as a result.

Master Yi was one of my first ancillary purchases. Odd because I'm almost exclusively a ranged player. Melee just doesn't feel right to me. AP Yi, however, is played like guerrilla-style. It's very hit and run, and THAT I can get into. I don't have to stay in there and hack away. Rather, quick strike, and then disappear into the weeds.

Along those same lines, I picked up Akali. She's got an energy (instead of mana) bar, and her ultimate stores "charges." She's listed as an assassin, which apparently means "swoop in and rip your face off with kama." Then, again, disappear into the weeds.

Sensing a theme? I apparently like chilling in the weeds. I'm just not a full-frontal kind of guy it seems. (Giggity?)

Anyway, I'm on my last level, approaching 30 fast. I'm having a blast with the game and my respect for Riot has been renewed. Not every champion is a flat-out winner, but there are so many different playstyles available. It's crazy. And it's mostly balanced. Sure you get some that maybe play easier than others, or seem to be favorites. But I've yet to run up against a champion that is just blatantly over powered. We whine about a few, but there always seems to be a counter. It's like a giant game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, and I love it.

For a while I'd been playing only paper. Now I'm discovering scissors can be fun. Heck, with ARAM, even rock isn't half bad. If the random generator throws me a tank, well hell! I'll build tank.

I wonder how I'll feel once I start actual ranked games...

What's Up With All The Spam?

I've been very quiet, I know. Not much going on. Debating picking up one of the F2P MMO's with several friends. We've not decided on particulars yet. Otherwise, I'm playing a lot of League of Legends. I'm thoroughly enjoying the ARAM game style. Sort of a quick "hop in" for a half hour. I like being randomly forced to play someone that I own or the freebies. Left to my own devices, I'd just choose the same champions over and over. I feel like it's hard to be competitive and learn at the same time, but when everyone else is random, it makes things a little easier.

In other news, I'm getting a crap-ton of spam on the blog. Sorry if any sneaks through. I wonder if its because I've not been as active. If it gets too crazy, I may have to turn off commenting. I really don't want to do that, but it's not like I'm provoking a lot of discussion. If you do happen to stop in and find commenting off, feel free to email me!

Back To The League

I felt compelled to pop back into League of Legends over the weekend. It seems to be one of those games for me that I'll play pretty compulsively for a week or so, then get tired of it and drift away, only to come back a month later. I hesitate to even use the words "get tired," since it's not boredom so much as just "losing the shine." I consider it a good thing that, a month or so later, it apparently shines back up for me. I'm not sure what you call this on-again-off-again relationship with a game, but I would say it's uncommon for me. Generally, I'm a play-through kind of guy. Focus in, beat the game, and then move on.

LoL is unique in that it quenches both a desire to "level" and the urge to PvP. I like that I can pick it back up again and have new stuff, but also not feel completely out of practice. In short, it's a great game to play casually for an extended period of time. You don't really ever fall behind like in an MMO (though you may need to shake some initial rust off), and it doesn't require a whole lot of what I'll call "controller re-acclimation" like an FPS (soooo frustrating not to be able to headshot like you used to, amirite?).

Anyway, popped back in to find a new ARAM map. Now, if you're a casual player like me, you'll have to look up to learn ARAM stands for "All Random All Middle." Apparently, this was a custom game setting that was popular enough to have a special map created. I have to say, I'm finding the game mode rather fun. It really emphasizes team play, and puts you behind the controls of an (often) unfamiliar champion. The result is that play is just a little bit sloppy from time to time, and if you're quick to learn, you can gain an advantage.

To me, it feels like a fast-forwarded normal mode game. That is, we're just going to skip the early level-up game and jump straight to team battles. Makes things a little shorted without feeling totally frenetic. It also takes away a lot of the "sneaky" strategies, as this is pure frontal assault across a bridge. Not a whole lot of room to hide or strike and escape.

I feel like the ARAM mode is a great place to try out new champions. You don't get to pick, sure, but not-knowing how a champion plays isn't a complete disadvantage here. It's a different kind of challenge that might lead me to adding a few more champions to my regular rotation.

Yesterday I got stuck with Soraka. Basically, she's a healer/support (though you can build a variety of ways, I'm sure). Regular readers probably know... healing is not my default setting. Because it was random and my team was depending on me, however, I went with it. I healed the crap out of everyone and well full-on support build. It was great. There is no place to heal in the ARAM map, so having a healer is huge. I think we were up like 10-0 before I'd blinked an eye.

I may pick up Soraka if she goes on sale. Might be nice to have a support healer for team play. And playing a healer wasn't as bad as I'd feared. It's not like in WoW where you have to spam heals and hope for the best. You have to be able to juggle some offensive support as well, since things are going to be on cooldown. It was a fun little change-up, which I suspect is why the ARAM game mode has become so popular.

If you're like me and haven't popped into LoL in a while, maybe check it out. It is, after all, free to play.

LoL - A Close Second

If Morgana is my favorite champion, then Caitlyn has swiftly risen to a close second. She is completely win in almost every way. I even dig that she's not completely over-the-top sexy like most of the other female characters. In a League dominated by impressive cleavage, she's very sheriff-next-door.

The sound of her crazy steam-punk sniper rifle is completely satisfying. I feel like a badass killing minions. Boom, headshot. Perfect.

As I approach 30, it seems to me that the way to go, at least for a newbie summoner (and I consider anyone still trying to hit 30 for the firs time a "newbie"), is to find two playstyles you're comfortable with and the build accordingly. For instance, I've tried many champions at this point, and have decided that melee life is just not for me. I'm terrible on it. I become a feeder. It doesn't matter if it's AP, AD, or tank. I need range.

Are there any true ranged tanks in LoL? If so, I've not found them yet. Morgana seems to come pretty close. I can build her so that she's a good instigator and can take a beating. The higher I get, the more important it is to have at least one tanky character. Late team play gets really tough without them.

With my proclivity toward ranged, this pretty much leaves me with AP carry, AD carry, or adopting a support role. I wanted, then, to become proficient with both an AP and AD champion. I like to think I'm generally carry, but the truth is I probably play support most of the time. There's always That Guy on your random team that thinks he's the greatest. I've found that it's far more productive to support him, bail his ass out, and make sure he becomes the true Power Overwhelming that he is in his mind. (I'm using the male pronoun, but it could be a she or it as well. Just roll with the stereotype, please.)

I should mention that That Guy isn't always wrong. I'm not saying that it's always a made up awesomeness. I've run into some players that really knew how to carry a team, and I'm happy to tack on assists to their kill count. Needless to say, I don't much subscribe to the complaining about "KS" magazine. I'm just find with having 20+ assists and less than five deaths.

My AP "slot" has been inhabited by Morgana for some time now. She's my "go-to," especially when no one steps up to take mid. I can provide a solid mid player. In an effort to improve my flexibility, I wanted to learn a solid AD ranged champion, and be able to support a tank in a lane (or another carry). It had been open tryouts for some time.

Miss Fortune filled the slot first. However, her skill set leaves something to be desired as far as I'm concerned. She seems to have very little in terms of escape. I die a lot more than I'd like to on her, and end up feeling like a glorified turret. There's just not a whole lot of nuance to be had, at least as far as my newbie opinion is concerned.

Caitlyn was free this week, so I decided to give her a go. I'd certainly been killed enough by the sniper shot of doom that I was curious. She did not disappoint. In her skill set, I find everything that I'd lacked with MF. Traps to help others escape and annoy. A blow back to take me quickly out of range. And a deadly finishing move to finish off the runners. I have to say, playing Cait feels glorious.

I'm not great yet, not nearly as smooth as I am with Morgana, but I think I'm swiftly improving. I'm using both of my mastery pages to support these two champions. One AD carry build, one AP carry build. I've only really got the runes for my AP carry page (and even that is a work in progress), but using that isn't completely awful for Caitlyn. I still feel effective (and, perhaps more important, am a real bitch to kill).

I've developed what I think is the "key" to LoL victory. Nothing groundbreaking, I assure you, but I've found that most teams can weather a bad or learning player, so long as that player keeps their deaths low. I don't always have to play stellar to contribute. I just have to not feed. Feeding is really the cardinal sin, even if you balance it with an equal number of kills. You need to strive to be positive, or at least keep the numbers low in order to not hurt your teammates. I'm very good at keeping the numbers low.

Once I get a better feel for the nuances of Cait, I could see where she could be a very frustrating opponent. I'm learning to use traps better, to use the blowback to leap hedges (in a single bound), and trying to improve on gauging the strength of my ultimate so that I can get enemies low enough before they try to run away (there's an art there). In the mean time, I'm keeping my numbers low (and contributing to victories).

Oh, and did I mention the sniper sounds? Yeah, the Sheriff of Piltover is just plain fun.

LoL - Almost Twenty

Ima write about League of Legends today. Because, you know, there's nothing big happening in WoW or anything. It's not like there's some giant patch of doom dropping today that will completely change the way I play my class. Not at all. I'm completely not going to talk about that.

"Talk about what?" you might ask. "Exactly," I reply.

(In all fairness, I imagine we'll all be sick of WoW stuff by the end of the week. Once I get some game time, I'll be jumping on that bandwagon... but I'm already behind.)

It's been a bit since I've talked about LoL. I'm approaching level 20 right now. I'm not sure if that's a milestone, other than being another 10 levels closer to 30. 30, of course, being max and when you can play ranked stuffs.

I actually streamed some of the professional circuit games over the weekend. It was pretty interesting. I thought they did a good job with the coverage. It was nerdy, but not silly. To me, that means "good." I think there's always a danger of pro-gaming coverage jumping the shark, so to speak. It can get pretty crazy, and every game has special lingo. The coverage for LoL was layman enough that a newb like me could understand. Plus, as a player, the discussion and strategy was interesting. I didn't watch for a long time (I had games of my own to play, mind you), but the bit I did consume was pleasant. I suppose you could say this is unexpected. I don't have a whole lot of experience watching pro-gaming.

The coverage whetted my appetite for ranked matches. All of a sudden, I wanted to be 30 and playing "real" games. Then the game corrected my over-eagerness. My random team was steamrolled by the opposition. One of those crushing games where you contemplate returning to the safer AI pastures (only for a moment, though).

I think that I've become pretty deadly with Morgana. Also, I feel pretty competent in the solo-mid slot. There are a few champs that counter my play well, but otherwise I feel in control. I've been trying, then, to branch out. I've been attempting to play more on Miss Fortune, getting used to the AD play style. Sometimes I'm still sent mid, but generally I end up in a lane with someone. This is good for me to learn as well.

On any given night, my rotation sort of works like this. Morgana first. If we get a win, I queue up as MF next. I get a win on her, I try one of the free champs. Lately, that has been Twisted Fate. TF has a completely fun play style, but I don't feel very effective on him. Great if you consider me support. Poor if you're looking for me to carry.

Is is odd that I enjoy playing the support role? I'm more than happy to let someone else carry and rack up the assists. Don't know why, just find it more fun. I'm getting pretty good at initiating a battle and letting others clean up.

I still fail at melee, have no idea how to jungle, and think the Dominion map gives me the shakes (it's so much faster!). In short, I'm definitely still a newb.

I was reminded of that last night, when some fellow who claimed to be smurfing (playing an alternate, low level summoner in order to "wreck noobs," as he put it), proceeded to rant at all of us for how awful we were. He (I'm assuming male, consider me biased) was actually playing TF, so from experience I knew that he wasn't exactly exhibiting all-pro game play. In fact, the only thing he seemed to be excelling at was feeding the opposing team.

I do this thing in PvP; it's very "zen" of me. Basically, when someone calls me a newb, I completely cop to it. I say something along the lines of, "Yes, I am new to this game. What would you rather I do?" Generally, I get the exceedingly helpful, "Not suck" back. Or some variation thereof. It doesn't really bother me. Sort of like when they move to the next line of verbal sparring... calling me a "fag."

Now, I'm not gay, but I have some good friends who are. They rank among the best folk I've had the fortune to meet in this life. Several of them, y'all could probably meet and have no idea they are gay. I know that's shocking... you can't always count on a lisp or assless rainbow chaps. Darn. Point being, when someone calls me gay, I don't really see it as a bad thing. Or, rather, I've certainly be called worse (or maybe, more accurately for me, I'm not always called better). I have a wife. I don't need to prove my sexuality to anyone else, and trust me, she's well aware of how I roll. In fact, she'd probably prefer I "roll" a little less often.

So, generally I just accept the gay remark. I may even go along with it. Why not? Anyone that truly cares to know about me already does. I'm not exactly hiding here on my very public blog(s). I don't care what Nerdrage Smurf thinks in his infinite wisdom.  So, usually, I shoot for measured and rational responses to the rage. I know it's pointless, but it amuses me.

Like last night, when I said, "Well, if you're going to go slumming, you shouldn't be surprised to catch the clap."

He didn't get it, high ELO rating be damned.

The Big Patch

It's Friday, thank the Light. This week has been arduous to say the least. I'm sure, like me, you're anxious to kick off your weekend. I won't keep you long, just a few quick thoughts to throw in that empty lunch pail.

There's a big patch coming. I've done zero preparation for it. None. Exactly like the amount of sex allowed in the Champagne Room. So I really have no advice to offer.

That's not true. Here's something. Wanna do something crazy? Go into a giant patch blind.

It could be beneficial. You'll have to figure stuff out on your own. You will form your own, unbiased opinions. THEN take to the webz. See what you got wrong, what you nailed. That's what I plan to do next week.

That's also why I tagged a recent 'locky post by Saga. It appears, via quick surface skim, that this is a great summary of the Warlock changes. I'm tagging it here with plans to revisit it once I've had my own experiences. If you simply can't wait (maybe you need to be ready for a raid or something), I'd recommend checking it out.

In other, unrelated news, I've still been playing a lot of LoL. I'm pretty deadly on Morgana, and I've been working on Miss Fortune to round out my skills. My mindset is better suited for ranged champions (I'll work on melee at some point), so I wanted to have a solid AP and AD champion that I was comfortable with. The higher you get in level, the more important a balanced team seems to be.

I also got the chance to play a bit on Twisted Fate. I'll be honest, his similarity to Gambit drew me in. I was not disappointed. He doesn't have the same creole accident, but he is a lot of fun. Pretty challenging, too. I'm tempted to buy him, but really I should be saving my IP. At least, I think I should.

Friday is almost over! Here's hoping to a fun, lazy weekend before the Big Patch.

LoL - Different Goals

I've existed as one happy half of a functional gaming pair for some time now. That is to say, the wife and I are fortunate enough that "together time" can also equal "gaming time." We generally work well together, and have (hopefully) been a boon to every gaming group we've joined. She's the more social of the pair, I'm the planner/organizer. When we were guild officers, I like to think we proved and effective tandem.

But, as any gaming couple can attest, it isn't always double rainbows and Russian unicorns. Sometimes there are threats of couch sleeping. And pillow throwing. And copious swearing.

Such is the case with League of Legends. It has come to my attention that we likely play better when we are in separate lanes. If that, even. It may be best that we play separate games.

What's the problem? Well, after much, ahem, discussion, it seems that we have completely different goals for the game.

I'm competitive. It's probably borderline psychotic. Winning is a serious thing for me. I don't rage quit or throw a fit if I lose, but I do get a bit surly. I try to keep it in, but wives know. What I don't type in is written plainly on my face... and probably in the grumbles, too.

My wife is social. She plays to enjoy the company of fellow gamers. Winning or losing doesn't matter much to her. Winning is nice, but losing is not a big deal. And any insinuations that she should "try harder" or be more serious are basically personal insults.

So we come to blows. I've been digging into builds and gearing strategies. She's texting friends to join her. I'm trying to explain dynamic group battles. She's commenting on how pretty her character looks. We're on completely different pages.

LoL is a competitive game. As Vince Lombardi once said: "If winning wasn't everything, why do they keep score?" The main point of the game is to beat the opposing team.

Larger than LoL, though, is the fact that the game is online. Any online game has a social component. That is simply truth. The component may vary greatly from game to game, community to community, but it exists.

So what is the solution for us? Can we play LoL in harmony? We're coming from completely different sides of the equation. She views LoL as a fun distraction until the next game drops. I see it as a mountain to conquer.

We've not exactly figured it out yet. Maybe we shouldn't play together on this one. Our temporary fix is where I play some competitive games on my own, and then take a new champion for a test run with her, fully expecting to lose. It is imperfect, but I'm not sure there's a better solution, short of simply going our own way. And where's the fun in that?

On Being Called a Noob

I've been called a lot of names in my life. Who hasn't?A lot of them were actually fitting. Yes, even one's meant to mock.

In a gamer's life, few insults a hurled as vehemently as "noob." Or even the alternate spellings: n00b, newb, nub (where's my umlaut key? cntrl+???). They all amount to the same thing. Someone feels the urge to deride your lack of mastery of a game or gaming concept.

I talked about my graduation in League of Legends earlier this week. The gameplay ante has been upped. So too has the trash talking.

Last night, I was accused of being a noob for the 572nd career time. Because I keep track of each time. It means that much to me.

And as I was sitting there, trying to come up with a smartass comeback (the only acknowledge method for responding to the comment, if you deign respond), I suddenly had a change of heart. I realized I've only been playing LoL for a couple weeks. I was a noob!

Then I wonder, wtf is this dude's problem? It's not like I'm playing ranked matches at Summoner level 30. This is level 12, normal mode, blind pick. Summoner's Rift map. What did this person expect?

So I'm being a bit facetious. A very large part of me expects immature behavior any time I venture into a PvP setting. I'm fairly confident in my gaming competency, and not afraid to learn in those areas where I may be deficient. Which is why I strive to block out the nerd rage and sift for the nuggets of wisdom hidden within "noob" statements. Because, all joking aside, there is often a lesson tucked somewhere in there. If you can block out the rage, that is.

Not to lend credibility to the trolls, but often players aren't simply pissed to be pissed. I will admit that this is sometimes the case, and often seems like the case, but generally players get pissed for a reason. Something you are or aren't doing is completely obvious to them, in their infinite wisdom, and they believe that they know better. I'm not saying that they're objectively "right." I'm just saying they think they're "right."

If you can figure out what they think they're right about, you can begin to develop impressions on what I'll call "average" gameplay. What is expected from a competent player? What are the moves a team is supposed to make and when? You may not agree with the logic behind them all, but generally behavioral trends will crop up in a game for a reason. If you can identify and understand that reason, you can use that information to your advantage. Being able to anticipate your opponent can pay dividends.

Unfortunately, the two individuals calling the rest of us noobs last night didn't have much in terms of wisdom to offer. I asked several times what they would rather we be doing, or what we were doing wrong. The constructive answer was "don't suck." Mind you, their stats lines were far from impressive. I said something along the lines of: "Yes, I am a noob. What's your excuse?"

That shut them up.

The one pearl I got: Apparently, "assist kills add carry." I have no idea what that statement means. I think it was meant in a bad way, which baffles me. Isn't it good to help each other kill an enemy? And what is "carry?" Anyone care to take a shot at explaining?

LoL - Graduation

I hit level 12 late last night. This was exciting for me, because it opened the spell "Flash." It's a short teleport spell. From what I've seen, it's going to be incredibly useful. I had been running with the mana regen spell and Ignite (for a finisher). I'm going to keep Ignite.

I've also apparently graduated to the next level of LoL play. I say this based on my experience being matched with random teammates. I'm not sure if there are brackets, or how exactly the matchmaking works, but if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that there's roughly a 1-10 bracket.

Levels 1-10 are characterized with several unique things. First, there's not a lot of strategy. Sure, you get the occasional mouth smurf (a term a learned that seems to mean a high level summoner that has re-rolled an "alt" if you will). But in most cases, you're all newbs. People pick things up at different rates, and have different gaming backgrounds. You're just as likely to get a team that completely stinks, or blow the other team out of The Rift.

The 1-10 bracket is a bit more forgiving. It seems like a lot more folks are feeling out their champion. You can wander closer to the fire without getting burned. You can make mistakes and not always pay for them.

Sometime after 10, I noticed a distinct uptick in play. All of a sudden, people were calling "dibs" on lanes. Rough strategies were outlined. Terminology was used. You'd actually see someone "jungling." None of this is routine until you "graduate."

I'm typically pretty quiet when I play. I like to let my playing (or lack thereof) do the talking. Instead of typing things in, I'm more likely to ping the map. In this respect, I'll bet some folks have suspected me of not speaking English (Spanish speaking players seem to be decently common). I'm just an introvert. It happens.

As I've mentioned in the past, I'm most at home on a mage-type AP carry champion. Morgana is my favorite. I did pretty well on Brand this weekend. I stink up the house on anything melee.

I'm learning that my type of champion is generally assigned to "solo mid," which puts me in the middle lane, alone. It is also a highly sought-after spot. Whenever there are two AP mage-types, the other one is generally quick to "call" mid. And they get real touchy if you encroach on their territory.

There's a lot more intra-team bickering in this second level of play. People enjoy e-peening more. (Hence how I learned what a smurf is.) There are certain players that like to dictate when to do what. For the most part, I'm happy to oblige, but sometimes I suspect they wish to use me as a sacrificial lamb so that they can mop up the kills. That, generally, does not fly.

It's also somewhat humorous when one of these talkative types makes a mistake. It's obviously your fault for not bailing them out. I usually respond with a neutral: "What would you have had me do?" Generally, that is met with silence, or something super-constructive like "don't suck."

I found the "block" button this weekend. Bring up the scoreboard. It's on the right. Little crossed out chat window icon. Very useful.

I also reported a feeder this weekend. We had a player go off the deep-end into a nerd rage, frothing about how awful we were. He/she/it was playing on Ashe, and proceeded to spawn and run straight for the enemy base. Ashe did not veer, did not attack, and just died. Over, and over. And after every death, the summoner said "nice." Obviously, we lost, but I have a hunch a few more people learned about the block and report features, too. Even the other team got in on the reporting, because feeding is no fun for anyone.

It would be unethical reporting if I didn't point out that these asshats were the outliers. I played a good smattering of games, and each game generally with 9 other players. Out of the perhaps 100 or so players I played with this weekend, there were two that I blocked and one that I reported. That's not a bad rate for a PvP-centric game. Heck, that's not a bad rate for any game.

All in all, I've really been pleasantly surprised at the whole League of Legends community. Riot seems to understand their fans, and the fans appreciate the game as presented. People are generally helpful, which is always neat. So, if you notice that I'm on a LoL kick, here... that's why. It's a lot easier to play and write when you feel warm fuzzies about the game and community. This isn't to say the other games I play have deficiencies, just that I'm unabashedly enjoying my LoL time.

Which brings me to my final, newb-tastic question: What is "elo?" Can one of you vets explain it to me? If not, I'm sure Google can...

LoL - Ebb and Flow

In every game that I've ever played (that has a PvP component), there is an obvious ebb and flow to player skill. Likely, I"m not the only one to notice this. In WoW, I generally knew that weekends were easier in BG's than weekdays. Tuesday nights were rough in arenas, but they calmed down by the time Monday rolled around. Certain holidays threw the normal cycles right out the window. The regular PvP player notices things like this.

A lot was dependent on the type of server you played on. SWTOR was my first experience on an advertised West Coast server. That meant that toward the later end of my own Midwestern playtime was when the masses would start showing up. PvP before that was a bit slower, more relaxed. Also, the queues took longer.

League of Legends is no different. It doesn't have a "reset" day like WoW or TOR. At least, not in terms of dungeons (since, you know, there aren't any). There is a bit of a weekly cycle when you consider the free to play champion offerings for the week. They change on Mondays. Also, I don't really know what sort of server I'm on. It's all one big server, I believe. I think it plops me in the North America region, but I've also seen folks from Brazil in my games. I wonder if East Coast vs West Coast is taken into consideration.

Not that it needs to be. Queue times are quick. And there aren't any capital cities to observe a crowd or lack thereof. I'm just observing things here.

Now, keep in mind that I'm only a level 10 summoner .(Prolly will ding 11 tonight. Go me.) I'm sure things shift a little as you level up, and my opinions are perhaps ill-formed in the first place. Still, I wanted to share what I've observed so far. (For reference, I'm in the Eastern time zone. Also, I'm primarily playing Summoner's Rift, Blind Pick.)

• Later than 10PM, I'm generally paired with better teammates. Competition seems better as well. "Real" players play late?
• Along with that, the folks after 10 are more likely to flame you for poor play.
• Early in the week (Monday being the start of LoL's game week), you're more likely to see characters that summoners own/are comfortable playing.
• Later in the week is when people are more likely to bust out the freebies. Not always the case (some people jump on the new guys right away), but seems to hold.
• Along with that, you're more likely to see other skins for champions early in the week. My guess is that people grow bolder as the week goes on, both in terms of the champion they play and the foes they're going to be facing.
• The few 3v3 matches we're tried have been feast or famine, not sure how it correlates to time, but we either hit very good teams, or very poor teams... nothing in between. Perhaps that's just a function of the smaller game (more emphasis on individual skill, thus just seems starker).
• Despite the different times, the approximate queue time for me has almost always been under a minute. I think I can count the number of times it's estimated longer on one hand. Actual wait time is always longer, but not by a crazy amount.
• Not matter what time you play, there is always exactly one (1) player with a crappy connection/computer. Everyone else has finished the pre-game sync and he/she/it is at 9%.
• As soon as Nikasaur begins talking in a Summoner Showcase, your queue will pop. Doesn't matter if you were just waiting on your buddy to snag a glass of water or were contemplating checking your SimCity Social setup or even if you've actually queued. Seriously, the little video taunts me in the corner. It's all "Watch me, wtf else you gon' do? Facebook? Again? Pschaw!"  And I'm like, "Whatevs. I'll check out some art. It's cultural and junk." BAM. "Wanna finish what you're doing?" "Nah, can't risk it. Someone may choose my champion." (Seriously, the one time I clicked wait, someone snagged Morgana. Though she was free at the time so I shouldn't have been surprised. But they were AWFUL at her. The whole match was like a personal affront to me.) I've made it through the July patch update like seven times. I swear.

Okay, so those last two may have degenerated a bit. I don't really think they have anything to do with, well, anything. But there you have it. Anyone notice any other trends?

LoL - Home On The Ranged

I took my first tentative steps into the world of the league of the legend of the world of the.... um, what was I saying? Oh yeah, PvP. League of Legends. I upped the ante.

Quite frankly, I probably should have started PvP runs sooner. Trying out a character on AI bots is all well and good, but the true test is against human players. At my low level, I'm not sure there's much of a difference. To be honest, the human players may be easier. It's sort of like the bots are less prone to error, but more predictable. Human players show flashes of inspired play, but will also be derpy on occasion. You trade frustrating deaths for free kills, essentially.

I expect that as I level up, players will become more unforgiving. Thus, AI bots will be more necessary for trying out new characters. For now, I've actually been trying the freebies in PvP games. My experiences have been mixed, but rarely am I a drain on my team. That is to say, I take care not to feed kills. I may not always contribute to the kill count, but I take care not to die a lot as well.

I've learned a few things. First, I'm not so great at the melee playstyle. Every melee toon I've tried so far, I feel like I do a lot of fumbling. I've been on the receiving end of some stellar melee play, where I'm just getting chopped to pieces but Master Yi (and can't run away because F that guy. Seriously). Good melee seems really tough to play.

Ranged is a bit more forgiving. On Morgana, I've become a force to be reckoned with. most games, I'll at least triple my death count. I've become "Legendary" quite a bit. With other ranged toons (Miss Fortune, Sivir), I've had decent success as well. Not quite as effective as I feel I am with Morgana, but generally about double kills v deaths. And in all cases, I stay on the top end of the leveling push.

Oddly, my wife has taken to the melee playstyle. She's been chumming around on Sion, and doing a pretty darned good job. One on one in a lane, she generally wins. And when the two of us share a lane, we tend to do very, very well. Sion is a turret killing machine, and Morgana can bring some nice burst to bear on enemy champions, while offering some support.

Here are a couple of my replies to comments yesterday. I wanted to mention them here because I elaborated a little, and this is an elaboration post. Plus, I got great feedback from folks. So thanks for that.

• Matticus gave me some stellar tips, and I replied thus: 
• Re: items - "Typically, I snag a Doran's ring, then rod, then hat, then hourglass. That's been my basic progression and it seems to work out well." 
• Re: Morgana's Ulti - "The running INTO the crowd takes a bit of getting used to. As a caster, my natural instinct is to run away. I gotta remember that the ulti is "blood in the water" time. Feed, shark, feed!"
• Diablokls offered a tip about runes, which launched me into a bit of a diatribe on the Free to Play model:
• "That's really why I'm growing fond of this whole F2P model. I'm a little hesitant on games that gate content behind payments and the like... but a game that lets me choose between grinding (time) and paying (money), I'm okay with that. It's sort of like the company is saying, "We believe in our product, and will let it speak for itself. There are no gimmicks here." The Riot team really seems to put value in their content. The skins are gorgeous, for instance. Purely cosmetic, but you can tell thought and enjoyment goes into them."
• Also, Mobafire.com was suggested, and I'll second the referral. I'd found the place via Google earlier in the week. Great resource for builds. 
• I've got a running list of Morgana "alternates" for trial when the free to play rolls around to them. Malzahar and Cassiopeia are on the list.

There's nothing quite like quoting yourself. Am I right? Lazy blogger is lazy.

That's enough for today. Pleasant LoLing. 

LoL - Morgana Ability Primer

I found the Warlock in League of Legends. Finally. Okay, so she's actually a fallen angel, but she plays like a Warlock, or at least the playstyle feels like coming home to me.

I'd been just randomly choosing characters in my first few play sessions. I love the fact that the free to play champions rotate weekly. It makes a whole lot of sense. You can play every one and never pay or, like me, when you find the one you're looking for, plop down some IP for the character and RP for a cool skin. (I went with Blackthorn, fwiw. Looked awesome.)

I'd been searching for a toon that was both decent at minion farming, but could really bring the pain to champions. So far, I'd felt like I'd either gotten one or the other. They were either bearish to level up, or ineffective at snagging me those all-too-important champion kills. I've done a few melee, a few ranged, and a few glass-cannon mage-types. They all left something to be desired.

I'm sure better/more experienced players than I can make those other toons into stone cold killers. As a Warlock, I require a certain amount of deviousness to my playstyle. While I believe I can play decently with any of the champions, I do have very specific set of skills. Skills that make me a nightmare for a player like you....

The point here is that champions are not one size fits all, at least in my limited experience. I enjoy a specific playstyle (my infatuation with DoTs and corrupted abilities is not unique to WoW, though it doesn't always take the "evil toon" form. For instance, in the old Final Fantasy MMO, I was a Red Mage.) Finding the champion that fit me was pretty much priority #1. Morgana is that champion.

I called this a "primer" and then rambled on for five paragraphs. Apologies. It would have been hard to fill a whole post with abilities though, as in League of Legends you basically have four. Morgana's are as follows:

• Dark Binding - An aim and fire spell that will root the first thing it hits. Also does a decent amount of damage at higher levels.
• Tormented Soil - This is a black circle of death. Does damage over time as well as applying a magic debuff. It works well for farming, and is great for weakening champions.
• Black Shield - Only works against magical attacks, but blocks interrupts and stuns so that you or a buddy can escape.
• Soul Shackle - The super ability. This one links you up with nearby enemy champions, does a good deal of damage to them, slows them, and explodes if you stay close.This is the champion-killer.

I need to do some research on the optimal order to buy items. I'm sure that information exists, I've just not really looked. For now, I just snag the recommended items in order. I go through mana like crazy. For my marks and seals, I'm focusing on ability buffs, cooldown reductions, and mana regen.

In game, I tend to farm minions from afar, slapped down TS until Soul Shackle is unlocked. I'll alternate between leveling DB and TS, as Dark Binding is useful when running away. I save Black Shield for last, as it seems the less useful of the four early on.

I'm still developing a lot of my strategies, but there are generally two ways I get kills. First, I'll try to lure a champion away so that we're 1-on-1. Then I bind them, throw TS beneath them, and go to town. If I have Soul Shackle, the damage wave is pretty intense. If they don't run away, they're probably going to go down.

The second way is to bait melee champions. I'll be standing in a cloud of minion and they charge in, expecting me to run like a normal caster. When they get close, I pop Soul Shackle and throw down TS. I save DB for when they've realized their mistake.

It's a nifty little playstyle, relying heavily on good timing and aim. Right now, with cooldowns basically a full (I am a newb), missing with a DB is awful. I can't afford to misplace my mana-expensive abilities. Hopefully, through seals and mastery, I'll be able to give myself a little more wiggle room.

I believe Morgana is pretty unique in that she's a caster with strong abilities, but also has a decent amount of survivability. Most of the other casters feel fragile. Morgana feels like a warlock. She regains health through damaging, and can take a little bit of a beating.

She also has wings that are burning in her Blackthorn skin. How can you beat that?

Now Playing: League of Legends

I've sort of been stuck in a gaming miasma. I think I mentioned it a bit on here. I haven't really felt like diving back into any of the MMOs I'm still carrying on subscription. Just something about the MMO playstyle is unappealing right now. It is also summer, and there's not a lot of new content in my games of choice. It's easy to feel bogged down and unmotivated.

While my gaming woes have caused me a bit of angst, it is not something I'm completely unaccustomed to. Generally speaking, I've always been a broad gamer. I enjoy multiple game styles, everything from FPS to RPG. I'd been subsisting on the meager manna that is Facebook gaming (and by meager, I mean addictive, loaded with content, and somewhat red-district-like). But I haven't really been happy. Don't get me wrong, the social games I play are fun, and great ways to kill time. There's just something about the never-ending energy bar refill waiting gameplay that irks me. I feel the constant need to stop in and use energy (or I'll lose it, since the bar is maxed out). I suspect this feeling is by design.

The problem with the energy bar mechanic is that it sets a pretty hard limit on the amount you can accomplish. Couple that with needing to beg for items and the shiny "use $$ to skip" features, and you have a game that leaves you pretty unfulfilled on any given sitting. Sometimes, you want to eat your fill, and not feel like you have to trudge back to the water hole in a couple hours to do it again.

It is, if you will, the darker side of Facebook gaming. The games do a lot of things well, but they are what they are. They can't help but be a bit whorish.

So I'd been looking for alternative gaming outlets. I didn't want to spend a lot of money. In fact, I was gravitating toward "free to play" or at least "free to try." I find myself a bit unwilling to plunk down cash blindly these days. Not that I don't have the cash, just that I'm wary of the wide world of gaming. Even great development houses have been known to lay stinkers.

Saturday night, we had a couple friends over for some tabletop gaming. Play some random bargain bin games and a D&D based game called Castle Ravenloft. As gamers are wont to do, we discussed what else we were playing. It was our friend and resident DM who mentioned two highly recommended options (after a bit of ranting on my part). Day Z and League of Legends were his ideas.

Now, Day Z is pretty badass if you ask me. I encourage anyone interested in zombie settings and survival with guns to check it out. Very intriguing concept. I wouldn't be surprised to see a standalone game come out soon. For now, Day Z requires purchase of ArmA II. You see, it's a mod. A crazy, all-encompassing mod, but a mod. You need a version of the game (CO), and that'll run you $30 on Steam. Since I play with my wife in pretty much all the things, that's $60 for me (since it's an online game, for single player games we're more than happy to share a copy). I just wasn't quite that willing to plunk down the cash. Day Z will be something I keep my eye on, but the "free to play" League of Legends won the Logical Choice debate.

Now, I used to do a lot of RTS back in the day. Starcraft, Warcraft I-III... I've done them all. I remember the mods that League of Legends sprung up from. I enjoyed the hell out of those. I guess I missed where they'd developed a standalone, free to play game. Pretty awesome. So wife and I jumped right in and are having a blast. You can find me on there as Fulguralis if you'd like. We're still pretty newbish, but I've rocked the leaderboards so far on every AI game. I need to learn more before I feel comfortable going up against live opponents.

To me, LoL is what happened when WoW had a random one-night-stand with a FPS. That's the best I can explain it (and be brief). It's a lot of fun, and you'll probably see me writing more on that in the upcoming weeks. How many of you, dear readers, have tried LoL?