League of Legends is one of the most popular MMO success stories of our time. Spawning from the popular Warcraft mod DotA, League of Legends has become the dominant force in the up and coming MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) genre. Previously we had a look at League of Legends and published a full review, but many Champions have been added since then and a lot of mechanics have been changed, so we thought it would be a good idea to take a look at the experience new players are having today.

Unlike other MMORPG titles League of Legends doesn’t feature a character creation option as you play the part of a Summoner, a magical individual that has the ability to summon various Champions to do their bidding. Instead you simply choose an avatar picture and username to represent your Summoner. Champions take the form of your main character, although you can switch between owned Champions after each match. There are currently 100 different Champions to choose from, with new ones released every month. There is quite a lengthy tutorial and the majority of players would suggest you play through it as those unfamiliar with the MOBA genre will face a rather steep learning curve should they choose to avoid the tutorial. There are various match options available such as 3v3, 5v5, 1v1 and AI games but the most common mode played is the 5v5 on Summoners Rift.

Summoners Rift see’s 5v5 combat, with each team choosing their Champions in a lobby prior to the game starting. A large portion of the player-base, especially during early levels, just choose the Champions they’re good with, rather than taking into account the other Champions in the lobby. In that sense League of Legends is very similar to other MMORPG titles, a team that consists of entirely tanks or DPS characters, won’t perform as well as a balanced team, although there are a few exceptions.

Sadly, once you enter a match you’re usually immediately introduced to the biggest downfall in League of Legends, the community. I’ve played my fair share of competitive titles but I’ve never seen such a hostile community. I have a level 30 on both EU and US but I started a new character so I could write about a new player experience as it is today. I would be referred to as a smurf, a higher level player that makes an alternative account to “pound” on newbies. I’m a competent player, I know how the game works and what my responsibilities are but there was still a few games where I got seriously outplayed, leaving me to believe a large portion of the “new players” are actually on smurf accounts. And to top if off, they’ll constantly belittle newbies with an interesting selection of vulgar language, simply because a level 3 isn’t as good as someone that has played 1000 games on their main account.

Overall, League of Legends is a great game that offers players a unique experience, but to really enjoy it you have to get to the higher levels. My advice for anyone starting out, check out some tutorial videos, research a couple of Champions and try to ignore most of whats said in the chat box. Note: The rating below is for the newbie experience in League of Legends, not the game as a whole.

Rating: 6.0

by Blaine Smith