Developers have always been interested in combining different genres in one project, achieving from it such a strong alloy of playability and hardcore to attract more and more new players. At the dawn of the formation of the RTS genre, in addition to DotA and a number of small projects, which, in fact, were no different from their ancestor, rumors appeared on the network about the League of Legends project . At first, the project was reacted extremely negatively, thinking that it would be another DotA clone , but in reality it turned out quite the opposite, but no one knew about it yet.
The project was released in the fall of 2009 and quickly gained the attention of an audience playing similar games, as evidenced by the large number of people who buy league of legends account And if at first the project was treated exclusively as a DotA clone , then by the middle of 2010, the game was already talked about in exalted tones. And all just because the developers took into account the disadvantages of their predecessor. And the absence of serious minuses allowed the project to become the best in terms of player growth among all IMOs in general (including the omnipotent World of Warcraft ).
However, it is quite difficult for the uninitiated to understand what is the reason for the project’s stunning take-off due to the authorship of Riot Games . First of all, what should be noted - League of Legends is completely free! For the game you have every right not to pay a dime (cent / ruble / pound, etc.). At the same time, players who actively invest their finances in the game will not look at you from above, because for cash, you can only buy champions, skins, and small things that you can just as well get with in-game points.
All this can be seen in DotA as well. games represent one genre. The difference is that in LoL (an abbreviation often used by game users) there is also an MMORPG component. This is implemented in the talent tree according to the WoW principle . Starting at level 10, you will be given one talent point, and you can invest it in three different talent branches: damage, tanking, help.
In addition, there is a system of runes (the so-called Masteries). Using an in-game store or for points earned through games, you can buy runes, fill in the missing blocks and inflict damage a little more than the enemy.
From the players, it would seem, absolutely nothing is required. There are two bases of opposing teams and two towers in the forest between them. Three paths (top, mid and bot - top, center and bottom, respectively), along which careless minions scurry about (weak warriors, with the help of which opponents swing). Between the paths in the forest there are a number of monsters actively forested by foresters (champions who kill everything that moves in the forest and run between the lines to help others). The winner is the one who destroys the enemy Nexus - the main building on the base.
But this is only deceptive simplicity. To win, you need to have a balanced composition (out of 3 or 5 champions on 3x3 or 5x5 cards), “direct hands” of the players and clarity of team actions. And, as a rule, on the battlefields the same rule applies as in life - one in the field is not a warrior. And two too.
In the course of the game, characters get levels that they invest in 4 abilities. The main one is ult, ultimate, does a huge amount of damage (or cures health). Each ability of 94 characters (as of March 12, 2012) is unique and does not repeat the others with its name. The action of the majority boils down to:
In the process of killing enemy minions (you can’t beat your own, unlike DotA ), players receive a profit in the form of gold coins that can be exchanged in the store on the base for things that add to the whole list of characteristics of champions. Some increase spell power, some aim to improve armor so that opponents kill your champion for as long and as few times as possible.
As a rule, the farm of enemy creeps and neutral monsters in the forest is decisive in capturing an advantage. It still needs to be implemented during mass battles (wall to wall, when all the champions take part at once), but in most matches at a professional level - farm plays a very big role.
In addition to the abilities of champions, there are also abilities of the players themselves. These abilities are also very convenient for use in battles. Suppose an enemy with a small amount of health runs off to the base, you activate the Flash ability and find yourself next to this character. The path to the next keel is open. There are situations when Flash will lead to inevitable death and your character (for example, the enemy is standing under the tower). You can "hang" on the enemy Ignite and within 5 seconds he will be removed up to 300 points of health. But only two of them can be taken into battle, so each time you need to choose the opponent (and depending on the champion).
Another important component of League of Legends is the ability of one champion to try on different roles. Five roles have entrenched in the game: a tank (initiating massive battles), a magician (standing on the side and doing a lot of damage), AD carry (doing a lot of damage “from the hand”), a forester (jungler - cuts out all living things in the forest and periodically appears on lines to destroy opponents) and support (which heals health and refills mana with heroes).
For example, a Galio champion can equally well be a tank and support, and Warwick is a forester, a tank and AD carry all rolled into one. You just need to collect the right things so that other players do not call a noob.
In League of Legends, a lot of effort has been devoted to three things: the interface, the voiceover of champions (and the game as a whole) and the music on the menu. All this is done at the highest level - the voices of the champions are not similar to each other (exclusively in the English version), bewitching music welcomes you from the account login screen, and the interface is clear even to the student. And while no Warcraft 3, Garena and other left-wing clients. All LoL features are implemented in a single client - which is a definite plus for developers.
The only and perhaps the biggest disadvantage for Russian-speaking players is the lack of the Russian language proper. Until recently, the problem was still a small number of game servers (only 2 - Europe and the USA). About six months ago, they introduced a server in Eastern Europe, where the Russians became one of the most populous nations (along with, probably, the Poles). The interface is completely in English, which complicates the study of things in the store and the description of the characteristics, the benefit on the sites dedicated to the game, everything has already been successfully transferred. Soon, and this shortcoming may lose force, because Riot Games announced the official Russian-language client, in which even the characters will speak great and mighty (though the voice acting has already caused a wave of discontent), but let's see how the developers cope with the translation of the game into Russian.
Taking into account all the disadvantages of its predecessor, League of Legends found a middle ground, between interest and balance, continuing to torment the minds of players, forcing them to return to the game each time in order to play another game and have fun. A.