League of Design

Hey there, About Game Design is back.

So, League of Legends. Currently the most played video game in the world in terms of numbers of hours globally spent in-game. What makes LoL so good? Why are people willing to dress up as Teemo and sit in crowds of over a thousand people to watch a professionally commentated League of Legends match? We probably won't ever discover the reasoning behind the Teemo costume, but there are a number of reasons why the game is played so much. Now, keep in mind I'm just a beginning game designer, by no means an expert on building something like League. But I've got a few ideas as to why the game is so fun and widely played:

• Expansive roster of champions (in-game playable characters) which appeal to many, many different interests that player may have. I'm sure you'll find a character which sparks your interest - and if not, the list is still growing!
• Clear, intuitive gameplay. Well, Riot (the creator of league) has some room to still improve on this, but they've done an amazing job keeping the game clean, minimizing clutter, and emphasizing the core gameplay goal - destroy the enemy nexus, using any means neccessary.
• Skill-driven at its core. In League of Legends, the better player will demonstrate why he/she is stronger at some point in the game. There are very few 'random'/'lucky' mechanics in league; players will vividly see improvements in their gameplay and win/loss record as they continue to play more and get better.
• Free to play. The FTP business model is probably the best method to attract players and make money - you can spend as much or as little on League as you'd like; people from all economic backgrounds, with access to a machine that can run the game, can enjoy league.
• Lots of social interaction. This isn't always a good thing (there's a fair bit of bad publicity about LoL's community), but the team nature of the MOBA genre encourages communication, collaboration, and teamwork in order to achieve victory. Ultimately, no man is an island - people like to interact with each other and do well.
• Constantly updated with new content. Every 2-3 weeks, the game is patched with live balance updates, new artwork, game modes, champions, and more. The game just doesn't get stale.

Thus far I've spoken at a very high level on the reasons for League's popularity. Next time, I'll start to dig into point #2 and try to pull out the core gameplay philosophies in the game underlying systems.

That's it for now.
Peace,
Kannan