Summary of Findings
I did it! After a week of hardcore gaming I reached Level 30!! Overall, this was an awesome challenge. Going into the game with the passion to get better, understanding team work and my personal drive has helped massively. Finding similarities in other games and seeing how League has become as successful as it has been is evident. Being challenged by a game with so many new things to learn, new meta and new champions has flared a passion to want to game more.
League is unique in its approach to the Free to Play model helping attract new users to play. The content surrounding the game has grown over the years especially my favourite part, eSports. Seeing it grow to become what it is today is absolutely awesome. From playing over the years, working my way up through the professional circuit I understand the commitment, time and knowledge these players have. The rate at which the community and the gaming industry has grown each year, even surpassing the film industry, is staggering. The only regret I have is not playing League a few years back!
Key Points of what this blog has covered:
- Going through the training guide to build on a basic foundation
- Learning ADC, using Ashe to fully explore league
- Reviewing my personal game play to analyse for mistakes
- Watching pro teams & youtube videos and reading content to help with my personal game play
- Understanding team concept and pushes
- Tactical approaches vs. various champion opponents (and Support roles)
- Game journey & Usability from start to finish (Level 0 to Level 30)
- Competitor Analysis of other games
This blog focuses on areas more than just the game. It's a demonstration of the challenge and my commitment to understanding the players, what they go through and how to perfect game play. Riot's choice of creating a player-focused game, with a huge focus on eSports is what I love. As that "UX" guy working over the years, the craft of building the game to something successful is amazing and something I love being a part of, telling the journey from my side.
There are areas of the game which I would like to focus and explore that I could see having positive impacts in helping retain customers and attract new ones:
- Communication tool - whether it be introduction to in-game voice coms or chat.
- Training / vs. Bots could be more informative with the use of tool tips and audio/visual queues.
- Runes & Masteries explained in more detail from a Usability standpoint.
- Gameplay analysis or reviews. To be able to search by other pro players that play my chosen Champion and then compare to my gameplay.
- 2-Step Verification process to help reduce smurf accounts and add an additional security level.
- Geolocation of friends and game time (by country & language) something I've highlighted through personal ideas.
These are just a few areas I would personally like to take into a Usability Lab and test with users, new and existing. It would be amazing to explore the possibilities. With 100 million active players monthly, league is the biggest online multiplayer game to date and a usability dream.
Statistic Breakdown:
24 Hours of pure game play in 7 days
9 Coffees consumed
1 Mouse broken
2 Phone calls to my ISP
2 Phone calls to my ISP
2 Dinners missed
1 Flat party missed (while I was in the flat!)
1 Beach party missed
1 Flat party missed (while I was in the flat!)
1 Beach party missed
55% Win Ratio
9 New friends made
40 PvP Games Played*
35 Minutes average game time*
0 Smurfs bought
30 Amount of levels achieved!
*Loltimeplayed.com / wol.gg
0 Smurfs bought
30 Amount of levels achieved!
*Loltimeplayed.com / wol.gg
What Next?
I want to explore ranked games, PvP in more detail. Play a few more games in the ADC role, watch more guides and tutorials and begin to learn Support or Jungle. Keep playing the game and learn more about it - I feel like this is just the start.
[ My ranking page after a weeks grind - ref: lolking.net ]