LoL: What keeps you coming back?

[zerobudgetgamer]

Basically the topic. A friend of mine showed me LoL way back when it was just starting out, and while I admit to having had a good time, I never really played it after that first outing. A few months and massive critical acclaim later I decided to venture back and see why so many people kept singing this game's praises. To date, I've played around 30-40 matches, am only around level 6 or 7, and deleted the game a few months ago. The game just never catched my interest, and yet it's probably one of the most played games on the Internet right now. So I have to wonder, fellow Escapists, what keeps you coming back? What about this game is so entertaining that you will play the same scenario on the same map, usually using your own same favorite Hero, while undoubtedly encountering the same half-to-full dozen Heroes as opponents, for hours and days on end?

EDIT: Maybe I should rephrase. I don't play a lot of competitive multiplayer, so I'm not exactly going to be a prime debater on why LoL is so much better/worse/different than other multiplayer games. I also hate repetitive stuff, which is why I typically multitask when it shows up in games. The thing is, though, I don't believe to be alone in the latter; I could swear I've heard just as many people harangue other games for being too repetitive, while games like LoL and other multiplayer games get rationalized and heralded for their repetitive play.

To be fair, though, what shocks me is not that LoL is popular, but rather it's probably one of THE MOST popular games out there, and yet it's also one of the most basic, at least as far as core gameplay comes. I guess I'm more interested in seeing why people think that is, why a game so simple and so repetitive (once you forego the rationalizing for both) is so much more popular than games that can or tend to offer much, much more.

 

[Radeonx]

Your logic of repetition applies to essentially every multiplayer game ever.
It's fun, and I enjoy playing it, so I'm going to keep playing it.

 

[zerobudgetgamer]

Your logic of repetition applies to essentially every multiplayer game ever.
It's fun, and I enjoy playing it, so I'm going to keep playing it.

Well, not quite. Most/Some other games have different scenarios you can do, or at the very least have different maps that may/often do require different tactics or routes to achieve your goal.

 

[friedo.obrain]

Well for me it started out mostly as a game to play with online buddies but since it has evolved into something else...
Sure it's the same field and the same rules but that also happens with most real life sports and it doesn't make them any less interesting...
What keeps drawing me in is the variety of matchups and situations that can happen and just leave you slackjawed...

Btw from your post i gather you never went beyond low levels so you only played against a few recurring champions but at later levels most players have between 15 and 50 out of 80 allow for much greater diversity and should help keep you interested

 

[Radeonx]

Your logic of repetition applies to essentially every multiplayer game ever.
It's fun, and I enjoy playing it, so I'm going to keep playing it.

Well, not quite. Most/Some other games have different scenarios you can do, or at the very least have different maps that may/often do require different tactics or routes to achieve your goal.

True, but the strategy in the 2 LoL scenarios are much higher than most games with tons of them.

And with that said, most MOBAs only have 1 or 2 maps anyways, so it isn't a big deal.

 

[KillerHunterX]

Your logic of repetition applies to essentially every multiplayer game ever.
It's fun, and I enjoy playing it, so I'm going to keep playing it.

Well, not quite. Most/Some other games have different scenarios you can do, or at the very least have different maps that may/often do require different tactics or routes to achieve your goal.

You need to change your tactics or routes to compensate for the different enemy team composition or your own composition. So there is variability in that.

 

[VladG]

Your logic of repetition applies to essentially every multiplayer game ever.
It's fun, and I enjoy playing it, so I'm going to keep playing it.

Well, not quite. Most/Some other games have different scenarios you can do, or at the very least have different maps that may/often do require different tactics or routes to achieve your goal.

Since you never play against the same people, you never apply the same tactics. the map stays the same, true, but that helps by being a familiar landscape that lets you focus on the player versus player interaction. It's never the same game.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

You know it's funny, on so many other games having one single worthwhile map to play on would drive me insane, but on League it's pretty much part of the game, you know? I guess the reason I keep going back is that I never feel like I really know the game inside out, in a good way. Sure I know the tactics and the roles, but I don't even know how to play a quarter of the champions, and with a new one every fortnight it isn't long that anyone can ever say they know the game in its entirety.

Shame about the community as a whole.

EDIT: I'm aware of the Dominion map and everything, but for a long time Summoner's Rift was pretty much all we had.

 

[zerobudgetgamer]

Since you never play against the same people, you never apply the same tactics. the map stays the same, true, but that helps by being a familiar landscape that lets you focus on the player versus player interaction. It's never the same game.

You need to change your tactics or routes to compensate for the different enemy team composition or your own composition. So there is variability in that.

I understand the irony in saying this, but that's found in just about any multiplayer game, not just DOTA games. Neither really explains why LoL is so popular, especially considering the bad rep it gets for some of the very players you fight against.

 

[VladG]

Since you never play against the same people, you never apply the same tactics. the map stays the same, true, but that helps by being a familiar landscape that lets you focus on the player versus player interaction. It's never the same game.

You need to change your tactics or routes to compensate for the different enemy team composition or your own composition. So there is variability in that.

I understand the irony in saying this, but that's found in just about any multiplayer game, not just DOTA games. Neither really explains why LoL is so popular, especially considering the bad rep it gets for some of the very players you fight against.

Not quite. Sure, there is a certain level of tactics required for, say, Modern Warfare, but nowhere near as much. MW is more of a reflex check

The popularity of DoTA games comes from having a set of very simple rules that can create a very complex and involving game, kinda like chess. As for the popularity of LoL itself, that comes from being the most polished DoTA game out there at the moment, and the fact that it's free (and you really don't have to pay anything to enjoy everything the game has to offer).

As for the players, well, it's the fact that so many of them are total douchebags, but that isn't really relevant for this argument. Other players means creative gameplay, their personality is a very different matter.

 

[zerobudgetgamer]

The popularity of DoTA games comes from having a set of very simple rules that can create a very complex and involving game, kinda like chess.

Hmm, I think I may have figured out why I don't much care for it, then. While games like chess could certainly entertain me, they were never things that I really wanted to get into. Same with LoL. I really can't say it's a bad game (though as you said, I could probably say a thing or two about the community) but I guess it's just not something I really want to devote my time to playing.

 

[Mikkel421427]

It's a bit like smoking. All your friends are playing, so of course you will have a go and then you will get sucked into it and eventually you will have to stop poncing off your mates and get some yourselves and then you spend more and more money on it until you stop, look at your bank account and think "THE FUCK!?"... And then you just keep playing. Speaking of smoking, LoL is actually what made me give up smoking, because I was too damn busy doing matches with my mates to actually go and have a smoke