Ahri (League of Legends)

Started playing League of Legends again, and had the luck to enjoy an Ahri free week. She's a lot of fun to play. Unfortunately, she seems unfocused and difficult to play. Her main strength is probably in the short term mobility granted by her ultimate (three short range dashes) and her Charm skill which is a weak pull and decent stun combined.

Ahri feels like she has a scattered and unfocused skill set, with a passive that provides sustain, an AoE that has true damage (true damage ignores defenses), an uncontrolled homing attack, a single target pull, and a mobility granting ult. Each of these abilities is pretty awesome on their own, but together, they seem somewhat awkward, as each specializes in something different. The AoE skillshot is good at harassment and whittling enemies down. The Fox-Fires seem like a hybrid of single target nuke, and team fight sustained damage. The charm is pretty awesome, but as the only CC in the skill set, it doesn't work well to design a build around it. The Ultimate, can hit three targets three times, and/or be used to move around quickly. It is extremely versatile which also makes it hard to figure out what the best way to use it is.

In my efforts to make use of Ahri, my greatest success has been in staying at the edges of fights, harassing without committing fully. Ultimately, it feels like anything she can do, another mage can do better. She doesn't seem to have enough damage to be a proper mage, and not enough CC to be a tank/support. I've had the most success when I focus on CDR, to make the most of her true damage and Charm, as well as keep her ult available whenever I need it. I just don't feel like it works any better than it could on other champions.

One thing to note: I've mostly been playing Dominion, so I don't know how well she does in Laning. She may have some strength in the laning phase of SR that makes her good. However, she appears to have a weak team fight presence and lacks the burst power of other mages.

Update(2012-07-22): Based on what I've seen of her in tournaments, Ahri's greatest strength may be her ability to punish an opponent's mistakes. Her ultimate's mobility, and her short charm help her to capitalize on any opening an enemy gives her.

League of Legends is growing.

There has recently been two tournaments for League of Legends. One in Germany (Gamescom) and one in the US (Major League Gaming). While this is great for Riot, the makers of the game, it appears to be causing trouble for their servers. I often read the forums, and see complaints about problems with the servers, usually every weekend. It's the kind of problem companies want: more customers than they can handle. I look forward to future tournaments (I really enjoyed watching CLG play at Gamescom) and hope Riot is able to get the technical problems under control.

Since I can, here's a referral link (come join the fun!):
http://signup.leagueoflegends.com/?ref=4e50dec5b9491147652244

P.S. Personally, I always find it annoying when games offer referral bonuses, because my usual method of referring friends is just to say "Hey, I found a cool game, you should check it out!", not sending emails or referral codes. I often don't even know about referral systems until long after I've finished spreading the word among my friends. So, when I see referral rewards offered, I just get annoyed to learn that I've probably missed out on something because of it. I can't really fault the company though, since it's probably an effective way to get more players as it encourages people to spam sign up links all over the internet (just like the one I've posted here!).

Riot's greatest challenge.

Riot is the maker of League of Legends. It seems to me, that the worst part of their game, is the other players one has to play with. I just get this feeling that the entire game is engulfed in this culture of hate, which is spread by the constant anger spewed forth in games.

Riot really needs to find someone who can defuse the anger in their playerbase. I don't know if any such person really exists, but I am of the opinion, that managing the emotions and reactions of players is something game companies need to learn how to do, if they wish to truly shine in the future. It is quite possibly the most difficult problem for a game company to try and tackle.

One thing that worries me: the standard method to deal with bad behavior is punishment. Unfortunately, most of the bad behavior stems from anger and disgust. Punishment can only increase people's anger and disgust.

The leaver problem: Lots of people will leave a game early. Often it means they've decided they don't want to play that game. Forcing them to play (if it were possible) isn't likely to make them into friendlier or better players, it will just make their resentment grow. What solution is there though? I really wish I knew, and I believe it is a question that really needs an answer. I wish I knew where to find it.

The rage problem: Lots of people will vent their frustrations in chat, this often demoralizes the whole team, as few will ever like hearing it. The only punishment I know of, is banning the egregious cases, which again, doesn't help improve people's attitudes any. At best, it convinces the worst cases to stop playing, but doesn't really change anything. It doesn't teach better ways of thinking, or behaving. Again, I wish I knew of a good solution, alas, it eludes me.

Another issue: the simple act of punishing people makes those who are angry with the ones getting punished feel justified in their anger, and encourages them to continue to be angry with others. It creates an endless cycle of hate. I desperately wish I knew how break the cycle and teach these people to lead happier lives.

Written on 11/7/2010

The 9 Layers of ELO Hell

http://www.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=292682

Some Thoughts on Teemo in League of Legends

I'm starting to think that the reason Teemo is seen as weak, is due to him not meshing well with the team fight heavy metagame. He actually seems more like an anti-team-fight character. With well placed shrooms, and his nuke potential with blinding dart and poison passive, he can ensure any enemy that is out of position gets torn apart. Done well, the opposing team should never be ready for a team fight, which is why I call him anti-team-fight. He helps prevent team fights from happening.

In general, I'd say Teemo works best in combo with good gankers who can pounce on vulnerable enemies, and run before enemy backup arrives.

Tip: Once your team has taken down a few towers, it can be very helpful to put mushrooms in the enemy forest.

[guide] The MFing Cho'Gath

http://www.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=28942
An amusing guide to playing as Cho'Gath in League of Legends.

A review of League of Legends

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/09/17/land-of-the-free-league-of-legends/

I found it to be an interesting read, though I have not played it, nor have I played any of it's predecessors. Maybe I'll take a closer look.