MapleStory Gameplay URL :  http://youtu.be/T6Sudtsmsf8

Description of Game :  MapleStory is a side-scrolling multiplayer online role-playing game. Player can choose any character roles, each with different abilities and skills. Depending on the type of character that is chosen, the player will learn about skills and how to attack monsters with given abilities. There will be quests and missions for the player to complete.

[ Option 1 ] Analysis of MapleStory:

#5 The Lens of Simplicity/Complexity

Compared to strategic games, MapleStory possesses a good simplicity and is suitable for all ages. It is not surprising to see players ranging from children to adults and even elderly.

Examples

1.1 Beginners can find themselves unlocking many quests in a short period of time, but as time goes, the quests get harder to complete and more skills are required from the players.  Same goes to hitting the monsters, the introduction of monsters with different personalities increases the difficulty of the game.

1.2 The goal of the game is to gain experience points to level up the character role. This can be done through completing a quest, fighting boss or killing monsters.

1.3 Players only need to learn how to navigate the character roles and learn to attack and they are good to go.

Knights of Pen and Paper is a turn-based retro style pixel-art role-playing game. The player can build his own party, by choosing from multiple classes and characters to control those classes, to take on the loads of quests and monsters littered throughout the game.

Game website: http://buy.knightsofpenandpaper.com/

Gameplay link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCGLS4g12J8

1. What parts of my game are fun? Why?

   • The game parodies a lot of popular culture, for example, including celebrities like Paris Hilton as a playable character and quoting lines from popular movies like Lord of the Rings. The dialogue between the playable characters and non-playable characters is also very interesting as it breaks the fourth wall at times.Figure 1. Player is able to choose both a character and a class

2. What parts need to be more fun?

   • Combat system might need to be more dynamic as it is quite simple, making it repetitive after long hours of game play.

1. Does my game have clear goals? If not, how can I fix that?

   • The game has clear goals in terms of storyline quests that the player has to clear in order to progress in the game.

2. Are the goals of the player the same goals I intended?

   • The player is able to grasp the goal of the game pretty well with the use of dialogue between the characters in the game.

3. Are there parts of the game that distract players to the point they forget their goal? If so, can these distractions be reduced, or tied into the game goals?

   • There is a multitude of side quests and optional areas for the player to explore which may distract the player from their goal. However, storyline quests are always tagged with a star icon on the game map, allowing the player to return to the intended goal at any time.

4. Does my game provide a steady stream of not-too-easy, not-too-hard challenges, taking into account the fact that the player’s skills may be gradually improving?

   • The game provides a steady stream of gradually increasing challenges as the player will encounter a variety of different monsters with different movesets as the player progresses through the game. This calls for the player to be flexible and adaptable to be able to counter the new monsters.

5. Are the player’s skills improving at the rate I had hoped? If not, how can I change that?

   • As this is a role-playing game, even if the player is less skilled, the player can level up their characters more to make the game easier.

1. Are my players here to be judged (skill), or to take risks (chance)?

   • The game requires the player to both have skill and take chances. As the combat is turn-based, the player will be judged by their ability to maximise the utility during every single turn. The player can even choose to encounter more monsters at one go if he/she is confident. The chance element comes from the player having to go through a check(20-sided dice roll) when upgrading a piece of equipment or when deciding whether the party encounters a monster ambush when travelling between areas.

Figure 2. Dice roll is used to determine monster encounters while travelling

2. Skill tends to be more serious than chance: Is my game serious or casual?

   • The game is quite casual as the player is given a lot of room for error. For example, even if the party gets wiped out during a monster encounter, the player is still able to resurrect the party with the use of gold.

3. Are parts of my game tedious? If so, will adding elements of chance enliven them?

   • As monster encounters while travelling between areas is decided by probability, it can get tedious later in the game when the party keeps encountering low-level monsters that provide marginal benefits when killed.

4. Do parts of my game feel too random? If so, will replacing elements of chance with elements of skill or strategy make the players feel more in control?

   • Although the success rate of upgrading a piece of equipment is decided by chance, there are items in the game that can increase that success rate, giving the player slightly more control.

1. How can my players earn money? Should there be other ways?

   • The player earns gold by killing monsters.

2. What can my players buy? Why?

   • Gold is used to purchase consumable items(potions), accessories, upgrading equipment at the blacksmith, hiring new party members.

3. Is money too easy to get? Too hard? How can I change this?

   • As gold is not readily available, the player has to make the choice to either make the current party members stronger by purchasing new accessories and upgrading their equipment or to hire new party members that have better skillsets to complement the party setup.

4. Are choices about earning and spending meaningful ones?

   • Earning gold is very straightforward while care has to be taken while spending else the player would have to spend more time to earn more gold.

5. Is a universal currency a good idea in my game, or should there be specialized currencies?

   • The game uses a universal currency (gold) for all purposes which is suitable as it simplifies the economy of the game.

1. What does it mean to make progress in my game or puzzle?

   • Progress is made in the game when the characters in the party levels up and when the player completes the storyline quests.

Figure 3. Characters level up and can put points into several skills

2. Is there enough progress in my game? Is there a way I can add more interim steps of progressive success?

   • Progress in the game is sufficient as leveling characters is not tedious.

3. What progress is visible, and what progress is hidden? Can I find a way to reveal what is hidden?

   • Progress in terms of the character levels is explicitly shown on the character screens while progress in terms of the storyline is implicitly reflected as the player explores the various locations in the game world.

In 2010, Bethesda released a “sidequel” to the highly successful Fallout 3, titled Fallout: New Vegas. This time it was developed by Obsidian Entertainment, many of whom had previously worked for Black Isle Studios on Fallout and Fallout 2. As a result, New Vegas became an amalgam of Fallout 3′s potential along with Fallout and Fallout 2′s spirit. Players start off as a Courier who returns from near-death and explore the Mojave Wasteland as they seek revenge.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-x-1fm2cq8

The Lens of Judgment

The player’s actions are judged by the game through both the ‘karma’ and ‘faction reputation’ system. Their choices will change how NPCs react to the player’s presence.

‘Karma’ is a reflection of all good and evil choices the player makes during the game. Having a consistently negative karma can adversely affect the player. For instance, an NPC in the game named Cass can be the player’s companion throughout his or her adventures. If the player continues to have bad karma, Cass will eventually leave the player’s company.

Regarding ‘faction reputation’, certain choices the player makes can result in a ‘tug-of-war’ situation, such as completing the quest ‘Ghost Town Gunfight’ will raise the player’s reputation with Goodsprings, but decreases reputation with the Powder Gangers. Completing the quest ‘Run Goodsprings Run’ will have the opposite effect. As a result, a high rep with a faction or town may give certain benefits, such as gifts from the people of the town, while a low rep may lead to hits being taken out against the player. It can even give the player access to new areas in the game.

The Lens of Meaningful Choices

At certain points in the game, the player will be forced to make tough decisions. Based on the player’s own mentality, morality, and intentions, they have a few options to choose from in order to progress further into the game.

For instance, when meeting the NPC Boone for the first time, the player will undergo a quest called ‘One for My Baby’ where Boone will request the Courier to find the person who kidnapped his wife. The player is given the option to either painstakingly find the real culprit through interviewing the townsfolk and even breaking into a safe (resulting in loss of karma), or frame any one of the other townsfolk. Other alternative playthroughs can be done, but ultimately, the positive result is to have Boone, a skilled sniper, as a companion throughout the game.

In another quest called Birds of a Feather, the player is given the task of sending their companion Cass to her execution at the hands of the quest-giver. The player is now forced to make a choice to either lose a companion for monetary and XP gain or to enter a fairly difficult gunfight with the quest-giver and his gang, resulting in failing the quest but keeping Cass’ companionship.

The Lens of the Story Machine

From the two lenses above, the player’s actions and choices will change the political and environmental landscape of the Mojave Wasteland. As a result, the player will be given access to more avenues to advance further into the story. However, this is not restricted to the main storyline, as the player’s interactions with NPCs, including their companions, will allow them to involve themselves in the NPCs’ lives, hopefully making the player more invested in the inhabitants of the Mojave Wasteland.

Another way the player can affect the story is before the final battle at the Hoover Dam, where the player will have to choose to either support a specific faction or independently claim the territory of New Vegas. This is done through completing quests given by the specific faction in order to gain a positive reputation with them.

Whichever option the player chooses at every junction in the story will result in completely different endings. All the endings can be seen here: http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout:_New_Vegas_endings

The Lens of Challenge

Hardcore mode is an optional setting in New Vegas which makes gameplay more realistic, which in turn makes things a bit tougher for the player. Effects include:

–          ‘Stimpaks’ heal over time instead of instantly

–          Ammunition has weight

–          Companions can die

–          The Courier must eat, drink, and have proper sleep cycles or they will suffer increasingly negative effects, up to immediate death

The Lens of the World

 The world that New Vegas encompasses is essentially a world that is stuck in the 1940s, but flung forward in time where technology has progressed to the level of science fiction. Most of the planet is still a desolate wasteland and hasn’t recovered from the nuclear fallout. The Mojave Wasteland is home to giant bugs, ghouls, mutants, and the terrible Deathclaws. Finding clean water is a luxury as most of it is irradiated, and radiation medicine is as important as food.

However, the focus of the Mojave is on the people who live and work there, who struggle everyday to see tomorrow. The player will experience their plight as The Courier is one of these survivors. They will hunt and scavenge for resources in order to fight another day. Considering the game is set in a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas, the inhabitants who visit there often indulge in hedonistic acts in order to forget their suffering. It is not unlike the Las Vegas in the real world, except there’s a casino/restaurant where a secret group of cannibals dressed in fancy garb reside.

The world in Fallout is a dark and morbid place, but setting it in Las Vegas makes things much more lively as it steals the attention away from the horrors of the world, much like what videogames do.

The Game

Plants vs. Zombies 2 is a free-to-play tower defense video game which is the sequel to Plants vs. Zombies. In this game, the player is a homeowner and has to decide on the type of plants to use to fight off waves of zombies so as to keep his garden alive. Each type of plant has its own unique role on the field, and zombies also differ in terms of health level. New and more powerful plants/zombies are unlocked or appear as the game progresses. This game requires the player to think and plan the strategy on the spot as the waves of zombies appear.

Official Website: http://www.popcap.com/plants-vs-zombies-2
YouTube Tutorial/Demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvYGXpPhv7Q

Analysis using Lenses

#1 – The Lens of Essential Experience

The main experience that players get is the trill of killing the zombies using different types of plants, which also requires some skills and tactics when planting the plants. The ultimate goal is to prevent the zombies from reaching the end point, hence players need to act fast. They need to think and plan carefully, or even change the type of plant halfway through the game when the zombies are too difficult to tackle.

However, in Plants vs. Zombies 2, a new way of killing the zombies is introduced, though at a cost (using the gold earned in the game). This new experience involves players using finger actions like pinching, swiping and flicking zombies away, and electrocuting the zombies by long pressing the screen. This makes the game more fun to players and brings more interactivity as players can directly “touch” and kill the zombies instead of just placing plants around the area and waiting for the plants to shoot the zombies down.

#2 – The Lens of Surprise

Several surprises are incorporated into the game, which adds an additional element of excitement for the players:

• Completing each level unlocks a new item: New plants, power ups, costume, gold, key to a new world, etc. The surprise involved here is that players cannot guess what they will be unlocking for the next level, which makes the game more interesting as the player is more motivated to want to complete the goal for the level and get rewarded with a surprise, which is something they can anticipate for but at the same time not knowing what they will get. The big boss will also randomly appear in some levels, adding on to the surprise as well, as players have to frantically fight it off.
• Graphics-wise, there is also an element of surprise when players use the new power ups or plants and watch how they are used to kill the zombies. The overall effects in the game (e.g. plants exploding zombies, burning zombies that suddenly appear, etc) are also pleasurable surprises to the player’s eyes, hence making the game more engaging to players.

#3 – The Lens of Goals

The ultimate goal of the game is to prevent the zombies from eating your brains, when they managed to walk to the end point. This goal is clear to the players, and is told to players at the very start of the game during the tutorial. The goal is generally achievable for the players, and if in any case the goal cannot be reached, the player is allowed to replay the level at no cost, hence there is no demotivation involved if a player loses the game.

Some small goals are introduced randomly throughout the game as well, which makes the game a little more challenging and different, such as using only a specific number of plants to complete the level, or to protect three plants from being destroyed by the zombies.

#4 – The Lens of Time

Each level in the game takes roughly 4 minutes to complete. It’s an adrenaline rush during the entire level as the waves of zombies appear, and the player has to fully concentrate during the game to defeat them. Although 4 minutes doesn’t seem very long, this is definitely one of the bad point for Plants vs. Zombies 2. In this version, it is specifically catered to the mobile platform hence the game play seems a bit too long especially for people who play this game when they travel. Looking away from the screen just for a while can be damaging, hence this is a game that requires absolute attention and should be played when you have ample alone time when nobody is there to disturb you. In this case, each level can be shorter or the waves of zombies can appear within a longer time interval, to give players more time to react.

#5 – The Lens of Beauty

The graphics definitely suits the image of the game that is being portrayed, not too cute and not too mature; it is a game for everyone. The maps, characters, zombies, plants, power-ups and upgrades are all nicely designed and serve their purpose well. Animations and in game effects are appropriate and not too cluttered, which makes the game a pleasure to play. The graphics certainly supplements the game play, which is the main pull factor (especially for me) to play the game, and make it more interesting and engaging for the players.

Basic Description

Genre: Arcade and Action | Platform: Mobile, Android (4.4 Star Rating)

Story: Princess Peach has been caught by a stupid programmer and player taking on the role of Warrior (assumed IQ>250) will try to save her.

Features: Warrior are suppose to pass through all obstacles laid path(rightwards direction) in all levels and stages. There seems to be only 1 unique solution for each level and stage. Warrior can walk left/ right/ jump.

Link to Website/ Youtube/ Gameplay Demo: http://youtu.be/XC5Y-b_lzak

Lens #71: The Lens of Freedom

Basic Description of Lens: This lens investigates player’s feeling of freedom must be maximized.

Features that match the Lens (2x Images):

• + There is no world time limit to how much time the player can take to solve the obstacle (unless the obstacle is timed). This allow the player to take extra care in solving the obstacle.

• + Players are free to die as many time as they want to test the obstacle. Doing so, will allow the player to have less frustration as they can continue the game without any loss.

• – Players feel constrained because there is only 1 unique solution for each stage. Therefore, they would have to accept the feeling of losing (death) for many many times before able to pass the stage.

Critics on Feature and recommendation:

• The game offers more constrained than freedom gameplay which is the main point of the game.

• 1 Recommendation would perhaps to introduce special bonus stages that will allow them to pass the obstacles or offer alternative solutions (more freedom) in the game.

Lens #57: The Lens of Feedback

Basic Description of Lens: This lens suggest the importance of player’s feedback from judgement, reward, etc.

Features that match the Lens (2x Images):

• + The main feedbacks of importance are the simple storyline and the “losing” message when player died.

• + The simple storyline with the on-screen controls (< >, Jump) basically creates the instruction to play the game without any further tutorials. Players are in fact encouraged to explore the obstacles and space in the game to reveal the solution.

• + The “losing” message is more of a “troll” that describes the player’s IQ, which is suppose to incur rage and make the player try the stage again.

Critics on Feature and recommendation:

• The game could have offer more feedback messages e.g. hints or similar if the player stuck in the same stage for too long. These would provide a more interactive approach to help players achieve their goals.

Lens #4: The Lens of Puzzle

Basic Description of Lens: This lens ensure the puzzles are doing enough to to shape the player’s experience in solving it:

Features that match the Lens (2x Images):

• Using the 10 Puzzle Principle to evaluate, Strange Adventure generally meets the most principles in practise, some worthy principles to note are:

• +, – Puzzle Principle #4: Give a Sense of Solvability + Puzzle Principle #6: Parallelism lets the Player Rest

  • The game has a bottleneck which is a double edged sword. It is good as it implies that there is at least 1 solution to solve it.

  • But is bad in that player are unable to continue further if they do not solve 1 of the obstacle in the stage as there is high chances player might abandon the game totally by assuming that they can’t figure things out.

• + Puzzle Principle #7: Pyramid Structure Extends Interest

  • In some stages, the current obstacle requires the clues from previous stages to be solved which extends the interest for the players

Critics on Feature and recommendation:

• The game could work more on “Puzzle Principle #9: Give the Answer!” since the essential experience that players want to achieve is to get the “Aha!” or “realization” moment.

Lens #27: The Lens of Skill

Basic Description of Lens: This lens ask to look at the skill of the players who play the game

Features that match the Lens (2x Images):

• + The most essential skill that is required to play the game is patient. Players need to be very patient to try out the possibilities and therefore have to lose many times.

• + The possibilities are not easy from stage 1, it requires the player to think out of the box.

• + The way to think out of the box is hindered by the creator’s advanced design of the puzzle. The + creator predicts the player’s general movement and puts an extra traps to hinder natural movement.

• + Thinking out of the box/  Ability to react instantly and differently is difficult for most people who does logical routine everyday which therefore creates a superior experience for players seeking the “Aha!” moment.

Critics on Feature and recommendation:

• The game can be improved by allowing different level of level difficulty/ easier obstacle at the beginning of the game so player can adapt themselves to the game better.

Screenshots:

Additional Information:

Music and Sound: From http://www.playonloop.com/ and http://sc.chinaz.com/yinxiao/
Artwork: ASCII art from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:ASCII_art.
Similar genre games: Super Mario
Link to Android Play Store: http://goo.gl/zsbXKZ
Link to creater site: http://rage.thankcreate.com/
Player User Type: Philanthropists and Achievers (http://goo.gl/Tkdr1E )

Counter-strike : Global Offensive (CS:GO) is an online first-person shooter that is the latest installation from the Counterstrike franchise. It is a team-based, objective-based multiplayer game. Each player joins either the Terrorist or Counter-Terrorist team and attempts to complete objectives or eliminate the enemy team. There are many different game modes that revolve around this theme, but the main one we will take reference from will be Classic Competitive. Each team will have 5 players, and it will least a maximum of 30 rounds. At the start of each round, players purchase weapons and gear with money earned from various actions, from getting kills to completing objectives. Objectives differ depending on the map, one requires the Counter-Terrorist to extract hostages, and the other requiring the Terrorist to detonate a bomb. For both types, a round ends when the objective is complete, the time has expired before the objective was met, or a whole team is eliminated.

Game website : http://blog.counter-strike.net/

Gameplay example : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KslmylFCWLc

The first lens I will be using to analyse CS:GO is (7) The Elemental Tetrad, which comprises of Aesthetics, Technology, Mechanics and Story. The Aesthetics of the game has definitely improved leaps and bounds since the last one, and it definitely looks, sounds and feels more immersive, especially with much more attention paid to details. An example would be like the inclusion of a helicopter for the Counter-Terrorist team’s insertion into the mission location, which previous would just spawn the players at a location. These tiny additions make the game feel much fuller. Technology would be quite straightforward, because the basic keyboard and mouse can be used, with even the possibility of playing with a game controller. As for Mechanics, it follows basic FPS conventions, and yet it has the “buying” component that opens that dimension of strategizing how to work in a team to spend money most optimally to ensure a win. As for Story, there is no overarching story, but rather each match is a small narrative of a battle between Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists. It would have been more interesting if there was an embedded storyline, somewhat like a previous installation Condition Zero. Looking at CS:GO in an overview, we can see that it has all elements in it, and these elements work together to build and reinforce the game’s theme. The story is better brought out thanks to the improved aesthetics, and these makes the game more immersive into the mechanics put in place for players.

The next lens I will be using is (25) Goals. Looking at the goals within CS:GO, it can be said that they are appropriate and well-balanced. The simplest would be having a common goal for all players – the elimination of the other team. On top of that, there is also your team specific goal, which is either to plant/prevent the planting of a bomb, or to rescue/prevent the rescue of hostages. These are actually all there is to CS:GO’s Classic Competitive mode, which are simple to understand and grasp. Yet, one small issue is that this is not clearly spelt out to players at the beginning of the match; rather it is explained through the tutorial game, which players might miss out (because it is not mandatory). But other than that, players can still communicate with their teammates, so there are other possibilities for them to find out about their goals.

The next lens is (36) Competition, which appeals to our competitive nature. For this there is the ranking system, which ranks players according to their game stats, promoting or demoting them accordingly. This ranking system spurs players to want to win and climb up the ranks. And these ranks are also used to match-make players of similar ranks to play against one another, so as to provide an environment of fair competition where players of different skill levels can compete. This is a robust system as it also does not give new players any advantage over more expert players, rather it just puts all the new players into the same game, instead of making it harder for expert players to kill new players. However, accurate as it may be, latency, hardware differences and hacking can still cause “unfair” measurements of player skill, damaging the game’s mechanics to create fair competition.

(A list of the ranks available in Classic Competitive)

Another lens I will be using is (37) Cooperation, since it is an essential aspect of CS:GO. There is currently text and voice chat available, and also some fixed commands players can issue, but communications could further be improved if these fixed commands could be freely configurable by players to set custom controls for them. As for working together as a team, this can consists of friends and/or strangers, and there is a short warm-up time before each match, thus giving a team of strangers to warm-up and learn about one another’s playing style or exchange strategies. With regards to synergy or antergy, it really depends on how the team plays together. For example, having teammates to watch your back and cover you is synergy, but having teammates friendly fire you is antergy. As for roles within the game, there are no designated roles, but these can be set internally. For example, a team of 5 snipers would definitely be unwise, so players would have to communicate to assign roles for carrying different weapons, like sniper rifles, assault rifles, sub-machine gun, etc. Another way to designate roles would be in a Bomb Defusal game, where the Counter-Terrorist team splits up to guard different bomb sites.

Lastly, the final lens is (75) Avatar. Looking at the avatars used in its predecessors, CS:GO has done a really good job in creating multiple avatars, not only a set for Terrorists and a set for Counter-Terrorists, but even different avatars for of these characters in different settings. For example, one map is at a sugar plantation factory, and the Terrorists avatars are specifically fitting for the setting, as they are African men, who are shown to be locals. Even the hands holding the weapon by players in the first-person view shows a gold chain around the terrorist’s wrist. On top of that, there is even voice-acting in an African accent, saying things like “we will chase them off this island”. All these adds to the immersion of players into taking on the identity of the avatar and really play as a terrorist.

Game Website: http://lol.garena.com/home

YouTube Link of game play:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5_WLD8ZkNg

Introduction

Developed and published by Riot Games,Leagues of Legends is now one of the most popular multiplayer online battle games in the world. This game is played by 2 teams of people with maximum number to five for each. There are totally about 120 different champions for players to choose. On the classic Summoners Rift Map, there are three roads, top, middle and bottom, connecting the two opposite teams’ base; each side owns three turrets to guide each roads. Players will gain experience points and gold by killing opposite players, neutral monsters, opposite turrets and minions that spawn and attack the other team regularly. With gold and experience points in battle, players can buy items and increase skill points to strengthen their champions. The game is ended by destroying the last structure on the map, then enemies’ “Nexus”.

Lens of Skill

In Leagues of Legends, the skill is really an important element that makes this game fancy. All the champions have 1 passive, 3 basic and 1 ultimate skills. Instead of just pressing the keyboard and attacking enemies automatically, players need to aim properly, decide when and which skill to use; sometimes even the order of champion’s skills can make a difference. Besides that, each player needs to kill as many minions as possible to get more gold for items while fighting against enemies. Some professional players know what items are the most suitable for their champions, and they may also choose certain items based on what their enemies have.

A skilled player is even able to carry the whole team and win the battle, which does earn respect and esteem from other players. For each champion, it takes time to be professional, and there are totally 120 champions(the company is always continuing to produce new champions). That is why people keep playing Leagues of Legends again and again.

Lens of competition

Competitive games can satisfy the basic human urge to determine who is the most skilled player. Leagues of Legends provides such a fair platform for two teams to compete with each other. When doing the matching of two teams, the system tries to make their average level as balance as possible. As the consequence, the result of a battle is not predictable. Sometimes the team appears stronger at the beginning may lose in the end.

There are several modes available for different kinds of players. Those novices can join some tutorials to gain a better idea of how the game is running. After that, they can join the “Co-op VS AI” mode, which matches players against bots team. Besides the novices, experienced players can also join this mode to practice their new champions.

Lens of Cooperation

In Leagues of Legends, players need to queue up for few seconds to start a new battle. Before queuing, people could invite their friends to be in the same team. If there are no friends online, players will be assigned to teams with strangers randomly. During battles, people could meet new people, and build friendship with them.

During the battle between the two teams, cooperation is always the priority. Typically, players have different role in the battle: one in the top road(can also be two), one in the middle, two in bottom(one will support the other by healing, watching for invasion) and one doing the “jungle”(this player will kill those neutral monsters to gain gold and experience in battle, and at the same time assist three roads if possible). Usually, after about 20-30 minutes, two teams will gather together for the team fight.

In the game, players is able to chat by typing and use some quick warning(for example, holding Alt and click Left click of mouse) to inform the danger at a particular position to other teammates. Nowadays, Leagues of Legends also supports a tool for players to talk to each other online.

Lens of Reward

Regardless of winning or losing a battle, each player will gain different amount of experience points and influence points based on their contributions to that battle. Players need experience points (out of battles) to increase level, which can be up to level 30. The benefit of gaining levels is to unlock Mastery Points and Rune Page slots which improve slightly the overall strength of the Summoner’s chosen champion in-battle. In Leagues of Legends, champions and runes can be purchased by either the influence points, which can be gained freely, or riot points that can be gained by paying real time money only.

Lens of Friendship

Players are able to meet and make a lot of friends in Leagues of Legends. During battles, people need to either type or talk to their teammates in order to cooperate, through which them begin to have connections to each other. Usually, after a specific battle, players will send friends requests to those who are skillful or kind to people. Then they can fight together in another coming battle. It is certainly very enjoyable to make new friends and fight with them.