Not too long ago, in a land about four hours away, I was introduced to what would eventually come to be my demise, a nice little game called “League of Legends.” My friends from high school kept raving about it, so I figured I had to check out what all the fuss was about.
When I was first introduced to the game, I only played when I had the chance. It requires a decent computer, something my family didn’t have at the time. As I practiced over at friends' places every chance I got, I got a little bit better. As soon as summer hit, I was able to get a laptop that was supposed to be for “schooling purposes,” so of course I had to play all the games on it I could. It was at that point that everything went wrong. (Cue “Everything changed when the fire nation attacked...” monologue.)
The more I played, the more hooked I got on this evil game that I love so much. Because the learning curve for games like these is so high, there’s a certain satisfaction I got from improving as much as I did. As my skills increased, I started having preferences in the champions I played, and since each character as a unique skill set, I obviously had to practice them so I didn’t mess up in-game.
I ended up choosing a cool-looking dude named Malzahar, who kind of reminds me of Aladdin if you fused him with a space alien. To this day, I'm not exactly sure why I chose him. Maybe it was the cool art, or maybe it was the difficulty in playing him that he posed. Either way, learning how to play him was a monumental occasion as a player, so I had to reward myself with something. But what can you reward yourself within a free-to-play game like League? Oh, I know. How about a skin?
If you don’t know, a “skin” is a costume that you can purchase via “Riot Points,” which costs actual dollars to buy. It makes whatever champion you purchase the skin for look cooler in-game (or not, depending on whether that skin is good). This is where everything gets messy in "League." They advertise it as a free-to-play game, but if you’re really going to be investing your time into it, you’ll probably end up investing some money into it, as well.
Because of games like "League," I’ve come to have a little philosophy about gaming in general. If you are going to spend any amount of money on it, whether it be 99 cents or $5, you have to keep playing it. It’s the only way that I can be OK with spending as much money as I have on this game -- which is to say, a lot of money. Thanks a lot, "League."
The final thing that I can share about the game that ruined my life, for better or for worse, is a little something about the community. The "League of Legends" community is notorious in the gaming world for being 90 percent a**holes. Either because of trolling or there just being an abundance of human dicks, there are assholes in that game. Even I turn into the type of person I hate in these games. Sometimes, when someone is being really dumb (for trolling reasons or otherwise), I get mad and take out my aggression in-game, whether it be with my words or by becoming completely unresponsive. It's hard enough to stay completely level headed when you're doing something competitive, but "League" has turned me into someone I don't recognize at times.
So if you ever think about playing "League," be careful. That choice comes with a price... And that price is your soul.
