League of Legends is a new massively multiplayer online game that hopes to distinguish itself from by offering a persistent world in which players build powerful summoners and then take them into battle arenas to test their mettle.
According to the Web site, some of the game features include:
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Play as dozens of unique Champions with diverse skills and abilities while engaging in fast-paced team-oriented combat.
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Compete in a variety of highly stylized and unique handcrafted battle scenarios.
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Create your own persistent Summoner avatar and customize your appearance through achievements that you earn in game.
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Advance your Summoner in rank and power to gain skills and abilities that give you an edge in battle.
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Join clans and teams to compete with other players in tournaments and organized leagues.
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Assemble Legendary items for your Champion by forging together basic items you obtain on the battlefield. Choose from over 200 uniquely crafted items to augment your Champion's power.
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Robust matchmaking and detailed stat tracking help to ensure balanced games for new players and veterans alike.
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Unlock new content through persistent gameplay and mastering the game.
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Integrated Leaverbuster technology helps ensure people stay for the whole game!
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Participate in the creation of League of Legends through our Suggestion Engine the community will have an unprecedented voice in what new content is created and implemented into the game.
Well, GameZone wanted to know a little more about the game, so we contacted the folks at Riot Games and its president, Marc Merrill, was good enough to spend some time to answer our questions.
Question: Tell us how the players’ suggestions will be implemented into the game and how much of a voice will they have in the direction the game does take?
Marc: We want our players to take an active role in the development of League of Legends and we’re committed to building an infrastructure that supports this. We will be providing players a direct line to our developers when submitting new ideas or feedback on existing elements in our games in the form of our Suggestion Engine. We look forward to releasing additional information about this system in the near future.
We’re committed to building deep relationships with our players and are working to provide channels of communication to support this. We can’t wait to have an active feedback loop with our players, and have already begun hearing and sharing ideas on our forums. Players should definitely come check out what we’re doing at www.leagueoflegends.com.
Tell us about the combat system. Is this turn-based or real time. How do players level up skills?
Marc: The combat system for League of Legends is fast-paced, real-time PvP combat. The player takes the role of a Summoner who calls forth one of many unique Champions to control for a given gameplay session. Champions begin the game at low level with only one skill, but as the player battles during a game session, the Champion will grow in power and gain many additional abilities and items until they are very powerful by the end of the game session. The gameplay combines the best elements of both MMORPG PvP combat and level advancement into short game sessions, which creates a fast-paced gameplay experience where the player is constantly faced with tactical and strategic decisions every moment.
What, exactly, is at stake in this persistent world and what sort of time commitment will players have to invest?
Marc: The persistent elements of League of Legends primarily revolve around the player’s Summoner, which is tied to the player’s account and represents the players’ accomplishments and status in the game. As Summoners play the game and progress in power and influence they gain levels and the ability to unlock a variety of new abilities and other elements that we look forward to discussing when we reveal details about the Summoner system.
As far as time commitment, League of Legends offers the most fun elements of MMORPG games without the need to dedicate hundreds of hours for leveling and gearing. League of Legends is fundamentally a skill-based game and thus players who play most effectively with their teams will be the ones winning the games, not the ones who have grinded through levels and gear to earn tremendous numeric advantages that are impossible to overcome. However, the persistent elements of League of Legends will provide players with growth opportunities, unlocks and customization options that will always give players goals to strive for, without turning the gameplay into a painful level grind.
Tell us about the RPG elements of the game. Do you follow some of the tried-and-true implementation of levels and skills, and how much customization is available?
Marc: League of Legends offers a large number of RPG-like elements, from a rich and compelling fantasy universe to character customization options, numerous items and spell-like abilities on both Champions and Summoners.
The level system for both Champions and Summoners is fairly traditional in that players gain levels which grant them new powers and customization options for how they want to “build” their characters, but we diverge from the “tried-and-true” model in that unlike most RPG games, our players aren’t stuck as one race/class combination for the whole time that they play the game.
At the beginning of every session, players select from an array of highly stylized and differentiated Champions, each with a unique lore, theme and ability. As the champion progresses and grows within that session, players select skill order and items to match the strategic needs of the team. At the end of every session, champions reset and players are awarded experience for their Summoner. As Summoners continue to engage in combat on the Fields of Justice, they gain options to unlock and customize ability, appearance, Champions, and much more.
What was the inspiration for this game?
Marc: A large inspiration for League of Legends came from DotA-Allstars. We wanted to expand on the innovative and fun gameplay mechanics pioneered by Guinsoo in DotA-Allstars, who is now one of the key Game Designers at Riot Games on League of Legends, and bring them to a broader online gaming audience through better matchmaking capabilities, a persistent element, leaverbuster technology, and robust community features. Imagine playing battlegrounds in or arena in WoW and having the option to choose any class and gear before entering the session. We want players to experience the huge diversity of play styles provided by our champions without grinding for months to play them.
What role will guilds play in the game and how will leagues different from the regular play?
Marc: Community is a very important part of League of Legends, and we are focused on developing features that help build community. Since guilds and leagues play an integral part in community development it’s on our radar, but we are not announcing details at this time. We will be announcing more details on guilds and leagues as we approach launch, but suffice it to say that we competitive play is extremely important to us and we want to facilitate it as much as possible.
What do you think sets this title apart from other online games?
Marc: League of Legends possesses a unique moment to moment gameplay experience that isn’t found in any other commercial products and merges it with a highly unique and interesting Summoner system. Additionally, the League of Legends team is committed to forming an incredibly close relationship with the community around the game and is dedicated to continuing to improve the product over time to evolve it in the direction that our players want to see it grow.
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