League of Legends preseason changes could open doors for new players

It League of LegendsPreseason patch can be wild. With the yearly esports circuit done and dusted, Riot can go a little ham on changing up champions and how they play on Summoner’s Rift. Riot also added many quality-of-life elements to the game to improve accessibility and make it easier. Officially incorporating these features would be another massive step in Riot’s attempts to turn this opaque, inscrutable game into a welcoming experience — should the changes go through to the live game.

The changes include indicator that shows how far jungle monsters will pursue a player before they return to their original positions, recommended routes for jungle players, vision wards timers that clearly show when they expire and champion loadouts and abilities. It eliminates the need to look up timers or memorize guides when playing champion. The player can instead focus on what is most urgent and obvious.

Some of League’s most ardent fansAre worried about these changes. As one mainstay of the esports scene put it, “Please don’t turn League into all hands no brain.”

However, this is the natural progression of League — and an entirely logical one. League’s history is that of a dense game and competitive esport, and it will always have a high barrier to entry. Over 160 champions are available, with each having their unique set of five abilities. That’s a staggering amount of information to learn and retain. I can’t do long division anymore, but I sure can recite the strengths and weaknesses of the marksman roster on command. Even after 10 years’ worth of investment, it is still possible to do long division. League and a wealth of knowledge, I still don’t know jungle pathing or timers!

And that’s from someone who’s been part of the LeagueRiot has been a part of the entertainment scene from its inception. Riot now seeks new fans through projects such as the highly successful animated series ArcaneThe game’s mobile edition has had the barriers to entry lower and there are fun alternate universes, such as Star Guardians. It’s entirely possible to be a fan of the League of LegendsIP without having to play a single video game League of Legends itself. That’s a good thing, because the game can be a nightmare carnival.

You may be able to hear the music you’re listening to. LeaguePlayers talk about it as if they were learning a new language or dialect. “I like to go mid and roam with a wombo combo comp, the teamfight potential is great for securing objectives and then we can use the dragon stacks to force a fight around Baron.” What is this? This is not a cohesive sentence that can be understood by all gamers.

Even if these specific changes don’t go through — it is, after all, iterative content on a test realm — it makes sense that Riot would be considering such changes. League of LegendsIt is an intimidatingly complicated game. There’s room to sand off some of the rough edges, and if Riot wants to keep expanding the IP, it’ll need to keep the metaphorical sandpaper at the ready.