AkhilRamlakan

ProfessorGrant

UWRT1101

10/22/14

LeagueofLegends

Onecouldarguethatanygamecanproduceadiscoursecommunity,butLeagueof
Legendsisaspecialcase.NotonlyisLoLthelargestgameintheworld,amassingaplayer
baseofmorethan60million,butthecompetitivenatureofthegamedrivesplayerstostriveto
bethebest,creatingarespectedhierarchyofskill.Thiscompetitivenessallowedforthe
cultivationofthebiggesteSportssceneofanygame(ever!),andinthatproducesitsown
discoursecommunityofangrypeoplescramblingforthetopspotintheeverchanging
SoloQueladder.
League,initself,isamethodofcommunication.Ingame,youcommunicatewithother
players,talktoyourfriends,andgivefeedbacktoRiotGamesaboutyourexperience.Ifyou
wantamorepopulousplacetoshareyourideas,thetwomainformsofpostingareeitheron
thesponsoredforums,ormoreoftenthannottheLoLsubreddit.Thenatureoftheseposts
arerathernegative,asnewplayersandoldplayerswillalwayshavesomethingtotalkabout.
Unfortunatelythough,thesepastcoupleweekshavebeentheaftermathoftheWorld
Championship,andasprofessionalteamstakeabreakfromcompetition,thereareawhole

lotofrosterchangesandseniorplayersretiring,creatingaverysad(albeitexciting)
atmosphere.
Beingavideogame,LeaguehasthousandsoftermsthatIdontevenrealizeIuse,my
mindhasalreadyimprintedeverylittleinstance.Asashowofthis,thereare120different
characterswith45(sometimes89),eachwithacombinationof100+itemsfromwhichyou
canchoose6fromtomakeyourbuild.Itisnotuncommonforsomeonetoknowtheeffects,
names,damage,andproperbuildforeverysinglevariationofthis,andknowinghowevery
statisticaffectseverycharacter.Thisleadstosomeconfusionwhenaddressingabilities,so
mostofusjustsaythekey,likesayinguseyourewhenreferringtoaabilitybindingonthee
key.Otherphraseslikemiaorgankareusedtodescribestatesofthemap,beingthatan
enemyismissingandwillmostlikelyendupnearyou.
Asforconventions,thecompetitivesceneofthegameisgigantic,amassingamillion
viewersaweekforNAandEUsplits,andmillionsfortheworldchampionship.These
gatheringsallowforpeoplewholovethecompetitivescenetomeetupeveryweekfor2days
(inalmosteverycountry!),nottomentionvariousfanartexpos.
ByallmeansLeagueofLegendsisadiscoursecommunity,althoughthereisabig
differencebetweenplayingthegameandenjoyingit.