Why I’m Tired of League of Legends

Featured image is by the lovely 大猫.

Before I begin, I just want to give you guys a little bit of an update. So I originally planned to have my Gravity Rush 2 review done by this week, but the project is turning out to be longer than I anticipated. I didn’t want to leave you guys without anything from me while I finished the game, so I decided to write on something that’s been on my mind lately. I promise that I’ll have the review done before July 13th (cause that’s when Octopath Traveler comes out). Anyways, without further ado, please enjoy the show!

So you probably read the title of this post and thought: “Oh boy here comes another hater who’s going to bash League of Legends and claim that it’s dying, and that lEaGuE WaS sO MUcH BeTteR back in the day.” But no, that’s not what this post is going to be about (though I can’t guarantee that there won’t be any form of criticism present). Rather, this post will be more of a reflection of myself, and how League, perhaps unintentionally, mirrors my changing perspective of gaming. Before I go any further though, I just want to lay it down that I don’t hate what League of Legends has become. I don’t want anyone reading this to think that, cause god knows we’ve all had enough of that bullsh*t now.

But First, a Little History

My history with League of Legends is nothing short of bittersweetness. I still remember the time when one of my childhood friends introduced to this peculiar game that looked a lot like Warcraft 3. My brother and I asked him what he was playing, and he said: “Oh, just a little game that I found called League of Legends”. At that time I didn’t know that this innocent looking game would go on to become one of the most life-changing gaming experiences I will probably ever have.

When I first started playing, I remember that Malzahar was just released. In other words, this means that my League of Legends began all the way back in 2010 when I was still just in middle school! I can still fondly remember all the crazy shenanigans I pulled back in the day. From playing way too much Pantheon and Mordekaiser, to bathing in my enemies misery when I got fed as pre-pre-pre reworked Ryze. Back then there was no “meta” to follow so it really was like the wild west everytime you jumped into a game!

So much in this image doesn’t exist anymore…

Of course, when a meta did eventually come around, I loved league just as much, if not more than ever before. My first instinct was to try to master the role of ADC, since at the time I LOVED playing champions like Ashe, Ezreal, Graves, etc. It was also at this time where I met life-long friends from League, who I still talk with to this day. We would sit down at our computers and play League almost every day after school, trying to get better at the game, and raging every time someone on the enemy gets super fed (all in good fun of course). These are times that I will always treasure with all my heart.

Times are Everchanging

But of course, as time went on, I began to change. I started getting more involved with school not just in my studies, but also in extracurriculars. And it wasn’t just me who was changing, League of Legends also began to change. In fact, League is changing so much nowadays that I find it very hard to even keep up! While I was away working on other things, League became more and more of a competitive sport. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t find this to be bad at all. In fact, I’m glad that League was also changing (though whether it’s for the better is up for debate). It’s clear that the creators behind League of Legends are very passionate in making it become an everlasting game and sport, and I have no qualms with it whatsoever.

It’s just, I was finding myself becoming less and less interested in playing competitive games. As I grew up, I discovered a lot of new things that I liked, new things that I wanted to experience. And well…League of Legends just wasn’t the type of game that I was interested in anymore. I guess you could say it was kind of a mutual break up, we both started to become different people, and as a result, we just weren’t suited for each other anymore.

Now there were other factors that helped sway my opinion of the game over the years. Namely that I realized that I was never really that good at the game, along with the fact that all of my friends who still play are much better at the game than I am now. So whenever we play together, it just isn’t the same as before. My friends would get mad when I played a champion they didn’t like. And when I did play one they did like, if I did poorly, they would get mad regardless (I’m sorry that I suck OK).

What I think goes through my friend’s heads when I play with them

Now don’t take what I just said as me talking some smack to my friends, cause frankly, I don’t blame them. They still very much love the game, so it’s fair that if they’re not having a good time, that they’re allowed to vent (though I do hope that they can understand where I’m coming from). If any of my friends are reading this (you know who you are). I would just like to say that I’m sorry that I can’t play the champions you want me to play, and that even though I don’t play League anymore, I will still be your friend no matter what.

So what is the point of all this? Because believe it or not, I didn’t make this post just to tell everyone why I don’t play League anymore, cause TRUST ME, that would be pretty much beating on a horse that already been metamorphosized into a rock.

Well basically, I just want everyone to know that you should never be afraid to let go of certain attachments that you had in your life. There will always be times in your life where you’re at a crossroads, deciding what you want to do, what type of person you want to be. And at those times I want you to remember, that there will never be a “wrong choice”. Every decision you make leads to a potential new type of experience, a new perspective on how you see the world. Along the way, you’ll meet new people that you may potentially make lifelong relationships with, or you might even lose some along the way. Whatever you decide to do, always keep your head up high, there are many paths in life, but they are always be moving forward (in my case, League of Legends). It’s up to you if you want to follow, or choose a new path.

Most importantly, however, if you ever feel like you made a decision that you regret. Don’t focus on the result of that decision, instead think back to why you had come to make that decision in the first place. And perhaps you’ll find some fresh new insight that you can use in the future.

Or maybe they make URF/ARURF permanent. Then maybe I’ll get back to playing League.