A new Champion has arrived, and she's not alone... Sejuani, the Winter's Wrath, is a revolutionary champion for League of Legends as she will be the first ever warrior mounted on a faithful steed! Astride on her terrifying giant boar, Sejuani will serve as a primary tank that can move around with maximum force and impact.
For further spotlight on this new Champion check our her spotlight video!
Riot Games CEO and co-founder Brandon "Ryze" Beck has posted on the League of Legends forum today stating Riot Games' position against the "Stop Online Piracy Act" better known as SOPA. In his official forum post he calls the bill "a misguided attempt to curb the illegal piracy of copyrighted content (like movies, music, and games)."
Stating that SOPA "goes far beyond simply addressing piracy" he discusses ways that this bill will effect League of Legend players like:
He then invites everyone to help take a stand by writing your congressperson today and voicing your opposition to this misguided and harmful legislation. To read the entire post, be sure to check out the official League of Legends forums.
Riot Games would be proud! Forbes' just released their annual "30 under 30" list of influential people in each field, and in the category of entertainment, you can see Riot Games CEO Brandon Beck! It's amazing to think of the incredible gains League of Legends and Riot Games have made in the industry, especially considering they were just an ambitious new company a mere two and a half years ago.
Either way, congratulations Riot Games and Brandon Beck on this accomplishment!
The Riot Games staff is always a whirlwind of activity, with constantly shifting goals and projects that inevitably pick up more momentum as they go along. It's hard to believe that it was only two and a half (well, a little bit less) years ago when League of Legends and Riot Games were the new kids on the block, eager to carve a place for themselves in the industry. Now League of Legends is pretty much the face of the microtransaction & MOBA industry, and they've been making incredible gains within the eSports community. To bring in another year of League of Legends and last month's launch of Season Two, I decided to catch up with Riot Games to talk a little about the past of League of Legends and what might be on the horizon for future projects. Read on!
I'm a very picky player when it comes to choosing a champion in League of Legends. Not only do I require my character to be aesthetically pleasing, but he, she, or it also needs to be mechanically coherent with my eccentric and aggressive playstyle. Unfortunately, since the release of Skarner, I haven't really taken to any of Riot's more recent champions. Talon is undeniably powerful, but I wasn't a big fan of his squishiness; Riven is a great concept on paper, but her sword swings are clunky in execution (I was looking more for something like Pandamonium from Heroes of Newerth); Xerath is fun, but his safe playstyle can get a little tedious; and while Graves is fun, his mega-popularity has turned me into a hipster - he's simply too mainstream for my tastes. Riot's newest champion, Shyvana the Half-Dragon, however, is just right for me.
Ranked Teams are coming to League of Legends! And... that's about all I got. With Season Two rounding the corner, Rio Games has revealed that players will be able to join together under one unified team name, tag, and ELO rating, as they collectively push for that glorious 1100 ELO rating (yeah!). Ranked team queues will be reset (obviously) with the start of Season Two, although Solo / Duo queue ratings will not be affected by this change.
Who wants to be part of team "Pwyff and Friends?"
Shyvana is landing in League of Legends! In this latest patch from Riot, in addition to the release of Shyvana, the Half-Dragon, players can expect some small nerfs to Graves, Caitlyn and Talon (yes!), while Wukong and Olaf will be receiving some nice buffs to help them out. Also in this patch are some medium-sized Dominion changes, with the most important being a change to the respawn timer adjustments, a 3% nerf to Crystal Scar's persistent armor penetration buff, and a boost in personal score rating for point capture assists. You can read the full patch notes on the League of Legends website, and we'll try to have a Buyer's Guide to League of Legends up early next week!
It seems like it was only a short time ago when I was toddling around in the League of Legends early beta, asking developers what champion I should start with. But I suppose, as the cliche goes, time flies when you're having fun, and League of Legends is now celebrating its amazing two year anniversary! To celebrate, Riot is releasing a new Surprise Party Fiddlesticks skin (seen above); normally where legendary skins are worth 1875 Riot Points, this one will be half price at 975 Riot Points.
Regardless, from the team here at ZAM and the millions of summoners around the world, happy anniversary League of Legends, and here's to many more!
In his latest BFF Report, Mike B. aka Fony takes a look at League of Legends: Dominion, the new capture-and-hold mode that brings a new style of gameplay to the title. Which mode do you think is harder: Dominion or the classic Summoner's Rift? Let Fony know in the video's comments!
Click here to watch BFF Report Episode 83: League of Legends: Dominion!
If you'd like more Dominion impressions, Senior Staff Writer Chris "Pwyff" Tom attended Riot Games' reveal event in San Francisco in August, so be sure to read his thoughts from the event.
With the Gamania Game Show happening in Taiwan two weeks ago, and last week's visit to Baltimore to check out Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (soon I will be able to tell you about it, I promise!), I'll admit that I haven't had many opportunities to get my League of Legends fix. This didn't, however, stop me from keeping up with the latest news, so when Riven, The Exile, was announced, I knew exactly what champion I'd be stomping it up with in my first few returning games to Runeterra. So if you were considering whether or not to pick up this unique sword-stump wielding champion, read on for your Buyer's Guide to League of Legends: the Riven edition!
