Wednesday, July 18, 2012

League of Legends: Improving Your Game

This is a post I wrote for a League of Legends fansite back in 2010. Some of it may have been changed to keep it more up-to-date.

Improving Your Game

A common desire for people who play any competitive game is to improve. Even if someone doesn't play to win, people generally wish to become better at the game they enjoy so much. In a competitive game, it is usually more fun when you do well against your opponents, which requires one to improve and learn.

Learning From Observation

A great way to learn something new is often from observing others. Nifty tricks like dancing in and out of brush to harass in the laning phase to avoid creep aggro are easiest learned by example. Even for tricks that don’t directly apply to you, such as Shaco juking tactics, are good to observe in case you ever end up chasing a Shaco, and he switches directions on you with a Deceive. Other “less observable” tactics, such as being ambushed in a random brush or jungle due to a ward, are always a good thing to take note of to learn how powerful map awareness can be, and common enemy ward placements. Even simple things are good to keep in mind as well, such as common paths you or your team takes through the jungle, so you can predict similar movements in your enemies and ambush them or predict ganks and baits. Always keep a watchful eye. You can learn a lot just by watching and paying attention.

Learning From Feedback

In competitive games, especially with the unfortunate frequent trash talking, people tend to get defensive or insulted from people commenting on their performance. However, sometimes people genuinely suggest a way to improve or prevent the same mistake from happening again in the future. Criticism is hard to take sometimes, and sometimes it does seem like an insult, but criticism is a wonderful way to improve. For example, some artists have a hard time receiving criticism since it seems as though the person is attacking their style or passion, and devaluing them as a person, but an artist will stunt his progression if they're never willing to accept the flaws of their work. Much is the same with gaming. Sometimes you may not notice how to improve on something you’ve done, but someone else might, and it would be best to listen to their advice and give it some consideration. As difficult as it may be sometimes, anger and frustration is never the way to improve at something, it only slows it down. Keep a cool head and an open mind.

Learning From Research

While some things can only be learned from experience, many things can be learned through research. The community can be a great source of information. Thousands of threads and guides are dedicated to discussion for the sake of learning and improving. A bit of reading can gain you a lot of knowledge. One can learn about play styles, small tips, item builds, champion counters, strategies, and other such information without having to go through the potential stress of a normal game. The more knowledge you have, the better you’ll be prepared for whatever comes your way. Take a quick browse at some forums or guides and you might learn something you’ve never even thought of before.

Learning From Yourself

Everyone makes mistakes -- no exceptions. Making mistakes is frustrating -- infuriating at times -- but mistakes are a great opportunity to learn something. Retrace your steps and think what could’ve been done differently to have prevented that mistake. If you were ganked from pushing out too far, it’s easy to blame your team for not calling out MIAs, or simply saying you didn’t think they would’ve gotten there that fast. Rather than blaming someone else, or just dismissing it as a fluke, think about what you could have done to prevent that mistake.

Conclusion

League of Legends is a competitive game. Some people play to win, while others play simply to have fun, win or lose. The most important thing to remember is to play for fun. Competitive games tend to be more fun the better you get, since you end up playing with better people and less frustrating mistakes are made. To get better, one must improve, and to improve one must be willing to improve. Keep an open mind and a cool head. And most importantly, try to have fun while doing so.

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