League of Legends is a popular MOBA game that has been going strong for over 13 years. It has evolved with time and made tons of changes to the gameplay aspect to keep things fresh for both old and new players. As someone who has played since 2012, I wanted to share my experience as a League player in 2023 – both the good and the bad.
State of the Game
Before talking about anything else, I’d like to mention the current state of the game. I personally believe that the game is in a good state in almost all aspects. There was a time when I used to put on my nostalgia glasses and say “The game was much better in 2014”. However, that is simply not true now.
Back then, my experience with the game was much more toxic than it is now. Players used to be more toxic in chat and used to run it down more often. Now, Riot takes this seriously and hands out punishments to these types of players. While the system is far from perfect, it still forces players to behave.
Plus, I like the current meta as well. It gives more time for every player to shine and farm up. Thanks to tons of patches over the years, Riot has learned from its mistakes and made the game “balanced”. It still isn’t as fair as I would prefer it to be but it’s good. As an ADC player, getting destroyed by the enemy tank doesn’t feel fun.
The constant change in gameplay (especially when a new season arrives) is a nice change of pace that was much needed. This keeps the game fresh and forces players to adapt to newer additions. While some changes have been somewhat questionable, I like that Riot makes an effort to make things interesting for old and new players.
In short, I think that the game is in a good state right now and hopefully, it continues to go in this direction. I still miss some things from the past but it’s for the best that the game continues to evolve according to the time.
Ranked is Inflated
Ah ranked, where do I even begin with you? I used to actively avoid ranked when I was a new player due to how intimidating it was. However, once I got used to it, I couldn’t go back to playing normals. Riot Games has made tons of changes to ranked over the years – some good and some bad.
The current ranked system feels inflated (especially in the lower elo side) due to how many new ranks Riot has introduced. Plus, the MMR system is a bit broken as well. I have seen a few of my friends gain 15 LP while they lose around 25 LP. Despite them having a positive win rate, their MMR just isn’t improving for no reason at all.
One good thing that Riot has done with ranked recently is the removal of promotional matches. This makes it easier (and more efficient) to climb the ranked ladder. Before, you had to win a best of 3 (or a best of 5 if you wanted to climb to a new rank). This made it extremely difficult as you would have to play too many games just to get to the next division.
With the recent introduction of Emerald, the low/mid elo feels inflated. The thing that has changed is that Gold players are now Platinum and so on (which doesn’t make a difference in the grand scheme of things).
The Game is Difficult For a Newer Player
A thing that I’ve noticed recently is that the game is quite difficult for a newer player to get into. There are tons of mechanics that you need to learn alongside the game having more than 160 champions at this point.
Plus, you might come across a few smurf accounts that can completely demotivate you from playing. I tried to get my cousin to play League recently but he just couldn’t find his footing in the game. Sure, he doesn’t have a lot of experience with MOBA games, but he still wasn’t having fun due to how much he had to learn as a new player.
The good news, however, is that a lot of new players are much better than I was when I started. This is thanks to the countless guides that are available online. Players have much better knowledge of the game and can quickly learn it by watching various videos or following guides.
Thanks For the Memories
Finally, I’d like to talk about the most important thing that I’ve gained from League of Legends – the countless memories. I cannot tell you how many laughs I’ve shared with my friends while playing the game. I have made a lot of friends over the years thanks to LoL.
Despite not leaving my country, I have made good friends all over the world by meeting them in the game. Plus, I cannot tell you how much fun it is to have a close game where even a single mistake will cost you everything. Communicating and planning with my friends while everyone’s adrenaline is pumping has got to be one of my favorite feelings ever.
While I have some bad memories with the game as well, there is no denying that I’ll always look at my time as a League player with positivity. I cannot tell you how many all-nighters I’ve pulled just because I was having such a good time. Now that I work, I don’t have as much time as I used to when I started League, it still feels nice to play with my friends and share a few laughs.
Final Verdict
That’s been my experience as a League player in 2023. As someone who started playing the game around 2012, LoL has kept me hooked even after 10+ years. While I do have a love-hate relationship with the game, I cannot deny how many awesome memories it has given me over the years.
The game is still going strong in 2023, and so is my love for it. I cannot wait to see what happens next and in which direction Riot takes the game in. Here’s to many more years!
