Why League of Legends Is Popular
Recently, there is a very popular video game named League of Legends in the whole world. League of Legends (LoL) is a 3D, third-person multiplayer online battle arena, real-time strategy video game developed and published by Riot Games, for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X (a series of Unix-based graphical interface operating systems (OS) developed and marketed by Apple Inc.). It has a wide range of players, according to relating data from Wikipedia:
League of Legends was generally well received at release, and it has grown in popularity in the years since. By July 2012, League of Legends was the most played PC game in North America and Europe in terms of the number of hours played. As of January 2014, over 67 million people play League of Legends per month, 27 million per day, and over 7.5 million concurrently during peak hours.
It states that League of Legends is a hot trend today. Moreover, it can be discovered that more than 80% people in an Internet café are playing such popular game in China, including students from all grades of kinds of schools, workers, male, female, and other people who like playing online games. Most players have the Application (APP) of the League of Legends on their phones in order to catch the newest information in time. So why this game is so attractive is worthy being explored. And the causes maybe the product promotion and the entertainment of LOL, but the main cause must be the social interaction of LOL.
One possible cause for the popularity of LOL is the product promotion of Tencent Inc. Many online games become well-known and popular because of Tencent, as Tencent has a huge network platform. Of course, its outstanding service to the players is one of the important reasons for the success of Tencent games. And because of the Tencent's games before, such as QQ Tang in 2004－an E-sports game, QQ YinSu in 2006, QQ SanGuo in 2007, and so on, game players like this platform very much. So when it became the agent of LOL in 2011, the LOL was known by large amount of people. However, it is not enough just relying on a game platform to make a game so popular for almost five years, because human beings are easily bored by a same thing for a long time. In addition, game players want entertainment from a game not just to play a game because of a famous platform.
Another possible cause for the popularity of LOL is the entertainment from LOL itself. Most people play computer games in order to find some way to release themselves, and LOL has such a function to let people forget the troubles in real life and focus on the victory of the game. The picture in this game is marvelous which makes people feel like in a real world, and they can enjoy themselves fully. When players are playing, they can chat with each other. The main point is that they don’t have to wear their mask what they wear on usual days, because they are strangers to each other. In addition, they can gain entertainment from the victory of the game. Mostly, the goal of online games is to make players feel happy, so is LOL. Therefore, people may find some confidence from this game which they can be proved. But, despite the superior picture quality, players can choose other similar games, such as Warcraft, another famous video game which can be found playing by others in an Internet café except the LOL in China. So entertainment may not be the key cause for the hot popularity.
The main cause for the popularity of LOL is the social interaction in this game. The truth is that LOL is a team work that a project must be achieved by a five people group, requesting close cooperation among members. This character also is the most attractive and exciting part of LOL. The achievements gained by teamwork always are more meaningful, just like what Lakshmi Jagad who is a scholar in Georgia State University states in her essay "Online Gaming and Teamwork",
Pryor, Singleton, Taneja and Toombs (2002) found that job performance, company performance, product value, and customer satisfaction are improved when people in strategic business units or work teams support each other, and the emphasis is on cooperation and achievement of common goals than competition.
Several friends of mine I have interviewed told me that the reason why they liked LOL is that they can cultivate relationships with old friends as most of them are not being together often. The most exciting thing is to fight together and gain a victory through a LOL, which makes them find the sweet feeling of friendship. Therefore, this game does work in social interaction. Moreover, according to the material from Wikipedia:
On February 7, 2013, Riot Games made the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) in Europe and North America. This is a league system where ten teams compete to stay in the league. A season consists of two splits, each split separated into a regular season and a playoff. The top three teams from each continent advance to the world championships. Equivalent leagues run independently of Riot also exist some other regions such as the League of Legends Pro League in China and League of Legends Champions Korea in Korea.
It figures out that this game is not only a game between individuals but also between nations, which shows the further meaning of this game. Therefore, LOL is a game which can make friends close and nations close, too. This is where the real charm of LOL is.
Some people may think the popularity of LOL is a kind of addiction to network which makes it a trend. It is true that someone may be addicted to online games, but it is just because they cannot distinguish the real world and virtual world clearly, or because they want to escape from the reality. And also, if a person is rational and critical when playing online games, what he can get is fulfillment and entertainment rather than an addiction from such fantastic online game. In other words, if it is the addiction to network that makes this hot trend, it will be really a problem that so many people in this world are addicted by this online game, and how can our globe move normally? Therefore, the theory of addition is absolutely wrong, and the really contributing one is the charming features of LOL itself.
In conclusion, it is a fact that the League of Legends is a world-wide popularity, and the reason why LOL becomes a hot trend is that it can bring social interaction both among individuals and among nations, which is also a symbol of globalization on some level.