My husband and I were playing League of Legends: Wild Rift together, spending time and chatting while we play on our phones. We talk about whether Jax is better on the top lane or in the jungle and about the tradition of certain champions. He is at stake and wants to share his triumphs and despair with me. This is unusual because I have been following this exact dynamic for a decade.
I tried to persuade him to watch sports tournaments or traditional cinemas and he would always react with the same disgusting expression as a dog facing a linden shell. No, thank you, none of this. I’m the big one League fan of the household. Writing about the game for a variety of outlets was my first source of income and I even contributed to a documentary about the origins of the competitive scene. None of this was enough to catch Aaron, my husband.
League of Legends on the PC it was a point of contention, because I knew too much and he knew too little. I had bad expectations. He would choose a champion like Twisted Fate and play him in a specific way – but also in wrong way. I tried to explain, we argued, and the game will be back on the shelf.
Wild Rift it was extremely satisfying, because it is much more forgiving – the typical configuration of two players sharing a route, two solo players and a jungler is still ideal, but it is not compulsory. There is a splash of spice there, some champions being able to flex in unexpected ways. The “right” way to play is a little more subjective.
The game tutorial is also good enough to explain what the ideal composition is and why. League of Legends on the computer can sometimes rely on the social pressure of herd players in the right roles. Why should anyone support? Well, when four people shout at you in a lobby that you have to support or ruin the game, you’re probably going to give up or give up and leave.
At some level, it should help that everyone is on their phones and it is much harder to type angrily on a teammate with just your thumbs. But Wild Rift it’s actually pretty good at walking people like Aaron through the running rhythms of the game and why, and now the two of us are making happy strategies together. Now we speak the same language and League it has become something that brings us together, instead of sowing the seeds of petty struggles.
It’s nice to be able to share a long-standing passion with a loved one. I went back to the desktop version of League of Legends since Wild Riftit’s the launch, but I don’t really need to stop. I had the solo experience of trying to climb the ladder and working tirelessly to improve my mechanics. Now I’m playing League as a social game, and the difference is lovely.