There has been a lot of discussion about League of Legends lately, and I figured I'd start a little bit of an analysis and compare it to Paintball2, now that I've finally gotten around to trying it out.
First thing I noticed: It gets updated constantly. I downloaded the game and tried to run it, and it had to update. I came back later to play the tutorial, and it had to update. A few hours later, I went to try a bot match, and, you guessed it - update! I suppose frequent updates keep people checking back for what's new (good, bad, or otherwise).
Paintball2, on the other hand, does not have super frequent updates. I'd like to have a new update every month or two, but it would be difficult to keep that up and have substantial enough changes to make the updates worthwhile.
The second thing I noticed -- and I found this interesting, considering the number of players and the fact that LoL is considered one of the more newbie-friendly DotA clones -- was that it felt very inaccessible. Just navigating the menus and trying to get into a game with a friend for the first time was pretty complicated. That said, it does have a friends and match making system, which Paintball2 does not, so I guess that helps out, even if the user interface is confusing. I'd like to think the interface on Paintball2 is a bit more straightforward, but perhaps that could stand to be improved as well.
Interface aside, the complexity of League of Legends as a game is through the roof. There are so many variables. It sounded complex at first with just the sheer number of characters you could play (each with different sets of abilities, strengths, and weaknesses) and the combinations you can have with those characters, but you also have global, persistent summoner abilities, masteries and runes. These affect things like mana, health, defense, resistance, critical hits, and regen rates, just to name a few. So you have all that global, persistent (aka summoner) stuff that you're building up as you progress in the game globally, but also locally you have a character that levels up within the match you're playing and has skill points that can be put into different abilities. Not only that, but there are items you can purchase (local to the match) with gold you get from killing things. These items boost stats and whatnot, but can also be be used to craft better items. The process is fairly streamlined, but it's fundamentally pretty complex. To top it all off, there are various "neutral" creatures that can be killed to get additional buffs. While the game mode itself is pretty straightforward (destroy the enemy base), there are about 8 layers of stats between you and that...
Paintball2, by comparison, has really simple combat. You hit a player once, and he's gone. It still takes a long time to master, though. The complexity lies more in maneuvering, and leading your shots. Learning to navigate a map quickly and shoot other fast-moving players takes a lot of practice, but is probably a very different process of thinking compared to choosing stats. They both take time, though. As a new player, you can't even begin to compete with people that have a lot of experience. In that regard, the games are similar.
Perhaps, though, that complexity is what keeps people coming back to LoL. If you try a character and don't do well with it, perhaps you'll try again with different items (and other stat-modifying things). Or, maybe, you'll use a different character completely. It's a giant numbers game, really. If you want to min/max a character or customize something that fits your play style, you have to do research. Research means visiting forums, reading websites, watching videos, etc. This increases community activity, which, in turn, is actually a marketing outlet for the game. More active community sites/videos/etc. = more content on the web regarding LoL = more people brought into the game = more people getting involved in the community = more active community... it's a snowball effect. I find it very interesting that this works. Of course, it's just speculation.
Paintball2 doesn't really have mechanics that require a lot of discussion. You can get the very basics of jumping and shooting in a day, and after that, it's just practice, practice, practice. The closest thing we have would probably be the mapping community, but that's not for everybody, and is certainly not a core feature of the game.
On that note, one other key difference is that LoL effectively has only one map that people play. It's mainly character oriented. The setting remains the same, while the game changes because of the interactions between differenth characters. Paintball2 has only 1 character, but many different maps.
Oh, another thing I found surprising was the load times in LoL. Not so much my own load time, but the fact that we had to wait like 10 minutes for somebody else to finish loading before we could start. Maybe that's not a common scenario, but it's interesting that people put up with that. I suppose that kind of ensures people set aside some time to play, and once they're in, they're in. It's not like you can jump quickly from game to game if you get bored or frustrated. You will also be pretty much screwing your team if you disconnect. In a sense, every league of legends game is like an automated pickup game, even if you're just hopping on to play by yourself.
That's one thing that bugs me about Paintball2 players. I'll be enjoying a fun game, then a bunch of people just drop out. It's difficult to get the most out of a game if you can't have a consistent rival throughout the match (or can't complete a match at all because everybody leaves). I really want to add a harsh XP loss penalty for quitting mid-match if an XP system is added. It's usually more fun if everybody sticks through 'til the end.
Finally, there's one pretty significant similarity I've noticed between League of Legends and Paintball 2. It's almost more about everybody on your team not screwing up than it is about playing as a team. By that, I mean it's easier for one bad player to ruin the game than it is for a team effort to win it. In Paintball 2, if one player hangs back to avoid dying, but, in doing so, allows the enemy team to capture the flag over and over, he can single handedly screw the entire team and allow the enemy to win. It's difficult for experienced players NOT to get frustrated and act in a hostile manner, even if it's just an honest newbie mistake. League has a concept of "feeding". If a new player repeatedly charges into enemies and dies, the enemies level up faster, giving them more momentum to steamroll your team. Very different gameplay, but the end result is the same: One bad player can screw your team over more by playing poorly than if he wasn't even in the game at all.
The reason I find this interesting is because I didn't think there were really any other popular games that had this degree of "newbie-can-screw-you-ness" (for lack of a better term). If you look at some other popular games, like Counter-Strike, it doesn't really matter as much if some new guy runs out and gets shot at the beginning of the round. Your team can still compensate for it, and, worst case, it just costs 1 point for the round. The fact that LoL is so successful despite having mechanics that are very anti-newbie really intrigues me. It gives me hope that Paintball2 can be a popular game while maintaining the high-intensity, hardcore mechanics.
