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Let's talk new player experience!

4nth0l0gy·6/17/2015, 11:09:38 AM·4 votes·1,686 views

It's not a big secret that the League of Legends new player experience isn't that great. So, let's talk about it and see if we cant come up with a few fixes.

New players: what confused or confuses you? What did you find frustrating about learning the game? How did you find answers to your questions if they weren't provided by Riot?

Veterans: what's changed since you joined? Have you had friends join after you? Was their experience better or worse? Is there anything you STILL wish you understood better? How do you explain confusing elements of the game to other players? Do you have ideas to improve clarity?

And hey, if Rioters want to jump in: where does new player experience rank as a concern for you? Do you think updating existing aids (tutorials, tooltips, etc.) is sufficient, or would new elements need to be added? Is the focus of new player experience supposed to be primarily on basic gameplay and maps, or should things like menu navigation, team composition, etiquette, and build/rune/mastery optimization be taken into account? How could this information be streamlined?

31 Comments

candysodapop6/17/2015, 4:51:04 PM5 votes

As a new player:

I find confusing = the meta wasnt explained in the tutorial. I'm never really sure wich champion can play wich role. The roles arent explained in the tutorial. You have to search those on your own. Learning what to buy first. There are sooo many champions! And sooo many items!
What i find frustrating = learning to last hit >.< trying to do well when and keep calm and have fun when someone or most of the team is telling you you are a moron and you bought the wrong thing or w/e. (I prefer not to mute because I still would like to know the plan and not feel like im not cooperating with the team). Also transitioning from playing bots to pvp was a struggle for me because i feel I didnt learn much in bots. And now I just pvp once in a while but mostly play aram because I find it easier with no lanes and you get a chapion picked for you, its a lot of fun. I will probably be nervious to play ranked also when I hit lvl 30. I play solo most of the time btw
How I find answers that are not provided = Google it. Watch streams. Ask my team mates. To be honest I have no idea what Im doing 75% of the time or that Some items are clickable and I hardly ever use them because I already got enough things to keep track of :P

MVDuneCats6/17/2015, 4:22:35 PM3 votes

Back before I started playing in April, I had thought about trying LoL a few times. The huge champion roster was daunting. But once I gave League a try, I realized I could enjoy the game without knowing about every champ ahead of time. There probably should be better documentation about the low level free champion pool, to give new players a smaller set of champions that they can look up and make a decision ahead of time as to which one that they might want to try. I didn't even know what champs I would get to use until I entered the champion select screen for my first game.

I didn't have a problem playing with and against smurfs. What I didn't like is that the expectation from most players was that everyone playing was also a smurf and should know how to play.

Pheonixwish6/17/2015, 2:09:54 PM2 votes

As a new player, I didn't understand the current meta, and proper item builds. The tutorial doesn't help much, urging you to buy boots and the bots go wherever they please. I didn't know what the heck roles were and what they were supposed to do.

Now that the meta is more well-defined, years of experience taught me how to properly break it and have fun. I guess a better foundation is in order, but League really is an open game where Riot gives us champions, and we come up with exactly what to do with them. That's pretty much the beauty of the game atm.

The easiest way to teach these things, as I've done with my younger brother, is to point out different aspects of the map as they go along, and answer as many questions as you can, which the tutorial doesn't provide. When they've gotten the hang of a certain champ, introduce them to new ones so they aren't overwhelmed with the staggering variety they see in normals. Online builds are also very helpful, as they give a specific build and skill order, while Riot just throws a bunch of recommended items in your face.

Kazaashi6/17/2015, 5:05:53 PM2 votes

I think the biggest problem in creating a "New Player experience" is not forcing people to play to a certain "meta". I think some of the most fun times were leveling up in Twisted Treeling, building crazy things and learning what works and doesn't work. If Riot just told people what to do, we would have a large portion of the player base who wouldn't know how to play the game because there weren't ever challenged to figure it out.

Lugg6/17/2015, 5:43:53 PM2 votes

The hardest part of being new is being matched against players who are WAY above you in skill and experience.

MVDuneCats6/18/2015, 2:32:38 AM1 votes

Improved tutorials have come up multiple times, and I was thinking about DotA 2 and HotS. When I started LoL, I also decided to download and try HotS (which I had just gotten a beta key the next day after I first played LoL) and DotA 2. I played through the tutorial for HotS, which was similar in length and content to LoL's tutorial, but didn't play much past that. I also played through the first two DotA 2 tutorials. I had to re-do the 2nd tutorial for some odd reason. And then I realized there was yet another tutorial after that.

Looking back, I think I may have ditched DotA 2 because there was too much tutorial content that I had to go through.

Petiovski6/17/2015, 6:43:05 PM1 votes

I like many people on this thread agree that new players shouldn't be forced to learn and play around a meta, and that new players experiment with champs/roles/builds to see what works and what doesn't, because we as people learn best through experimentation.

I remember when I started back around the release of Varus I played him mid lane because of his huge poke and had a lot of fun with it, I remember as a new player I would see all sort of whacky compositions but in the end win or lose I had loads of fun.

I aslo remember when I was new player I didn't really understand the differences between ad and ap, I remember trying out mordekaiser (cause i thought he looked badass) and built him ad cause he looked like the kind of champ that smash dudes with his massive mace and tank tons of damage cause of that suit of armor. I then learned that he was more of a mage because of that game.

That I think this is the beauty of the moba games, they do have standard strategies, but yet you as a player don't necessarily have to follow them and can experiment with all sorts of things, which can result in a very fun experience that can lead to hilarious wins or losses.

Point is that I highly encourage new players to experiment and try new things, it is not only a lot of fun to discover what works/doesn't work on your own but its also feels the most rewarding.

Another tip for new players, don't be afraid to admit you're new and ask for advice, most people in league are sensible human beings and are likely to explain to you concepts you may not understand. If you run into some savages there is always the mute function so you don't have to take their bs.

Anyhow I wish all you new guys a great experience and if you ever feel lost or you need somebody to point you though, shoot me a friend invite sometime and say "Yo! I'm new and I'd like some advice!" I'd love to help :)

Peace!

Edit: Sorry for my bad English but i hope it is manageable

Clockwork Madoka6/17/2015, 6:56:53 PM1 votes

We need an in-depth tutorial on...

-Warding: Guides can only teach you so much. I've seen many people not even use their trinkets!

-Roles: A brief explanation on every role, with (easy) examples of each. (Tank: Chogath , ADC: Ashe ,Jungler Fiddlesticks ,Assassin Katarina Mage Annie , Support Soraka )

Jungling: Explain the creatures in-depth. What do the buffs do, why they may be useful, and a small scale of difficulty vs reward

Objectives: Why is there no tutorial for this, and if there is it is incredible basic and impossible to fail? The basic tutorial fails to mention very important things, such as.... -Dragon -Baron -Inhibitors (when all 3 go down, creeps are even stronger)

It would also be nice to have the ability to actually be sure you can play the role you want BEFORE level 25 (I'm still a bit irritated by the locking of team builder). Many times it's hard to get practice as a role because it's already taken immediately, or due to circumstances, certain things get pushed away. (I have little de-warding experience because very few opponents I go against actually ward...)

FuryofThornsRedo6/17/2015, 2:45:50 PM1 votes

Online Game Time Conflicts ~ Etiquette:

Trying to help a New Level under 10 and climbing successfully New person, trying to help them own their "They called lane first" if Champion select. (In a game, someone was a new Champ first time and they called middle lane. A Vi takes over middle lane to gold hog, and could care less about helping a new first time with the champion gamer own some important skill building. This was Co-Op 5 v Bots beginner bots, so really the actual Champions performing better in which lanes is no concern to me.)

With Diana Soraka in beginner bots I have solo controlled middle lane for practice as I have filled in the last lane, and middle was the last selection to take. Cor game comfort level, when with a new Champion for the first time I think the person with the first time experience should be entitled to select where they want to go; and not allow the usual traditions with some Champions rule out where the positions should be.

Standing our ground when in Champion Select is not a wrong. Trying to avoid conflict with zero arguments is not wrong either.

I have thrown off the bots with running two Champions in Middle lane to make my point before and there is nothing they can do. Then I have allowed a known skilled Yasuo Yasuo take a solo bot to help them claim their solo lane called first. Though I know the positioning of trying to make a point is not always the best tactic. This time helped to show 3 other people how the claimed traditions of positions of lanes or Champions should go in which lane only because they are ADC, tank, Support. I am not in opposition, but in a beginner bot game practicing first times with new Champions; I guess I am owning an alternative Online Video Game Etiquette Level of Standards of Expectations.

Some ideas, and I am sure there is more. From: FuryofThornsRedo

Singady6/18/2015, 12:08:28 AM1 votes

Something that I know riot would be hard pressed to add, but would be a great idea, is to insert a coaching mode into league like in dota 2. This would allow new and older players to improve without third party involvement.