Over the past few months MOBA giant Riot Games has been really pushing and promoting their massive online hit League of Legends. From their massive Season Two prize pool of $5 million (Largest in eSports History) to their massive showing at this years PAX Prime (Penny Arcade Expo), things have really been on the continuing upturn for this title. Probably the biggest development for Riot and the League is their brand new game/map style: Dominion.
This notion was no better stated then at the 2011 Penny Arcade Expo where Riot not only displayed their impressive showmanship with the massive League booth, but also their fan service by having Dominion up and running for all to see and play. Even a full Dominion tournament was played over the course of the convention hosted by Riot and Alienware in a very cool UFC-like gaming cage.
To give a quick overview of Dominion for those who are not familiar with the new format, its a complete turn away from the traditional MOBA game play of tower pushing and creep farming employed by similar games like Defence of the Ancients (DotA) and Heros of Newearth (HoN), as well as their first map Summoner’s Rift. Instead, the map and gameplay is based on capture and hold objectives, where both team are competing to hold five points for as long as possible which will cause the enemy team to lose health on their Nexus (Main base) until it reaches zero, eliminating them. What is so exciting about this format is that it promotes almost constant champion combat and almost eliminates the farming of minions by supplying gold (over time and per champion kill) for the purchase of items.
With the original king of MOBA games, DotA, returning with their revamped gameplay and the power of Valve behind it, this reporter believes that Riot has made a genius call by developing this new style of game to stay ahead of the curve and give them a leg up on the competition. I personally am very excited for Dominion and expect a lot of spare time to be devoted to playing this soon to be hit release.
Until next time play hard and smart
GG :)
